The War on Xmas begins
Listen: Ron Reagan: I'm a Liberal Athiest and I LOVE CHRISTMAS!
Tonight:
We'll talk briefly about part II of today's Senate hearings with The Big Three automakers and then we're covering a story that's made us feel all warm and happy about the holiday season... Yes, I might be an atheist but I do look forward to Christmas, and I was struck by this fact, the Episcopalians are fighting, for real this time: According to to the NYT today, "Conservatives alienated from the Episcopal Church announced on Wednesday that they were founding their own rival denomination, the biggest challenge yet to the authority of the Episcopal Church since it ordained an openly gay bishop five years ago." I'll be speaking with Bishops John-David Schofield and Jerry Lamb, both from the same region in California, both on very different sides of this issue. What is so important to them that it's driven them to split apart?
And later, your calls.
866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.
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- December 4, 2008
"the war on christmas"
technically it would only be a war on christmas if on dec 24th or 25th people came into the christian churchs and disrupted the services celebrating the mass of Christ
as far as i know that doesnt happen so Bill Oreilly doesnt know what the fuck hes talking about
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By ghostofjimiDecember 4, 2008 - 8:21pmIs it a war when the only
Is it a war when the only people fighting it are the people who think they are being attacked and the attackers have no clue that they are supposedly being aggressors and are usually busy celebrating Christmas themselves?
To me it sound more like paranoid delusions, a sure sign of mental illness.
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By MichtouDecember 4, 2008 - 8:44pmeconomic solution
I am convinced I have the answer to our economic troubles. This whole thing started with the real estate crises and must be fixed with real estate. This is not Harvard economics, it is 5th grade economics. It is simple supply and demand. If you get a thorn in your foot you do not get a neck massage, if your economic system is harmed by the real estate industry we do not need to bail out banks and their executives. We must create demand for real estate again and that will spark the rest of the economy including the automobile industry, banking, construction, insurance, manufacturing and everything else. The way to do this is by putting a zero percent capital gains tax on any piece of real estate purchased over the next 2 years (or some trial period) no matter when you sell it, 1 day, 1 week 1 year 10 years this property will be exempt from capital gains from this purchaser. This will get investors off the fence and properties will start moving again thus stabilizing the price making others eager to purchase and banks willing to lend. The government has nothing to lose and everything to gain because no one is buying and selling now anyway so there are no lost capital gains anyway. If this does not produce dramatic results like I am sure it will we can sweeten the pot a little by giving a 10, 20 or 30% tax credit on newly purchased real estate. Definitely a doctor, lawyer or others with a high fed. tax liability will purchase a property to help offset it.
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By mchuchuDecember 4, 2008 - 9:19pmNot the answer for a number of reasons
The cap gains tax is paid on the sale not the purchase and for those selling right now, cap gains are the least of their problems
Most real estate is individual purchase and not investor. It is those people that need to be enticed to buy. A married couple selling their primary residence pay no cap gains on the first 500k of gain so cutting the cap gains tax will only affect a small portion of purchases, and only then, when we start to see gains again.
The quickest way to improve the real estate market would be to renegotiate defaulting mortgages and keep people in their homes. I would prefer the negotiation reduce ONLY the interest, not the principle so that the owners cannot turn around and sell at a profit. If the millions of home in or near foreclosure came off the market, things would solidify.
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By gt6December 4, 2008 - 11:13pmTHE BIG THREE
Hi Ron, It would be nice if the CEO's of the Big 3 had some pictures, as in designs of the cars of the future they are claiming to start making. Words have become pretty meaningless with these guys. If they are unable to include this in their plan than they need to be fired and a team of guys who will manufacture cars people want should get hired. The only way they will get it is if they lose something, like their job. Marilyn from Florida
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By MarilynforobamaDecember 4, 2008 - 8:37pmReligion and Gay
Are we still debating this question?
