<ol>
<li><p>Support abortion through the first 2 trimesters. I am against it during the 3rd unless the mother discovers that it would be detrimental to her health to have the child. </p></li>
<li><p>Marriage is a religious thing and I doubt that any church would marry two people of the same gender (or someone who changed their gender). Civil unions, however, are perfectly fine because two people who love eachother should have some sort of government recognized union. If we can have common law marriages where two straight people have been living together and have kids, we should allow homosexuals to have civil unions. Also, there are so many straight people who are unfit to get married or have children, it is better for children to have two parents of the same gender who love eachother than to have two traditional parents who are horrible.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It's better that they should die like that than abandoned or starved to death or shot in a group home or wherever unwanted babies go. </p>
<p>If your parents abandoned you and you grew up abused in foster care, I'm sure you'd agree with me. Those babies would have had miserable lives. Nobody would be happy. Even they wouldn't be happy. </p>
<p>And anyway, it's not your place to decide whether or not other people should abort. And people are going to do it whether it's legal or not. So by making it illegal, people would still do it, but under shady circumstances and they'd die or become barren and it's just not worth it.</p>
<p>"It's better that they should die like that than abandoned or starved to death or shot in a group home or wherever unwanted babies go."</p>
<p>The Nazis said similar things about Jewish babies and children whose parents had been exterminated. I suppose you would have supported their actions, then.</p>
<p>1.) Gun Control: Support.
No honest citizen needs a 30 clip ammunition cartridge on an automatic assault rifle. </p>
<p>2.) Affirmative Action: Oppose.
Looks at the color of skin instead of ability. Defeats the purpose because the affirmative action program was created on stereotypes itself, which holds that minorities have gone through challenges throughout life. Many minority applicants to top schools come from fairly wealthy backgrounds, at many times with legacy. Many blacks and hispanics I know are offended at the idea that the system believes that they need a "leg up", and I come from a 95% minority school.</p>
<p>3.) Stem Cell Research: Support.
The cures and potential medical progresses are enormous. Should work with certain limitations in law. </p>
<p>4.) War in Iraq: Oppose.
The war is a joke and the country is headed toward civil war and anarchy.</p>
<p>5.) Political Correctness: Support.
Better to be polite rather than use offensive terms that has insulting meanings.</p>
<p>6.) G.W. Bush: Oppose.
Not that I think he's a dumbass that can't make a speech or anything. I just oppose his foreign policies. </p>
<p>7.) Death Penalty: Support.
Some crimes just can't be forgiven. However, trials should be fair and impartial. </p>
<p>8.) Giving Illegal Immigrants rights of U.S. citizens: Weak Support.
Limited rights should work for the time being. Full rights will only encourage the numbers of illegal immigrants and displace the legal immigrants that worked to get here.</p>
<p>9.) Abortion: Support, I guess.
The right of abortion lies with the mother, but there definitely should be an limit to fetus age.</p>
<p>10.) Gay Marriage: Oppose.
