I was raised Presbyterian and as a young adult strayed further into more fundamentalist Christian beliefs. However, the more I read and studied the bible and endeavored to learn about its origins as well as that of pretty much all other religions, I traveled down an intellectual path that involved a massive amount of research that ultimately led to a state of cognitive dissonance. Having had a rigorous scientific education (MS in Aeronautical Engineering), I could no longer believe in the teachings of any religious doctrine, as each claims for itself the absolute truth and none of these truths are compatible. Furthermore, none of these claims could withstand the test of reason or evidence, which are my personal litmus tests for the conservative/libertarian beliefs I maintain. Mormonism was and still is considered a cult by most mainstream christians. I heard it referred to as a cult repeatedly from our pastor as I sat in the pews of the church I attended in my thirties. However, it now has so many adherents that it is now regarded in public as an official religion. Frankly, I admire greatly the family oriented practices and values that I've observed among practicing Mormons. We all know Scientology is a cult, right? The difference between a "cult" and a particular religion is the number of believers, not the weight of empirical evidence any of them can claim. Despite my dark red politics, I have and surely will continue to receive vitriol for simply stating what I have become convinced is true. However, hostility towards me for my sincerely held beliefs is no different than any other form of doctrinal chauvinism.

 

Frankly, I don't care what Palestine's beef with the US is, nor what any of the middle east has against us. All I know is that on September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda terrorists (who were really nice people, according to neighbors) hijacked four commercial aircraft and attempted to fly them into buildings. Everyone on board these four flights were killed, and many people on the ground died as result of three of these hijackings. No matter what anyone says, what those people did was show a crass disregard for the value of life, including their own...killing people who were entirely innocent. It's been over 16 years since these events transpired and it still makes my blood boil. Knowing that Palestinians routinely strap bombs on themselves and blow up markets, buses, and other venues or events in which completely innocent people are killed causes me to believe these people are largely irrational, brutal murderers who will only stop when everyone believes the same way they do. Yes, I'm making generalizations and yes I'm way off topic. I apologize in advance to anyone whom I've offended.

 

I have been good about being a new member and keeping my mouth shut. (I really don't want to be banned my first week here. But I will say this. this is why I am a Libertarian, both sides suck. I'm tired of being called every name in the book because I didn't agree with Obama, and Hilary. But I was NOT a fan of either of the Bushes either, but they sure were the lesser of the evils at the time. I think it sucks that I had to go in for years to vote for who I thought the lesser of the 2 evils were. I am a proud Trump supporter, and no I am not tired of "winning" yet. As far as foreign policy. I am SICK AND TIRED of being the "worlds police" I am ready to bring ALL our troops home, and CLOSE ALL our bases over seas, bring home ALL our ships and HEAVILY PATROL our borders. ISOLATIONALISM for the win. let them blow each other to pieces. We don't "need" the rest of the world. the rest of the world actually NEEDS us AKA OUR MONEY!!!!. Just my opinion.

 

Despite this thread straying far from meat and potatoes Superduty discussions, I am finding it extremely interesting and it has remained within the bounds of civility necessary for it not to be taken as personally insulting by the many adults that have contributed their opinions. Bravo!

 

I don't hold any hostility towards you, BerndV. You have the right to believe any way you want. Science is cold and always right, for the most part. Some people gravitate towards religion because it makes them feel better. If that works for them, I think that's great. I'd also note that many religions teach people to be kind to others, to help the poor and needy, to be self-sufficient, to work hard, to be humble, and to live in a moral and decent manner. These are good things, in my opinion. You hit the nail on the head in your earlier post that religion, unlike science, requires faith. Now I'm with you all the way wanting to know cause and effect. I don't like mysteries. But with all that science has unlocked, it still cannot provide a better answer than religion regarding the origin of the universe. Science says, essentially, that there was nothing...and then there was a big bang...and then there was scattered matter that eventually evolved to the point of forming life when there was no life. Religion says a divine being created the universe. Frankly, you need faith to believe in either. As for myself, I am a religious person. In the medical field, many people have lived through events that science would tell you would unequivocally cause death. There is no explanation, other than what some would call a miracle. Even highly educated, expert doctors and surgeons will agree they occasionally see implausible events. Education is a great thing, but often highly intellectual people lose that one important characteristic that religion often teaches...humility. When we study the universe around us...it is hard to believe "matter" simply evolved into the massively complex life forms around us, right down to how perfect and complex a human body is. But I'm not here to preach religion to you at all, and I hate it when people preach religion to me. Just my opinion.

 

The fact is that Islamists have been murdering each other en masse for centuries over a minor doctrinal disagreement. However, those committing these acts believe with absolute certainty that their version of the truth is justification for mass slaughter until either the end of time or until conversion reaches 100%. The possibility of a theocracy like Iran obtaining deliverable nuclear weapons or fat Kim selling a miniaturized nuke to a terrorist group is why these possibilities are rightly treated as existential threats that cannot be permitted.

