Comments by max
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Posted on May 1 at 8:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i can't help but be both amused and saddened by the comments by "lookeyhere," "beanstalk" and "outlaw." this IS america and we are ALL entitled to our opinion. however, this privilege doesn't mean your opinion is the truth. it seems the modus operandi on this forum is to immediately attack someone who offers a differing opinion from yours. it kind of reminds me of the liberal outcry for tolerance... that is, we must be tolerant of everyone EXCEPT conservative Christians. to me, that's the height of hypocrisy. so you want some FACTS... chew on these: florida's education, supposedly helped by the lottery, has in fact seen decreases in test scores since its inception in the mid-1980s (i know it's ridiculous to mention students' performance as a measuring stick for education, but i'm crazy that way); education spending in florida has drastically decreased since the lottery began... the problem: as lottery dollars flow in, education dollars flow out, and not to education; public corruption and ethics violation in florida have increased 160 percent since the lottery began.
now those are just a few facts easily found on the internet. again, and i'll type slowly this time, the issue is NOT the right of someone to gamble... if you want to throw your money away on gambling, please, line up and roll the dice. the issue is the government's responsibility to protect and serve the citizenry, not lead them into possible addictions and increasing criminal activity (which, by the way, is another pesky fact in EVERY STATE where a form of gambling is legal). what DOES happen, however, is certain people end up making millions of dollars that would have otherwise been spent on goods and services.
the proponents of the sweet home alabama proposal say it cannot possibly be viable without gambling. try telling that to the folks in branson, missouri, where gambling is still ILLEGAL. don't fall for the lies, slick advertising or false claims of great financial benefit to the state and local economies. it's just not the truth.
funny thing about truth... it's true whether you believe it or not.
Posted on April 30 at 3:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
outlaw also wrote, "if the voters want it, then they should get it..." then where does one draw the line? if the voters want to outlaw owning firearms, should they get it? legalize crack? sure, why not. the issue at hand is not the people's right to vote for something, it's whether the government should legalize and adopt something that is proven time and time again to be detrimental to society. go talk to the local law enforcement officials in atmore, biloxi or anywhere else gambling is legal and get some facts. oh, and while you're at it talk to government officials in florida and georgia (both lottery states) about how much education has been helped by the lottery. you'll find a much different story when you look at facts.
Posted on March 16 at 10:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i'm constantly astounded at the thought processes (or lack thereof) of some of our local citizens. in a perfect world there would be no guns, violence, war, disease or natural disasters. unfortunately, that is NOT the world in which we live. so all we can do in this imperfect world is the best we can for the most. since this is a discussion on gun control, for those of you advocating more of it, dare i ask a logical question? have the mountanous number of gun laws already in place on the federal, state and local levels produced a drop in gun crimes in the U.S.? just listen to supreme court justice steven breyer (an unabashed supporter of gun control) ..."At the crudest level, as Breyer wrote, violent crime in the U.S. capital has increased since the ban took effect in 1976. "Indeed," he continued, "a comparison with 49 other major cities reveals that the district's homicide rate is actually substantially higher relative to these other cities than it was before the handgun restriction went into place."
i know common sense left the united states some years ago, but please employ just a little. when more laws are enacted to "tighten" governmental control of gun ownership, it simply does nothing to keep the criminal element from obtaining weapons.
so here's an idea... enforce the laws already enacted, reform our justice system to actually punish criminals who commit violent crimes instead of offering them advanced degrees in becoming more dangerious felons with access to weight training and cable television, spend tax dollars on programs PROVEN to work in reforming prisoners like prison ministries and wake up to the reality that we live in a fallen, sin-filled world where bad choices often have bad consequences.
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Posted on May 1 at 2:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
beanstalk, as a Christian i am in complete agreement that God has given us choices. we make them every single day; some good, some bad. and if you will check my earlier posts, nowhere will you find me saying gambling is the EVIL of ALL, as you posted. but i also know how important it is to read ALL of God's Word, not just the part about His unconditional love for us. while He does love us unconditionally, He also teaches us that our choices have consequences. just as you have the right to gamble, i have the right as a Christian to oppose it. and while you won't find a specific chapter and verse calling gambling a sin, you also won't find a single verse specifically calling abortion a sin, or child molestation, or driving while drunk, or cooking meth. the heart of the Gospel message of Jesus IS the heart; Jesus said to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. which of you gambling proponents can guarantee crimes won't be committed to pay gambling debts, or that lives and families won't be destroyed; just as no one can guarantee who will become alcoholics when the first drink is taken, there's no way to know. we do, however, KNOW those things happen. we also DO know that God wants the very best for us. the freedom to make bad choices is NEVER God's idea of what's best for us. God help our society when the only way we can properly fund education is through gambling. what would please God, however, is a return to fiscal responsibility by the government, and that includes the billions of dollars wasted each year in education, failed social programs and most anything the government gets involved with.
while you will probably disagree with most of this, know that as a Christian i love you and am praying for you and praying against our state legalizing gambling.
On Gambling meeting draws crowd