Just in terms of biology, I just don't think it is natural. Hey, they are good people, and I know a few I work with, but for marriage I would oppose.</p>
<p>Gryffon, I agree that no honest citizen needs those things. What honest citizens do need are clips with enough ammo to protect themselves. 10 rounds in a pistol is not sufficient for someone to protect themselves from multiple attackers. Attack trafficking and illegal gun owners but ineffective and cosmetic legislation is a part of the comprehensive plan that only interferes with legal gun ownership.</p>
<p>Since abortion & gay marriage have been included, I'll give my opinions on both:</p>
<p>Abortion:</p>
<p>Support, although I when I say this I mean I support a woman's right to choose. I don't think anyone "supports" abortion. No one "wants" an abortion. They are only done if the mother of the unborn chlid feels it is the best course of action. Abortions are always a difficult and personal decision and I feel that the best person to decide if one should be done is the mother of the child. I agree with PurpoisePal's assessment of abortion and I think he/she brings up good points.</p>
<p>Gay Marriage:</p>
<p>Oppose, only because I don't think society is ready for it. Anti-gay sentiment is very prevalent and I think that if the government were to give them the right to marry, it would create a great outrage and a great increase in hate crimes against gays.</p>
<p>I don't have anything against gay people. It annoys me when I hear some of my homophobic, ignorant classmates calling each other "gay" as an insult. Since this attitude toward homosexuality exists, I don't think it's worth jeopardizing the welfare of gay people by allowing them to get married. </p>
<p>Maybe in the future when being gay will be accepted as a way of life instead of a freakshow, gay marriage will be instituted. For now though, I can't support it.</p>
<p>1.) Gun Control: </p>
<p>OPPOSE ON CONDITION. If the guns were locked away properly out of reach of children and anyone with limited or impaired judgement, I don't have a problem with someone owning a gun. But when the gun poses a threat to me and my family, I have a problem with that. It's one's choice whether or not to own a gun, and I simply don't care to regulate that choice. I wouldn't own a gun, but there are people that would. If it's simply for sport (like hunting), by all means, but don't keep it in your house. And child locks, unloaded, and locked away out of reach of children. You're not going hunting anytime soon in New York City. If it's for other purposes, safety locks, unloaded, and locked away out of reach of children.</p>
<p>2.) Affirmative Action: </p>
<p>OPPOSE ON CONDITION. I would absolutely agree with giving an advantage to, say, someone whose parents pull in less than $30k per year and has 6 siblings as opposed to someone whose parents pull in $600k/yr (EACH) and is an only child. But giving an advantage to any member of a certain group (hispanics or african americans) defeats the purpose of AA. There could be rich african americans who had tons of opportunities or poor caucasians. I would agree with wealth-based AA (notice I said WEALTH...Steve Jobs making $1/yr doesn't count) but race-based, no.</p>
<p>3.) Stem Cell Research:</p>
<p>Absolutely support. It's money well-spent. It could save thousands of lives and by hiring more people for stem cell research, we get a GDP boost. Stem cell research is more "pro-life" than opposing abortion. And maybe we'll fix that brain of Bush's with stem cell research.</p>
<p>4.) War in Iraq: </p>
<p>Absolutely oppose. I was against this war from the start. I was one of the few who saw this war for what it was: an effort driven by greed to steal Iraq's oil reserves. Bush had no plan for the war, he had no plan on how to rebuild Iraq, he had no exit plan. Now Iraq's this bottomless money pit that the middle class, and future generations (that's us) has to pay for. Bush also made A LOT of enemies because of this war, including 70% of america and most of the rest of the world. Besides, people say that 3000 casualties is nothing, but they're heartless. EVEN ONE CASUALTY IS TOO MANY. And we had like 50000 too many casualties. Iraqis are people too, even though some (like Bush) believe they're not. Enough is enough. We can't win in Iraq. Insurgents hate us. That's why they're acting up. I guarentee you we will lose if we continue to send troops to Iraq.</p>
<p>5.) Political Correctness: </p>
<p>Oppose. Political correctness has just gotten ridiculous. Firefighter vs. fireman, fine. No saying the six-letter n-word, fine. Yeah it's just gotten absurd.</p>
<p>6.) G.W. Bush: </p>
