Mel Gibson's The Passion, sparking concern from the ADL.

Setanta - Well, I see a big difference in my opining about "liberal America", which is a broad term that is really only defined in the mind of the person writing and again in the mind of the person reading. If you consider yourself a liberal and do not look down on Christians, you should assume you are not part of what I term "liberal America".

Contrast that with LW's comments, in which he was referring to a very concrete thing; a movie. But, you are right... I took some editorial license, and you are free to call me on it, if you have nothing better to do right now. In retrospect, I should have written that I think there are a lot of vocal liberals to whom Christians and Christianity are just a punchline.

Please continue to keep an eye on me and let me know if I step out of line again!

There are thousands of Rev. Maurice Gordon's in this nation and this film will only invigorate them to recruit others to their cause.

I almost agree with you here, except that no conservative has labelled me a liberal for supporting same-gender unions. No conservative has called me a liberal for advocating the decriminalization of drugs. In fact, I can't think of a single time when one of the other participants here who is commonly labelled as "conservative" or who has identified himself as a conservative has called me anything other than "Scrat".

On the flip-side, those who call themselves liberals call me "conservative", "right-winger", "Bush-lover", "racist", and worse, despite the likelihood that they have stumbled across enough of my posts to see me share opinions which are not in keeping with the "conservative" label. As often seems to be the case, these particular liberals do not compare their opinions with the available evidence and check to see whether those opinions agree with the evidence. If I have once deigned to take a position which they consider to be the "conservative" position, I am forever considered a right-wing nutjob in their myopic eyes.

DISCLAIMER: If you consider yourself a liberal and don't think you operate like this, assume I'm not referring to you.

Scrat, how about paying attention to the subject at hand instead of going on your usual ranting spree?

If anyone on this forum has called you a racist, Scrat, that is virulently against the TOS and should be reported.

Unfortunately, the other terms are really not having to do with anyone's character but their political bent. You have debunked these labels to a great extent even if some don't find it convincing. Politics never seems entirely fair, does it? Neither does religion.

Mel, I think, has succumbed to the pitfalls of artistic license. He has given himself a license to overkill.

LW, have you actually seen the movie yet?

I don't remember if you said you did or not.

I don't blame you at all for that. You might well imagine, then, how i would feel, considering myself liberal, and taking pride in that, to have you describe liberals as though they only live on the east or west coast (should i move?), or that, by inferential exclusion, no liberals are christian, or church-goers. I am neither a church-goer, nor a christian--but i know conservatives who loathe organized religion, and liberals who are its staunchest defenders. So, you can see how you could get just such a reaction from me. I continue to respect you, although i suspect we won't often agree on "hot button" issues.

How many times does he have to say that he did and post his opinion of it?

I didn't know I was "ranting", or on a "spree". I thought I was offering my opinion on something someone else wrote in this discussion, a point several other people seem to have been allowed to discuss without being accused of going off on a "ranting spree".

But thanks for the heads-up. I'll try to keep an eye on myself.

Must be difficult to do in such a warm, brown moist space.

Yes, I saw a preview of the film just after Mel gave into the distributors and added the subtitles. That's another unfortunate thing -- the Bible we are accustom to is in English and would have given the actors more range in expressing themselves. As it is, the are too often caught up in a recitive drone that is very disconcerting. There is a definite cinematic affectation of making all the "evil" ones look homely, just this side of Orcs. All the fine "good" people are pretty -- Cazieval a bit too pretty until he his face is hammered into a grotesque mask.

What do you mean by this Hobitbob?

Just what it implies. You seem to suffer the same condition.

I am not clear as to what it implies. That's why I asked. As someone who seems to jump on others for clarity, I would think you could be more clear as to what you are saying with these vague statements.

A frequent contributor here authored a long-running discussion the title of which was "If you needed more proof that Republicans are racist". It was, in fact, the first discussion I entered into in A2K. I challenged the notion that all or even most Republicans or conservatives were racists, and the author assured me that he believed just that.

I don't personally think that was against the TOS, but it quite clearly was someone labelling me and others as racists purely based on our political affiliation.

But in thinking about it, I should amplify my comments by writing that I have witnessed name-calling by conservatives, just not directed at me.

At another forum which i frequent, when things start to get heated (and that does not often happen there), other posters will remind the participants that the principle in action is "to attack the idea, not the person."

We could all do well to remember that here . . . HOBITBOB . . .

You led me to believe you were personally accused, so it would appear that there's not much complaint about such a generality that Republicans are all racist (which I'm sure is not true except in Orange County, you could really have difficulty proving it -- my experience is that most of them do a barely adequate job of hiding it).

I led you to believe nothing. I stated that I have been called these things. In point of fact, I was personally singled out and called a "racist" in another forum, not A2K. (I had to think about it, and realize that was not here.) If you don't think calling a group of individuals that includes me "racists" is the same thing as calling me a "racist", then allow me to remove the word "racist" from the list of things I have personally been called here in A2K. My point stands, unchanged by this triviality; I have been called names and attacked for taking a conservative position on issues here, but have NEVER been attacked for expressing a liberal point of view.

What names were you called when you express conservative views? You did lead me to believe that you were personally called a racist in these forums -- someone posting a supposition that Republicans are racist should not to be taken seriously by either side. To personally take it as an insult is biting the bait and making sure the hook is firmly seated in one's throat.

It is official -- a woman suffered a fatal heart attack during the climactic scenes of the movie. Gives new meaning to the word overkill.