Where do you stand on other controversial issues?

[Naren]

Abortion - I'd never do it, but some people need it. "Some."
Death Penalty - For it, but only in severe cases
No fault divorce - What's that?
Stem Cell Research - Don't care, go ahead
Pornography - If people want to look at sex videos, that's there b'ness. No kids though.
Affirmative Action - Again, what's that?
Medical Marijuana - There's medical marijuana? o.O
Marijuana legalization - No.
Gun Control - I don't care, but stay off my lawn.
Religious language used... - I have a rather... unusual religion, but still, go ahead
Obamacare - What's tha- Hold on, Obama cares? About what?

My input, enjoi.

[NoName114]

Abortion? Neutral
Death Penalty? 100% for it, more criminals should be on this and rapists should be executed
No fault divorce? Yes, for it
Stem Cell Research? 100% for it, the government should pour millions in it in my thoughts
Pornography? A right, however child porn should be handled better
Affirmative Action? No
Medical Marijuana? No
Marijuana legalization? No
Gun Control? Yes
Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)? No, no one religion should ever be favored
Obamacare? not really but for the idea yes

[Heyitsme]

Abortion? Pro-choice. I don't particularly like the idea of abortion, but it's not my choice to make.

Death Penalty? Against it. Not only is it more expensive to execute a person as opposed to locking them up for life, but there's always the risk that new evidence comes up that finds that a previously executed person was actually innocent.

No fault divorce? Go ahead.

Stem Cell Research? For it.

Pornography? For it.

Affirmative Action? For it, but with a greater focus on people in poor economic situations.

Medical Marijuana? For it.

Marijuana legalization? I support it. If alcohol is legal, then there's no reason why other drugs shouldn't be.

Gun Control? In the sense that people shouldn't be able to walk right into Walmart and buy a gun, yes. Background checks and education on gun usage, please.

Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)? I'm for it. It's what the majority of people want, and nobody's rights are being taken away because of it.

Obamacare? I support it 100%

[Caoimhe Fayre]

Abortion

I'm pro-life. I don't believe abortion in any case should be legal, unless it is a case where the mother's life would be in danger, in which case it shouldn't be an abortion but rather the necessary medical procedure to save the mother's life should be undertaken followed by using every possible means to also save the unborn child.

Death Penalty

Against. Even the worst criminals are still human beings, and what of those cases where we wrongfully convict?

No fault divorce

Don't care.

Stem Cell Research

I am against stem cell research that uses aborted babies. However, they are exploring using the stem cells found in chord blood to do amazing things, and I am definitely in support of that option. But if it requires the premature, human-caused death of an innocent human being in order for the research to be possible, then I am 100% against it.

Pornography

I'm against any kind of pornography where the participants might not be willing. But if all participants are willing and are paid fair wages? Who am I to complain?

Affirmative Action

On the one hand, I'd be against because sometimes it can be taken to far - an example would be where people voted against the best MP my home riding had ever had, and admitted that he was the best MP, and yet said they would be voting for the competition simply because she was a woman (never mind that she knew very little about any of the locally important issues at the time).

On the other hand, I have been learning about privilege - and while I don't think that reverse privilege is the way to go, I do think that sometimes someone who has not had privilege previously due to their skin colour or other immutable factors of birth, who has maybe not had access to the same educational opportunities, the same health care, the same treatment by authority... maybe they actually WOULD be the better candidate, because they can withstand adversity, and because what they have done with what they had available might be so impressive.

So I guess that was are really long winded way to say I don't know.

Medical Marijuana

I don't know. If it's prescribed for a medical purpose, it's not really my business or training to know what that might be or if it could be necessary or not.

Marijuana legalization

For non-medicinal use? Against.

Gun Control

In support - of course, I'm thinking Canadian issues, so I'm thinking Gun Registry, which was working... anyone notice the upswing in gun-related deaths in Toronto lately, specifically since Harper scraped the gun registry?

Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)?

Not sure about American politics, but in Canada we sing "God keep our land glorious and free" in our anthem, and I'm not against it. I think it would be silly to change the words now, it's been our anthem for long enough... on the other hand, then there are the nutcases who think that our country must somehow be a Catholic (or whatever religion they might be) theocracy simply because the word "God" is in our anthem... so again, undecided.

Obamacare

Another American issue! Well, I'm Canadian and I like Canada's health care system. I think we need to protect against a two tier system, and we need to fight against the constant push to privatize.