<p>STRONGLY OPPOSE. Bush should never have been in the presidency, he stole the election in 2000, and there are doubts that he won fairly in 2004. A Diebold (company that made voting machines for the '04 election) representative testified in front of congress that voting machines can be rigged very easily, and might have been rigged in Ohio, his numerous violations of the constitution, he effectively destroyed habeas corpus, free speech, privacy, checks and balances, and THE VERY PRINCIPLES THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED UPON. And once in office, he took 500 days of vacation in 3 years while being paid 2x as much as Clinton (Clinton, in his EIGHT YEARS IN THE PRESIDENCY, took 72 days total.) He has no dedication towards this job, he is not COMPETENT to do this job, he doesn't listen to his advisors, he should have fired Rumsfeld after the Abu Grahib scandal. And he should have been fired himself in '04. That man can't speak coherently in public, he can't see straight, someone put this guy in therapy.</p>
<p>7.) Death Penalty: </p>
<p>STONGLY OPPOSE. The death penalty doesn't accomplish anything. Besides, due to bad police work, and other things, a bunch of law students found a vast majority of death row inmates to be wrongly sentenced. Killing someone for killing another person...as much as I value the life of a human being more than anything, an eye for an eye and the world is totally blind.</p>
<p>8.) Giving Illegal Immigrants rights of U.S. citizens:</p>
<p>STRONGLY OBJECT. As a LEGAL immigrant to this country, I have to say that's really not fair. If they give illegals the rights of citizens, what's the incentive to immigrate legally? It's instant citizenship if you just SNEAK across the border, right? Besides this may be politically incorrect but most of California's crime comes from ILLEGAL immigrants, not just immigrants. I'd say give the LEGAL immigrants the rights to citizenship first. We were actually INVITED here. I mean why would I wait to be INVITED to come here if I knew I can just sneak in and get citizenship rights. It's like almost impossible for a LEGAL alien to become a US citizen (takes like 20 years) but it takes an ILLEGAL alien like 20 seconds? I usually don't say this but not fair.</p>
<p>9.) Abortion:</p>
<p>Strongly, strongly support. Again, as much as I value the life of an unborn baby, I value the mother's life more. And but then again, you're out of your mind if you think I believe that people should just have abortion left and right. No I don't think that. I really think abortion is a tough choice for everyone and it's the toughest on the parents. And then again, a woman should have a choice on what she wants to do with her body.</p>
<p>10.) Gay marriage:</p>
<p>Strongly support. I personally don't care to impose beliefs on anyone. I don't want to, I don't need to, and nobody wants me to. If a guy wants to marry a guy, fine. So be it. Personally I'm with Locke on this one: the SOLE PURPOSE of government is to protect life, liberty and property, and ONLY that. That's government's ONLY job. And no, it doesn't get bonus points for going above and beyond.</p>
<p>I guess I'll add:</p>
<p>9.) Abortion
Support. People should be able to do whatever the hell they want, as long as they don't hurt/hinder other people directly. I don't see fetuses as people. By the way, how many kids did those priests "kill" when they raped little kids instead of putting their sperm into women, where it could potentially create a child?</p>
<p>10.) Gay Marriage
Support. As I said before, people should be able to do whatever the hell they want. I believe that most gay people can't help it (I'm not sure whether or not I believe it's genetic), but even those that actually consciously choose to be gay have the right to do so. People should be able to have sex with whoever, whenever, and marry whoever, whenever, as long as it's consentual (yes, even minors).</p>
<p>Sorry guys, don't have much time; this is going to be quick.</p>
<p>1.) Gun Control: OPPOSE</p>
<p>2.) Affirmative Action: OPPOSE</p>
<p>3.) Stem Cell Research: SUPPORT</p>
<p>4.) War in Iraq: STRONGLY SUPPORT
Okay, Iraq is a disaster. But I just don't see how we could withdraw our troops amidst the current chaos; if we pull out there is going to be a vacuum in the Middle East and a nuclear Iran with its crazy extremist leader is going to take advantage of it. Strongly support the necessary troop surge. I have family serving in Iraq and Afghanistan today. </p>
<p>5.) Political Correctness: OPPOSE
Cannot stand political correctness. At school, I don't give a damn about P.C., essentially tell the truth and end up getting in trouble for it. Go figure.</p>
<p>6.) President Bush: SUPPORT
I'm certainly not a fan of this incompetent administration, but George W. Bush is the President of the United States and he deserves some respect.</p>
