Election 2012!

[Mysterious F.]

Strongly religious people should, by all means, be even more supportive of gay marriage and abortion rights than any other demographic group. Naturally speaking, they wouldn't want any body, political or otherwise, deciding how they should live their lives with religious beliefs that differ from their own. So they shouldn't let their own religious beliefs dictate how other people live their own lives. It's that simple. And, as you said about the post-secondary education plans of each of them, Romney's plan is foolish and would be very harmful to many of the people who will vote for him in a few weeks. I don't necessarily know if I should believe Romney means it (I actually hardly believe anything he says as more than attempts to bring in the hard-right voters, which is part of why I dislike him very strongly.), but it's a terrible plan nonetheless.

Also, this just sank in:

A bill was passed that allows children to stay under their parents' health insurance until the age of 26. I was able to get my chest surgery because of it.

Woah, what happened?

[Darth Wyndisis]

So they shouldn't let their own religious beliefs dictate how other people live their own lives. It's that simple.

You would think.  The problem is that, in many cases, the more religious people are, the less they like to keep it to themselves.  Imagine if you followed a religion that said nobody could wear the color red on Tuesdays, and if anyone did, the world would plunge into a thousand years of darkness.  If you sincerely believed that, would you care about letting people wear what they want, even if they didn't follow your specific interpretation of your religious teachings?  Some people believe there will be dire consequences if we let women have abortions of let gay people get married.  When you believe that, screw letting people do their own thing, religious law is the law.  Now some of the people who are against gay marriage are just bigots who use their religion to justify making it illegal, but I don't think you have to be a bigot in order to think gay marriage is going to doom us all.  You know that whole "love the sinner hate the sin" thing.

As for who I am voting for, probably Obama.  I don't think he is the greatest thing there is, but I think he's done a decent job, and I don't care for Romney.

[Mysterious F.]

Imagine if you followed a religion that said nobody could wear the color red on Tuesdays

Heh, one of my history teachers always used an example like this when he had to give us examples. Except he used pink shirts and Thursdays.

Now some of the people who are against gay marriage are just bigots who use their religion to justify making it illegal

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[MagmarFire]

You would think.  The problem is that, in many cases, the more religious people are, the less they like to keep it to themselves.

If I may make an amendment to this: The more vocal people are, the less they like to keep to themselves. It seems kind of obvious for me to say (I may even be begging the question...), but I can almost guarantee you that any sect of some kind of religion, fandom, or what have you that speaks out to overzealous extremes is a very vocal minority, not that they just happen to be extremely religious in their field. Cum hoc ergo propter hoc and all that.

Now some of the people who are against gay marriage are just bigots who use their religion to justify making it illegal, but I don't think you have to be a bigot in order to think gay marriage is going to doom us all.  You know that whole "love the sinner hate the sin" thing.

From my understanding, aside from the people who appeal to nature, those who are against it are so because of the lack of separation of church and state in regards to marriage. In other words, their tax dollars are being used on something that they think is morally wrong.

That was just something I heard online somewhere. I myself don't have a well-defined opinion on the matter.

In the hopes of sounding on-topic...uh...go Obama.

[Mysterious F.]

This was a good debate, way better than the disaster two weeks ago. Some key moments that came out of it:

1. Not really a moment but a debate rule that was often broken: Don't ever interrupt the moderator. Both of them needed to stop doing this in these debates. God.
2. "Governor, you're the last person who's gonna cut down on China." Brilliant.
3. President Obama absolutely owned Romney on the Libya question. And it is worth mentioning that, while the embassy in Tripoli did indeed ask for more security, it was not the one that was attacked. That was the Benghazi embassy.
4. "Government does not create jobs." If the government does not create jobs, Mitt, then why are you trying to convince people that you can create them if you're in the federal government?

EDIT: And "binders full of women" has turned into a meme:

http://bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/

[Vaati]

From my understanding, aside from the people who appeal to nature, those who are against it are so because of the lack of separation of church and state in regards to marriage. In other words, their tax dollars are being used on something that they think is morally wrong.

If that's what they really think, that's just asinine. It wouldn't be the first time our tax dollars have been put towards something a fair amount of people weren't supportive of. A lot of people don't support the war we're in and that's costing us more tax dollars than granting gays the right to marry ever will.

My point being, of course, that sometimes our tax dollars go places we don't want them to and getting upset that your money is granting two people of the same sex the right to marry? Cry me a river.

[Mysterious F.]

If that's what they really think, that's just asinine. It wouldn't be the first time our tax dollars have been put towards something a fair amount of people weren't supportive of. A lot of people don't support the war we're in and that's costing us more tax dollars than granting gays the right to marry ever will.

My point being, of course, that sometimes our tax dollars go places we don't want them to and getting upset that your money is granting two people of the same sex the right to marry? Cry me a river.

Henry David Thoreau would hate you. 

[MagmarFire]

I'm just the messenger here. Pay me no heed.

[Mysterious F.]

I like how many times both of them turned the foreign policy debate into an economic debate. I mean, come on.

[Twilight Wolf]

I filled out my absentee ballot Monday evening and then went trick-or-treating two days later. I am a responsible adult. :v

[Mysterious F.]

That's pretty awesome, TW.

[Mysterious F.]

Celebrate good times come on

[Hi no Seijin]

Look at that, guys; we totally called the election.  Go us.

[Mysterious F.]

They could have just let us call it instead of taking painful hours to count every vote. 

[Vaati]

Ahh, I was keeping track of the election on NBC's website while simultaneously managing Tumblr, Facebook, Skype and a Livestream chat. For a while I had completely forgotten to check NBC again and then my mom came into my room to tell me that Obama had won. Cheers!