John Spencer Yantiss - Family & Society

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Roman Polanski should be extradited to the U.S.

Viewing pornography is the equivalent of cheating.

It is not appropriate to talk on the phone while using a public restroom.

Pride is the worst of the seven deadly sins. If there could be a "worst," pride would be it, more often than not producing three or more of the rest.

The arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was justified. I have to go with Tara Wall's assessment of the arrest, http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/taras-two-cents/2009/jul/29/what-a-few-beers-wont-fix/, and the subsequent political and media circus.

Cats are better pets than dogs. This is really a "what king of person are you?" question. Having had cats and dogs, and when living with my stepfather and mother, both the critters together (in multiples), I do not want another of either. If I were forced to be saddled with one or the other, I would have to go with a cat, as they are generally lower maintenance: A cat does not have to be "walked" even on rainy or otherwise inclement weather days.

The legal minimum age for gambling should be raised to 21.

Parents should not have the right to refuse medical care for their children due to religious beliefs.

The law should not require people to wear seat belts. I agree with @ewyatt on this one. Arguments that seat belts should be required, because the lives saved is a significant factor in curtailing insurance costs, simply do not hold water. It is one of the plethora of statistical misuses in modern society. According to the FHWA (Federal Highway Administration), there are 4600 pedestrian traffic deaths annually, and another 70,000 pedestrian traffic injuries. Why not require people who walk on sidewalks and streets to wear protective gear equivalent to that worn by football players? A seat belt is a SELF protective/preservation device--as would be pedestrian protective gear. If anything SHOULD be mandatory it is a prohibition on cell phone use while driving! Such use endangers OTHERS, particularly defenseless pedestrians. Of course, pedestrians crossing the street while talking on or listening to cell phones is a hazard too. As @ewyatt noted, while we are considering restrictions and prohibitions, perhaps personal responsibility should be mandated! :) One of my own sayings is, "Freedom is the privilege of exercising responsibility." The trouble is that very few people actually wish to be, themselves, responsible; they wish for everyone ELSE to be so. To the degree that we are all responsible, to that very degree do we not need laws restricting our freedom. The vast, and ever increasing body of law--local, state, and federal--is a reflection of the lack of self-dicsipline in society.

Belief in Creationism or Intelligent Design (ID) contradicts the acceptance of evolution. Unless one devises one's own story of Creation, or concept of Creationism (a term devised by Christians to identify the Biblical story of Creation!), one which rejects the sovereignty of God, yes. "Natural selection" ignores God's sovereignty.

A belief in evolution contradicts a belief in Creation. Unless one devises one's own story of Creation, one which rejects the sovereignty of God, yes. "Natural selection" ignores God's sovereignty.

A person must accept the Nicene Creed to be a Christian. Yes and no. The Nicene Creed merely summarises the Gospel, as presented by Jesus Himself, the author of it. One must certainly accept the Gospel to be a Christian (Christian literally means follower of, disciple of Christ). One must then, willy-nilly, accept the Nicene Creed, whether or not one chooses to call it that.

Doubt cannot be part of faith. No, doubt cannot be a PART OF faith; that is oxymoronic. However, the finite, and fallible human mind cannot be free of doubt. Accordingly, faith and doubt can coexist. A careful reading of the Bible will make it clear that God knows this--exactly how could an omniscient being NOT know that, or anything else?--and fully expects His children to have their doubts. Even David, to whom God Himself referred as a "man after his [God's] own heart," in Psalms records many doubts.

Islam will become Europe's predominant religion. If the current apathy on the part of so-called Christians, and those who claim no religion--a cardinal self-deception, for the basic definition of religion is "a cause, principle, system of tenets held with ardor, devotion, conscientiousness, and faith; a value held to be of supreme importance." If those who believe relisiously that God does not exist, and those who claim that He does, but care nothing for living accordingly, continue on their present course of blind apathy, then, yes, Islam will willy-nilly become Europe's predominant religion.

The Pledge of Allegiance should include the phrase "under God" for other reasons. To quote Peter Ferrara, "Religious expression, freely chosen, in any public forum, venue or context, shall not constitute an establishment of religion under the First Amendment." The First Amendment does not prohibit, but protects that very right. The distorted interpretation favoured by the ACLU and most other liberals in fact calls for prohibiting exactly what the First Amendment protects.

The Catholic Church's position on contraception is correct.

Catholic priests should not be permitted to marry. Celibacy is a precept, a rule of the Catholic church. If one who wishes to be a "priest," as opposed to a "pastor," or "minister," the equivalent titles withint non-Roman Catholic, or non-Orthodox churches, then one should seek a different church, such as the Anglican (or Episcopal). If I am a member of a Baptist church, and do not believe baptism to be necessary, then I need to consider attending, joining, a different denomination.

The people in the US have the right to freely choose and practice a religion or to have no religion at all. Right? Yes. Is that right enforced? No. Christians are not given the same privileges of assembly, speech, and activity that are openly accorded those of other religions. A visit to almost any university will demonstrate that to anyone who cares to differ. Check out Appalachian State University (Boone, NC); Wake Forest [(Wake Forest, NC) by charter, a Baptist institution!]; Harvard [(Boston, MA) by charter, a Christian institution. Harvard's first motto was Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae "Truth for Christ and the Church.").

