It seems like everyday i wake up, turn on the news, and all i see are stories about one group of people trying to force something on another group of people. I, for one, am sick and tired of this shite.

There is a thread about abortion that is currently heating up right now on collegenet. Why do people who are against abortion feel the need to force that onto others by trying to make it illegal? If you don't want one, don't get one. Don't try to force your beliefs on other people though.

The same goes for drugs and contraceptives, among many other things. If you don't want to do drugs, don't do them. It is not right, however, to take that freedom away from someone who might want to.
If you don't want to use condoms, don't. At the same time don't go try and make it harder for people to get them because you disagree with contraceptive use.
If you don't want to get married to someone of the same sex, then don't. It is wrong, however, to try and bar someone from doing so if they so choose.

Why cant people in our country have their morals and let that be that? Why do we have to go trying to force them on others?

I make this declaration: I will not try and force you to get an abortion, drink alcohol, do drugs, convert to Buddhism, or do anything else you don't want to do. You live in your world and do what you want, I will do the same. All I ask is that you show me the same common courtesy I am showing you.

I agree with you 100% on this one! I never mind too much about people sharing their opinions and beliefs with others. I will listen, but as soon as they start questioning mine and sliding into the preaching mode thats when I lose interest in the conversation. I'm a pretty open minded person and can see things from many angles but I could never change my beliefs just because someone wants me to adopt their ideas.

I also agree with the both of you. People should have the choice to do as they choose, and not be forced into something that they don't believe in just because somebody else does. We should all get the choice to do with ourselves as we want. It's our own life, and we all have our own morals. People should keep to themselves instead of forcing their beliefs. You have a very valid point.

Eyes,

Just...

...Thank you.

That's all.

I agree. People have the right to live their life how they want to. Their lifestyle is their choice and it affects them and only them, it is not necessary for people to get involved in other peoples lives. Its not right. Everyone should have an equal chance to live their life how they want to

Cheers to that! I totally agree. I don't expect everybody in the world to have my opinions but I don't try to change others or impose my beliefs upon them. In return, I don't want anybody jumping down my throat and telling me what to do and what not to do. Live and let live.

I agree, of course...

But, just to be the contrarian: I think you could make the case that even asking people to be open minded is forcing your beliefs on somebody.

People's beliefs will conflict. It's just part of life.

I don't think it's right to regulate beliefs, though. Basing law on religious beliefs is wrong, but other than that, I'm willing to let everybody have their say.

I think it takes great wisdom to know when it's worth fighting about, and when you just gotta let the idiots be idiots.

Instant attraction to this forum-great topic!!

People forcing their beliefs on others are one of those things that really tick me off.

For example, the other day some Baptists came knocking on my apartment door. My first question-"how did you get in here?" I live in a locked apartment building. You need a key to get in. Or someone to buzz you in, but it was just their luck that someone was moving out that day and had propped the doors open, and those guys just mosied on in. I had half a mind to call the police. At the very least, I called my landlord.

Whatever your religion is, I can respect it. I respect that you have beliefs, that you have a religion, but I'll be damned if you think you're going to force those beliefs on me. I'm very open-minded, but I'm also very stubborn.

Skaterboy, you raise a good point. Asking people to be open minding, expressing your desire for everyone to be open minded...though I think that's how it should be, that's just as bad. I've never thought of it like that.

That sparked another question in my head:

Aren't we forcing our beliefs on others, by participating on college net? Not in all cases...like forums about hobbies, self interests and what not. But most of these forums...they're about right and wrong, generally. And we're on here because we want our voices, our opinions to be heard. We want other to believe us, and believe in our opinions, don't we? I mean, I penalize no one for disagreeing with me, but I can't say that when I open a forum or respond, I'm hoping there is someone out there who agrees with me, or who I can influence to look at things in a whole new way. In fact, Skaterboy, you have done just that to me!!

It's something we all do on here. Perhaps that makes us all hypocrites, but it's just the illustration of how the world works, like you said, peoples' ideas will always conflict. I think on here we're actually encouraging that, but it is what it is, and I like it.

