Extremism in America: Where Did We Go Wrong?

[leekohler]

Originally Posted by citizenzen

Thank God for small favors.

And you completely missed the point.

[citizenzen]

Originally Posted by leekohler

And you completely missed the point.

My posts wasn't meant to be taken too seriously.

[leekohler]

Originally Posted by citizenzen

My posts wasn't meant to be taken too seriously.

Emoticons help with that.

[yg17]

Originally Posted by Eraserhead

At least in rural Britain it's OK to be an atheist, and chances are no-one will care too much if you are gay or black.

Even in our biggest cities it's not OK to be any of those things. I have no experience being gay or black, but I do have experience being Atheist in both a rural town and a big city. It's really not that much different. Despite being rather outspoken about it on here where I have the anonymity of the internet, I rarely make mention of my Atheism to anyone but family and friends. We're vilified all over the place. It doesn't help when you have big names like Mike Huckabee and all those other loons blaming natural disasters and school shootings on us.

[leekohler]

Originally Posted by yg17

Even in our biggest cities it's not OK to be any of those things. I have no experience being gay or black, but I do have experience being Atheist in both a rural town and a big city. It's really not that much different. Despite being rather outspoken about it on here where I have the anonymity of the internet, I rarely make mention of my Atheism to anyone but family and friends. We're vilified all over the place. It doesn't help when you have big names like Mike Huckabee and all those other loons blaming natural disasters and school shootings on us.

Really? I have no trouble being either gay or an atheist here in Chicago- talk about it all the time.

[yg17]

Originally Posted by leekohler

Really? I have no trouble being either gay or an atheist here in Chicago- talk about it all the time.

Maybe it's just a combination of the fact that I work in a more conservative industry and have an extreme distrust of religion. For example, I would never bring up my Atheism in a conversation with my manager. I don't know his religious beliefs, hell, for all I know, he could hate religion more than I do. But he could be a religious whacko. I don't know. We don't discuss it. But when me and someone else are both up for a promotion and only one of us can get it, I don't want him to choose the other guy because I'm Atheist. Not that I could prove that's why I didn't get it.

My friends know I'm an Atheist and don't care, they wouldn't be my friends if they did. My family knows and don't care. But I try to keep it out of the workplace or conversations with strangers.

Although it was refreshing - a few weeks ago someone moved to our team from another one and on his second day here, myself, him and a couple others went out to lunch and I don't even know how the conversation shifted in that direction, but he said he was a very liberal Atheist. Ex-military too, so a rare breed. Told him we're going to be good friends! Maybe I'll take that as a cue from him and make it my new years resolution - tell anybody and everybody that I'm an Atheist should religion come up, consequences be damned.

[VulchR]

Originally Posted by citizenzen

The OP listed the following [in regard to 'extremism' in the US]...

Abortion isn't an issue anymore, gay marriage is the norm, guns have no place in urban civilization, unions are stronger than before, cars get excellent mileage, public schools are the best in the world, healthcare is a right not a privilege.

You did not address those points.

Do you see them as insignificant or untrue?

Do your examples overshadow or refute them?

The list the OP gave was not about extremism, but the pursuit of a progressive agenda. (An agenda, I might add, that is not universally accepted throughout Europe: abortion is not universally available in the EU (Ireland, Malta); it is illegal for the Church of England to conduct gay marriage or elect women to the upper echelons; and Swtizerland only allowed women to vote after 1971 (not 1871), etc.).

To me extremism is not about how progressive or left wing a country is, but whether or not differences in opinion are solved by peaceful means or violence. Although extremist violence is not the norm in Europe, it is hardly unknown. I think many Europeans are kidding themselves if they believe their enlightened policies make them invulnerable to it. People are people.