Nice try but I was onto you at #2. You aren’t agnostic as evidenced by the special awareness crap in 2. You believe in death penalty because you enjoy killing. Wars and hunting prove that. You’re antichoice because you need people to kill or watch die for entertainment. If you were prolife then you wouldn’t hunt and State Dept., U.N., would be of greater value than Pentagon. You people just need to destroy and that is why taking down liberals is mission essential.

Some of what you have to say is common sense and others are opinions that may or may not be shared. As humans, we are constantly evolving, learning and adjusting our perspectives as new information and experiences come our way.

I respect your opinion although I do not agree with all of it.

indeed

I am a proponent of the death penalty. Left to me I would administer it freely. People ask "do you think you are god or something "? Absolutely not and I am offended by the remark. Even Roman ,Greek Norse, etc gods had major character flaws.,but that sumbitch the Jews Muslims and Christians talk about is a psychotic, deranged, sadistic insert adjective here. No definitely not a god but I live by a self imposed code of ethics that I feel good about and I have the confidence in my judgment that those I declare as deserving of death, deserve death. I believe the majority of intelligent, open- minded, fundamentally honest, non-criminal folks would have no problem with my choice of culls. Of course there will always be a number of whiny, crying, violence is never the solution types that can't be satisfied. Don't come crying to me when one of my potential culls rapes or otherwise violates you or a loved one and you weren't able to defend yourself due to your attitude about violence. You had no weapon to defend yourself or skills and experience fighting. Violence has saved my ass several times because I had knowledge, experience and hesitation. I would solve the overcrowded prison problem. If an inmate is never getting out he is a liability. Financially, influence, morale . Their life has lost it's usefulness

1. True-ish
2. I am satisfied with where science has postulated life came from and have no problem with my gap in knowledge to the extent with which it exists. Some thing may not be knowable.
3. Seems true
4. Mostly True
5. Again, mostly true
6. Probably mostly true
7. Not the most precise definition, but it will work for this.
8. To the extent that we should be. This is where I think some of this falls apart. If I am tolerant of someone else's belief and that belief causes harm, well I shouldn't have been tolerant of it.
   8.5. Sure, I can get behind that.
9. Because that is oversimplifying it. Following that logic we should all just be having as many babies as possible so we can spread that special-ness everywhere.
10. I don't have a problem with that.
11. Mostly against, I think. I think the whole system of punishment needs to be rethought towards reform. If a person can be changed it's better than eliminating them.
12. Again, I find the term "deserves" problematic. Whose dolling out the deserve? Everything should be working towards a more harmonious society. To the extent that a person can be changed, they should have the chance to redeem themselves.
13. Almost took my words.
14. Misery, torture and pain doesn't make life as a whole more or less special. To the extent that it's possible we should be working towards less misery, suffering, and pain for everyone. It certainly seems to exist for some.
15. Some don't
16. I don't think that follows at all given what you've said. I mean, I do support suicide. But it is such an irreversible act that I think we should take it very seriously. What someone decides to do right now is, at that instant, forever. Life can change and someone could have a very good life a head of them. But suicide isn't an action you ever have the chance to regret. And we know that there have been attempted suicides that people never try again. It fact, statistically, most people never try to kill themselves again. I just think we need to be very careful about when we allow people to have assisted suicide. (Unassisted we don't have much control over)

1. Agreed

2. Yes to the self-aware life, but I do have satisfactory explanations.

3. It is explained to my satisfaction and because of the explanation it is indeed special.

4. Agreed

5. That I do at every opportunity.

6. Agreed

7. Not what I would declare as the definition of 'happiness', but okay.

8. and 9. We have a general level of agreement here, but with the exception of being tolerant of other's beliefs as long as they are harmless expressions of happiness. The problem here is in what one defines as harmless. Pushing religious ideas into schools, legal systems, and politics is not to be tolerated under any circumstances. But, go on....

9. Oops. Here be the briar patch, Brer Rabbit. I am vehemently opposed to any male nincompoop sticking his limp noodle into business only women can really understand. Further, there are issues of health for the mother which includes her well-being and only the woman who is directly involved can have the right to decide what that means. Therefor, though I don't much care for the idea of abortion, I also understand the need for freedom to make those decisions being left to the woman involved and not to others outside who have no right encroaching on hers.

10. No argument there, either. Many of the animals on our planet are self-aware entities in their own right, also.

11. On the death penalty, there is no argument one can make in favor of it that makes any sense whatsoever. Economically it is better not to have it. There is no moral argument in favor of the death penalty that can stand up to scrutiny unless one bases their ideas in the biblical standards -- a place where a lot of worms dwell. The death penalty can be considered nothing more than state sponsored murder.

12. This is an extension of 12. The answer is simple, but requires the answer to be formed as a question. Why should anyone have the right to kill another viable human being (again, somewhat different from the issue of abortion)?

13. Possibly, but how would it be determined they had done so and who would make that determination? On the other hand, there is more than adequate evidence that the death penalty is something of a reward to many so convicted and sentenced.

14. No, we don't get to order a life specifically intended to give us pleasure. Life entails everything for everyone and with no particular favor shown to anyone. What apparent favor there is is the result of human constructs such as economic status (which includes membership in royal families, sons and daughters of the president, etc.), caste or class distinctions, etc.

15. Each of us is allowed to make decisions about how we view our lives and what comes along with them. Some of us choose to opt out, some of us don't. There is no plan to be followed. There are physical and mental issues that often drive these decisions. Until we have found answers for these problems, people will continue to opt out or stay in.

16. We are in total agreement here, except 'assisted suicide' carries a heavy negative connotation and is one of the ways that those in opposition to it have been able to maintain control. I prefer the term 'Voluntary Euthanasia'.

17. I think you will find that we atheists have a greater appreciation for life than the opposition. We have one life to live, there is nothing beyond, make this the bestest, finestest, superest life you can make it and be damned sure to spread the joy.

It might be better to deal with each of these premises one at a time. \Sixteen at once is whole bunch to try to attend to.

I am an agnostic, not an atheist.

Ever think of becoming active in Jainism? Atheism to me is simply the lack of belief in God or Gods and takes no other political or moral stand.

I think this blurs a lot of issues and lumps them under one heading. Different people may consider different factors on each of these points