<p>7.) Death Penalty: SUPPORT</p>
<p>8.) Illegal Immigrants rights: STRONGLY OPPOSE</p>
<p>9.) Abortion: SUPPORT</p>
<p>10.) Gay Marriage: OPPOSE</p>
<p>.) Gun Control: SUPPORT- Too many people die because a gun falls into the wrong hands.</p>
<p>2.) Affirmative Action: SUPPORT- There are too many preconceived notions on this issue.For one, the majority of Affirmative Action benefitiaries are women. Asians DO receive Affirmative Action- just not at schools where there's an influx of them applying. Whites applying to historically blacks schools also prfit from the program as well as White Latinos. If you're in favor in ending Affirmative Action this there needs to be great reform in inner-city and inpoverished area schools. Furthermore: legacys, athletes, wealthy school donors, celebrities, and nepotism tend to favor whites </p>
<p>5.) Political Correctness: MIXED VIEWS- I don't use the term African American, but rather, just say "Black". I hate when people refer to Native Americans as "Indians" and well most likely use Latino in place of Hispanic- and definately in place of "Spanish".</p>
<p>6.) President Bush: OPPOSE
If only McCain won the 2000 ticket.</p>
<p>7.) Death Penalty: STRONGLY OPPOSE- seems hypocritical. Also, I believe they should be given the chance to repent thier sins and have a relationship with God.</p>
<p>8.) Illegal Immigrants rights: SUPPORT- If they're contributing to the U.S. sociey in a positve way then I believe they should be able to stay.</p>
<p>9.) Abortion: OPPOSE</p>
<p>10.) Gay Marriage: SUPPORT- My personal convictions shouldn't dictate anyone elses- as long as they do not infringe on anyones else's rights.</p>
<p>It seems like I'm the only one who supports the iraq war or the president...</p>
<p>About Illegal immigrant's rights (which I STRONGLY do not believe they are entitled to), I don't think people were talking about deporting the aliens back to their original country, but more so, if they should be granted the SAME rights as legal American citizens, or immigrants who chose to enter this country legally. </p>
<p>One BIG problem I have is the law that allows illegal alien's children born in the U.S. to be automatic American citizens. Isn't that a relic from the Civil War? So long as that's around, I don't see how we can solve the current illegal immigration crisis. But then, respectfully, I don't see anyone brave enough to challenge that law.</p>
<p>That's true...</p>
<p>
[quote]
The Nazis said similar things about Jewish babies and children whose parents had been exterminated. I suppose you would have supported their actions, then.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No they didn't. They killed Jewish babies and children because they were Jewish and the Nazis wanted a "pure" world, without Jews or Blacks or Gypsies.</p>
<p>You can't compare abortion to the Holocaust. You just can't.</p>
<p>[ol]
[li]Gun control: Support.[/li]People don't need an AK47 for hunting or personal protection. </p>
<p>[<em>]Affirmative action: Strongly oppose.
Yes, I believe that slavery was terrible, segregation was terrible, and racism is terrible. But AA is nothing more than reverse racism. Anyone who b</em>***es about how blacks and other minorities are underpriviliged and cant get money for college should look into financial aid, which actually favors financially disadvantaged people the most. How much money you have doesn't really affect how intelligent you are (books are free).</p>
<p>[li]Stem cell research: Support.[/li]It has the potential to cure many horrible diseases. Ayone who argues that it is the equivalent of killing a human life needs to pull their head out of their behind and read a seventh grade biology book.</p>
<p>[li]War in Iraq: Support/Oppose.[/li]I oppose the war itself; it was started based on false intelligence, and should never have happened, or at least should have been conducted with a little more planning. However, I don't think pulling out immediately is the answer. This would weaken our position on the world stage and doom the middle east to civil war.</p>
<p>[li]Political correctness: Strongly oppose.[/li]I don't mean to offend anyone here, but me and my cousin often jokingly call each other the n word (not as an insult, but just to clown around). So its safe to say that I oppose political correctness like the plague. It is useless and shuts out free speech. Besides, if the aim is to not insult people, then this just commits us to failure, because no matter how something is said, someone can always twist it around to make it sound insulting.</p>
