I doubt anybody or anything is this world can manipulate me or any sane person in this way. Question is how the hell they keep finding these mentally challenged or otherwise just evil people.

I think this guy and his accomplice just won the asshole of the year award:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Third_Position/status/742156880928067584/video/1

Shitty news, but it's an inevitable backlash due to all the commendable progress that has been made on the LGBT front.

Considering how many homophobes we still have, and mix that with some frakking crazy beliefs and motives, this is very tragic but not surprising. There will always be that asshole, and in such a "free" country as is the US, well, conflicting opinions are common.

I'm not sure the gun problem is so much as the silly amount of guns available to their citizens, (because I know there are some very gun-dense European countries and these type of attacks are very rare there) or there actually is something broken in the whole American culture and batshit crazy media empire they feed to their citizens.

Desensitized to it...maybe that is it. Who knows. The way you put it BC though, it's out of proper context. I might accept that if I go to a movie I might get shot, but every time I step in the car I also realize I could get in an accident and die. In fact, the likelihood of the latter is 100000000000x more likely.

The problem for me lies in my lack of faith in the political system. Another shooting happens, people will talk, nothing will get done because conservatives, which make up a significant portion of the population and also the majority of congress, won't push anything through. Democrat and Republicans are fed big $$ from the NRA to not do anything. Perhaps most importantly, our sacred constitution supposedly protects our right to own guns. It doesn't matter how outdated the Constitution might be, many Americans will hold to it steadfastly and you don't go about making changes to the Constitution quickly. Sometimes it takes a civil war, or a movement like women's suffrage.

Unlike the civil war, or women's suffrage (both of which probably had around/at least 50% of the population fighting for the change) there is a significant amount of American's who still want guns regardless of the shootings. Those that make up the opposition lie in large numbers the disenfranchised, or--in a twist of fate that's even more depressing--the disenfranchised want guns to make sure that they don't die in the streets. Where are the numbers, even, to stage a big protest? They don't exist.

I do not think it's the norm for an American to go to the movies and to even put into account that he might get shot. I spent a week in Florida last month, and let me tell you: I felt in-fukcin-vincible compared to how I feel back home or in another Latin country. The US is one of the safest countries in the world to live in.

What distorts all this, is the insane media coverage you guys get. Any shooting, celebrity meltdown or any half Arab-sounding person farting in the name of Islam is going to get coverage. And they'll set it up in a way that you are emotionally affected, be it anger, surprise, fear etc.

This all means the media get their stories and their viewers while propagating fear, the viewers get scared and consider getting a(more) gun(guns) to protect themselves from the ISIS/non-caucasian person threatening their safety, and the gun manufacturers get rich and lobby congress to maintain the stance, of course hiding behind the famous amendment. And such is the circle of life.

My point is that while there definitely are some issues, I find it laughable about the insecurity an average American feels after events such as these, considering 95% of the planet is in a worse or much shittier situation than you guys are. No, you don't need more guns. No, that asshole does not represent a whole minority or a whole religion. And no, it's not completely the guns' fault all these people are dead, although it definitely made it simpler (RIP, by the way).

All this fearmongering is exactly what these assholes want.

Orlando shootings: 'No clear evidence' of IS link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36521761


Edit: Meanwhile, Omar Mateen's ex-wife says he was "mentally ill," abused steroids and showed no signs of religious radicalism

The NRA has 90% of Republicans in their back pocket, so whether they genuinely believe in their stance on gun control or not, they can't say anything different. They've already taken campaign donations from the NRA. The remaining 10% who haven't taken probably genuinely believe in that stance anyway.

So interesting developments

The shooter has been going to the gay bar for the past 3 years... And was also exchanging messages with another gay guy.

RealGunner wrote:So interesting developments

The shooter has been going to the gay bar for the past 3 years... And was also exchanging messages with another gay guy.

And was using a gay app for the last few years. Former classmates also confirmed he's gay.

Plot twist.

Seems like a case of closet homosexual who has been fighting a battle with religious teachings who taught him not to be gay.

Religion is worse for some peoples mental health than class A drugs.


