I believe that rationality and logic have a chance, but they are facing the fact that after hydrogen, stupidity is the most common element in the universe!
In small groups, humans seem to behave rationally and can support one another. In large groups, they withdraw into tribal factions and demonize each other. Putin exploits this to exacerbate divisions and sow distrust in our institutions. Murdoch must be on his payroll, along with his stooges; Carlson, Hannity, & Ingraham.
Somehow, Trump is not dead last: https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?page=overall
I can see Buchanan, giving us Civil War. Johnson the Klan. But Pierce couldn’t be as bad as Trump.
I’ve said it before. Just because some of us do not go to church, that does not mean we do not believe in God. But, neither God nor Jesus intended for corrupt organizations to act as gatekeepers.
Stop the presses. After excluding those it finds unworthy for decade after decade, the church is shocked that people find it unworthy as a moral examplar. After taking non-biblical stands against any form of pleasure that didn’t reward existing industries, the church is shocked that people don’t find it to be a rewarding place to hang out.
For more than seven decades, I had always believed that Americans could, and would, come together for the common good. The Republican Party, Donald Trump, the American response to the Covid crisis, and the events of January 6, 2021, have shown me how naïve I’ve been all these years.
For me, it was observing too many churchgoers who forgot the lessons of the sermon as soon as they walked out the door… too many who acted like they could break as many church lessons as they wanted all week, feeling they could get a reboot by attending a church service again in the future…
There are certainly people I “believe” in – but they are also people I know where I have made my own evaluation of who they are and who they could be, should they so choose. Believe in people I don’t know? That is much sketchier.
Lauren Witzke, a popular Trump supporter, had her bank account shut down by Wells Fargo, leaving her homeless and without any money.. Witzke, who campaigned for the Senate in Delaware in 2020 as a Republican, stated in a Telegram message that Wells Fargo closed down her account, stolen all of her money and left her with a “zero balance.;” told by the bank that the move was strictly a “business decision,” opens questions why the decision was taken and if it had anything to do with her Christian conservative politics..
…and we have only have Lauren Witzke’s imagination on why it was closed…
I’m going with she somehow messed up financially, long before I would go with ‘because of her political beliefs.’
.
But it sure might have been nice to have had the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that the former guy gutted still on the job…
~
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made clear when it opened for business in 2011 that it would be “a cop on the beat” to protect people from unethical, abusive and illegal behavior on the part of financial institutions.
That cop spent much of the last four years waving at passing bankers and lenders from the doughnut shop.
Things are about to change.
It’s a virtual certainty that President-elect Joe Biden will replace President Trump’s appointee as CFPB director, Kathy Kraninger, with someone more focused on defending consumers than business interests.
“The CFPB’s once-stellar enforcement record and overall effort to stop illegal activity and hold financial entities accountable became instantly mediocre under the Trump administration,” Christine Hines, legislative director of the National Assn. of Consumer Advocates, told me.
To Kraninger’s credit, enforcement actions ramped up significantly after she took over from Mick Mulvaney in December 2018. The CFPB announced 48 enforcement actions last year, more than double the number of a year before.
These stats are misleading, however. Another key metric of the bureau’s effectiveness is how much money it pries out of companies that cross the line in their dealings with consumers.
In the bureau’s most active year under former President Obama, with 56 enforcement actions in 2015, it returned to consumers nearly $6 billion from settlements with businesses it oversaw.
In Kraninger’s most active year, total settlement cash returned to consumers fell ✁ ✁
Don’t mistake a lack of formal registration with a house of worship for a lack of faith. On the one hand, my atheist dad belongs to a Unitarian congregation (and before that, a Lutheran one). On the other hand, a significant proportion of the people attending even my small church are not registered members of the congregation.
Many polls have shown that faith is actually still very big in America. More people are becoming disillusioned by organized religion, but that’s not the same thing at all. You can be member of a church/temple/etc. and have no faith, and you can have fevent, passionate faith without belonging to a church/temple/etc.
With the abject idiocy of the right-wing populists there is no way that the rest of the country can in any way meet them in whatever crazy place they might call the middle. Cut the crap, stantisferbs.
KenseidenXL over 3 years ago
Religion is all a scam. People aren’t buying the bullshit any more.
braindead Premium Member over 3 years ago
Not to worry, Stantis. The mega churches are doing just fine.
And Trump is their favorite ‘Christian’.
Sanspareil over 3 years ago
I believe that rationality and logic have a chance, but they are facing the fact that after hydrogen, stupidity is the most common element in the universe!
William Robbins Premium Member over 3 years ago
In small groups, humans seem to behave rationally and can support one another. In large groups, they withdraw into tribal factions and demonize each other. Putin exploits this to exacerbate divisions and sow distrust in our institutions. Murdoch must be on his payroll, along with his stooges; Carlson, Hannity, & Ingraham.
Somehow, Trump is not dead last: https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?page=overall
I can see Buchanan, giving us Civil War. Johnson the Klan. But Pierce couldn’t be as bad as Trump.
