Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

I just don't know the best way to put this but I hope it makes some sense.

I think that so much of what divides us is stirred up by the media.

It is those that control the media have an agenda to control what people see & hear about what is going on.

Sure you seem to see all sides to things. But the main slant on coverage is put it in ways to hide the real t***h.

I say this means as individuals we each see something a little different about most things.

We all would like to think our core beliefs are sound & good.

But little by little our Core Beliefs are eroded.

We try to hold on to the old & base our new views on our old core beliefs.

I say this leaves us confused as to what is happening in the world to day & adjusting our beliefs to the new changes.

So I say we all need to look inside our self to find & keep the important core beliefs. The most important being how we deal with others.

I do believe that the main core values we all have are good but do not always show up in our day to day living.

As life has gotten more complex we as individuals are not changing our values to adapt to the present.

The good in most of us out weighs the bad.

I welcome you true feelings on what I have said.

JMHO Loc: Utah

Only the liberals are confused...and, they should be. My core values have not changed, if nothing else since this lying piece of crap mulatto has been elected to office (twice) by the confused low-information v**ers, my core beliefs have been solidified.

Tasine Loc: Southwest US

Ditto!!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Tasine Loc: Southwest US

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You are right in one respect: dishonest media, biased media does a LOT to stir up things. But there is such a thing as freedom of the press, even if they are a bunch of lying imbeciles.

I don't think my core beliefs are good and well founded. I KNOW they are, and the media, nor the President, nor the Congress, nor any court, nor any other person is going to change them. I don't need to look again at them. My core beliefs are honesty, self respect, sense of responsibility, personal independence, and the Golden Rule. I see no need to change any of these beliefs. My core beliefs are in effect in everything I do every day at all times. They do not waver, do not change, and cannot be changed from the outside. People whose core beliefs can be changed weren't very sure of their "core beliefs" to start with. Or perhaps they never knew what they believed or why.

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

I am sure that deep down you are a good person but you have areas that need improvement & run counter to those core beliefs.

Tasine Loc: Southwest US

Examples?

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

There is not much room in your world for those that disagree with you.

There are things wrong in the world & you & the people that think like you are as much of the problem as most.

I do not hold my self above any of it. I will take my share of the blame.

Tasine Loc: Southwest US

Please explain your comment above. How do we who want our country to proudly survive and its inhabitants be independent and free, account for most of the wrongs in the world? I'm glad you are willing to take your share of the blame - you're welcome to my share as well because I accept NONE of the blame for the world's problems. What is it that YOU are guilty of that makes the world a bad place? If you want me to change, why aren't you changing yourself? Would becoming a collectivist be a good thing for me in your eyes? Would my being a collectivist help America? Would my loving welfare for all make me a compassionate person? What ARE you? Furthermore, WHY are you? What splinter have you gotten in your butt?

Searching Loc: Rural Southwest VA

Ummmm....don't think "he" got a splinter "up his butt" but he did (and you know while I may not agree with you, I have respect for you) tick you off. "CHANGE" -- it sounds as if you feel that you have nothing to change in many regards, and while I am loathe to point this one out, it would seem that you are insulted by the suggestion that you "might" be a tad rigid, that others without your train of thought just have it all wrong. Those core values you spoke of? Admirable, each and every one of them. We should not have to adjust our core values because the times "they are a'changing." There are certain core values at the very heart of our society, our country, that should NEVER EVER be thrown aside for the sake of change. However, that does not mean we should not adjust our strategies to achieve what we aim for -- unity. Just my opinion, mind you. :wink: EVERYONE has something to contribute.

Tasine Loc: Southwest US

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You're right in that EVERYONE has something to contribute, and no one is stopping them from contributing. You seem to think there is no contribution if someone doesn't like the contribution.
I appreciate honesty, and that is what you are showing. Thank you. But I have fought the dark side for so many years over so many issues that I am tired of explaining the obvious, tired of listening to whining, tired of hearing how wonderful collectivism is, tired of hearing how much damage Christianity does, tried of the lie about how terrible it is that Americans can have guns, tired of the Bill of Rights being ravaged from stem to stern - ALL for the bad, tired of listening to so many lies, tired of being jerked around by people without enough brain cells to come in out of the rain. I'm mad and since I am mad for damned good reason, I cannot fathom why it is always the ones on the right who somehow must change..........no one on the left has ever considered changing. Now I have become as obstreperous as they are, simply from dealing with them.

I have tried and tried and tried again to reason with the political left. It cannot be done - UNLESS you are prepared to give up all your priorities so that the left can be comfortable and is allowed to WIN. There are two Americas. I've finally accepted that. Actually I can live with that. There is America and there is America sorta. I live in America. The left lives in America sorta. I don't give a hang what they do in their bedroom or in their privacy. I don't nag them to become Christian. I don't bug them about guns or church. I don't nag them about ANYTHING except their determination to make America FAR worse than they can imagine it can be.

Am I hard headed? Of course I am, and I have very little use for wishy washy people. People either live by principles or they doodle through each day. I am a principle person. I don't care if others are principled or doodlers UNTIL their doodling affects ME or my country. THEN is when I become obstreperous, and will probably continue doing so until my death. You chastise me but you do it nicely. Have you considered chastising those who bug ME?

