So Tired of This

[amorphous_constellation]

Again, only as the US has political interests in Russia. We hear nothing about various other wars, such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen. We don't hear about various smaller European political spats. This is only as Russia is involved.

I heard a few things about Yemen, about how the U.S. may be supporting war against them? I guess when I think about international politics, I just think about the big power deals that seem to underwrite whatever goes on.. though maybe that is a low resolution way to think about it

 

[Revoltingest]

I think this is the biggest part of the problem: politics is the new religion and gives folks their new religious labels.

We need politics to be about issues instead
of telling each other what's wrong with us for
believing or voting as we do.
Perhaps a moratorium on threads about why
anyone who voted for Biden or Trump is an
evil racist puppy murderer.

BTW, all you ferriners are welcome to start
threads about what interests you. And Europe
just became interesting with Russia's invasion
of Ukraine.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

I am so tired of going to any religious discussion forum and having half the main topics or most threads mention US politics, Biden, Trump, Planned Parenthood and all the rest of it. It seems every forum is US dominated with an insane intense focus on politics. Is it so much to ask for a discussion that doesn't treat Europe and the other non-European Anglophone countries as peripheral? I am sick to the back teeth of hearing about American politics when I'm looking for religious discussions.

These are the newest threads:

• Earth-shattering question
  Sirona posted 51 minutes ago
• So Tired of This
  Rival posted Today at 4:47 AM
• Is there an Animism DIR here?
  Sedim Haba posted Today at 1:23 AM
• Conscious Internet
  The Hammer posted Yesterday at 10:11 PM
• January 6 accused acquitted on...
  Shaul posted Yesterday at 10:10 PM
• Teeth are evidence for a creator!
  Spiderman posted Yesterday at 10:02 PM
• China’s security deal with...
  Stevicus posted Yesterday at 9:21 PM
• Protestants don't know their Bible!
  Spiderman posted Yesterday at 8:25 PM
• Oh Free-Will. Where art Thou???
  firedragon posted Yesterday at 7:02 PM
• College/University Survey
  Debater Slayer posted Yesterday at 6:13 PM

That looks typical to me. You've got four I would call religious - animism (although not a discussion of it), teeth = creator, protestants, and free will. Two look geopolitical, one American - January 6th and China. And four are neither.

If you'd like to see more discussion about non-American political issues, you might need to start the threads yourself.

You sound like me with DIRs. Every one of those I see is a thread I'll never participate in and won't read. I once started a thread like this one about them. But in the end, it really shouldn't matter to either of us how many threads there are that are we won't be a part of, you by choice, me by exclusion. And they are usually religious topics, meaning that even though you'd like to see more religious threads, many are off limits to both of us.

 

[Rival]

These are the newest threads:

• Earth-shattering question
  Sirona posted 51 minutes ago
• So Tired of This
  Rival posted Today at 4:47 AM
• Is there an Animism DIR here?
  Sedim Haba posted Today at 1:23 AM
• Conscious Internet
  The Hammer posted Yesterday at 10:11 PM
• January 6 accused acquitted on...
  Shaul posted Yesterday at 10:10 PM
• Teeth are evidence for a creator!
  Spiderman posted Yesterday at 10:02 PM
• China’s security deal with...
  Stevicus posted Yesterday at 9:21 PM
• Protestants don't know their Bible!
  Spiderman posted Yesterday at 8:25 PM
• Oh Free-Will. Where art Thou???
  firedragon posted Yesterday at 7:02 PM
• College/University Survey
  Debater Slayer posted Yesterday at 6:13 PM

That looks typical to me. You've got four I would call religious - animism (although not a discussion of it), teeth = creator, protestants, and free will. Two look geopolitical, one American - January 6th and China. And four are neither.

If you'd like to see more discussion about non-American political issues, you might need to start the threads yourself.

Every one of those I see is a thread I'll never participate in and won't read. I once started a thread like this one about them. But in the end, it really shouldn't matter to either of us how many threads there are that are we won't be a part of, you by choice, me by exclusion. And they are usually religious topics, meaning that even though you'd like to see more religious threads, many are off limits to both of us.

I'm not talking about just RF. I'm talking about religious fora generally. There's just too much politics around and it's all too American. It creeps into nearly every discussion.

 

[Debater Slayer]

Yes, I think it is too much to ask.

Non-US Anglophone countries are peripheral... at least in terms of RF's membership, just like many other forums.

People will talk here about things that they care about and that will impact their lives. A lot of our members are American. So a lot of that is going to be American politics.

