Our Platform for Outlining Colorado’s Future

Arguments against 'Sanctions do not harm the rulers of a bad country' Logical Arguments: Reasons to disagree: Sanctions can destabilize an unjust regime by fomenting internal unrest and decreasing its financial resources. Even if they don't destabilize an unjust regime, they prevent the unjust regime from getting more power and being able to, eventually, do more harm. Opposing Evidence: Historical examples, like South Africa's apartheid, where international sanctions have proven effective. Opposing Books: "The Sanctions Paradox: Economic Statecraft and International Relations" by Daniel W. Drezner Opposing Videos: YouTube: "Sanctions and Divestments" by Khan Academy Opposing Organizations: The Council on Foreign Relations Opposing Podcasts: Podcast: "The Power of Economic Sanctions" by The Lawfare Podcast Unbiased Experts: Robert Pape, political science professor at the University of Chicago Benefits of Belief Rejection: Physiological : Sup...

Reasons to agree : Truth vs. Self-interest : Observations indicate that individuals are more inclined to speak truthfully before they read their Miranda rights. After these rights are presented, their responses tend to favor their self-interest. The quest for truth should outweigh any personal bias. Avoiding 'Assembly-line Justice' : The current legal system often falls into a pattern of "one-size-fits-all," leading to instances where individuals may avoid penalties based on technicalities, such as not being read their Miranda rights. This uniform approach lacks the nuance needed to address diverse situations and can disrupt the pursuit of justice. Relevance of Statements : Miranda rights shouldn't impact the veracity of a statement. The information individuals provide before their rights are read should still be admissible in court, as it's not inherently untruthful. Lawyers Evading Justice : Critics argue that Miranda rights serve as a tool for legal profess...

Dawkins said: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” Reasons to agree : % When God said he was a jealous God, he was telling his followers to not worship Ba'al. Worshipers of Ba'al would get their Golden statues glowing hot, and put living babies on the alter. It wasn't wrong for God to tell his followers to not worship other other Gods. If I really was the true God, and I had worked miracles, to prove it, then I would be jealous also if people started worshiping Ba'al.  Just because your an athiest doesn't mean you can't think Richard Dawkins is an idiot. Webpages that agree : http://www.gotquestions.org/jealous-god.html

Reasons to agree :   % What is not to understand. It contradicts that God is Love, and that God killed innocent children. Its not just problematic that God let bad things happen, like letting children die, but if the Old Testament is to be believed, that he caused them to be killed. Religious scholars go to so much effort to say that God put Adam and Eve in the Garden, but he had to let them make up their own mind, so that he couldn't be blamed for causing them to suffer, but that all goes out the window when he commands Israel to kill whole cities.          R2A (+): 2        R2AA (+): 0        R2DA (-): 0        Reasons to disagree :   % Problematic does not mean insurmountable. The argument most often given is that it served the greater good. This argument says that God is allowed to follow the belief that the ends justifies the means. At first it...

I have a friend who's Dad was a religious leader. He went on a 2-year mission for his church. Now he is not a big Richard Dawkins fan. He recently posted this on his facebook page... "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." I would like to take these accusations one at a time. When God said he was a jealous God, he was telling his followers to not worship Ba'al. Worshipers of Ba'al would get their Golden statues glowing hot, and put living babies on the alter. It wasn't wrong for God to tell his followers to not worship other other Gods. If I really was the true God, and I had worked miracles, to prove it, then I would be jealous also if people started wo...

One of my favorite quotes stories is when Chris explained the sacrement and it weirded everyone out and they stopped following him. Then he asked his apostles or disciples if they were going to leave too. And I think it was Peter who said, Were would we go? You are the only one that has the words of Eternal Life. I thought that was cool

Reasons to agree :   % Reasons to disagree :   % You can believe that the Old Testament was mostly inspired, but not believe every story.  Short stories don't tell every detail. You shouldn't judge the God of the Old Testament from one short story without knowing all the detail. It is better to focus on all the stories, and try to get a general direction. This story was probably exaggerated over the years, so that it no longer relates what really happened. The moral is to not make fun of religious leaders, but well intended translators over the years probably oversimplified the story, so that the story sounds unjust to our more sensitive ears.           R2D (-): 3        R2AD (-): 0        R2DD (+): 0         Total Score : -3

Anyways I want to do a really good job of outlining the major arguments about immigration, as I think it is one of the major issues facing our country. So what I want to do is sort of a wikipedia style group effort of outlining the issues… with that said, I'll just jump in. John McCain said: "It would be impossible to identify and round up all 10 to 11 million of the current undocumented." He said this in a May 13, 2005 press release titled "Members of Congress Introduce Comprehensive Border Security & Immigration Reform Bill [S 2611]. In the future, I would like to outline all the issues here , but for now we can have a Normal conversation. Here are some of the reasons that I have heard to disagree with McCain: No one is proposing that we "round illegal aliens up".  Illegal Aliens came to America on their own; they don't need someone to drive them away  You wouldn't have to get all 11 million illegal aliens to go back, just 1/2 of them in 10 y...

Reasons to disagree : Unions often represent the needs of the "average people", as long as you define "average people" as union members. Union members are often average people, i.e. good hard working Americans. However, more precisely, unions are the lobbying firm of their union members . It may be true that the "average person's" needs are aligned with the union members, but often the union member's desires may conflict with the desire of the larger community of average people. For instance the average person may want the government's budget to be balanced, however a union, as any good special interest, is focused on a more narrow band of goals: the desires of union members. The average person may want to have their kids to have good teachers. The average person may not have a pension, may have to pay for their health care, and may want the people teaching his children to be rewarded and advanced with merit pay. In all these cases the union is...

The LDS church is fond of saying that "no success can compensate for failure in the home".  A home is a house with love. A house is made up of many components, and so is love.  I propose that no success can compensate for failure in the bedroom. However this belief can often lead to performance anxiety, which all goes to the larger issue of how you define success... But lets expand the analogy. What other rooms are their in a house? Very hungry Mormons believe that no success can compensate for failure in the kitchen.  Our toilet plunger can attest that no other success can compensate for failure in the bathroom... The church has been very successful at keeping many facts in the closet, but less successful at keeping people in the closet.   Of course what they mean is no success can compensate for failure with your family. But does passing around sayings like this make anyone's life better? Do people really decide to succeed at work...