Striker Loc: Arizona Rockies

What "unity" is possible when America is divided between the proponents of force versus true Liberty? One does not compromise reasoned principle!

Striker Loc: Arizona Rockies

Those "core beliefs" of which you speak are nothing but your current state of brainwashing. Beliefs are NOT necessarily Reasoned Principles.

Searching Loc: Rural Southwest VA

Where to start, where to start...perhaps with those pesky contributions...contributions are only contributions "if" they are accepted, if they are seen as having merit. If we cross off all the offered up opinions on OPP that have been dismissed as "crazy, moronic, irresponsible, immature, lies, distortions of the t***h on both sides..." in my opinion, not a lot of contributions would be considered valid contributions. I hope you get what I'm trying to say. Having difficulty this evening with my communication sk**ls -- got accidentally slammed to the ground by a llama -- right after I read your post the first time.

It may be a little of which came first, the chicken or the egg, but which side do you think started the "you gotta change, no, YOU gotta change?" It seems to have become a self perpetuating cycle. You know, on my very first day when I gave my "perky" shout out stating I am a middle of the road liberal, I was shocked at the reaction -- the vitriol I encountered, not the civilized discourse I was hoping for. It was more or less the same reaction I encountered in my rural community if I "dared" to declare I had a liberal bone in my body. A sane person would have just hit the delete button, never to view OPP again, but while there is a small chance that I am considered sane, there is a bigger possibility that I am extremely stubborn and so I kept coming back even when people were rude beyond belief because I wanted to understand, I NEEDED to understand why "I" even in my rural community was looked on with contempt. The individuals who were the loudest in their condemnation of me on OPP, and they didn't even know me "yet", were from the right, far right maybe? It doesn't matter. I just refused to fling their rudeness back...most of the time. You see, I truly understand your feeling of being under attack, and how tired of it you are, that the values you hold closest to your heart, are seen by some as nonsense, and how tired you are of having to constantly defend and justify how you feel. I feel the same way. I don't believe I have seen you quite like this before -- with your heart SO on your sleeve. It may not seem like it to you, but the "America sorta", the "real" liberals, not the media driven liberals, but the "others",many who go to church, raise their children to have decent, solid values, wishes the same things you do for the country. Maybe their thinking is wired a little differently than yours, but they don't wish for this country to be torn to shreds, particularly from within.

I get your frustration totally, and your anger. I respect your urge to give certain folks a thump on the noggin. However, the fact is, anger begets anger. We start to become familiar with the way certain individuals think and they become familiar with the way we think. Attitudes become entrenched and no one hears ANYBODY because they have already made the decision that the other person has no idea that could possibly be even remotely accurate because they believe they already know EXACTLY how the other thinks. I came to this site a liberal who wanted to understand, who wanted to communicate, and find common ground and what I feel I stumbled upon are two entrenched groups -- neither of whom wish to give a millimeter. I "have" noticed that you don't preach, by the way, something I appreciate, but I suspect because of the passion you feel, it comes across that way sometimes. I hope I don't preach either. Of course, as I key, I come to the sudden realization that somehow (don't exactly know how I got here) I am up on my soap box. :roll: :oops: There are certain individuals on this forum, just like the ones we encounter outside the cyber world, who make the trees difficult to be seen in the forest. They make an awful lot of noise, but it is funny that I have heard the comment made twice lately, one from the right and one from the left, that their sometimes outrageous remarks do not exactly portray how they "really" feel. Well, if they don't feel that way, they shouldn't put it out there that they do. It reflects badly and gives both you and me a bad name and makes it difficult to be heard.

I don't frequent a lot of threads these days because of the caustic atmosphere. You are far braver than I. However, "if" I should pop in for a visit and find you are being outrageously attacked, count on me to "gently suggest" that the poster "might" want to think about how they are communicating. By the way, I truly thank YOU for your honesty. That's where it all begins. :wink:

Searching Loc: Rural Southwest VA

You know, we are ALL part of the problem. Maybe, we ALL need to work harder at being part of the solution.

To your original post, core values are core values are core values. The world is a changing place, but it is our core values that will enable us to stay the course and come out whole on the other side. That said, "sometimes" upon having an epiphany, we discover that something we thought a core value of importance, does not serve us well ethically or morally.

nancyjess

the one sentence that jumped out at me about your letter was,we are not adapting to the present.
we can adapt without loosing our values.. principles of life....
which are honesty.. higher standards... character... making an effort in life. respecting others as you want to be respected.
not expecting others to care for you..! In the last decade...! adapting to the present has been... seperated into groups, by color, by faith... by our beliefs and non beliefs.
we have forgotten we are all americans... all of us.
we all need to reach higher.... with the changing of the times.. not let go and drop to the bottom..! everyone needs to have effort and tenacity to achieve.. not just a few... we are proud people so we should act like it.. the word poor people .. means you are not doing enough.. i was what you call poor too . but my parents stepped it up. and they never looked at them selves as poor! they had high standards and were proud to work harder to achieve. and be an american of value. thank you for asking our views... appreciated