If you want that to be different, well, encourage more Brits or whoever to join and participate. The more users we have posting about things other than US politics, the more you'll have other stuff to read.

My problem isn't so much the focus on American politics as it is the fact that a lot of people in other countries absorb and adopt cringeworthy and toxic ideas from American politics.

I don't care much to hear a virtue-signaling, self-aggrandizing message from someone like Schwarzenegger about the Ukraine war when he supported the Iraq War and was bosom buddies with Bush. I also don't care to see people adopt superficial ideas about minorities from a subset of the American left who seem to believe, for example, that Arabs can't be opposed to Islam or that being so necessarily makes one a "racist."

Also, the concept of unfettered free speech that many in the U.S. have been touting for the last several years is actually an outlier compared to the MO of most of the world, including other developed countries. Some EU countries such as the Netherlands and Germany have banned Nazi speech for decades, for instance, and they certainly aren't any worse off for it despite the dog whistles from American ideologues about "free speech" and how such laws would supposedly turn a country into a dystopia ruled by Big Brother. In reality, those countries are largely doing better than the U.S. in most metrics of quality of life.

When someone tries to glorify American hegemony by saying something like "When America sneezes, the whole world catches a cold" and seems to view that as a good thing or something to be proud of, I often want to remark that it's not because the U.S. is inherently special. It's mainly because the U.S. has spent decades spreading its germs around the world and ensuring its sneeze is close to others' breath.

 

[Secret Chief]

This site is mostly made up of US and Canadian contributors, so of course North American issues are going to dominate. I find the politics tiresome too, but it seems that in the US at least, politics and religion are inseparable, in a way they aren't in Europe.

This. The bloody yanks are like a fungus all over this forum.

 

[F1fan]

Politics is the volatile phenomenon on the planet these days. From trump's irrational and corrupt acts, to Putin's attack on Ukraine, to China's suspicious movements in the Pacific, authoritarians are causing a lot of global problems. Religion is almost a non-issue. But as another poster pointed out, all of it is about tribalism, and politics and religion are closely tied in a lot of ways.

As far as discussing religion, there are seldom new ideas being brought up. Politics are more interesting just due to the ongoing uncertainty and dynamics happening in real time.

 

[F1fan]

My problem isn't so much the focus on American politics as it is the fact that a lot of people in other countries absorb and adopt cringeworthy and toxic ideas from American politics.

I don't care much to hear a virtue-signaling, self-aggrandizing message from someone like Schwarzenegger about the Ukraine war when he supported the Iraq War and was bosom buddies with Bush. I also don't care to see people adopt superficial ideas about minorities from a subset of the American left who seem to believe, for example, that Arabs can't be opposed to Islam or that being so necessarily makes one a "racist."

Also, the concept of unfettered free speech that many in the U.S. have been touting for the last several years is actually an outlier compared to the MO of most of the world, including other developed countries. Some EU countries such as the Netherlands and Germany have banned Nazi speech for decades, for instance, and they certainly aren't any worse off for it despite the dog whistles from American ideologues about "free speech" and how such laws would supposedly turn a country into a dystopia ruled by Big Brother. In reality, those countries are largely doing better than the U.S. in most metrics of quality of life.

When someone tries to glorify American hegemony by saying something like "When America sneezes, the whole world catches a cold" and seems to view that as a good thing or something to be proud of, I often want to remark that it's not because the U.S. is inherently special. It's mainly because the U.S. has spent decades spreading its germs around the world and ensuring its sneeze is close to others' breath.

Yes, a friend of mine in France say the nation banned FOX news, and I think that is a very wise thing to do. Governments are designed and organized to maintain order, and manage threats.

 

[SalixIncendium]

This. The bloody yanks are like a fungus all over this forum.

Indeed, we are.

 

[Nakosis]

I don't know where to put this so I put it in Journals. Sorry if this comes off as rude...

I am so tired of going to any religious discussion forum and having half the main topics or most threads mention US politics, Biden, Trump, Planned Parenthood and all the rest of it. It seems every forum is US dominated with an insane intense focus on politics. Is it so much to ask for a discussion that doesn't treat Europe and the other non-European Anglophone countries as peripheral? I am sick to the back teeth of hearing about American politics when I'm looking for religious discussions. When I watch religious videos on YT, be they Pagan, Catholic, Jewish, much of the time they're clearly based on a North American or Canadian audience. Sermons discussing all this. I think this is likely just as much Europeans' faults, as we often fail to care about or discuss religion in any meaningful way anymore at all. I just really, really, really, truly, truly, truly wish these discussions would eliminate US politics and focus on religious issues.

