Virginia town hall meeting descends into chaos as anti-Muslim bigots scream insults

a reply to: Dreamwatcher

When I saw this it truly upset me, I felt horrible for him.

a reply to: Annee

The biggest difference between the Left and Right is that the Right has allowed to extremes to come in and dictate ideology.

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: SprocketUK

I've seen such vitriol from left wingers that it would make your hair curl. "They" are every bit as bad as right wingers.

I absolutely do not agree.

As said, I began on the Right. The Left doesn't come close overall.

There's always a few individuals, but over all? No way.

Haha. How can you possibly disagree? I was talking personally. You are not me, ergo you have no idea what I have seen. You've let your political psyche colour your judgement there.

originally posted by: SprocketUK

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: SprocketUK

I've seen such vitriol from left wingers that it would make your hair curl. "They" are every bit as bad as right wingers.

I absolutely do not agree.

As said, I began on the Right. The Left doesn't come close overall.

There's always a few individuals, but over all? No way.

Haha. How can you possibly disagree? I was talking personally. You are not me, ergo you have no idea what I have seen. You've let your political psyche colour your judgement there.

And vice versa.

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: SprocketUK

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: SprocketUK

I've seen such vitriol from left wingers that it would make your hair curl. "They" are every bit as bad as right wingers.

I absolutely do not agree.

As said, I began on the Right. The Left doesn't come close overall.

There's always a few individuals, but over all? No way.

Haha. How can you possibly disagree? I was talking personally. You are not me, ergo you have no idea what I have seen. You've let your political psyche colour your judgement there.

And vice versa.

And so it goes on.

I'm sure there are millions of others who think that all they've ever been is reasonable when calling for internment or extermination of their political opposites.

Someone disagreeing with your worldview is not necessarily evil, or misguided, just different.
Sure, you can be dismissive of a particular view, that's your perogative. It doesn't mean you are right though, just bigoted. :-) (I.E. Refusing to let experience alter your viewpoint).

originally posted by: introvert
a reply to: Annee

The biggest difference between the Left and Right is that the Right has allowed to extremes to come in and dictate ideology.

Yes!

Right media personalities are equivalent to Carnival Barkers. Their followers eat it up.

I was a 40 year Republican until they went insane with the Neo Cons and Christian Right.

The Left is emotional, but for more realistic compassionate reasons.

I'm somewhere in between. "That which is not earned has no value". I don't support a free ride.

The behavior of this Oaf, pretty much tells me which group he belongs to.

originally posted by: Annee
The Left is emotional, but for more realistic compassionate reasons.

I'm somewhere in between. "That which is not earned has no value". I don't support a free ride.

The behavior of this Oaf, pretty much tells me which group he belongs to.

I was a registered democrat my entire adult life, until 2008, when I registered unaffiliated. I could never be a republican, in part, because of the neocons. But, I also reject a party represented by people who only offer extreme solutions. And, they're blatant about lacking compassion for all kinds of ideas that challenge their tolerance. I don't identify with that. By allowing their party to be represented that way, the rest of us will never see any real compromise between the two parties. It's too easy to reject extreme solutions that lack compassion and this has cleared the path for democrats.

On the other hand, the biggest issue I have with democrats is that their compassion feels selective, phony, and exploitative. Their actual record of being compassionate says something entirely different than what comes out of their mouths. And when they want to feel morally superior, they subject others to the worst personal accusations. In fact, it was the democrats' exploitation of people deserving of compassion and their lack of actually delivering on the compassion they espouse that sent me packing from the party.

It's as much of a turn-off to me as being blatant about having no compassion at all. Maybe more.

***

ETA: I must admit, I scoffed at this, "The Left is emotional, but for more realistic compassionate reasons," and thought, "Democrats are emotional, but for purely exploitative reasons."

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: yuppa

originally posted by: introvert
I think the Right Wing propagandists should take a bow on this one. This man, and those that think like him, are a product of hateful, ignorant Right Wing propaganda.

I'd like to place the blame elsewhere, but no one else in the US is spreading this sort of message.

Theres hateful propaganda on BOTH sides truthfully. be fair or be accussed of bias right?

I don't agree.

20+ years ago when I started in online political forums, I leaned more right and was a Bush supporter.

I still don't consider myself left, more centrist --- but, the Right definitely has a lock on hateful propaganda and hyperbole.

The Left should learn to fight fire with fire, but they don't do that.

Al sharptons a good example. so is reverend right,so is farrakhan. and thats just three i can name. Both sides have extremist,but you dont hear th e lefts demonized as much because the news itself is left leaning.(lol except fox lol hahaha)

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: MagesticEsoteric

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: ladyinwaiting

originally posted by: Annee
OK.