In fact, we just discussed this in my Client Care Issues class - ever heard of a P3? It's a Private-Public Partnership hospital, where the government gets private contractors to build a hospital that the government can't afford to build yet, and the contractor gets to make money off of the hospital for so many years until the debt is payed off and then some.

This often results in hospitals that aren't as well built as the government would have done, and in less-than-optimum care because the contractors have too much control over the employees of the hospital and cut corners to save/make more money on the deal, which results in profit-driven rather than patient-driven health care.

[vyvance]

Abortion?
For it.
Death Penalty?
For it.
No fault divorce?
For it.
Stem Cell Research?
For it.
Pornography?
For it.
Affirmative Action?
For it. (assuming it is what I think it is)
Medical Marijuana?
For it.
Marijuana legalization?
Never smoked it, but I don't care if other people do. Well, as long as they don't do it around me. Smells terrible.
Gun Control?
Against it. Edit: Against complete removal of civilian owned firearms.
Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)?
Meh?
Obamacare?
Pro universal health care.

[Spatula]

Abortion?
Yes
Death Penalty?
No
No fault divorce?
Yes
Stem Cell Research?
Yes
Pornography?
Yes
Affirmative Action?
Yes
Medical Marijuana?
Yes
Marijuana legalization?
Yes
Gun Control?
Yes
Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)?
No
Obamacare?
Yes

[Jonathan]

Abortion?
Pro-Choice. The woman should always have the right to choose what she wants to do with her body.
Death Penalty?
Against.
No fault divorce?
For
Stem Cell Research?
Definitely for
Pornography?
For. As long as it's voluntary and the actors aren't children, I don't see a problem with it.
Affirmative Action?
For
Medical Marijuana?
For
Marijuana legalization?
For
Gun Control?
For
Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)?
Against
Obamacare?
For

[brocub]

Abortion? Yes.
Death Penalty? No.
No fault divorce? Yes.
Stem Cell Research? Yes.
Pornography? Yes.
Affirmative Action? Yes until no longer needed (which could be never... who knows...)
Medical Marijuana? Yes. Big ol' yes.
Marijuana legalization? Yes.
Gun Control? Yes
Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)? No.
Obamacare? Yes. You guys really need it. Socialized medicine is great because you don't have to worry about how you'll pay cause you're already pooling together to pay it.

[Pseudojim]

Abortion? - a woman's body is hers and no-one else's
Death Penalty? against it on moral and practical grounds
No fault divorce? not something i've ever considered... what is this??
Stem Cell Research? all for it, endless potential
Pornography? personally love it, but mass proliferation and availability to children is a problem
Affirmative Action? not an issue in my country, never considered it
Medical Marijuana? not sure what this is asking? Yes. Cannabis is a very useful drug for cancer patients, amongst others
Marijuana legalization? all for it, get the control out of the gangsters' hands
Gun Control? all small pistols should be police/military/sporting only. Non-concealable bolt-action rifles should be legal, i think. All semi-automatic and automatic weapons are gratuitous for any honest purpose
Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)? goes against separation of church and state, i feel
Obamacare? i found it absolutely astonishing how inhuman, dysfunctional and backward the medical system of the united states is. If this goes even 5% of the way toward fixing it, i am thrilled it has finally happened

[SallyFishsticks]

Abortion: Support it.
Death Penalty: Support it.
No fault divorce: Support it.
Stem Cell Research: Support it.
Pornography: Support it.
Affirmative Action: Support it.
Medical Marijuana: Support it.
Marijuana legalization: Support it.
Gun Control: Support it.
Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge): Against.
Obamacare: Support it 100%.

[thecat06]

Abortion?
Pro-choice. Women should have the choice. I've seen too many children forced to live in poverty. (Most of my hometown is 200% below the poverty line)
Death Penalty?
Undecided.

No fault divorce?
Why not?? If things are not working out then why continue the relationship??

Pornography?
Sure. As long as it is produced legally.

Medical Marijuana?
Yep.

Marijuana legalization?
Yep.

Gun Control?
I think that it should stay the way it is now. Most responsible gun owners do not cause problems with their guns.

Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)?
I don't think that there should be any religious language used for national purposes.

Obamacare?
Support it 100%. Once again, I have seen too many children not have access to healthcare.