You can't give a lot of poorly educated/generally stupid people a concept of a higher power and all of these damn ridiculous rules and not have carnage. Not to mention in present times where getting a lethal assault rifle is as easy as ordering a Pizza.

Tomwin Lannister wrote:Religion is worse for some peoples mental health than class A drugs.


You can't give a lot of poorly educated/generally stupid people a concept of a higher power and all of these damn ridiculous rules and not have carnage. Not to mention in present times where getting a lethal assault rifle is as easy as ordering a Pizza.

Generally speaking everything you just wrote there is 100% wrong, as in not just wrong, but the opposite of the truth.
Mental health and carnage are more effectively maintained in religious communities than secular ones:

https://www.hks.harvard.edu/saguaro/communitysurvey/docs/exec_summ.pdf

RED wrote:Also check out the video in this tweet

Woooooowwwww. So happening live. A guy dropped info they didn't know about and they cut him off the air. Crazy.

And they say freedom of speech

Don't call me James wrote:I doubt anybody or anything is this world can manipulate me or any sane person in this way. Question is how the hell they keep finding these mentally challenged or otherwise just evil people.

Because you and your forefathers and probably your country has had it easy.

A lot of these people have a connection of being oppressed whether its their family's/country's history or religion, You have no idea the way they can relate to all of this. Its enough to kill hundreds of people without blinking an eye, which exactly is the problem. Its very difficult to educate these people, and almost impossible to start identifying them.

DuringTheWar wrote:

Tomwin Lannister wrote:Religion is worse for some peoples mental health than class A drugs.


You can't give a lot of poorly educated/generally stupid people a concept of a higher power and all of these damn ridiculous rules and not have carnage. Not to mention in present times where getting a lethal assault rifle is as easy as ordering a Pizza.

Generally speaking everything you just wrote there is 100% wrong, as in not just wrong, but the opposite of the truth.
Mental health and carnage are more effectively maintained in religious communities than secular ones:

https://www.hks.harvard.edu/saguaro/communitysurvey/docs/exec_summ.pdf

So growing up to detest other peoples way of life, actively hating homosexuals / different religions and following rules that have no place in todays society is all well & good then is it?


Religion can and does brainwash people, particularly people who get caught at a young age and have no idea that what they're being taught isn't the undeniable truth.

And after scanning through that document you linked me, I've gathered that it's talking about America and it's talking about how people in communities who participate in the same activities I.E the SAME RELIGION get along well with each other. No shit, if the entire world believed on one singular way of life we'd all get along, no matter how ridiculous that way of life was.


"What is the impact of this religious engagement? Involvement in communities of faith
among all goers collectively is strongly associated with giving and volunteering. Indeed,
involvement in religious community is among the strongest predictors of giving and
volunteering for religious causes as well as for secular ones. Religious communities
embody one of the most important sources of social capital and concern for community in
America. Religious people are great at "doing for.""




So yeah, basically if you're a Christian in America meeting up with other Christians to do Christian activities then all the better to you

That has nothing to do with the shit that ALL the main religions have caused and do cause regularly. The report also says nothing about devout followers of differing religions co existing. Which as we know, doesn't end well in many cases.






And then it goes on to say this


"Generally speaking, our survey found disturbingly unequal access to social capital in
most American communities. Rates of political participation, social participation, social
trust, and the like are quite different in different social strata. For example,
blacks/hispanics were less than half as likely to trust other people in their neighborhoods
a lot as whites (56% of whites trusted people in their neighborhoods v. 21% for blacks
and 19% for hispanics). Forty-six percent of whites had 6 or more close friends versus
only 28% of blacks and 30% of hispanics. Sixteen percent of blacks and 26% of hispanics
never spoke with their neighbors versus this being the case with only 6% of whites.
Whites were more likely to vote and be registered to vote than blacks or hispanics
(controlling for citizenship), and more likely than blacks and hispanics to work on
community projects or sign a petition.5
In some sense, that is, our survey uncovered the ocial capital equivalent of the "digital divide." Americans who lack access to financial
and human capital also lack access to social capital. Quite apart from increasing the level
of civic engagement in American communities, we need to attend to its social distribution."



