Firstly, about the RL busy stuff, I'm fine, I've just been moving and stuff, nothing bad, but thanks for caring

While I agree religion is more than dogma, I think i have a bit of a different perspective on it, religion is, or can be a large part of someone life, obviously, and in that sense it is, as you say a complex socio-cultural phenomen. but heres where i have a problem with the stuff you say:

If you look at the Bible, or the Koran, or the Buddhist sutras, the overarching message you see is one of love for fellow humankind: the Golden Rule. That is religion and that is what people should be practicing.

Really? Have you READ the bible? or the Koran? These books are not written with the golden rule as a model. Sure, there are some hints of that here and there, but the overall theme is something quite different. The message that these books emphasize is one of total obedience to god. Of course you dont have to, and most religious people dont, read or interpret it that way, but that is in fact the main focus of these books.

The empirical evidence we do have, though, shows religious people live longer, happier, and healthier lives overall.

Uh, really? where can this evidence be found? seriously? I live in Norway, one of the least religious countries in the world. We live longer,happier and healthier lives than most of the planet.

For every example that you might choose to offer, say the Inquisition or the 9/11 terror attacks, that supposedly show why religion needs to go I can offer you a historical counter-example like Martin Luther King, Jr. or Ghandi as to why religion is crucially important.

Ok, I completely agree that keeping scores here would be pointless, so lets think about this for a few seconds. Take MLK jr. Great guy, obviously, and yes, he was a preacher and certainly religious, by all means, and he also famously quoted the bible in his speeches. But answer me this: Was religion the thing that made him into what he was? Lets suppose he was an atheist, or lets say a muslim for that matter, would he have been totally lost without the wisdom of Moses, who famously said "Let my people go"? or the teachings of Jesus? You know what? I think MLK was a great guy, who fought for a great cause, and I think that independent of his religion. And we all know there were plenty of good arguments OUTSIDE of the bible for a civil rights movement, in fact, the bible doesnt even come around to condemning slavery. So its not really a religious thing, is it? I can say honestly and with a straight face that yes, i think a non-religious person could do what MLK did, (and in fact MLK was actually critized for having to many non-religious people in his circle at the time)

Now look at my side of the scoreboard. And I'll give you the challenge Christopher Hitchens has given many times: You have to name me a good act done or a good thing said, by a religious person, that doesnt have any secular, non-religious basis or potential argument in its favour. and then you have to come up with a bad or wicked thing said or done.. I dont even have to end the sentence.. You've already got several, stuff that you couldnt possibly do for ANY OTHER REASON then the religious one. Who would cut into their childrens genitals without a good medical reason?, who would discourage condom-use in countries where the % of aids victims are well into the 2-digits? what maniac would run an airplane into a skyscraper and think this act would give them 72 virgins in paradise? What sadistic bastard would stone a young girl to death because SHE was raped?

Well, You get my point. I think very large parts of what you call religion, I simply attribute to our normal, human behaviour. not to repeat the MLK point to much. But I think the feeling of injustice that he and all black americans felt at the time had nothing to do with religion, and i think that ultimately his rebellion against it had nothing to do with religion, and again, people listened and things finally changed, not because of religion, but because it was the right thing to do. Just like most Christians and jews refrain from killing people, not because a commandment says so, but because thats how we humans work. But still, there are those who think thats why we dont all just kill eachother, and even those who thinks thats why they dont kill their neighbour , but obviously, thats not it.

Democrats are the true raciest. Just look at history.

The Klu Klux Klan was founded as a Democrat proxy group. Many black Americans served in the U.S. Goverment in the 1800's and beyond as part of the "Radical Republican" party. In 1912 the 'Progressive' Democrat, President Woodrow Wilson instituted racial segregation into the Federal Government. Many blacks were subsequently pushed out of the Federal Government.

http://videosift.com/video/KKK-Democrats-Lynching-Killing-Bl
ack-White-Radical-Republhttp://videosift.com/video/KKK-Democrats-Lynching-Killing-Black-White-Radical-Republ"> Click for a history lesson..

Jazz; blues; rock and roll. This phenom has been around in a while: white american and world culture embracing black american music.

Hip Hop is everywhere. I visited a large and not well known city in china a few years ago. While walking through a mall, I randomly ran into a performing b-boy group. I am not even sure that these folks knew about the origins of hip hop. For all they know; it could be a chinese creation. That's all right, though.

