Our Platform for Outlining Colorado’s Future

We should take Ahmadinejad at his word. Reasons   to agree: No one took Hitler seriously, but he tried to do all the crazy stuff he said he would, about trying to kill all the Jews, and take over the world. Thursday, August 3, 2006 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the solution to the Middle East crisis is to destroy Israel (The Associated Press, By SEAN YOONG). "It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks, and establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the U.S., to attain its racist ambitions, (Speech at UN by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 24/09/2009) Ahmadinejad denied the murder of 6 million Jews. This is serious stuff. Ahmadinejad's speeches are a cry for truth from a Holocaust denier, a cry for democracy from a leader who shoots freedom seeking protestors, and a cry for peace from the word's biggest spo...

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...