Trump withdrawals federal protection for transgender bathrooms in schools.

Great news. Leave it up to the states to support this stupid initiative. If you can't figure out what bathroom you should use seek mental health.

Says the guy who spends his time living in the delusion that he is a fictional serial killer. You should get yourself checked out first, and this will get overturned in time like most of Trump's distractions.

the scotus will over rull this trump will lose once again

@Mercenary848: wrong. I live my life as a engineer who collects items that appreciate in value who belongs to the 1% privileged white male category and has a net worth of 1.5 million at age 44. Not a person who can't figure out if they should stand or sit to take a piss.

@Mercenary848: what? lol

"Not going to happen" xoxo =P

The only part of that I believe is that you are 44(the 1972), that being said you just spout off the same warped right wing propaganda. You are older, and I suspect the reality of your life isn't nearly as glamorous as your internet facade tries to portray it. All I can say is, just do not breath in too much of that crud the media spews and the real world isn't cut and dry like you have been led to believe.

Are you mad that he makes more money than you? You seemed very triggered to attack Dante because of his avatar.

I knew this girl who had a hormone imbalance that made her look kind of like a dude. She got sick of being kicked out of Women's restrooms all the time and stared using the Men's room instead. It worked because men don't look at each other while in the restroom.

I think people that people should simply use the bathroom that they sexually identify with. We are talking about pissing and shitting, afterall, I dont see much of a chance of rates of abuse going up. However, the idea that the government should step in and force private citizens and companies to adhere to these standards, is patently absurd.

It isn't hard to figure out, if you have a penis you go into the men's room, if you have a vagina the women's room. I really don't give a shit what you identify yourself as.

Good, it should be a states rights issue.

Why are Republicans so obsessed with bathrooms?

If only they put the same amount of effort and dedication into more important issues.

Why does the left want to overrule on states rights issues?

If only they put the same amount of effort and dedication into more important issues.

Liberty should not be an option.

Because you then have states like North Carolina who want to discriminate against transgender people.

I make almost 200k a year in IA, and I think Trump is wrong on this one.

I don't like when anybody attacks civil liberties.

I'm not one of those people that think there are 300 genders and if you feel like a koala bear, that's what you are. Transgender is a real thing though and you can't take away rights just given to them like that.

This has Pence written all over it.

What a hilarious way to frame the issue, considering it's the democrats who are hell-bent on forcing transmanian bathroom laws on the rest of America. You have one side that says "hey, we should let people decide what they're comfortable with", and the other side who's like "OMG U ALL HAVE TO DO EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT OR ELSE"

Your frame of reference is wrong. The dems didn't take up the issue until republican statehouses started making laws that say you have to use the bathroom associated with your sex at birth. Before republicans did that, trans people were using the bathroom of their choice without issue since like forever.

Good. It is ridiculous that the left ever legalized it for men to use the women's bathroom.

“The Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” -John Adams

“We should begin by setting conscience free. When all men of all religions shall enjoy equal liberty, property, and an equal chance for honors and power we may expect that improvements will be made in the human character and the state of society.” -John Adams

“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, then that of blindfolded fear.” -Thomas Jefferson

“Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.” -Thomas Jefferson

“Every new and successful example of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance.” -James Madison

No. The concept of Liberty as exercised by The Constitution is entirely non-Christian. Let's look at what many consider the be the basis of Biblical Law, The Ten Commandments:

1. Though shalt have no other Gods before me.

Violated by the first amendment.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven (carved) image.

Violated by the first amendment.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of The Lord thy God in vain.

Again, violated by the first amendment.

4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

When was the last time you were arrested for working on Sunday?

5. Honor thy father and thy mother.

No law as such.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

Okay. But all societies have banned murder.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Not illegal.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

Okay again, but in what society is theft okay?

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Perjury, yeah we have laws against that, but this isn't a Christian idea and predated even Judaism.

10. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."

Doesn't sound much like our capitalist society, does it?

__________________________________________________________________

I find it funny when people suggest that morality began with Christianity. If you want to look at the origins of Western Morality, you actually have to go back at least as far as Zoroastrianism. "Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, and then all beneficial rewards will come to you also." Sound familiar?

So much for Trump defending LGBT rights. He really is scum.

I would argue more that law is the basis of Western Civilization. I know it's hard to believe but many ancient civilizations had a laissez-faire attitude toward crime and punishment, with most 'trials' and punishments meted out by the people themselves (this is even attested to in both the old and new testaments).

It's really only when Rome (as a republic, pre-imperial) came onto the stage that our ideas of what law is took shape. Of course, it would take till the Magna Carta for the idea that even rulers were under the law but nonetheless, there's a reason our government buildings are often modeled after Roman and (by association) Greek architecture.

I've always wanted to ask why people do this. God is a title, not a name. His name is Yahweh. Incidintally, the same Yahweh as was worshiped in the Canaanite pantheon as the son of El, and brother of Ba'al. (Moses's father-in-law was a priest of Yahweh in Canaan).