Twelve Badgers in a Suit Premium Member over 3 years ago
I don’t think God is in the same category as news and elections.
RobinHood over 3 years ago
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin’ for today
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
John Winston Lennon
ajr58(1) over 3 years ago
Blaidd Drwg Premium Member over 3 years ago
It’s not the lack of religious people, it’s that so-called religious people don’t follow their own god’s teachings.
Kip Williams over 3 years ago
Stop the presses. After excluding those it finds unworthy for decade after decade, the church is shocked that people find it unworthy as a moral examplar. After taking non-biblical stands against any form of pleasure that didn’t reward existing industries, the church is shocked that people don’t find it to be a rewarding place to hang out.
Kip Williams over 3 years ago
“GOING OUT OF BUSINESS”
Business.
They were “in business.”
The business of religion.
Looks like it wasn’t profitable enough. (Sorry, no ‘prophet’ joke today.)
Bookworm over 3 years ago
For more than seven decades, I had always believed that Americans could, and would, come together for the common good. The Republican Party, Donald Trump, the American response to the Covid crisis, and the events of January 6, 2021, have shown me how naïve I’ve been all these years.
Kurtass over 3 years ago
I believe I’ll have another beer.
Radish... over 3 years ago
Young people are leaving churches that teach profane Trump is god.
Bradley Walker over 3 years ago
You might believe in peanut butter.
https://youtu.be/ETHsqnRDbHQ
kentmarx36 over 3 years ago
The Republicans and their E-E-Evangelical apologists are major reasons for the killing of religion for many thinking people in America.
ferddo over 3 years ago
For me, it was observing too many churchgoers who forgot the lessons of the sermon as soon as they walked out the door… too many who acted like they could break as many church lessons as they wanted all week, feeling they could get a reboot by attending a church service again in the future…
Durak Premium Member over 3 years ago
Just because I’m not a member of an organized church does NOT mean that I do not have spiritual faith.
Radish... over 3 years ago
Why would I need an intercessor in my personal relationship with god?
Thinkingblade over 3 years ago
There are certainly people I “believe” in – but they are also people I know where I have made my own evaluation of who they are and who they could be, should they so choose. Believe in people I don’t know? That is much sketchier.
cosman over 3 years ago
Lauren Witzke, a popular Trump supporter, had her bank account shut down by Wells Fargo, leaving her homeless and without any money.. Witzke, who campaigned for the Senate in Delaware in 2020 as a Republican, stated in a Telegram message that Wells Fargo closed down her account, stolen all of her money and left her with a “zero balance.;” told by the bank that the move was strictly a “business decision,” opens questions why the decision was taken and if it had anything to do with her Christian conservative politics..
Silly Season over 3 years ago
^ ^ ^
Since Wells Fargo won’t comment…
…and we have only have Lauren Witzke’s imagination on why it was closed…
I’m going with she somehow messed up financially, long before I would go with ‘because of her political beliefs.’
.
But it sure might have been nice to have had the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that the former guy gutted still on the job…
~
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made clear when it opened for business in 2011 that it would be “a cop on the beat” to protect people from unethical, abusive and illegal behavior on the part of financial institutions.
That cop spent much of the last four years waving at passing bankers and lenders from the doughnut shop.
Things are about to change.
It’s a virtual certainty that President-elect Joe Biden will replace President Trump’s appointee as CFPB director, Kathy Kraninger, with someone more focused on defending consumers than business interests.
“The CFPB’s once-stellar enforcement record and overall effort to stop illegal activity and hold financial entities accountable became instantly mediocre under the Trump administration,” Christine Hines, legislative director of the National Assn. of Consumer Advocates, told me.
To Kraninger’s credit, enforcement actions ramped up significantly after she took over from Mick Mulvaney in December 2018. The CFPB announced 48 enforcement actions last year, more than double the number of a year before.
These stats are misleading, however. Another key metric of the bureau’s effectiveness is how much money it pries out of companies that cross the line in their dealings with consumers.
In the bureau’s most active year under former President Obama, with 56 enforcement actions in 2015, it returned to consumers nearly $6 billion from settlements with businesses it oversaw.
In Kraninger’s most active year, total settlement cash returned to consumers fell ✁ ✁
~
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-01-11/column-cfpb-biden
calliarcale over 3 years ago
Don’t mistake a lack of formal registration with a house of worship for a lack of faith. On the one hand, my atheist dad belongs to a Unitarian congregation (and before that, a Lutheran one). On the other hand, a significant proportion of the people attending even my small church are not registered members of the congregation.
Many polls have shown that faith is actually still very big in America. More people are becoming disillusioned by organized religion, but that’s not the same thing at all. You can be member of a church/temple/etc. and have no faith, and you can have fevent, passionate faith without belonging to a church/temple/etc.
rossevrymn over 3 years ago
With the abject idiocy of the right-wing populists there is no way that the rest of the country can in any way meet them in whatever crazy place they might call the middle. Cut the crap, stantisferbs.