<p>[li]George W. Bush: Oppose.[/li]I don't dislike this guy as a person, but as a president. He is incredibly incompetent. He has screwed up on almost every level (global, environmental, health care, etc...); whats worse, he never admits it. He acts like everything is ok. </p>
<p>[li]Death Penalty: Oppose.[/li]Not because I think its immoral, but because I think that it is too easy on the criminal.</p>
<p>[li]Illegal Immigration: Strongly oppose.[/li]It doesn't matter how you try and slice it: an illegal alien/illegal immigrant/undocumented alien/undocumented immigrant/illegals = ILLEGAL!!! Except for other illegals, I don't understand how anyone could sympathize with illegal aliens. They broke the law, and should not be rewarded under any circumstances. Giving them immediate amnesty would be a slap in the face to all the legal immigrants in the US who have been waiting patiently for years for their shot at the American Dream. They are the ones who made this country what it is today, and illegal immigrants are giving them a bad name.[/ol]</p>
<p>1.) Gun Control:
Support, but I've never had any real involment in guns so my opinon is limited. </p>
<p>2.) Affirmative Action:
Support, although I agree it is a form of racism, it must counter the existing racism felt towards minorities (I am white so this sucks for me, but I'll deal with it)</p>
<p>3.) Stem Cell Research:
Totally support. </p>
<p>4.) War in Iraq:</p>
<p>Oppose! Oppose! Oppose!</p>
<p>5.) Political Correctness:
Oppose to a certain degree. People should be smart enough to realize what is kosher in our society...but we are American so you really never know. </p>
<p>6.) G.W. Bush:</p>
<p>Oppose! Oppose! Oppose!</p>
<p>7.) Death Penalty:
Oppose, but no strong opinion on this one either. I have yet to be convinced of either side completely. </p>
<p>8.) Giving Illegal Immigrants rights of U.S. citizens:
Oppose because the damn Mexicans are taking over!
Well I'm kidding but really the United States should try and help poorer countries with funding instead of allowing all their people to run to the "land of the free". </p>
<p>9.) Abortion:
I am so torn on this subject that I won't comment. </p>
<p>10.)Gay marriage:
STRONGLY STRONGLY STRONGLY SUPPORT!!! I am straight but the idea that:
1. The Church (whose ideas I may or may not believe in) has that much power to dictate who I marry is RIDICULOUS
2. People are not homosexual by choice so we have no right to punish them
3. This is all about PEOPLE CONTROLING PEOPLE (the reason I hate orgainzed religion).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Illegal Immigration: Strongly oppose.
It doesn't matter how you try and slice it: an illegal alien/illegal immigrant/undocumented alien/undocumented immigrant/illegals = ILLEGAL!!! Except for other illegals, I don't understand how anyone could sympathize with illegal aliens. They broke the law, and should not be rewarded under any circumstances. Giving them immediate amnesty would be a slap in the face to all the legal immigrants in the US who have been waiting patiently for years for their shot at the American Dream. They are the ones who made this country what it is today, and illegal immigrants are giving them a bad name.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>whoa whoa whoa...you need to get your facts straight. Most of these illegal imigrants come to America because thier life in their own county was unbearable. Risking your life to try and cross the border is not something that is decided on a whim.</p>
<p>
[quote]
whoa whoa whoa...you need to get your facts straight. Most of these illegal imigrants come to America because thier life in their own county was unbearable. Risking your life to try and cross the border is not something that is decided on a whim.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I understand that in many developing countries, the living conditions there are deplorable. However, this does not excuse turning the US into a world homeless shelter. The situation today is like someone passively allowing a homeless person to live on their front lawn; and the homeless person gets to live off the other person without contributing enough. This is not something I would do; however, I would be more than happy to assist the homeless person in finding a job or giving him some money for food. </p>
<p>BTW, I am for a guest worker program. This does three things: It gives immigrants money, it lets them retain their dignity, and it doesn't allow them to sap off the US indefinately. I am all for helping people; however, I don't believe in blindly giving away citizenship status to everyone who happened to sneak through.</p>
<p>
[quote]