Who beliefs this man is something other then a Christian?

Annee, can we get through one thread, darlin' ?

It's Virginia. As close to the Bible Belt as you can get without being in it.

Do you think this guy is something other then Christian?

Do you realize that Virginia is an extremely diverse state? This town is considered to be a part of Northern VA....entirely different set of people than those in the southern part of the state.

I would know, I live in Northern VA myself.

We are a stones throw away from DC, Baltimore and many other largely populated and diverse towns.

I use to live in the Bible belt too (Kentucky).....Not everyone that lives in there are Christians either, I can promise you that.

A moment of weakness. I live near "Hollyweird" -- I know about stereotyping.

I am not anti-religious, I am pro secular government. I was raised Christian. I speak only about the religion I know. You won't see me speaking negatively about any other religious belief, as I am ignorant of them.

This man is an Oaf.

Why was he not removed from the meeting? Instead of forcing the meeting to close.

I have the utmost respect for people that can admit when they are not 100% right.

It is truly a rare thing in real life and on ATS.

Thank you!

You and I are a rare breed my friend. lol

originally posted by: Annee
OK.

Who beliefs this man is something other then a Christian?

The double standards here are appalling...if someone posted "Who believes this man is something other than a muslim" There would be an outcry of racism, bigot etc etc

Christian bashing..fine..have any sort of negative opinion on muslims, then you are an ignorant hater

Wow, just wow

BTW personally I think following any religious belief is pointless and stupid, so |'m not defending one against the other, I'm just astounded at the double standards

ETA I see that many others responded to you as well and you admitted to having had a "moment" but I still think my point remains true and it is not only you who is guilty of this

originally posted by: destination now

originally posted by: Annee
OK.

Who beliefs this man is something other then a Christian?

Christian bashing..fine..have any sort of negative opinion on muslims, then you are an ignorant hater

I was raised Christian. I have opinions from my personal experience and knowledge.

I am ignorant of other beliefs, therefore any opinion of them would come from ignorance.

originally posted by: ~Lucidity

That's helpful to your side's argument. It effectively says that foreign nationals don't represent a security threat, but that American citizens exercising their Constitutional rights do. Good luck with that. All that's doing is strengthening the perception that American citizens and their rights are on the back burner here.

a reply to: vor78

My side?

a reply to: ~Lucidity

You're clearly in support of admitting Syrian refugees. I'm just saying that you're not helping them by posting something like that, because its the exact type of thing that's angering those opposed to it.

a reply to: vor78

I notice and admire anything that points out ignorance, hypocrisy, and cognitive dissonance in subtle ways, and maybe makes people take a beat and think, without resorting to "sides" or thinking they need to defend their "side" because they are personally being attacked.

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: destination now

originally posted by: Annee
OK.

Who beliefs this man is something other then a Christian?

Christian bashing..fine..have any sort of negative opinion on muslims, then you are an ignorant hater

I was raised Christian. I have opinions from my personal experience and knowledge.

I am ignorant of other beliefs, therefore any opinion of them would come from ignorance.

Fair enough, but your opinion of Christianity is still very much based on your personal experience and is therefore not necessarily indicative of the behaviour of all Christians, as such you are doing exactly the same as those who make blanket statements about all Muslims based on their (limited) knowledge and experience.

Ultimately though, there are good and bad people in all walks of life, male, female, gay, straight, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Atheist etc etc and as such, people will form an opinion based on their own experiences, so it's not entirely based on ignorance. E.G I lived in Blackburn in Lancashire for a couple of years, which has a high muslim population and I also dated a Saudi pilot for a short time, both of these experiences have led me to my opinion of the Islamic faith. Similarly I was brought up in the West of Scotland, which is traditionally a sectarian area of Protestantas and Catholics and I have equally come to my own opinion about these two flavours of the Christian faith.

That's why I think to follow any religious group or belief is stupid and pointless, because religion itself causes so much division and can bring out the best and worst in people. Sadly though, it's usually the worst traits that make the news. But I couldn't honestly say that I am 100% correct in my assessment of any of these groups, nor am I 100% wrong, just because I do have personal experience and opinions.

originally posted by: deadeyedick
a reply to: Aazadan

let us be real in saying that that is why the mods are here and their actions keep your post from being 100% accurate. The ones you highlight are in the minority but most of us do find that rounding up terrorist is ok but not rounding up everyone of certain religions is ok. there is a balance that can be seen on ats and at both ends of the spectrum is kinda scary too most of the rest.

Mods prevent threads from degenerating too far into hateful rhetoric. They don't stop people from believing it in the first place though.