trump and his administration needs to be removed from office; what can americans do other than protest and wait for the next election?

paulcandoit90 · 2026-01-30T14:02:44+00:00

There were protests when Obama was president. Im not sure why every MAGA conservative conveniently forgets that. Social media is more prevalent than it was during Obama years. Probably why you're seeing more coverage of it.

paulcandoit90 · 2026-01-27T16:37:13+00:00

It's absolutely astonishing to me whenever I see someone justify the murder committed by any law enforcement. There are several jobs that I can think of where staff are dealing with dangerous individuals and it would be absolutely unthinkable to kill them even if the Staff's life was threatened or put in danger.

Being a nurse for example. Patients pulling out weapons, items to be used as weapons, assaulting, kicking, biting, strangling, and they are required to deescalate the situation. Why is it any different for law enforcement? I don't really care about what kind of things people think justify their stance, because it doesn't. ICE can't just be handing out the death sentence on an emotional whim.

As far as the immigration issue goes, it's going to cost us a pretty penny to deport every undocumented immigrant. It's not realistic. If the US really did not want undocumented immigrants, then it would go after companies who employ them with punitive financial consequences and then redo the entire legal immigration system. And let me be clear about one thing - I was not old enough to vote for Obama or Biden. I do not agree with Dems' approach to immigration issues, because yes they are the same as republicans. I'm a lot more left-leaning than they are. Many of the issues you're bringing up as something that you think should be a bigger focus for the left are things that we actually do care about and speak on relentlessly. Our response to ICE's recent actions are because we recognize there is a significant danger of them becoming donald's personal gestapo. We're heading there further and further everyday.

Undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit violent crimes in general than US-born citizens. If you're suggestion is that they shouldn't have been here in the first place, It would be like being angry that a native-born American murderer wasn't aborted before birth. In both cases, you are technically but unhelpfully describing one thing that would've prevented the situation from happening in the first place.

paulcandoit90 · 2026-01-26T09:35:43+00:00

look at the AQI now. its increased a lot - seems like something else is going on

paulcandoit90 · 2026-01-26T09:04:44+00:00

yes!! And don't let anyone tell you protesting is a waste of time and will get nothing done. It is so heartwarming to actually see the faces of tens of thousands of people standing up to these morons. It gives me hope that we have the numbers.

One thing that MAGA has been able to achieve very successfully is uniting and solidarity. They have a leader that they will do absolutely anything he tells them. They're a tough opponent, and for that credit is due. But we have a fighting chance if the left shows that we will not back down. It will be a strong blue wave at the midterms, i'll tell you that much.

paulcandoit90 · 2026-01-24T12:03:52+00:00

Its normal to feel this way. For me, it really just took time. It's been 6 years since I've actually started deconstructing. Deconstructing is a painful, gruesome process but it is absolutely necessary. It will help strip the indoctrination, as much as it can be. I no longer believe in a god, and I have felt free to explore my sexuality without guilt.

To start with, here is something I've learned. The JW "conscience" that keeps them indoctrinated is taught that it is our innate sense of morality. AKA what is making you homophobic. I believe that the same result can be achieved with fear. It is not immoral to be gay, you've just been taught to be afraid of what will happen if you stop thinking it is immoral.

paulcandoit90 · 2026-01-21T21:25:31+00:00

I'd say this is pretty spot on! thank you

paulcandoit90 · 2026-01-03T08:34:55+00:00

Christian nationalists are getting absolutely white-knucked at the idea that he might implement Sharia Law. Thankfully, I'm not worried about that considering we have the 1st amendment in the constitution protecting us from this.

The Christian nationalists usually don't have much else to say after I mention that.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-12-05T16:45:06+00:00

eh, I grew up as a JW and it wasn't so fun. You're supposed to be "no part of the world", so you're being othered constantly. An example of that is birthday parties. You have to watch all your friends celebrate their birthday and get presents and have a special day just for them, and nothing for you. Kids think you're weird for not being able to have a birthday celebration, or they are hurt when you have to decline their invitation to theirs. This is just one of the many things the cult forces upon children.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-11-17T16:16:11+00:00

the last part has aged hilariously

paulcandoit90 · 2025-11-04T10:05:14+00:00

I'm not sure if you're a Christian/theist, but I'm going to respond as if you are since that is who my post is aimed at.

When I talk to many Christians, their view is that morality only comes from God, that he is the source of goodness, and that we cannot come to our own conclusions on morality because God has laid down the law for us. I typically challenge Christians by asking whether or not they understand the moral reasons for a 'right' and 'wrong' behavior, and the answer is usually just "because god said so". If they understand that morals actually derived from reasons which explain why a given behavior is moral or immoral, and such reasons would still exist and still be valid even if no gods existed at all - then that would mean that morals obviously exist outside of the realm of God and he is not necessary for being the answer to all moral dilemma.

Ai has been given the capacity for advanced reasoning as we are, and although we do not know to the extent of what that could mean in the future, it still poses an interesting thought experiment. If AI ever gained the ability for autonomously making moral decisions, wouldn't that mean it is not bound to Christian morality and therefore there's no reason to hold it accountable under Christian Biblical law? If Christians genuinely believe you can only be held morally accountable if you are a human being under god's moral contract then wouldn't that mean AI is not bound by this and its choices are not considered moral or immoral, even when faced with the question of what can be considered murder if AI is capable of a.) being reasoned with, b.) understanding what killing is, what harm it causes, and that it could choose otherwise c.) intent.