Once again i would say the argument is in the wrong place. Doesn't really matter when a person becomes gay. It is not a black and white issue. It is a scale which we are all on. And it is part of the experience for that individual. Isn't it our place to honour those characteristics of an individual, to look upon them with fascination and curiosity...and never judgment. I am in awe at how much i can learn from someone else's experiences and thus make adjustments to my own life. What i find interesting is that the hate and division often times originates from religion (religion being man's interpretation of what is spiritual).
Seems to me we want this diversity in our society. Or are we advocating a society of identical robots? I guess the bible does draw correlations of people to sheep.
This month's article in Orion Magazine is right on target - Notes From A Very Small Island. Too often i see religion finding reasons to reject and disrespect every aspect of this plane of existence as opposed to the ancient art form of Honour and Respect. Life is an amazing experience and we can have a minimum of 6+ billion variations of that experience. That to me is where it's at.
Now what baffles me is why the gay community wants any part of this institutional division, eg with marriage and religion. Seems to me the Community would be better off finding a 'higher' road to take which would benefit all parties now and for generations. Bypass all the crap we are told "We must feel this way and not that..." and find what's in our own principled hearts. So let religion define marriage as it chooses. Let the state define civil union or some such term in pure legal terms. Ironically neither of them seem to be able to define love, which is the real issue. The current battle seems to ensure a win-win for lawyers and wedding planners.
Of course, all of these views are exciting to debate. However, somewhere along the line it turns from a simple expression to a divisive persuasion. Personally, what i find in common in such debates is a lack of confidence in one's own unconvincing and inconsistent principles, which forces the person to 'convert' others and thus gain validity for these flawed arguments. I have too much Life to live.
But then, that's just me.
Perhaps the writers of Battlestar Galactica have honed in on the core question when Robot Cylon Sharon responded to 'Human' Commander Adama:
You said that humanity was a flawed creation, and that people still kill one another for petty jealousy and greed. You said that humanity never asked itself why it deserved to survive. Maybe you don't.
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By HowCuriousDecember 4, 2008 - 9:36pmCALLING IN TO YOUR SHOW
Hi Ron, I love your show, it is very rare that I miss listening. My only complaint is that after all your fantastic guests you only can take 2 to 3 calls. You need to have an e mail address or read the blogs you receive on the air for those of us unable to get through. I have called many and have never spoke to you. Actually, you a the only Air America host I have not ever spoken to. Just a suggestion. Thanks. Marilyn from Florida
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By MarilynforobamaDecember 5, 2008 - 6:55pm"the war on christmas"
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=474...
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By ghostofjimiDecember 6, 2008 - 3:50amThere are lots of Christian "wars".
Hey, don't forget the Christian "war on science" or the Christian "war on gays" or the Christian support of the destruction of the Christian religion in Iraq by the Muslims.
Those are way more interesting.
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By deanrddDecember 6, 2008 - 8:40pmA true story
Once upon a time, in a Middle Eastern country, where people lived in the desert, wore robes and rode camels, a young, underage girl was visited by a “magical creature” with wings like a white dove who told her that an even greater magical being was going to fill her with magic power and she would have a baby that would be it's’own father. Some really smart guys who knew astrology and who were from far away saw, in the sky, signs of this magical birth. So they “followed” the star which was apparently close enough to the ground to be a “guide” to this miraculous birth.
Now, it was strange that a “star” was placed in the sky to act as a “guide” because there was a very bad king who live nearby and who has his own astrolagers who could also “read the stars”. The king’s magicians told him that a new king was going to be born. The king was so scared of this new king, he sent his own soldiers to kill all the babies in the land, even their own, which they did.
To keep the baby safe, another magical and winged spirit being went to the “boyfriend” of the underage girl and told him they must leave because all the babies were going to be killed. It’s unclear if they went to the location marked by the new star of it followed them.
They ended up in a new city that was so busy, they had to have the baby in a barn. Even then, the new star showed the smart guys from other countries their location even though their location remained hidden from the bad king. The smart guys gave this new couple expensive stuff that smelled good.
The most magical part of the story is that people belive it’s a historical event.
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By deanrddDecember 7, 2008 - 7:13pm