Great topic, and responses-thought provoking indeed.

It seems propriety is the main point of this.

I find this forum very naive.

How can you think that your actions don't affect other people?

How can you think that your life doesn't matter to anyone but you?

Are you so naive to think that making decisions does not affect anybody else but yourself.

We live in whole world-wide community. Every decision you make affects other people. The decision to eat, to breathe, to walk, to have sex, to live. Guess what it affects everyone around you. You eating in Arizona affects me in Indiana.

What you might think is forcing beliefs just might be for a better life for everyone.

How can you be so self-centered to think that you don't affect them every day?

I am sorry, but someday you will have to realize that your life is your own, and it is your responsibility to understand the affects you have on people around you.

How many people do you see in a day?

Care for someone besides yourself

Are you stoned, or just incompetent? I think you are responding to the wrong forum. But while you are here, please help me understand a few things.

1. How would me having a hot dog in AZ affect you in IN?
2. How would me having an abortion affect you?
3. How does me not believing in 'god' affect you?
4. How would me being gay affect you?


Oh that's right, none of these things would affect you in any way whatsoever.

As a gay American Nurse who served in the US ARMY during Desert Storm, I have not received the respect of allow my freedom to marry my life partner because of Right Wing ignorance. I'm an individual who believes in "LIVE AND LET LIVE" just as long as you do not cross my line of respect. You want an abortion go for just don't use it as a form of contraceptive; that is why latex was invented. You want to practice Santeria? go for it just make sure that the chicken that you sacrifice is used to feed the hungry. The Catholic "MAFIA" I meant to say church needs to worry about the hungry, lost, and/or hurting rather than putting their nose where it just doesn't belong. I hope that we are responsible enough, I have a mother that raised me well, I don't need Mother Teresa to reprimand me for the "Joint I smoked after I took my best friend to have and abortion located next to the CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS"...

I agree. Maybe we should start by respecting one anothers beliefs and opinions. Just because you aren't forcing anything on someone doesn't make it alright to be rude or make jokes about their beliefs.

I think you touched on a very important point Eyeswideshut with your second post.

I often find it kind of ridiculous the kinds of things that are, like you said, "forced upon" others that seem to be irrelevant to society as a whole. The denial of rights for homosexual individuals is probably the largest example of this.

Having said that, I return back to the point of pushing beliefs on others. In many ways you are correct, but to a certain extent I'm sure that you would agree with some of the basic standards/requirements on society and find them logical and necessary. Doesn't the illegalization of Jim Crow seem to the racist or Nazi a push of foreign beliefs onto him? Would the ban of murder seem like an unjustifiable suppression to a maniac?

I think that the case should be constructed like your second post of how exactly does this affect outside parties rather than the complaint about a requirement that you abide by others beliefs. After all, it is expectable that we outlaw murder, right? Your argument and that of everyone else should revolve around bringing up the question of how it negatively affects others, because unlike murder 2 girls getting married doesn’t affect others.

Some will say that these thing do affect society in a negative way. But I think you’ve got a much stronger case against them in proving otherwise in many of these examples. In future conflicts it may be a little harder to distinguish what affects others negatively, but I still feel that this is the center of the debate. So make your case a good one!

eyeswideshut

You need to learn how to have a respectful conversation with human beings with out name calling. It makes you look very immature.

To answer your question. As you use resources (such as hotdogs) up Virginia, they are no longer useful for me. We live as one global community. Get used to it.

Someone getting an abortion does affect other people. I had a friend who committed suicide because his girlfriend had an abortion. Tell that did not affect someone beside the mother. You have to understand that even getting married has an affect on the people you are around. They have to respect that relationship, and at times a marriage can change a friendship. A women aborting a baby is not just a personal issue. What if that baby would have grown up and affected someone in a profound way? You have just taken away that from ever happening?
Even if the baby has problems and is not expected to live past a couple day. One of my closest friends was not supposed to live after she was born, but she did now she has had an impact on my life.