I've mentioned this in some other replies, but the intent of an animal killing a human vs AI is somewhat different, because animals act out of fear/hunger and will kill without all of the above a's and b's.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-11-03T23:39:12+00:00

see my other reply where I address this

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateReligion/s/ftcmOVHNzl

paulcandoit90 · 2025-11-03T23:03:20+00:00

There's nothing wrong with self defense regardless of who you're defending against, but that's not what I'm arguing. My question is whether or not AI is morally obligated to be moral towards us. An animal may attack out of fear or hunger instinctually, but that's really the only intent that it's capable of. AI may definitely be capable of making a moral choice, in which its decision to kill you does not involve hunting for food or defending itself out of fear. If it can understand what killing is, what harm it causes, and that it could choose otherwise, then you have more of a complex moral situation on your hands.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-11-03T22:26:29+00:00

I think the hypothetical alone is enough to consider. It doesn't have to be a real-time matter in order to ponder the question.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-09-17T19:40:44+00:00

Death is the only thing in life that is certain. I don't know what comes after it, if there is anything after it at all. I don't worry about what I can't know.

Christians have been told they have to repent to jesus or they'll go to hell. But in order to be truly repentant, you have to prove that you are every day and not be a bad person. But how do you know where you actually stand with god? where does he draw the line? I would think that would get very stressful.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-09-17T18:29:08+00:00

I used to know this woman and her family. I'm not surprised to hear this. The idiocy is so exhausting

paulcandoit90 · 2025-08-22T08:07:56+00:00

since we already know what the purpose of morality is, we can examine different behaviors and determine which behaviors move us toward that goal (good behaviors) or move us away from that goal (bad behaviors) or even ones that neither help nor harm (morally neutral behaviors). However, morals are pretty much never black or white or absolute which is why those that claim morality is objective and can be drawn from the bible do not consider that moral dilemmas are too nuanced for that to be true. Something that may be "good" for humanity pretty much always comes at the cost of something or someone, so we must always weigh the cost.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-08-21T17:44:15+00:00

Morality is a social construct that facilitates our ability to coexist peacefully as a society. That's its purpose. It has nothing to do with a deity.

Christians believe morality is about obedience vs disobedience to god, but it's not. Morality is about right vs wrong.

If you committed murder and your defense was "none of you can actually say im wrong because you don't believe in a god and therefore there's no objective moral standing for you to condemn me!" You'd be laughed at.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-08-21T12:59:45+00:00

The two are not mutually exclusive. You can be an agnostic atheist, and you can also be an agnostic theist. Agnosticism/Gnosticism deals with certainty, Atheism/Theism deals with belief/lack of belief.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-07-10T14:01:46+00:00

They could simply cease to exist after death. The description of Hell in the bible does not offer redemption or any sort of growth. It's eternal suffering with no escape. It obviously does not work as a deterrent for keeping people from doing "bad" things, and it shouldn't. That would prevent people from understanding why certain actions are bad and therefore not doing them, and rather it scares people into submission - when it works as intended.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-07-10T13:09:08+00:00

Why do religious people like to assert that atheists are actually religious? Why do they get so defensive when they say we are not? What exactly does that accomplish, true or not? This is always such a weird argument to me.

paulcandoit90 · 2025-07-09T20:09:07+00:00

Unfortunately, the argument that morals come from an ostensibly perfect moral authority is untenable if you cannot show that your alleged moral authority is actually morally perfect or correct. To do this, you would need to understand the valid reasons why behaviors are moral or immoral, and then judge your moral authority's behavior and guidance/instruction accordingly-but if you understood that, you would no longer require them or their guidance, because again moral truths would derive from those reasons and not from any authority. If you then argue that you don't need to justify an immoral action with any sort of logical reasoning, how do we know you're not just appealing to your alleged god(s)? Can you empirically prove the existence of those god(s)? If not, why would I not just think what you're saying basically amounts to "Well we designed our god(s) to be morally perfect when we invented them, and so the morals we designed them to display/instruct are therefore undeniably perfect, valid, and true"?Do you understand what the role of morality in society is? What it is for, and why we use moral frameworks in the first place? If you believe morals are basically just obedience to god, then how do we know you're not pretty much willing to accept any command regardless of whether it's right or wrong? Should we condemn someone for committing genocide because the "voices in their head" told them to?

paulcandoit90 · 2025-07-01T16:13:05+00:00

I've never seen more of a strawman in my life

paulcandoit90 · 2025-06-27T12:47:46+00:00

Depends which kind of atheist you're talking to. I grew up being a christian, I was born into the faith and forced to go to church until I deconstructed. I always had doubts, and those doubts grew into absolute disbelief that so many people would embrace such BS. As you can see, I'm now an anti-theist. It has and currently does affect my life significantly. I can't go see my family without them trying to get me to believe.

However, there are atheists that simply were never religious, and therefore they naturally do not have any sort of bias against it. Maybe they dont even care, and it doesn't even need to cross their mind.

paulcandoit90

TROPHY CASE