that once you get started on, you can't stop? That you can just debate for hours?
Mine is hypocritical religious people. You know, the type that insists on associating him or herself with a particular religion, but does not even TRY to follow the teachings of the religion. I am agnostic, but this just drives me nuts because I chose not to follow a religion because I wasn't even sure I believed what any of them were teaching. I would feel like such a hypocrite saying I was Catholic when I don't follow their rules and don't attend a church.
I actually had to erase like 3 paragraphs of stuff on this because this argument was not really the intent of my post. See what I mean? I really CAN'T stop once I get on this subject.
Also, infidelity is a big one of mine. I can never agree with someone that there is any acceptable excuse for it.
gun control. i've seen first hand the damage that guns can do, and my bf believes that it's our right as citizens to carry arms.... (he came from a comunist country so i can see why he believes it)..i don't want my kids going to any house that has a gun, it seriously makes me shudder. so we disagree all the time about that....but until you actually see (several times over) the damage that guns can do...you have no idea how horrible it can be...
that's just one of my many personal agendas.
cancer research is another... domestic abuse child abuse mentor programs...
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"i tell you one lesson I learned
If you want to be something in life, You ain't gonna get it unless, You give a little bit of sacrifice, Oohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry.." -The Roots
Sex education (or lack thereof) in this country. That is my biggest beef with the president right now. It is absolutely ridiculous to not teach teenagers about contraception. I went to a public high school with an excellent sex ed program that teached abstinence as the best way but also fully explored all other options. I became sexually active in my early/mid-teens and was always careful because I had been taught how to be. If young adults do not receive sex ed including education on contraceptives, how and when are they ever going to learn it? Ugh, I could go on and on!
I'm with jacL on the sex education...I could go on for days about why the current sex ed system is messed up. I was taught contraception in middle school (the program was abstinenece-based but we learned all the ways of contraception as well) but I honestly think that's almost too late when kids are having sex at 10, 11, 12...it needs to start early. Kids need to know what is happening to their bodies...not sit and feel ashamed of the way they're changing.
I feel like I can see both sides of most topics, but gay marriage is one that I will not budge on. There is no other option is that it should be legal and called a marriage and not a civil union.
Another topic I could discuss forever is developing countries. That's a subject I don't have the answers or anything, but I'm really interested and it's close to my heart so I could talk about it all day long.
I feel like I can see both sides of most topics, but gay marriage is one that I will not budge on. There is no other option is that it should be legal and called a marriage and not a civil union.
it's always so awful at work when i have to tell someone's partner that they can't visit or go in the room because they are not a relative or spouse. so i definitely agree with you on that.
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"i tell you one lesson I learned
If you want to be something in life, You ain't gonna get it unless, You give a little bit of sacrifice, Oohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry.." -The Roots
The extreme importance of the fine arts to society and the fact that they need to be integrated into every student's education
Tipping when you go to a restaurant---I can't stand that my bf thinks that 15% is okay!! It's 20%, people!! More if the service is superb, no less than 18% for less than stellar service. And unless the server intentionally dumped a bowl of scalding hot soup on your lap, it's never okay to stiff!!! Grrrrrr.
The importance of majoring in what you love in college b/c when you get out of school, your degree isn't going to mean anything beyond the letters 'BA' in most fields (of course, there are some noteable exceptions to this, but I'm talking across the board). You can always minor in something 'sensible' and do internships in that field or in both fields (major and minor)
Banning smoking in public places (restaurants, bars, ect)--I'm all for it. Breathing clean air is my right! I don't want to be an 'involuntary smoker.'
the religious talk is one of my favourite (I agree with what you say, AJ, BTW) nutrition and child education european and/or south american literature
the differences between european and american culture/way of life/style; I could talk for DAYS about it. I find it fashinating (and helps me understand the american thinking a little better)
I love living in the US and everything, but the American work ethic (work yourself into the ground at the expense of all else) really bugs me. People feel guilty taking a day off. I was reamed out by my old boss for being in the hospital, the hospital!! It's ridiculous. There is no need to work the crazy hours that many people do. What's it all for? To say that you worked 70 hours this week and you're just 'so exhausted.' Everyone needs to take a lesson from the European cultures and realize that life isn't all about work! That's only a part of it.
abortion.. fashion.. politics.. jobs from hell.. my in-laws... why Abercrombie sucks, restaurant/service ettiquette... WOW i sound like a know-it-all... well i kinda am :)
*environmental stewardship of the planet - i've devoted my career to this one
*universal health care - the U.S. is way behind the times in terms of providing health care for it's citizens.
*child labor and sweat shops
there are a ton of others that get me going - right to choice, power of corporations in our society, rights of homosexuals, treatment of animals - but those three are the ones that i know the most about and can debate best.
2. Feminism (I'm with you on this one blubirde and cat)
3. I wouldn't call my peeve religious hypocrites so much as "religious ignorance." I notice that a lot of people in the south are religious, but it seems to me that they blindly follow their religion without questioning it. They go to church every Sunday and whatnot, but ask them about gay marriage or feminism or the right to die with diginity or Harry Potter for that matter and they'll give you some stock answer about it and tell you that it's because the bible says so. But if you ask them exactly what part of the bible tells them what they believe, they have no idea, it's just what their preacher and their mommy and daddy and grandparents told them, so they continue to believe it. Drives me nuts.