You might as well have linked me a Game of Thrones review page to argue against my point. Wtf has this entire study got to do with the problems Religions cause all over the World.





If I want a study on the importance of being Christian in a small American town i'll definitely DM you for more articles though.




"Throughout, blacks showed greater religiosity than whites4
; hispanics showed greater
religious affiliation and church attendance than whites but lower levels of membership
and lower levels of participation in religious activities outside of services. Ninety one
percent of blacks and 93% of hispanics reported religious affiliation versus 88% of
whites. Fifty one percent of blacks attended religious services almost weekly or more
often vs. 48% of hispanics and 43% of whites. Sixty four percent of blacks in the national

4
Throughout this Executive Summary, "white" is used as shorthand for non-hispanic white.
3
sample were members of religious communities vs. 59% of whites and 43% of hispanics.
Forty seven percent of blacks participated in religious activities other than religious
services as compared to 41% of whites and 31% of hispanics.
The survey found big differences by age with respect to religion. Younger respondents
(18-34 years of age) were far less likely to be Protestants than respondents older than
they were, and far more likely to be everything else (including expressing no religious affiliation)."






Wtf does my dislike of Religion have to do with different ethnic groups and their willingness to participate in religious activities?



People who can't handle the concept of Religion and try to force other their views upon other people using hatred and violence are disgusting.



Of course, I could link you to 1,000 articles detailing the negative impact that Religions have had on society but i'll let you do that for yourself, it's not difficult.



At the end of the day, you average Religious person is great. No different to any other person, they just keep their beliefs to themselves and accept people with different/opposing views. But so many disgusting religious groups brainwash and manipulate their communities for a multitude of reasons such as financial gain and inciting acts of violence.


End result, you have idiots running around killing innocent people throughout the history of humanity because a book written X amount of years ago told them those innocent peoples way of living is WRONG. And whilst most people are intelligent enough to recognise that is stupid, not every human being has enough common sense to see that.

Tomwin Lannister wrote:

DuringTheWar wrote:

Tomwin Lannister wrote:Religion is worse for some peoples mental health than class A drugs.


You can't give a lot of poorly educated/generally stupid people a concept of a higher power and all of these damn ridiculous rules and not have carnage. Not to mention in present times where getting a lethal assault rifle is as easy as ordering a Pizza.

Generally speaking everything you just wrote there is 100% wrong, as in not just wrong, but the opposite of the truth.
Mental health and carnage are more effectively maintained in religious communities than secular ones:

https://www.hks.harvard.edu/saguaro/communitysurvey/docs/exec_summ.pdf

So growing up to detest other peoples way of life, actively hating homosexuals / different religions and following rules that have no place in todays society is all well & good then is it?


Religion can and does brainwash people, particularly people who get caught at a young age and have no idea that what they're being taught isn't the undeniable truth.

And after scanning through that document you linked me, I've gathered that it's talking about America and it's talking about how people in communities who participate in the same activities I.E the SAME RELIGION get along well with each other. No shit, if the entire world believed on one singular way of life we'd all get along, no matter how ridiculous that way of life was.


"What is the impact of this religious engagement? Involvement in communities of faith
among all goers collectively is strongly associated with giving and volunteering. Indeed,
involvement in religious community is among the strongest predictors of giving and
volunteering for religious causes as well as for secular ones. Religious communities
embody one of the most important sources of social capital and concern for community in
America. Religious people are great at "doing for.""




So yeah, basically if you're a Christian in America meeting up with other Christians to do Christian activities then all the better to you

That has nothing to do with the shit that ALL the main religions have caused and do cause regularly. The report also says nothing about devout followers of differing religions co existing. Which as we know, doesn't end well in many cases.