@Mercenary848: your right. My life is not glamorous hence my 1.5 million net worth. I work my ass off, live well below my means, have never owned a new car, have a reasonable house and don't feel I am entitled to anything by anyone. I have both my kids education accounts filled so they won't need student loans and spend most of my spare time reading books and playing games. I can't stand the left and especially millenials and their self entitled bullshit that the world owes them. Everyone thinks they are special and therefore are intitled to special things. Gays, transgender, blacks, whites, Asians, femanists all feel they have been somehow wronged. Too fn bad. All you little rainbow coalition leftists are entitled to NOTHING including special bathrooms for a mental condition. Oh and as for my Michael Myers collection. That mask in my avatar is a Della Torre original first run valued at around 600. I own around 25 different styles spanning all movies and some masks with human hair such as h20 father phantom studios. Original total value of everything around 20,000. Today's price for everything around 30,000.

So in other words "I'm a privileged rich boy so all of you should have your rights taken away because I say so!"

Sorry but boasting about your wealth doesn't make your argument better, all it does is make you look desperate.

I'm 40, have been retired since 2004. I went straight from high school to college and straight from college to owning a business. My net worth is several times that of yours. For fun I fly airplanes.

I can't stand the right. Their self-centered, selfish holier-than-thou attitude and complete denial of observational science flies right in the face of good character. Their denial of the obvious in both the social and scientific realms leads them to conclusions based not on any relevance to reality but rather to some preconceived conclusion that defies all logic and reason.

Interracial marriage? Deal with it. Gay marriage? Deal with it. Abortion? Deal with it. Liberals may not always win the battle, but we always, always win the war.

@dante1972: lmao at the millenials comment. Such a generic view of an entire generation. Your generation makes up the majority of the most annoying people I've ever met in my life. But I'm not going to make a generalization about all of you because of that.

And special bathrooms? Where? No one has called for a new bathroom. That's silly.

I know that minor social progressions like this one are scary to anyone over the age of 35, but chill out man. It doesn't harm you.

Well, there are several Gods in the Bible. Elohim (in the beginning Elohim) is plural and refers to the entire Canaanite pantheon. El is the father God, El-Elyon (El most high) is his title. Most obvious in this verse:

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel. For the LORD'S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. - Deuteronomy 32:8-9

Okay the English translation kinda butcheres it. Let's revert the names back to their proper forms:

When El Elyon gave the nations their inheritance, When El Elyon separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of El. For Yahweh's portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of Yahweh's inheritance.

So when you type G_D, are you referring to El? Yahweh? Ba'al?

It's like if someone just said "King". Okay...which one?

In the Levantine pantheon, the Elohim are the 70 sons of El the Ancient of Days (Olam) assembled on the divine holy place, Mount Zephon (Jebel Aqra). This mountain, which lies in Syria, was regarded as a portal to its heavenly counterpart. The Elohim were originally ruled by El Elyon (God Most High), but He later hands His rule down to the god called Hadad who was known among the common people as "the master" ("Baal"). Assembled on the holy mountain of heaven and ruled by one, the pantheon (Elohim) acts as one. The enemy of the Elohim is Yam ("the sea"), a chaos monster slain by Baal. Each son was allocated to a specific people (e.g. Yahweh to Israel, Milcom to Moab etc.).

It's pretty absurd that we make laws for what toilet you have to use.

@br0kenrabbit: funny. Your retired eh. Not what your previous posts say. You like to fly planes too. You mean flight sims on your computer.

I can read Hebrew, Greek, and some Aramaic. Do you recognize those languages? They're the languages The Bible was written in. Ever heard the phrase "lost in translation"? That's what happens when you don't read something in its original language.

The Biblical trail is obvious in the original languages. From polytheism (Elohim) to Yahweh's female consort (wife?) Asherah (mentioned in Exodus 34:13 ; Judges 6:25 ; 2 Kings 23:6 ; 1 Kings 16:33 2 Kings 21:7 among others, often translated as 'pole' or 'Asherah pole' depending on your edition...also, Asherah once belonged to El, so there's another connection with the Canaanite pantheon), the Bible is a far different book than what you've read in English (Okay, the New Testament is pretty much (*1 footnote) intact, but the Old Testament is a mess of mistranslation in English).

Only by learning both the original languages and the context of the time in which the work was written (meaning studying the various peoples and cultures of the period WHICH I HAVE SPENT DECADES DOING) can you come to a full understanding.

Another example of poor translation in the Old Testament is the word translated as 'Soul'. That word is Nephesh, and it DOES NOT mean what you think 'Soul' means. It simply means 'To breathe', to literally draw breath into and out of the lungs. Look at Genesis 2:7 for a proper use of the word:

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

A soul isn't something you possess that goes on living after you die. If you are alive, you are a soul. If you are dead, you are not. This is why the early Christians believed that in order to have an afterlife, the body had to be resurrected...because without your body you simply are not extant.

You tell me I don't know what I'm talking about again and I'm going to spin circles around you. Ask anyone whose been on this forum for a minute where this is going to go. Don't get into a religious argument with me and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Everyone here knows that.