[bob94]

Abortion: If I were a woman, I don't ever think I could go through with an abortion. However, I don't believe that the government has the right to tell a woman who was raped that she has to have the child. I think it's wrong for male-majority congress to tell women what they can and can't do with their bodies.
Death Penalty: I am against the death penalty. You can't fix a wrong with another wrong.
Stem Cell Research: All for it.
Pornography: How would I get through life? lol
Medical Marijuana: All for it. I've seen how much pain cancer patients go through. If marijuana can ease the pain and get their appetite up, then go for it.
Marijuana legalization: We're obviously getting nowhere fighting it by making it illegal. Legalize it and tax the hell out of it. That way we can at least make some much needed money off of it.
Gun Control: Most of my family hunts (I don't), and we all believe that gun regulation isn't a bad thing.
Obamacare: It's actually called The Affordable Care Act. But yes, President Obama cares, and I love him for it. I love The Affordable Care Act. My dad is diabetic and was in a horrible wreck a few years ago (he was hit by a bus while driving an open-cab tractor). He's tried everything to get health insurance, but can't with these pre-existing conditions. It's had a bad impact on my family, and now (I believe in 2014) he'll be able to finally have insurance.

[Stormy]

Abortion? For it. It's better it's done safe and legal rather than unsafe and illegal.
Death Penalty? Against. Life in maximum security prison is enough.
No fault divorce? For. If it's not working there is no reason they shouldn't be able end it.
Stem Cell Research? For it.
Pornography? Against it... haha just kidding. I'm for it as long as it's consensual.
Affirmative Action? For. it's necessary.
Medical Marijuana? For it. And I'm not sure why anyone would be against it.
Marijuana legalization? For it.
Gun Control? Hunting rifles and shotguns should be legal. Handguns should be legal but heavily monitered. Everything else should be restricted.
Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)? As long as it's not too specific. "In God We Trust" is a lot better than "In Jesus, our lord and savior, we trust" or "In Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, we trust"
Obamacare? I'm for it. But it's called affordable healthcare, not Obamacare.

[BudderMC]

Err, I'm not trying to start anything up, but I'm one of the few who are against marijuana legalization (in this thread at least). Admittedly, I don't know a whole lot about it, but I don't see the need for it to be legalized. Could someone enlighten me a bit? :P

[sguyc]

Abortion? I don't like abortion, but I am not going to ban it.
Death Penalty? For it. With the cavat that extremely high standards of evidence are required, juries should not be able to make the decision alone, but merely authorize the possibility.
No fault divorce?
Stem Cell Research? I don't know, I inherently believe life starts are conception, but maybe we can have different classifications of human life.
Pornography? For it.
Affirmative Action? Against it, though other methods should take its place because the status quo definitely isn't good enough for minorities, specifically blacks.
Medical Marijuana? For it.
Marijuana legalization? Legalize it, fuck those assholes sitting around drinking scotch talking about how to shut down the production of something that causes a fraction of deaths comparatively. People don't deserve to be in prison because of a weed that isn't even hallucinegenic.
Gun Control? We already have gun control. I believe that guns are an important part of America and always will be to some extent.
Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)? Stupid people fighting over stupid things.
Obamacare? Eventually we need a single payer system, maybe this will get us closer, but in the mean time it is just going to sink the US further into debt.

[Stormy]

Originally Posted by BudderMC

Err, I'm not trying to start anything up, but I'm one of the few who are against marijuana legalization (in this thread at least). Admittedly, I don't know a whole lot about it, but I don't see the need for it to be legalized. Could someone enlighten me a bit? :P

For me it's simple. Marijuana is not deadly. Alcohol is deadly. So it doesn't make any sense at all that we sit around and watch funny beer commercials on tv, but demonize marijuana.

[Pseudojim]

Originally Posted by BudderMC

Err, I'm not trying to start anything up, but I'm one of the few who are against marijuana legalization (in this thread at least). Admittedly, I don't know a whole lot about it, but I don't see the need for it to be legalized. Could someone enlighten me a bit? :P

very briefly:

At the moment, even possession is illegal in most states, i think. This means that the enormous demand for cannabis is met by drug cartels and gangsters. I'm not using any references at the moment, and i know there are difficulties in establishing statistics when the black market is involved, but I think the cannabis economy in america is in excess of $50 billion per year (estimates will surely vary). At the moment, all of this money is controlled by criminals.

Since Reagan's war on drugs, cannabis use has increased.

The way i see it, if you legalise it and establish control, you can more effectively tackle problems of addiction and abuse, much like what is done with alcohol and tobacco currently. Additionally, compared to alcohol and tobacco, cannabis is far less damaging to the body.

