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How Progressive Are You?

Started by Fireblade, March 12, 2009, 09:39:15 AM

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Neil

Quote from: derspiess on March 13, 2009, 11:43:03 AM
Even so, I don't think Vinnie has to worry about being pelted with stones if they find out what he does for a living.  It's not like he's an abortion doctor, adult bookstore owner, or gay rodeo participant.

He's not any of those, right?  :unsure:
I dunno.  They don't want any of those dark-sided things near them.  Presumably, any science that doesn't agree with Genesis is dark-sided.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

Admiral Yi


Fireblade

Quote from: Neil on March 13, 2009, 09:26:51 AM
Still, it's important not to confuse literalist Protestantism with conservatism.  Sure, there's lots of crossover between the two, but there are millions of conservatives who think that radiometric dating is A-OK and that there's no way that Noah's flood was a literal, global event.

Look at me.  I take conservative positions like being pro-death penalty, harsh prison sentences and anti-drug.  While I believe that a social safety net is useful and important, I also believe that it's important that it be focused on getting people working.  I'm fond of balanced budgets under most situations.  I support socialized medicine and health insurance supported by a robust network of private clinics and facilities, covered by supplementary, privately-supplied insurance.  I think that it is more important for schools to educate than to socialize.  I think it's important to protect the environment, but that this protection must also be balanced by economic growth.  I believe in crushing our enemies whereever they might hide, without worrying about whether doing so makes us worse than they are.  And I believe that science is far and away the best framework we have availible to understand our universe, and that education in the sciences is critical if we plan on having democracies.

I am a conservative atheist, and I'm wise beyond anyone's ability to match me.  All should just obey me, and the world would be worth living in.

Wow, you sound like a Democrat.

Neil

Quote from: Fireblade on March 13, 2009, 05:55:13 PM
Quote from: Neil on March 13, 2009, 09:26:51 AM
Still, it's important not to confuse literalist Protestantism with conservatism.  Sure, there's lots of crossover between the two, but there are millions of conservatives who think that radiometric dating is A-OK and that there's no way that Noah's flood was a literal, global event.

Look at me.  I take conservative positions like being pro-death penalty, harsh prison sentences and anti-drug.  While I believe that a social safety net is useful and important, I also believe that it's important that it be focused on getting people working.  I'm fond of balanced budgets under most situations.  I support socialized medicine and health insurance supported by a robust network of private clinics and facilities, covered by supplementary, privately-supplied insurance.  I think that it is more important for schools to educate than to socialize.  I think it's important to protect the environment, but that this protection must also be balanced by economic growth.  I believe in crushing our enemies whereever they might hide, without worrying about whether doing so makes us worse than they are.  And I believe that science is far and away the best framework we have availible to understand our universe, and that education in the sciences is critical if we plan on having democracies.

I am a conservative atheist, and I'm wise beyond anyone's ability to match me.  All should just obey me, and the world would be worth living in.

Wow, you sound like a Democrat.
But I'm not.  I'm a Conservative.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

szmik

Quote from: Neil on March 13, 2009, 06:21:12 PM
But I'm not.  I'm a Conservative.
It's just a label you're comfortable with. :)
Quote from: Neil on September 23, 2011, 08:41:24 AM
That's why Martinus, for all his spending on the trappings of wealth and taste, will never really have class.  He's just trying too hard to be something he isn't (an intelligent, tasteful gentleman), trying desperately to hide what he is (Polish trash with money and a severe behavioral disorder), and it shows in everything he says and does.  He's not our equal, not by a mile.

garbon

Quote from: Fireblade on March 13, 2009, 05:55:13 PM
Wow, you sound like a Democrat.

At best, a blue dog.  Of course, one could just take it as a reason why American political labels don't apply outside of the US...or even more extreme, rarely even apply to individual Americans.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

derspiess

Quote from: Neil on March 13, 2009, 02:57:57 PM
I dunno.  They don't want any of those dark-sided things near them.  Presumably, any science that doesn't agree with Genesis is dark-sided.

Btw, it's dork-sided :)
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

Neil

Quote from: szmik on March 13, 2009, 06:31:00 PM
Quote from: Neil on March 13, 2009, 06:21:12 PM
But I'm not.  I'm a Conservative.
It's just a label you're comfortable with. :)
It's an important part of my political identity.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

Neil

Quote from: derspiess on March 13, 2009, 06:36:47 PM
Quote from: Neil on March 13, 2009, 02:57:57 PM
I dunno.  They don't want any of those dark-sided things near them.  Presumably, any science that doesn't agree with Genesis is dark-sided.

Btw, it's dork-sided :)
I just assumed that she was from one of those parts of the US where they don't speak properly.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

FunkMonk

Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.

vinraith

#175
For the record, I'm an experimental/observational astrophysicist (not a cosmologist, that was Hami, that shit's out of my league), specifically I study emission nebulae (big clouds of photo-ionized gas, like the Orion Nebula, as distinguished from gas that's only visible because of reflected starlight, like the blue glow around the Pleides). I also have taught (and certainly will again teach) astronomy courses.

I assure you that if the conservative movement had its way, I would have no job. Modern conservativism has no use for pure science (and has no problem spreading that message through technology made possible BY pure science, of course). And yes, a certain subgroup of them would probably go further than that considering that I'm an unrepentant "evolutionist" that teaches the big bang theory and global warming science.

MadImmortalMan

I dunno, Vinnie. That doesn't sound like conservatives would want to put you out of business. He studies nebulae?? Burn the heretic!!!111 


"Stability is destabilizing." --Hyman Minsky

"Complacency can be a self-denying prophecy."
"We have nothing to fear but lack of fear itself." --Larry Summers

vinraith

Quote from: MadImmortalMan on March 13, 2009, 08:16:14 PM
I dunno, Vinnie. That doesn't sound like conservatives would want to put you out of business. He studies nebulae?? Burn the heretic!!!111 




Most science of this sort, you must understand, is funded by NASA and the Air Force. You think conservatives would be comfortable with government money going to something so "frivolous?" Reagan (vaunted hero of the movement) spoke out ardently against government funding for any sort of pure science.

FunkMonk

Vinnie, I know this may sound cheesy, but thanks for your efforts in expanding human knowledge, no matter how big or small they may be in the big picture. I haven't taken an Astronomy course since high school, but it is very interesting to learn about. I hold scientists in high regard.  :)
Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.

Neil

Quote from: vinraith on March 13, 2009, 08:10:14 PM
For the record, I'm an experimental/observational astrophysicist (not a cosmologist, that was Hami, that shit's out of my league), specifically I study emission nebulae (big clouds of photo-ionized gas, like the Orion Nebula, as distinguished from gas that's only visible because of reflected starlight, like the blue glow around the Pleides). I also have taught (and certainly will again teach) astronomy courses.
So do you do a lot of work with star formation and early stellar evolution?
QuoteI assure you that if the conservative movement had its way, I would have no job. Modern conservativism has no use for pure science (and has no problem spreading that message through technology made possible BY pure science, of course). And yes, a certain subgroup of them would probably go further than that considering that I'm an unrepentant "evolutionist" that teaches the big bang theory and global warming science.
I think you're mixing the vocal Reagan-style Christian movement with the low-key Nixon-style conservatives.  Conservatism has a long, proud history of technocracy.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.