 

It's more than just money. America actively makes the world a better place. Most of the America hate, is mostly jealousy. Once I'm outside of those areas, I find that people love Americans and are begging us not to return to our Isolationist ways.

Do we have a responsibility to help others, if we can? It's a pretty heavy question.

 

I agree totally! The nature of the poll questions definitely contribute to opening the door of political discussion, so it sort of isn’t really that much off topic to do so. But the grasp on civility might become increasingly more tenuous if it goes much farther, lol. I hope it doesn’t. I’m finding this really interesting. Like I said, the Constitution protects every Americans opinion and personally attacking someone for it is not constructive.
Considering the potentially incendiary topics already brought up, then yes..bravo to all!

 

Beware the smiling foreigner who shakes your hand and then stabs you in the back. Think Iran.

I'm not sure America is actively making the world a better place anymore. Instead, we are falling inline with liberal European values as fast as the 9th circuit court can shut Trump down.

Who, of our supposed "allies," would go to bat for America in the way we go to bat for them? Most of our so-called friends are busy insulting our President and revoking his invitation to their country. They will continue taking our money, allowing us to fund most of the UN and NATO, and will continue to enjoy paying for only small militaries as they know the US will defend them against any aggression they encounter.

Trump is so right on many things. The US needs to first worry about itself. I agree we need to help those in need when we have the means, but we need to do it in an intelligent manner. Opening the floodgates for refugees from countries that openly don't like us is a very bad idea.

Holy cow, this topic has really gone away from the trucks but it is pretty civil.

 

Having served overseas in the Marine Corps in the infantry for six years and travelled all over the world as a civilian, I agree that some of it is simple jealousy. The Islamists, as opposed to ordinary Muslims, hate us for not adhering to Islam. However, if we suddenly became a borderless nation and bought a one way plane ticket for anyone in the world to legally immigrate to America, our population would reach the billions in a fortnight. Therefore, while my gut emotion is isolation, I prefer to help the hordes of third worlders in their own countries as opposed to allowing their importation.

 

You’re absolutely right. You’re clearly well travelled, and I am too. So maybe you and I have the advantage of that perspective. But by and large, your observation is exactly that of mine: almost anywhere you go on the planet, Americans are typically treated with warmth and generosity by the people at large. The vast majority of the average person in all cultures is overwhelmingly good. And there also exists the dark underbelly of any culture. Evil, hate filled people that make up a distinct minority but get the most coverage for very obvious reasons.
And yes, I have friends in Palestine. I have friends in Israel. I have friends in Iran. I have friends in Saudi. And we all have potential enemies in all of those places, too.

 

France (even though they seem like they wouldn't), Israel, Poland, Czechoslovakia (or whatever they're called), Norway, Demark, Finland, nearly all of the Caribbean (if they could, and they can't). Not so sure about Britain and Germany any more. canada is dead to me, I won't even capitalize the word. Sad, very sad.

And all of the nations that can't survive without us, would stop hating and get inline really quick.

Keep in mind, the media isn't going to report the wonderful things we do for this world. It's going to get really bad for a lot of people when we pack our bags and go home.

The biggest come back for people bitc%ing about Americans, is:
"Well,.......Bye."

 

Thanks for your service. My father was a Marine before working in the Air Force and for the State Department. He spent his adult life and his career in service to his country. And thanks for pointing out that Muslims aren’t all bad. If a Marine can appreciate that while in service on their soil then that should be a sobering reminder to a lot of people. Of course we can’t admit everyone into our country. And of course we can’t, for the love of God, close our borders. We help other nations simply because as the worlds largest and best superpower, we can. And it should be a giant source of pride for any American who understands how and why this country came to be, and how and why it was carefully shaped by our founding fathers.

 

Yeah. You are so right. And the biggest source of disappointment is the lack of reporting on the issues and gains that really do make, quite literally, a World of difference.

 

Couple of years ago I traveled with John Bolton and a couple of others to Israel. I have never been, and knew almost nothing about but always wondered about eh 2000 year war. We spent 2 weeks there traveling the country getting daily briefings from senior military and politicos. We had a 4 star General with us full time and the Israeli PM rep with us along with a SEAL Team (dressed in civy clothes) and an Israeli SF team in full battle rattle/locked and loaded that with us everywhere! We were protected not sheltered and my request to dine with enlisted soldiers in their mess-hall was given the thumbs up and I did. We had plenty of interaction with the people.

In short it was like taking a college course on the Middle Eastern Conflict in 2 weeks. In all my travels around the world this ranks as one of the best trips I have ever made.

Take Away: Simply put, had I been a young man I would stayed, joined the IDF. My parting comment to the senior staff military/civilian on the last day was: 'As a professional career soldier I stand shoulder to shoulder with you.' I made a career of fighting war as a Combat soldier and training to fight our enemies across the globe and I KNOW who the bad guys are...

I will suggest you look into this a LOT deeper before you stand with the Palestinian Flag!

X 2!