That's some of my rationale, anyway

[Mogget]

Originally Posted by Pseudojim

very briefly:

At the moment, even possession is illegal in most states, i think. This means that the enormous demand for cannabis is met by drug cartels and gangsters. I'm not using any references at the moment, and i know there are difficulties in establishing statistics when the black market is involved, but I think the cannabis economy in america is in excess of $50 billion per year (estimates will surely vary). At the moment, all of this money is controlled by criminals.

Since Reagan's war on drugs, cannabis use has increased.

The way i see it, if you legalise it and establish control, you can more effectively tackle problems of addiction and abuse, much like what is done with alcohol and tobacco currently. Additionally, compared to alcohol and tobacco, cannabis is far less damaging to the body.

That's some of my rationale, anyway

There's also the fact that anti-drug laws are disproportionately enforced against people of color. The war on drugs is the primary cause of the US having the highest per capita prison population in the world. Legalizing marijuana would reduce the prison population and would be a chink in the wall of modern institutional racism in this country.

[ANightDude]

Abortion?
I'm always pro-choice in cases that are life-threatening to the mother or other health risks, but I'm on the fence about other cases. I don't very much like the idea that if a woman is sexual active and gets pregnant she can simply abort. Access to contraceptives and birth control would greatly reduce the problem.

Death Penalty?
Against. While I can understand why people see it as justice, the amount of abuse in this system is astonishing and, until DNA evidence is used properly, I have to stand against it. I'd prefer a system that Sweeden has that helps council and rebuild those who commit crimes, rather than just locking them in a room for life.

No fault divorce?
Obviously I support.

Stem Cell Research?
The evidence that this can benefit us is through the roof, and there isn't much of a reason to ban medical research. If it works it works, if it doesn't, it doesn't. That's the point of research, discovery, and science.

Pornography?
Been around forever, it'll be around forever. It's not our biggest issue.

Affirmative Action?
Eh... I can see how this once worked, but now I don't think it it needs to be around, to be honest. I don't think it'd do much harm to do away with race and minority status on college applications/job applications as a whole anyways.

Medical Marijuana?
Support.

Marijuana legalization?
Support. I'm not a smoker, but the US has the highest prison population in the world, the highest drug consumption, and we're the primary reason the war on drugs is taking place in the first place (to be fair it was stupid Mexico declared "war on drugs" in the first place, but still), and the benefit to the nation would be extraordinary. Prisons would be less crowded and we may be able to close a few down, less enforcement, more money with a tax on weed, all sorts of things. It's not a solution to everything, but it has positive benefits to some of our problems.

Gun Control?
I support the second amendment, but no one needs an AK-47 in the living room. We don't need any more "Michigan Militias" or any more events that lead to another Gabby Giffords shooting, Virginia Tech, or Columbine. While I support the right to have guns, it's enforcement is appalling, the access is ridiculous to those who shouldn't have them, and the NRA has far too much influence on our Congress. Too bad they have the support of all the Republicans and fear of all the Democrats.

Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)?
Not a big deal. We're still a primarily religious nation. Since we're becoming less and less religious, perhaps one day it'll be more of a historical memento more than anything else.

Obamacare?
*Affordable Care Act/Health Care Law
Not what I wanted, but it was the best we could have gotten. I would have preferred a single payer system like Taiwan, France, Sweeden and Finland have (even something like the UK has isn't that bad), but this is the best we could have gotten. I'm glad the US has taken this step. In the future we can build to more advanced health care. It just makes no logical sense (to me) to be against giving health care to people in one of most unhealthy western nations on earth. We spend way too much on a broken, inefficient health care system that gives us poor results. I'm glad Obama had the balls to do it.

[Colton]

Abortion? Pro-Choice

Death Penalty? Pro-Death Penalty

No fault divorce? I see no problem with this.

Stem Cell Research? No problems.

Pornography? Naked people are naked people.

Affirmative Action? I feel like this should just happen naturally, and it's stupid to make an action/policy to do so.

Medical Marijuana? If there is proof that it helps, then yes.

Marijuana legalization? Pro-Legalization

Gun Control? Either way, it won't make much of a difference, other than an increase in crime rate, so this is stupid as well.

Religious language used for nation purpose (on currency, in the pledge)? Just no.

Obamacare? Well it violates the Commerce Clause, so no.