Shootings and explosions in Paris

[crazy canuck]

Stereotype much?

You don't think Europeans are less religious than Americans?  When is the last time you heard a French President say something like "God Bless you and God Bless France" at the end of their speeches to the nation?

Again, stereotype much?  No, I don't think that there are any Europeans less religious than I am.  I don't believe I have ever heard anyone say something like "God Bless you and God Bless France" at the end of a speech to a nation, but I have no idea why you thought throwing in a non sequitur would make your argument (whatever it is) more persuasive.

Really.  A comment is made about Americans in general and you think it is made about you in particular.  Now that is a healthy ego.

The reason American President refer to God all the time is because it is a popular sentiment in the US.  The reason French Presidents don't is it would be odd and awkward to do so.

[Eddie Teach]

Planting.multiple bombs in different  places

Jihadists are cheaper than explosives, so you want to make sure they go off where they'll have an impact.

[grumbler]

Sort of like the kamikaze pilots. "We will fill your plane with bombs and then you will fly it into their ships."

"Actually sir, if I'm close enough to fly into the ships, couldn't I just drop the bombs from point blank range? Then I could fly back here, reload, and attack again."

"Hmm, interesting point. But...crash your plane into their ship anyway."

[Digression] The reason why the Japanese resorted to kamikaze tactics was because the pilots were virtually untrained and couldn't hit at all unless they crashed into the ships.  The survival rate for non-kamikaze missions was very low anyway, so the pilots felt it was better to die for something than for nothing.  Flying back to reload wasn't likely an option even if you survived to drop a bomb, since AA (VT fusing) and the Hellcat made survival unlikely.

If the Japanese could have dropped their bombs effectively and returned for more, they wouldn't have engaged in Special Attack tactics. [/Digression]

[grumbler]

Really.  A comment is made about Americans in general and you think it is made about you in particular.  Now that is a healthy ego.

A single counter-example disproves a sweeping generalization.  One can observe that with a perfectly healthy ego.   

[crazy canuck]

Really.  A comment is made about Americans in general and you think it is made about you in particular.  Now that is a healthy ego.

A single counter-example disproves a sweeping generalization.  One can observe that with a perfectly healthy ego.   

While that may be true in some circumstances it is entirely inaccurate for this case.  You are very much in the minority in your country on this issue.  The generalization regarding the religious beliefs of Americans is accurate.  You are making the same mistake BB made.  Just because 100% of the people in the US are not Christian does not mean Christianity is not the dominant religion in the US. You objected to a comment that Americans are more religious than Europeans.  When talking about those populations the comment is accurate.  You are an outlier.

[garbon]

I'm not sure you mean to say outlier.

[crazy canuck]

I'm not sure you mean to say outlier.

Outside the mainstream of American thought on religion.  Put another way, if most Americans held the same or less religious beliefs than Europeans your Presidents would not end all their speeches by saying things like, "God bless America".

[Valmy]

I'm not sure you mean to say outlier.

Outside the mainstream of American thought on religion.  Put another way, if most Americans held the same or less religious beliefs than Europeans your Presidents would not end all their speeches by saying things like, "God bless America".

Our European equivalent has 'God Save the Queen' as its national anthem.

[crazy canuck]

I'm not sure you mean to say outlier.

Outside the mainstream of American thought on religion.  Put another way, if most Americans held the same or less religious beliefs than Europeans your Presidents would not end all their speeches by saying things like, "God bless America".

Our European equivalent has 'God Save the Queen' as its national anthem.

British.  Not continental European.  And we stopped saying that back in the 80s at least.

[garbon]

I'm not sure you mean to say outlier.

Outside the mainstream of American thought on religion.  Put another way, if most Americans held the same or less religious beliefs than Europeans your Presidents would not end all their speeches by saying things like, "God bless America".

I think that's a bit better though wiki says 23%, so nearly a quarter of Americans have no religion. That's certainly not an outlier group.

[Valmy]

British.  Not continental European.  And we stopped saying that back in the 80s at least.

Well my point was this is an English language thing. Continental Europeans do not speak English as their native language.

What do you say instead?

[lustindarkness]

British.  Not continental European.  And we stopped saying that back in the 80s at least.

Well my point was this is an English language thing. Continental Europeans do not speak English as their native language.

What do you say instead?

If I was religious/a Christian I would say: God bless and I'll pray for you. They don't want the blessings and prayers? They can ignore it.

[crazy canuck]

British.  Not continental European.  And we stopped saying that back in the 80s at least.

Well my point was this is an English language thing. Continental Europeans do not speak English as their native language.

What do you say instead?

If I was religious/a Christian I would say: God bless and I'll pray for you. They don't want the blessings and prayers? They can ignore it.

Sure but you are not the head of a country reflecting the majority view of the country.  Your president is and does.

[Valmy]

Sure but you are not the head of a country reflecting the majority view of the country.  Your president is and does.

I don't think those terms actually reflect a deep religious sentiment though. I just think that is what we say. Like we don't say 'Long Live the United States' that would be weird. I guess the President could say 'America! Fuck yeah!'

[Martinus]

Blair is a good example - his strong religious beliefs were actually kept under wraps during his term in the office, because it would have been a huge detriment among voters.