>> ^enoch:

they are also called yo-yos.
ok..lets put aside for a moment that the classification of "whiteness" is a fabricated term.
let us instead look at the history of american culture.
over the past century and a half there has been a few waves of immigration to america and each of those waves took approximately 2 generations to assimilate.
the italians assimilated,the irish assimilated.polish and dutch.the ONLY culture that was having trouble assimilating was the black culture and they had been here for almost two hundred years longer.the reasons for this is a far longer discussion but i use this point as a perspective tool.
blacks had been here for hundreds of years and generation after generation remained socially stagnant UNTIL...the advent and consequent popularity of hip-hop.
it was this genre of music which was so uniquely tied to black culture which ushered in the assimilation of black culture.now i do not propose that this has been a smooth transition nor has it been complete but rather pointing out the immense impact of this musical genre.what civil rights and basic decency could not do over the years hip-hop managed in only a few.
so is it any wonder that we now find other cultures participating in the creation of hip-hop?
not at all.music is the greatest form of sharing cultures' and styles and genres will bleed into each other.if you look at the history of music this is played out over and over and over.
there is poetry in that my friends.
music will always traverse stereotypes and cultural divisions.
so we should not be surprised to see white kids,latin kids and even the odd asian kids paying homage to hip-hop in the ways that humans always do.
either by copying or mocking.
in either case it means that hip-hop has reached global status.

There were blacks who defended slavery. There were blacks who fought for the confederacy. There were blacks who stood against MLK and Malcolm X. There were blacks who defended Bush's (in)action in Katrina and voted for his second term. But always 98-99% of black americans stand against self hate and ignorance, and 'populism' that goes against their self-interest.

So, I'm not surprised that you can find black people who feel comfortable in an overwhelmingly white, xenophobic crowd, and black men who call Uncle Tom a hero (3:10). There will always exist the mentally and emotionally weak who cannot break the bonds of mental slavery. But it should be noted that they are surrounded by a metropolitan area full of taxpaying black americans, including the residents of the White House, who strongly disagree.

>> ^GenjiKilpatrick:
Westy. You obviously have no idea what the connotations of black face are, Racism and group superior.
If you have no problem with black face then you have no empathy for the millions of black americans it was use to offend belittle and degrade. It depicts blacks as unintelligent uneducated dancing singing jesters for your amusement.
" See, this what those silly blacks act like all the time when we aren't around. "
Black face was, and still is, an attack on black culture. No matter if you're aware of the offense or not.
It's racist and a flagrantly inaccurate stereotype encompassing people like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass who were by no means unintelligent or less valuable than any of us today.

In conclusion, I submit your comment here is insensitive, ignorant and prickish.
I'm sad to see the videosift community has to endure statements of that nature. = /



I somehow dobt that genuinely openly racist people would get on live tv I also think if you look at the context of the whole joke , the wog face paint is entiraly appropriate and is fundamental to the joke in the first place .

you didn't actually understand what was going on , you comment is the one that's simple small minded and shows a general lack of understanding. Its more likely the case that people like you are a detriment to video sift. please engage your brain before commenting.

In reply to this comment by westy:
if it was just the wogs then I could see how a dipshit oversensitive prick could be offended , but because Michal Jackson is white it makes 100% seance and anyone that's offended should be thrown into a pit of cow testicles and urinated on.



Westy. You obviously have no idea what the connotations of black face are, Racism and group superior.

If you have no problem with black face then you have no empathy for the millions of black americans it was use to offend belittle and degrade. It depicts blacks as unintelligent uneducated dancing singing jesters for your amusement.

" See, this what those silly blacks act like all the time when we aren't around. "

Black face was, and still is, an attack on black culture. No matter if you're aware of the offense or not.

It's racist and a flagrantly inaccurate stereotype encompassing people like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass who were by no means unintelligent or less valuable than any of us today.


In conclusion, I submit your comment here is insensitive, ignorant and prickish.
I'm sad to see the videosift community has to endure statements of that nature. = /

Westy. You obviously have no idea what the connotations of black face are, Racism and group superior.

If you have no problem with black face then you have no empathy for the millions of black americans it was use to offend belittle and degrade. It depicts blacks as unintelligent uneducated dancing singing jesters for your amusement.

" See, this what those silly blacks act like all the time when we aren't around. "

Black face was, and still is, an attack on black culture. No matter if you're aware of the offense or not.

It's racist and a flagrantly inaccurate stereotype encompassing people like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass who were by no means unintelligent or less valuable than any of us today.


In conclusion, I submit your comment here is insensitive, ignorant and prickish.
I'm sad to see the videosift community has to endure statements of that nature. = /

It's known as the Black American Express card, for some unknown reason. It supposedly is completely limitless, meaning that you could by anything with it. And, yes, it's an enormous status symbol that screams "I'm unbelievably wealthy."

In my life I've only seen one in person. It was several years back when I saw an older Asian woman checking out with it at Victoria's Secret. (I was there because I needed a new thong bikini.)

I worked part time as a server at Downtown Disney for about a year and found that Europeans (especially Brits), black Americans and old, white Americans tipped the worst. My biggest two party tip was from an Autrailian, and my biggest large party tip was from a Mexican family who paid me an extra 100 dollars to find someone who could sing Feliz Cumpleaños.

I don't subscribe to making truly (except in jest) racist remarks, but culture defines behaviour. And any server who works in a tourist trap will tell you basically the same thing I wrote above.