Some have told me it is impossible to separate politics from life..
I don't agree but this seems to set the stage for their posts.

 

[Debater Slayer]

Yes, a friend of mine in France say the nation banned FOX news, and I think that is a very wise thing to do. Governments are designed and organized to maintain order, and manage threats.

I googled "France bans Fox News" and found nothing. That would be an interesting decision if true, especially bearing in mind France's own far-right threat coming from Le Pen and others.

Politics is the volatile phenomenon on the planet these days. From trump's irrational and corrupt acts, to Putin's attack on Ukraine, to China's suspicious movements in the Pacific, authoritarians are causing a lot of global problems. Religion is almost a non-issue. But as another poster pointed out, all of it is about tribalism, and politics and religion are closely tied in a lot of ways.

As far as discussing religion, there are seldom new ideas being brought up. Politics are more interesting just due to the ongoing uncertainty and dynamics happening in real time.

I think the assertion that religion is almost a non-issue is largely Western-centric. Religion is a major sociopolitical instrument in the Middle East and Africa. I'm not sure the statement applies to the U.S. either considering how much influence religious rhetoric has on American politics.

 

[Yazata]

I don't know where to put this so I put it in Journals. Sorry if this comes off as rude...

I've felt like saying the same thing. Thanks for saying it.

I am so tired of going to any religious discussion forum and having half the main topics or most threads mention US politics, Biden, Trump, Planned Parenthood and all the rest of it.

It isn't just religion fora. I participate in several science, philosophy and higher education fora and it's even worse there. One of the things that keeps me coming back to RF is that it isn't all US politics, all the time. (We have the incessant atheists against religion threads too, and maybe even a little actual conversation about religion slipped in around the edges.)

It seems every forum is US dominated with an insane intense focus on politics.

In a way, it is kind of appropriate for a religion discussion board though. In our contemporary age, ethics and morality have moved their center-of-gravity away from religion to politics. Political opinion is how people today display what they assume is their own moral virtue. By trying to stamp out what they condemn as "bigotry", "prejudice", "racism" and a whole litany of moral evils. While it used to be "sin" that was opposed by religious zealots, now it's all kinds of political-incorrectness being fought and hopefully destroyed by political zealots.

But the underlying moral psychology seems to me to be pretty much the same in both cases.

Is it so much to ask for a discussion that doesn't treat Europe and the other non-European Anglophone countries as peripheral?

Are things all that different in those countries? Many Europeans are proud of how they have moved away from the atavisms of religious faith, unlike (to hear them tell it) the United States. Yet Europe has been the source of countless varieties of utopian political apocalypses, from naziism to marxism. Quasi-religious cleansings intended to rid the world of all the perceived sinners and evil ones.

I am sick to the back teeth of hearing about American politics when I'm looking for religious discussions.

I don't like other people moralizing at me, whether they are religious fundies banging their bibles, or political fundies banging their left-politics, self-righteousness, anti-intellectualism and ther vicious hatred for me.

When I watch religious videos on YT, be they Pagan, Catholic, Jewish, much of the time they're clearly based on a North American or Canadian audience. Sermons discussing all this. I think this is likely just as much Europeans' faults, as we often fail to care about or discuss religion in any meaningful way anymore at all. I just really, really, really, truly, truly, truly wish these discussions would eliminate US politics and focus on religious issues.

So do I. Perhaps Europeans need to participate more so as to inject their own unique perspective. Even if their reflexive anti-clericalism (itself political, derived in part from the French revolution) makes them skeptical about established religious organizations, they could still discuss the philosophy of religion and the many epistemological and metaphysical questions associated with that.

I sort-of solve the problem of excessive politics (and excessively partisan politics) by putting the more abusive political types on ignore. My ignore list is as long as my arm right now. I just wish that I could put some of the moderators on ignore, though I can and do ignore them anyway on my own initiative,

 

[Revoltingest]

My problem isn't so much the focus on American politics as it is the fact that a lot of people in other countries absorb and adopt cringeworthy and toxic ideas from American politics.

Sometimes good ideas, eg, national parks, constitutions.

I don't care much to hear a virtue-signaling, self-aggrandizing message from someone like Schwarzenegger about the Ukraine war when he supported the Iraq War and was bosom buddies with Bush.

If someone has been wrong before, should should
they remain silent, & not urge peace when it matters
to them? If Ahnold is now a friendly influence upon
Russians to end the war, then good on him.
Ain't none of us perfect. We've all held views that
others found dubious. No examples necessary.