whoa whoa whoa...you need to get your facts straight. Most of these illegal imigrants come to America because thier life in their own county was unbearable. Risking your life to try and cross the border is not something that is decided on a whim.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>then they should be very happy with what they find here and exactly what place Americans have for them. if they stayed here, I'm guessing that however terrible we may feel the conditions are -- it's still better than the situation in their own countries.</p>
<p>gun control:
Oppose. Take a look at what is happening in England and Australia since they have taken the guns away from the law abiding citizens. Violent crime is way up.</p>
<p>affirmative action:
Oppose. creates more animosity. Has the possibility of lowering the quality of a work force or a student body.</p>
<p>Stem cell research:
Oppose embryonic, all others are fine.</p>
<p>War in Iraq:
Support in principal, oppose it being run by politicians. Let the generals run the war. People complain about the amount of Iraqi civilians dying, I think it is a whole lot less than if Saddam were still in power. It's very hard to run a politically correct war (which leads to the next topic...)</p>
<p>Political correctness:
Oppose. People seem to be looking for a reason to be offended. Ow, you hurt my feelings wahhhh. What ever happened to the idea of standing up for your beliefs? Why is it that the most intolerant people are the ones that preach tolerance? Shouldn't they be tolerant of my beliefs?? They aren't.</p>
<p>G.W. Bush:
Support with reservations. I admire him sticking to what he believes in even if I don't agree with all he stands for. You don't change things much by putting a new president in place. You change things by voting out all the congressmen. JFK is more conservative than GWB. </p>
<p>Death penalty:
support and I don't buy the argument that it is more expensive than a lifetime in prison. That may be true, but since when does money replace doing what you believe to be right? </p>
<p>Giving illegal imigrants rights of US citizens:
Oppose. Call them what they are, illegal aliens, not undocumented workers. More people are killed every year in the USA from illegal aliens than all the US soldiers killed in the Iraq war to date. Scary huh?</p>
<p>[ol]
[li]Gun Control - Strongly Oppose. It is a right guaranteed by the constitution that we may keep and bear arms. Passing gun control laws only disarms the law-abiding citizens and does nothing to prevent crime. (Studies have repeatedly proved the inneffectiveness of the Brady Bill and AWB, etc) Criminals will always have guns and will not obey any laws against them (see whats happening to the completely disarmed British)</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Affirmative Action - Oppose. It is racism, pure and simple. The quality of a student should determine his or her acceptance, not the color of their skin. Saying that minorities don't have the same benefits earlier in life.... well, then fix the lower education system.</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Stem Cell research - Support, in principle, but I have issues with the way they are collected in many cases.</p>[/li]
<p>[li]War in Iraq - Support in principal. Every society has rules to be followed, including the world society. Many countries do not play by those rules, which need to be enforced. Although the Middle East in general has many many issues. I would agree with the sentiments expressed in the movie "Syriana"</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Political correctness - Strongly Oppose. People need to understand that they have no right to be offended at anything anyone else says. If people want to profess devotion to the devil and Hitler and racist ideals etc., who cares? Why is your right to free speech be more important than theirs?</p>[/li]
<p>[li]G.W. Bush - Bush isn't an 'issue', but rather a politician - not going to comment here</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Death penalty - Support. There are many good reasons on a moral/philosophical ground. One of the best, from Van Den Haag, is that putting a murderer (or other heinous crime) to death is the only way to actually respect their humanity. There's a whole complicated argument, but its a great one.</p>[/li]
<p>[*]Giving illegal imigrants rights of US citizens -Strongly Oppose. Since when did enforcing a law become such a horrible thing? If we can't even enforce our own laws, what does that say about us as a people? Besides, illegal immigrants put a huge strain on the economy - and don't give me the "they pay taxes just like you do" bs. They steal other people's social security numbers so they can get a minimum wage job and be a drain on the system. Not to mention the huge jump in crime. I believe I've read that 40% of the murders in Los Angeles are comitted by illegal immigrants.[/ol]</p>