Man is not infallible. Is man infinite? Is man omnipotent? Here is the kicker: Is man omniscient? Only an all-knowing being can be (pun intended) infallible. All those who are omniscient, raise their hands!

A Christian cannot lose salvation. Not accoring to the Bible, once again, the only record of what Jesus said, either directly or through the Apostles, about ANYTHING. What CAN and DOES happen is that a person may THINK that he or she has accepted Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and Saviour, but has not truly done so, and then fully and wholly again embrace a sinful life. However, only the individual, and Christ, can truly know the state of one's heart and soul.

All spiritual gifts are granted to Christians today. According to Scripture, to wit, the Bible, yes. In order to find out what God--Jehovah--says about anything, one must research ALL of the Bible. No single word, verse, or longer passage, can be taken out of context. The TRUE opinion, position, of an individual human being can ONLY be discerned, concluded, by taking into acccount ALL that that person has said and written regarding the issue in question, the same is true about Christianity, the basis for which is the Bible, the only written record of what Jesus (Yeshua, Jehovah, Yahweh) actually said about ANYTHING.

People should stop using the n-word. Especially those who now use it most, African-Americans.

Religious compatibility is an important component to a romantic relationship. In the "first blush" of being "in love," most people tend to ignore differences in their beliefs, but after the "pink cloud" has dissipated faith issues, along with many more "little things," can, and usually do, create friction that can rip a relationship apart.

Children with one heterosexual parent are better off than children with two homosexual parents.

Carrie Prejean should not be stripped of her Miss California title. Get over it, all of you who love to hate in the name of tolerance. If she had said something critical of, say, Christianity, not only would she perhaps have won the Miss USA contest (not a foregone conclusion, since Kristen Dalton is no dog, and not a nimbus), but she certainly would not have received all of the vitriolic haranguing, beginning with the witling calling himself "Perez Hilton."

The Matthew Shepard Bill is not constitutional. If an explanation is needed, I shall let Virginia Foxx's remarks speak for me.

It is healthy for couples to remain friends after being in a long-term relationship. This is another one of those questions that cannot properly be answered with a yes or no. Too much depends on too much. It is like Weston’s Neuro-nuclear Law Of Probabilities: "What is least likely is most likely when least likely."

Political compatibility is an important component to a romantic relationship. Rarely at the outset, but just wait a few months--if the relationship lasts that long.

Carrie Prejean did lose the Miss USA 2009 competition for opposing same-sex marriage. Knowing the increasingly pro-homosexual stance of most of those in the entertainment industry--and left-stream media--it is unfortunately likely that she took a decisive hit for her own position. It is sad indeed that our society has degenerated into the petty state that, accomplishments are judged by whether or not the individuals in question hold to the same opinions about unrelated matters as those doing the evaluating. Although that by no means makes it a gien that Prejean would have won over Kristen Dalton, it certainly assured her loss.

Economic downturns lead to increases in crime. In today's amoral, anti-Christian-principles social state, an absolute YES. Such was not the case during the Great Depression, because the collective morality of American society prevented that sort of reaction. In that era, a vast majority of U. S. citizens held to Christian moral principles--even those who were themselves not Christian--and treated each other accordingly. I am not pretending that there were not gross inequities, such as "racial" (an oxymoron, since there is only one human race; the term "race," as applied to different ethnic groups, and peoples of divergent complexions and physiological features, was first used in the 15th century) and gender prejudice. I speak here of crime, as indicated in the question. During the Great Depression, there was very little crime, little burglary, little mugging, little robbery, outside of a few wildly famous individuals, such as Bonnie and Clyde, "Pretty Boy" Floyd, etc.

Couples with kids are happier than those without. It really depends on whether or not the couple is or would have been happy at all. If so, yes; if not, then children are not going to help; indeed, they will likely exacerbate an unhappy situation.

Faith-based organizations should not pay taxes.

Jesus Christ was a real-life person. There is a vastly greater historical record--that is, secular, by the way--of the life of Jesus Christ, than that Julius Caesar ever lived. To deny it is, quite simply, to "protest too much."

Dating sites are an effective way to find love. As effective as what now passes for traditional.

Christianity is thriving. Christianity flourishes most when under attack and persecuted. For those who care to ascertain the real facts in this regard, one cannot rely on mainstream media, or even academia. Deep, serious research into data provided by watchdog groups around the world, and papers released by independent private organisations and institutes offer hard facts. Check out the millions of home churches in China and India, where there are numerically far more Christians than in America. There are also incredible revivals in the least expected places, like Southern California communities near LA and Holloywood.

People who hit their significant others once are likely to do so again.

Selecting in-vitro embryos based on preferred genetic traits is immoral.

Mormons are not Christian. It is amazing how many of those who claim to be tolerant, and demand it of others, in actuality possess little to none themselves: I quote, "extremist, wack-job,violent, uneducated, morally bankrupt, haters." The preceding was a self-description by a wIs member. Does this person actually think that he/she is not voicing hate?

The Catholic Church should deny communion to members who are pro-choice.