(*1 Footnote - There is no Hell in the original languages of the old or new testaments. The words translated as Hell vary in meaning and include everything from a valley outside the city of Rome (Gehenna) to the literal hole your body is put in when buried (Sheol).

Lies. Find one post since I've been registered on this site that says I'm employed. On the contrary, check out this post from over 8 years ago, dumbass.

Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Adams, Paine, were all men of the enlightenment. Jefferson hated christianity, and made this fact known to anyone who would listen. Franklin took a bit more agnostic approach in public, but seemed to be a tortured deist going towards atheism. Madison was a Christian, which hammers the point of a secular constitution home further. Each group within christendom took every attempt to persecute the other groups within America. Look at the burned over district in New York, or the numerous inter faith violence in Connecticut to prove this.

It's really weird to me to hear people say our country is based upon christian values, when this is never actually articulated. Dis we need the ten commandments to outlaw murder, stealing and perjury? Really? The only time any religion is mentioned in our constitution is explicitly as to how to limit it. Does that seem like a country based upon a religion, ie a theocracy? This country is based upon personal freedoms and free expression, two ideals perfectly heterodox to christian doctrine. The idea of personal property is alien to the bible just as the very idea of privacy in general is. The Bible is based upon creating a theocracy here on earth in order to see the world destroyed. That is the entire point of revelation, and christian support for a jewish state. How do these beliefs inform secular liberal policy? The mere idea that the laws of men (secularity) being foisted above the law of the lord is counter to the Bible, and christian doctrine.

Our founding fathers took much more dictation from the Right of Man than the Bible.

Christian ethics? What is a christian ethic exactly? What moral action could a believer in christ do that I could not?

It is also important to note that Yahweh, pre judaism, was nothing but a son-god of El, the supreme God. Yahweh, and his brother Ba'al, were among dozens of the sons of El, the elder god. Israel literally means God Contended, or in older translations Fighting El. There is an easy logical line to see the Hebrew God, who is in dialogue with someone else in Genesis (other gods?), came from a pantheon, certain tribes favored different gods, periods of cross pollination of religious ideas, the Persian enslavement of the Jews which led to Jews adopting Zoroastrianism tenets, creating second temple judaism, etc etc etc.

In any case, one simply cannot trust the Bible for much of anything. It is our first, and worse attempt in many fields, gets most of what is confidently proclaims wrong, is proven to be written by ignorant and superstitious men, and it's foundational myths have been proven false by Jewish archaelogy. Israel Finkelstein conclusively proves there was no massacre of the innocents, the Jews were never enslaved within Egypt, they never conquered Canaan (Canaan was owned by Babylon before, during and after the Bible says the Jews conquered it), and the Kingdom of David was a modest town.

And by various sects with differing agendas. I mean, for the Torah alone you have the Priestly Source (P), the Yahwist (Y), the Elohist (E) and the Deuteronomist (D).

And once you get to the New Testament you have the same ordeal, especially with The Gospels. This is what leads to conflicts like 'How did Judas die' because he either died as stated in Matthew 27:5 or by the manner stated in Acts 1:18, but he obviously could not have met his fate in both ways.

Yes, and you also had people who could not have access to the texts to begin with, claiming intimate knowledge, in seeming ignorance of Jewish law. They are highly unlikely to know how to read their own languages, much less Greek. They wrote with complete ignorance to each other most of the time. This is why the Bible is such a sloppily thrown together compendium, rife with contradictions, special interest, and corruption over time and translation. And still, the faithful, like above, defend these people, refusing to do so much as even ask "What if these guys weren't perfect, and goofed?"

Here, 2000-3800 years later, in a secular republic, we have people telling us these rustic stories written by men who told the weather by piercing a chicken's belly are the basis in which our country was formed.....I dont even........

I used to think it was fear that lead people to not question their faith (and therefore do serious research and not just looking for points to confirm what they want to believe). Fear of God, fear of hell, whatever. These days I'm more apt to just writ it down to arrogance...they want to be right because they don't want to be wrong.

@toast_burner: So not letting horny teenagers pick what bathroom they want to oggle the opposite sex in is not defending gay rights? Lol, its pretty easy, you have a dick you belong in the men's restroom, you have a vagina you belong in the women's restroom, any questions?!?

It was never an issue until people brought it up.

That is how I was raised. I started having questions at like 12, adults could not answer them, and you've gone out of the rabbit hole. I used to not understand atheist friend's lack of belief. I was proposing Pascal's Wager before I had even a hint of knowledge on philosophy. It seems like simple bet hedging, looking back. I'm glad I threw off the mental shackle, because I am a far better person now I dont believe I am a worthless sinner, yet a chosen one on a mission for God.

Name any story you believe is true from the bible, and I, or any other think person, can easily refute. Go for it!!

@sol_invictus3: So you take his fact filled argument and say you COULD debunk it? Then do it. He appears to have actual credentials in this area, while you appear to be purely talking out of your ass. Or purely based on faith.