Saturday is the Rapture

[Shibumi]

The really sad part is these buttholes are absolutely serious, and they preach their hate at the funerals of soldiers killed in action.

You know, that might have been a way more compelling argument back in the 20th century, you know, when US troops at times fought for good stuff, or at least had the pretense of fighting for good stuff.

Last I checked they were in Iraq to find the WMDs and in Afghanistan to catch OBL.

I totally agree with your main point, just that the example you brought up is, well, repugnant. I for one would rather have them preach their hate at a soldiers funeral than an average Joe's funeral. But then, I of course would rather have them not preach their hate at all. In fact, I would consider the world a better place without preaching generally.

[Veho Nex]

Shibumi, next time you talk to a soldier who has been to Iraq or worse, Afghanistan, tell him that. Then once your jaw is realigned and you get the cast removed from your body tell him again. Don't blame our soldiers for where they are deployed. Blame the politicians, and go preach that stuff at their funerals.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I was going to bring up the Phelps family before I came to this page and saw I was beaten to it. You can't beat them for some good old fashioned trollin'.

They are hilarious. They even do covers of pop songs and change the words to about how God hates everyone.

[Shibumi]

Shibumi, next time you talk to a soldier who has been to Iraq or worse, Afghanistan, tell him that. Then once your jaw is realigned and you get the cast removed from your body tell him again. Don't blame our soldiers for where they are deployed. Blame the politicians, and go preach that stuff at their funerals.

Been there, done that, jaw still aligned.

And as to the argument of "do not blame the soldiers" - are you saying it is ok for soldiers to follow orders no matter what? If so, you are on pretty thin ice.

[ajaxfetish]

Been there, done that, jaw still aligned.

And as to the argument of "do not blame the soldiers" - are you saying it is ok for soldiers to follow orders no matter what? If so, you are on pretty thin ice.

That seems quite the stretch. Perhaps he's saying the soldiers aren't responsible for the wars we're in, so it seems pretty crass to harass or persecute them for the choices made by politicians. For an analogy, would you consider environmentalists concerned about fertilizer runoff justified in picketing the funerals of migrant workers killed in agricultural accidents, rather than the farmers who employ them?

Ajax

[The Stranger]

You know, that might have been a way more compelling argument back in the 20th century, you know, when US troops at times fought for good stuff, or at least had the pretense of fighting for good stuff.

Last I checked they were in Iraq to find the WMDs and in Afghanistan to catch OBL.

I totally agree with your main point, just that the example you brought up is, well, repugnant. I for one would rather have them preach their hate at a soldiers funeral than an average Joe's funeral. But then, I of course would rather have them not preach their hate at all. In fact, I would consider the world a better place without preaching generally.

righteousness is relative.

[PanzerJaeger]

You know, that might have been a way more compelling argument back in the 20th century, you know, when US troops at times fought for good stuff, or at least had the pretense of fighting for good stuff.

Last I checked they were in Iraq to find the WMDs and in Afghanistan to catch OBL.

I totally agree with your main point, just that the example you brought up is, well, repugnant. I for one would rather have them preach their hate at a soldiers funeral than an average Joe's funeral. But then, I of course would rather have them not preach their hate at all. In fact, I would consider the world a better place without preaching generally.

Man, every single thread?

[Strike For The South]

You know, that might have been a way more compelling argument back in the 20th century, you know, when US troops at times fought for good stuff, or at least had the pretense of fighting for good stuff.

Last I checked they were in Iraq to find the WMDs and in Afghanistan to catch OBL.

I totally agree with your main point, just that the example you brought up is, well, repugnant. I for one would rather have them preach their hate at a soldiers funeral than an average Joe's funeral. But then, I of course would rather have them not preach their hate at all. In fact, I would consider the world a better place without preaching generally.

LOLZ, more and more I suspect troll

[Fragony]

LOLZ, more and more I suspect troll

*cough* Scandinavia *cough*

Nope they are drilled that way

[Beskar]

This thread needs more †.

[Shibumi]

*cough* Scandinavia *cough*

Nope they are drilled that way

Can't really argue against that.

[Louis VI the Fat]

*cough* Scandinavia *cough*

Nope they are drilled that way

You know, I was thinking.

A few decades ago, most Americans confirmed to the stereotype of the Gringo: blond, blue eyed, Protestant. These dominated politics, culture, movies. They looked 'Anglosaxon'. Not dissimilar to Scandinavians.
After WWII, a majority of Americans was blue-eyed. Of the - then - minority that wasn't, many were barely even considered American at all, and remained largely invisible to Europeans. Non-whites such as Blacks and Native Americans didn't appear in movies and didn't really tourist around in Europe, these were invisible. In outward appearance and in actual fact, America looked majority Anglosaxon.The European could be forgiven for thinking America was a Nordic country.

However, nowadays, Americans look very differently. Only fifteen percent of newborns are blue eyed anymore. The number of blondes is lower still. Even white Americans look very differently, two generations and a lot of social integration onwards. You don't look Nordic as a people when so many are part Italian, Armenian, Jewish, distant native American, Puerto Rican, Greek, Portuguese. White Americans no longer look overwhelmingly Anglosaxon. Americans are a varied mix, but overwhelmingly dark haired and brown eyed. Add in America's minorites, one third of the populaton, who by now are fully visible to Europeans, and there is no longer any impression of America as a 'North European' country.

Scandinavians just don't subconsciously, instinctively, recognise themselves in Americans anymore, the way they did as a matter of course in the decades after the war. Humans being humans, this must have an effect on identification, empathy, sympathy.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

White Americans, 2011:

[Viking]

I hate to break it to you, but the majority of Scandinavians are neither blond nor blue-eyed, so your post comes across as somewhat absurd. The three Scandinavian countries have important individual differences, so any attempt to generalise has a great potential for failure.

Fun fact: while both Denmark and Norway have roughly the same population, Denmark is at the size of Switzerland, while Norway is larger than countries like the UK and Poland (and Germany if Svalbard is included). Sweden is even bigger, and has a considerably larger population. Of course, these numbers are important.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Nordics have a different definition of blond. To the Nordic, only Agnetha is blond. To me, all four members of ABBA are.

And yes, there are differences between the different Nordic countries and regions. As usual, these look more pronounced the closer one's point of perspective. The inhabitants of Filitosa insist they are completely different from those of Propriano, those aliens with such a different language, customs and people. To the outsider, they are two indistinguishable Corsican villages two kilometers apart.

[Samurai Waki]

Louis, it totally depends on where in the US you're at. Areas outside of the major urban centers of the US (The South not included) still tend to be overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon. Though that is changing, I doubt you'll see much diversity for awhile yet in some states like Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Wyoming... it's not that minorities aren't welcome, they just tend to want to live in places where they are already the majority.