In high school and early college I worked at Knott's Berry Farm's Chicken Dinner Restaurant and it was exactly the same. However, old white people were the bane of my existence there, because they swarmed the place, were extremely polite, and left pocket change.

Wow, that's a great democratic ad. These guys can't help themselves.

Latinos will be like black americans, voting 10 to 1 against republicans---while the repubs last, that is.

Lyrics via Google:
Yao! Rasta, unu hear sey some blackman say im waan turn American president?
Im think sey, dem a go skin up dem teeth and watch im?

Chorus
Mama mama
Com mek wi talk o
Com mek wi talk about Barack Obama
Papa! Papa!
Com make wi talk o
Com make wi talk about Barack Obama
Barack Barack, Barack Obama (2x)

Stanza (verse) 1
Originally steping out-a Kenya Africa
Adopted into the cold woodlands of America
Trust me Iyah,
Dem youth defy every order an' turn senator
Rat-Rat-Rat-Rat!
De gunshot of hate continue fi echo in-a every corner
How com blackman become president in a money-mecca?
Barack beware! Barack beware! Barack beware!
before dem turn ya name into Barack Osama
In a dis ya time,judgement a com without waata
For legalising abortion in a america,a-fyah! fyah!

Repeat Chorus

Stanza (verse) 2 lyrics from museke.com
9-11 was de beginning of satan endtime
Baptising black americans in a bitter juice of lime
Making sure no black man in a america will see his prime
In a dis ya time a black american president a great sign
Too long dem disrespect blacks and africans combined
pon black peoples flesh and blood,de kuklax clan love fi dine
Watch out Barack Obama and intensify ya power turbine
Or else breddren Obama,your dark days will never sublime

Chorus

Singing verse
Precious sheep grazing in their territory
(brother Barack watch out)
Some don't love you
They only faking it
(brother Barack watch out)
Many righteous ones been sacrificed by this very same system
As you keep the fire burning,black president

Stanza (verse) 3 lyrics from museke.com
Yahman! yahman! yahman!
"God bless america" the idiot bwoy always say
When de bombs and weapons fly over innocent people head
Oh Obama,me neva hear you talk 'bout africa yet
Or is it a nice way of swerving dem in a ya capaign?
Mr Obama,bring dis poly-tricks money to africa andkeep de poverty at bay
Too long black people keep nyaming up horse hay
Wake up Obama and don't join de band wagon of de gay
Beware Obama!Watch out Obama!Look around you
the people dem show you nuff smile
but dis smile dem a fake! fake! fake! fake smile dem!
Watch out Obama,a-fake!

Hmmm, one really big question I have is how does O'Reilly know that the number of "white" americans who were "engaged" was lower than "black" americans...

I mean, how the fuck would you measure that, and even if you could, personally I think you'd be surprised at the actual numbers. A LOT of "white" people loved MJ from the look of the fans on tv...

Edit: how is O'Reilly counting asian and hispanic fans? Are they black?

This cracks me up.

O'Reilly: "And in the study that you recited Huddy (sp?) And very good, Huddy's done her research, and could be a culture warrior. On black Americans are much more engaged in watching this stuff than white Americans. Even though MJ has white children. and he chose to have white children. AND the face deal I don't even want to get in to."

Huddy: "He was the first African American to cross that barrier."

REALLY, Huddy? REALLY? Wow, she really IS a culture warrior! What about Sammy Davis Junior? And the countless other black recording artists of the 20's, 30's 40's 50's 60's?

>> ^Payback:
>> ^djhenyo:
I told you to change the title. No upvote until it is so. Also just have to add that I hate the way this guest looks. Can't tell if he is white or black or indian or anything. Way to have an identity ya gay bitch.

Can someone unban djhenyo please? I want to downvote him too!


I wouldn't be surprised if Djhenyo was of Korean background and got frustrated with the topic title. I also feel that if this video had been "Why Blacks Don't Make the Best Scientists" or something like that, it wouldn't have gotten so many upvotes, no matter how gently it was argued in the video. So there's a double standard at play here too. I would love to be proved wrong though. There are probably thousands of videos online that argue that black Americans are culturally incapable of becoming good at many careers. Perhaps we can put them in the Sift and see how they fare? Heck, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter have made careers arguing similar views.

BreakstheEarth, ironically the very words "China" and "Chinese", along with hundreds of other words English has come up with, are ways of calling people things they don't call themselves. In the popular languages of China, the country is not called "China" or anything remotely resembling that word. Every language has a billion names for other places and people that aren't used by those people to refer to themselves. Personally I think this system is pretty inefficient. Imagine if Barack Obama was had ten thousand different names, when the world could just use the one he used himself: Barack Obama!

RhesusMonk, I think a LOT of Chinese people do in fact want to be more like white people, or at least be more marketable to white business interests (not "Western", as that would include blacks, Latinos, etc. too). We don't adopt black or Latino names, we adopt white ones. If black Americans had most of the world's wealth, we'd adopt black names. It's nice of you to think that there's no self-inflicted racism going on here, but there really is.