And then it goes on to say this


"Generally speaking, our survey found disturbingly unequal access to social capital in
most American communities. Rates of political participation, social participation, social
trust, and the like are quite different in different social strata. For example,
blacks/hispanics were less than half as likely to trust other people in their neighborhoods
a lot as whites (56% of whites trusted people in their neighborhoods v. 21% for blacks
and 19% for hispanics). Forty-six percent of whites had 6 or more close friends versus
only 28% of blacks and 30% of hispanics. Sixteen percent of blacks and 26% of hispanics
never spoke with their neighbors versus this being the case with only 6% of whites.
Whites were more likely to vote and be registered to vote than blacks or hispanics
(controlling for citizenship), and more likely than blacks and hispanics to work on
community projects or sign a petition.5
In some sense, that is, our survey uncovered the ocial capital equivalent of the "digital divide." Americans who lack access to financial
and human capital also lack access to social capital. Quite apart from increasing the level
of civic engagement in American communities, we need to attend to its social distribution."



You might as well have linked me a Game of Thrones review page to argue against my point. Wtf has this entire study got to do with the problems Religions cause all over the World.





If I want a study on the importance of being Christian in a small American town i'll definitely DM you for more articles though.




"Throughout, blacks showed greater religiosity than whites4
; hispanics showed greater
religious affiliation and church attendance than whites but lower levels of membership
and lower levels of participation in religious activities outside of services. Ninety one
percent of blacks and 93% of hispanics reported religious affiliation versus 88% of
whites. Fifty one percent of blacks attended religious services almost weekly or more
often vs. 48% of hispanics and 43% of whites. Sixty four percent of blacks in the national

4
Throughout this Executive Summary, "white" is used as shorthand for non-hispanic white.
3
sample were members of religious communities vs. 59% of whites and 43% of hispanics.
Forty seven percent of blacks participated in religious activities other than religious
services as compared to 41% of whites and 31% of hispanics.
The survey found big differences by age with respect to religion. Younger respondents
(18-34 years of age) were far less likely to be Protestants than respondents older than
they were, and far more likely to be everything else (including expressing no religious affiliation)."






Wtf does my dislike of Religion have to do with different ethnic groups and their willingness to participate in religious activities?



People who can't handle the concept of Religion and try to force other their views upon other people using hatred and violence are disgusting.



Of course, I could link you to 1,000 articles detailing the negative impact that Religions have had on society but i'll let you do that for yourself, it's not difficult.



At the end of the day, you average Religious person is great. No different to any other person, they just keep their beliefs to themselves and accept people with different/opposing views. But so many disgusting religious groups brainwash and manipulate their communities for a multitude of reasons such as financial gain and inciting acts of violence.


End result, you have idiots running around killing innocent people throughout the history of humanity because a book written X amount of years ago told them those innocent peoples way of living is WRONG. And whilst most people are intelligent enough to recognise that is stupid, not every human being has enough common sense to see that.

lol I didn't say religions make people like homosexuals etc. I used that study merely to show that it's actually good for mental health and doesn't cause more carnage than it prevents.
Fact is, it is positively associated with healthy happy communities (which is the only reason I posted the link), and therefore reduces carnage and bad mental health,.
Tolerance means letting people get on with their lives regardless of whether you like their lifestyle, you don't have to actually like their lifestyle. You don't have to be some non-judgemental care-free weed smoking hippy or something to be tolerant.

He might not have been ISIS inspired or radicalized but the fact that his dad said "I don't know why he would do this, Allah will punish the homosexuals himself eventually" does show a religious link.

That's not an unusual thinking for religious guy of his generation. Most old people (specially those who were born and raised in a country like Afghanistan) think like that.


I don't believe there is any ISIS connection. Religious connection is probably there if he was a closet homosexual fighting his demons. His wife describes him as mentally ill and abusive too which doesnt help.

DuringTheWar wrote:

Tomwin Lannister wrote:

DuringTheWar wrote:


Generally speaking everything you just wrote there is 100% wrong, as in not just wrong, but the opposite of the truth.
Mental health and carnage are more effectively maintained in religious communities than secular ones:

https://www.hks.harvard.edu/saguaro/communitysurvey/docs/exec_summ.pdf

So growing up to detest other peoples way of life, actively hating homosexuals / different religions and following rules that have no place in todays society is all well & good then is it?