Your decisions affect everyone around you, and in turn affect everyone around them. So your decisions do affect me even though I may be a couple states away or on the other side of the world.

I don't like people shoving ideas down my throat however I do enjoy a nice debate or reading a well constructed post.

Although I do agree with states (and the US Government in general) legalizing gay marriage (it does not have to be the religious form, just recognized by the government so they can have the same rights with their partners as us straight people have) even though a lot of people in this country are very against it. However, I think there is a distinction between law and someone in your face telling you what you should believe.

keymorn - It's not just the right wing that does not want gays to marry, left wing does not either or did you forget how CA voted last year?

So what you are trying to tell me is that the hotdog that i got from 7/11 was one you were going to come get, but since i ate it, you decided against coming to get my hotdog?

If someone kills themselves because someone else had an abortion, the world officially has one less moron in it.

No, i dont give a rats ass if you respect my marriage, it really does not matter to me. The only people my marriage should affect are me and my spouse. Anyone else is affecting themselves with my marriage.

Regardless of how infantile and poorly thought out your arguments are, it does not change the fact that my actions have little effect on others.

If i choose to drive drunk or shoot up a mall, then those actions have an effect on others. If i choose to have hot chocolate instead of coffee with my breakfast, my actions affect nobody but me.
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It seems some people have missed my point in the creation on this forum. Let me put it in a very few words so as to not confuse the simple minded:

Legislating needs to be restricted to what is good for the people as a whole, not what your bible tells you is good and bad.


There, simple enough for you?

Tflas, you need to remember that California is mostly a Republican State. I live in South Orange County where Botox is the way of life, where the white population feels that they are entitled regardless what there background is. Just today, Friday November 6, at my local Henry's supermarket, there were two individuals outside manifesting their beliefs. They had posters with OBAMA displayed as Hitler and the Devil. That is my daily ritual that I face. The ironic thing is that my partner who is from Iowa and now lives in California thinking that this state is on top of everything could not believe that Iowa accepts same sex marriage.

kemorn - Um, CA has not been a red state (Presidential Elections) since the 80s. Obama carried the state with quite a hefty margin in the past election (I believe he won by a larger percentage in CA than any President in the past 30 years). CA normally votes blue in national events even if you do end up with the occasional Republican Govenator (and lets face it, he's not a super conservative Republican).

I'm not sure if you mean that all the people you encounter there are rich, superficial and think they should be given everything or if you mean they want everything given to them. I can guarantee you that you can find people in either of those ball parks of any race, gender, and creed in most places.

Bush had been compared to Hitler, the Devil, etc many times yet most people did not have an issue with that. I personally think that is incredibly disrespectful to anyone leading our country.

On a side note, I'm interested to see how the gay marriage vote in DC turns out. DC is a very liberal city yet we have a large minority and religious population and they are very much against gay marriage. Oddly enough, from the few articles I've read, the few red areas of town are in favor of gay marriage.

I think you got a point eyeswideshut, when I came to America, I was like the country of freedom. But in reality are we free? Our freedom is very limited, and this is because people complain so much about so many things leading to the creation of new laws everyday, and the world goes around. Coming from Peru, I would say there is too much freedom but that freedom led our country to be poor because where there is too much freedom corruption arises. So in the overall, people should mind their own business; however, it is always good to listen to people to have a better opinion ourselves.

eyeswideshut

again you really need to learn how to have a constructive conversation about things without name calling. It makes you look more like a moron than what you say I look like.

Anyways it doesn't matter how small it affects me here. What you are showing is classic selfishness. It is demonstrated by every 2 year old in the world. I am glad you have matured to such a stage where nothing matters except what you do. good job.

Now done with that. So what if a bible tells me what is right and wrong. aren't you shoving your beliefs on me to say that it isn't the end all be all? Remember this is a two way street. Everybody wants to be politically correct in this country. Then stop offending me with you hatred of christianity. You can Hate God all you want. That does not stop him from loving you, and giving you the gift of life. You can waste away your life, and God would still love you. It is called unconditional love. You should try it sometime on someone else besides yourself.