Also, the concept of unfettered free speech that many in the U.S. have been touting for the last several years is actually an outlier compared to the MO of most of the world, including other developed countries. Some EU countries such as the Netherlands and Germany have banned Nazi speech for decades, for instance, and they certainly aren't any worse off for it despite the dog whistles from American ideologues about "free speech" and how such laws would supposedly turn a country into a dystopia ruled by Big Brother. In reality, those countries are largely doing better than the U.S. in most metrics of quality of life.

I still prefer having more freedom of speech than you
ferriners have. I don't trust our government to regulate
& punish political & religious speech...even if offensive.
Consider that Trump would've had that power over us
for 4 years....do you think that would've been good?

When someone tries to glorify American hegemony by saying something like "When America sneezes, the whole world catches a cold" and seems to view that as a good thing or something to be proud of...

I thought that was universally recognized
as a big problem, not a good thing.

 

[F1fan]

I googled "France bans Fox News" and found nothing. That would be an interesting decision if true, especially bearing in mind France's own far-right threat coming from Le Pen and others.

That was some years ago during the trump years. I don't remember the details, just that she said FOX was banned.

I think the assertion that religion is almost a non-issue is largely Western-centric. Religion is a major sociopolitical instrument in the Middle East and Africa. I'm not sure the statement applies to the U.S. either considering how much influence religious rhetoric has on American politics.

Religion is a heavy influence on the right side of American politics. The social issues, mostly about gays and abortion, are designed to pander to the evangelical vote, which is tied heavily to the GOP. These are superficial morals, perfect for conservative thought. It's difficult for Democrats are ague against these policies because the basic moral assumptions are religious, and facts and reason isn't used.

 

[sun rise]

in the US at least, politics and religion are inseparable,

And in Russia. And in much of the rest of the world both in positive and negative (China) ways. Anything relating to the middle east almost automatically includes both: Israel and the Arab states.

My issue is not with threads but with the 'new threads' list being so short that sometimes one person just takes over the list and I have to hunt to see what's new and interesting.

 

[Secret Chief]

Indeed, we are.

Loving the new custom title. Now you just need to match it with the avatar.
(I'd be interested in any suggestions you have for me)

 

[SalixIncendium]

Loving the new custom title. Now you just need to match it with the avatar.
(I'd be interested in any suggestions you have for me)

I'm honestly surprised and a bit disappointed you missed it.

 

[Father Heathen]

I believe it has much to do with the fact that a lot of Americans conflate religion, politics, patriotism, and their own identities. It became this very personal, passionate, deeply intertwined tribal thing. When legislators try to turn their religious beliefs into laws that restrict the rights and liberties of others, it's obviously going to creat heated division and controversy. The U.S. has a cultural rift that has significantly widened over the last two decades. There is a lot of contention and a lot at stake, such as people's livelihoods and wellbeing. These things are obviously important to Americans (why wouldn't they be?) so naturally they'll have a desire to discuss/debate it.

 

[Secret Chief]

I'm honestly surprised and a bit disappointed you missed it.

Sorry, I've not been stalking you as much just lately.

 

[JustGeorge]

I don't know where to put this so I put it in Journals. Sorry if this comes off as rude...

I am so tired of going to any religious discussion forum and having half the main topics or most threads mention US politics, Biden, Trump, Planned Parenthood and all the rest of it. It seems every forum is US dominated with an insane intense focus on politics. Is it so much to ask for a discussion that doesn't treat Europe and the other non-European Anglophone countries as peripheral? I am sick to the back teeth of hearing about American politics when I'm looking for religious discussions. When I watch religious videos on YT, be they Pagan, Catholic, Jewish, much of the time they're clearly based on a North American or Canadian audience. Sermons discussing all this. I think this is likely just as much Europeans' faults, as we often fail to care about or discuss religion in any meaningful way anymore at all. I just really, really, really, truly, truly, truly wish these discussions would eliminate US politics and focus on religious issues.

I do, too! I joined a religious forum to talk about religion!

I don't care what's going on in politics. Politics happen. And furthermore, its just a poop flinging party. People say they care deeply for the issues, but they seldom know what's going on in their own backyards(try asking folks about local politics and watch the blank stares), and go for the more 'flashy' ideas. And then... what does bickering on a forum do? If you care, go do something about it!

I'd actually rather hear about EU issues as they're more pertinent and local.

I'd like to hear about life in the EU, too. I'll admit I don't want to hear about their politicians(I really do dislike politics), but it would be interesting to hear about the events that are transpiring in other parts of the world.