Religion can and does brainwash people, particularly people who get caught at a young age and have no idea that what they're being taught isn't the undeniable truth.

And after scanning through that document you linked me, I've gathered that it's talking about America and it's talking about how people in communities who participate in the same activities I.E the SAME RELIGION get along well with each other. No shit, if the entire world believed on one singular way of life we'd all get along, no matter how ridiculous that way of life was.


"What is the impact of this religious engagement? Involvement in communities of faith
among all goers collectively is strongly associated with giving and volunteering. Indeed,
involvement in religious community is among the strongest predictors of giving and
volunteering for religious causes as well as for secular ones. Religious communities
embody one of the most important sources of social capital and concern for community in
America. Religious people are great at "doing for.""




So yeah, basically if you're a Christian in America meeting up with other Christians to do Christian activities then all the better to you

That has nothing to do with the shit that ALL the main religions have caused and do cause regularly. The report also says nothing about devout followers of differing religions co existing. Which as we know, doesn't end well in many cases.






And then it goes on to say this


"Generally speaking, our survey found disturbingly unequal access to social capital in
most American communities. Rates of political participation, social participation, social
trust, and the like are quite different in different social strata. For example,
blacks/hispanics were less than half as likely to trust other people in their neighborhoods
a lot as whites (56% of whites trusted people in their neighborhoods v. 21% for blacks
and 19% for hispanics). Forty-six percent of whites had 6 or more close friends versus
only 28% of blacks and 30% of hispanics. Sixteen percent of blacks and 26% of hispanics
never spoke with their neighbors versus this being the case with only 6% of whites.
Whites were more likely to vote and be registered to vote than blacks or hispanics
(controlling for citizenship), and more likely than blacks and hispanics to work on
community projects or sign a petition.5
In some sense, that is, our survey uncovered the ocial capital equivalent of the "digital divide." Americans who lack access to financial
and human capital also lack access to social capital. Quite apart from increasing the level
of civic engagement in American communities, we need to attend to its social distribution."



You might as well have linked me a Game of Thrones review page to argue against my point. Wtf has this entire study got to do with the problems Religions cause all over the World.





If I want a study on the importance of being Christian in a small American town i'll definitely DM you for more articles though.




"Throughout, blacks showed greater religiosity than whites4
; hispanics showed greater
religious affiliation and church attendance than whites but lower levels of membership
and lower levels of participation in religious activities outside of services. Ninety one
percent of blacks and 93% of hispanics reported religious affiliation versus 88% of
whites. Fifty one percent of blacks attended religious services almost weekly or more
often vs. 48% of hispanics and 43% of whites. Sixty four percent of blacks in the national

4
Throughout this Executive Summary, "white" is used as shorthand for non-hispanic white.
3
sample were members of religious communities vs. 59% of whites and 43% of hispanics.
Forty seven percent of blacks participated in religious activities other than religious
services as compared to 41% of whites and 31% of hispanics.
The survey found big differences by age with respect to religion. Younger respondents
(18-34 years of age) were far less likely to be Protestants than respondents older than
they were, and far more likely to be everything else (including expressing no religious affiliation)."






Wtf does my dislike of Religion have to do with different ethnic groups and their willingness to participate in religious activities?



People who can't handle the concept of Religion and try to force other their views upon other people using hatred and violence are disgusting.



Of course, I could link you to 1,000 articles detailing the negative impact that Religions have had on society but i'll let you do that for yourself, it's not difficult.



At the end of the day, you average Religious person is great. No different to any other person, they just keep their beliefs to themselves and accept people with different/opposing views. But so many disgusting religious groups brainwash and manipulate their communities for a multitude of reasons such as financial gain and inciting acts of violence.


End result, you have idiots running around killing innocent people throughout the history of humanity because a book written X amount of years ago told them those innocent peoples way of living is WRONG. And whilst most people are intelligent enough to recognise that is stupid, not every human being has enough common sense to see that.

lol I didn't say religions make people like homosexuals etc. I used that study merely to show that it's actually good for mental health and doesn't cause more carnage than it prevents.
Fact is, it is positively associated with healthy happy communities (which is the only reason I posted the link), and therefore reduces carnage and bad mental health,.
Tolerance means letting people get on with their lives regardless of whether you like their lifestyle, you don't have to actually like their lifestyle. You don't have to be some non-judgemental care-free weed smoking hippy or something to be tolerant.

Of course religion is good for communities if every *bleep* person believes in the same thing. Hell joining a damned Cult would be great for everybody involved on a social level. Not so much for people who go against said cults beliefs.


As far as your tolerance comment, yeah it works real good on paper but the most extreme blinded followers of the major religions don't tolerate shit. It's either their holy books way or nothing. As I've said a while ago, a big part of the problem is idiots who get caught up in Religion. Idiots who can't think for themselves.

People manipulate their religious texts to fit in with their own pathetic ideas, and hell even the books themselves have some shady, outdated views on society. So the idea that Religion and tolerance can go hand in hand is stupid.



"Doesn't cause more carnage than it prevents" is bullshit too. You think a local community fundraiser and a nice little charity event outweighs the Religious slaughter and wars that have plagued this World for countless years?

Sure Religion can help a community. But what about when opposing religions and devout followers of those religions are in the same community? It's anything but peaceful.

Lucifer wrote:

The day atheists explan to me what/who is the origin of (human) life itself and everything we see around us, I'll become an atheist. So far, it's a bunch of BS "Big Bang Theory" talk that STILL doesn't explain an origin.

"Oh, idk, it just....happened"...."there was nothing and then all of a sudden, there was something"...yeah sure.

For a group of people so hell bent on finding "answers" or "proof", they seem to have none for that question.

But it's all good. To each his/her own.

Blue Barrett wrote:

Lucifer wrote:

The day atheists explan to me what/who is the origin of (human) life itself and everything we see around us, I'll become an atheist. So far, it's a bunch of BS "Big Bang Theory" talk that STILL doesn't explain an origin.

"Oh, idk, it just....happened"...."there was nothing and then all of a sudden, there was something"...yeah sure.

For a group of people so hell bent on finding "answers" or "proof", they seem to have none for that question.

But it's all good. To each his/her own.

Even then wouldnt a belief in religion require there being an answer for what was before god?

I mean, if you believe there was always a dude-bro sitting around creating things, then the belief that something just happened isn't too farfetched.

For or against Religion, there's not much point ruling out either possibility because of a lack of proof. We know nothing relevant either way.



For me, i'm open minded in the sense it could be a higher power behind it all. But I don't believe for one second this higher power gives two shits about any of our religious interpretations, and I don't think they have some sort of divine plan.

I'll see what happens when I die, and if people get punished in the afterlife for choosing the incorrect holy book and making the wrong decision about a Religion which is basically like winning a lottery seeing as no Religion offers proof of anything, then we're all a bit screwed then aren't we?


It's basically like me saying pick a number between 1 and 5,000. It could be any number. I'm giving you no clues. Guess wrong, and you'll burn in hell. Awesome.

To me, if a divine all powerful being wanted us to follow their rules, they would make their will known clearly and to everybody. If you can create the Universe, you can probably create a Youtube instruction video too

Bottom line is:

Shit is complicated.
But however complicated it is, it would claim less victims without the access to automatic assault rifles.

Betty La Fea wrote:

Blue Barrett wrote:

Lucifer wrote:

The day atheists explan to me what/who is the origin of (human) life itself and everything we see around us, I'll become an atheist. So far, it's a bunch of BS "Big Bang Theory" talk that STILL doesn't explain an origin.

"Oh, idk, it just....happened"...."there was nothing and then all of a sudden, there was something"...yeah sure.

For a group of people so hell bent on finding "answers" or "proof", they seem to have none for that question.

But it's all good. To each his/her own.

Even then wouldnt a belief in religion require there being an answer for what was before god?

I mean, if you believe there was always a dude-bro sitting around creating things, then the belief that something just happened isn't too farfetched.

I lol'd

Dude-bro? What if it is in truth some sis?