Gregory S. Paul is a paleontologist and not a sociologist so he is way out of his field of expertise. His statistics also seem questionable as many of the cities on both cost are notoriously crime ridden. Looking at the 2004 murder rate of the states I found that Idaho, Wyoming, both solid conservative states have low murder rate of 2.2 each while Maryland a liberal state has a murder rate of 9.4. There are also liberal states with low murder rates and conservative states with high ones which leads to the conclusion that the federal voting record does not indicate whether a particular state is or is not a hotbed of crime.

“So you’re saying that gays should marry so they can live in this turdbowl of a burg? Oh, that’s right — they aren’t allowed to!”

That is the American Psychologist Association’s argument of why homosexual marriage should be legal. The statistics they are using are for married heterosexual couples so I question if they apply to homosexuals. Male homosexuality causes sickness and death which is why AIDS/HIV for one, is more prevalent among males that have sex with males than among heterosexuals. Therefore supporting homosexual marriage would be supporting depriving human beings of their natural human right to health and life.

“It’s been shown that Christians are, on average, more likely to behave criminally and immorally than atheists. Does this mean that municipalities should get to bar them from living there?”

I have not seen that study. I do know that born again Christians are less likely to get an abortion than other religions. I just assumed that would be true across the ethics spectrum. You should read the Declaration of Independence which clearly states that governments have a duty to ensure the natural right to life and health of their people.

“Wait a minute. Children are being killed during abortions now? Who’s letting them get so close to the operating field and how exactly are they being killed? They shouldn’t even be allowed in the same room.”

I assume you are an evolutionist. If so you need to speak to your demigod Charles Darwin who stated that killing children through abortion is a form of infanticide. He also called those who did it Barbarians. He wrote it is the evolutionist sacred scroll that goes by the name of “The Decent of Man”.

This is hardly an obscure study nowadays, but anyway…

http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html

“There is evidence that within the U.S. strong disparities in religious belief versus acceptance of evolution are correlated with similarly varying rates of societal dysfunction, the strongly theistic, anti-evolution south and mid-west having markedly worse homicide, mortality, STD, youth pregnancy, marital and related problems than the northeast where societal conditions, secularization, and acceptance of evolution approach European norms.”

Please don’t assume I’m pleased to read these results njust because I am blessedly god-free myself. Crime and dysfunction is never good for any society. And I don’t believe that religiosity *causes* crime; it’s clear that it simply doesn’t forestall it. But I’m sick of hearing categorical declarations from strongly religious people that their faith is correlated with higher moral and behavioral standards, because that’s somewhere between utterly unfounded and a complete inversion of the truth.

Prove it.

“Wait a minute. Children are being killed during abortions now? Who’s letting them get so close to the operating field and how exactly are they being killed? They shouldn’t even be allowed in the same room.”

What’s funny about the abortion debate is the fact that idiots like you seem to oppose abortion regulations such as showing a woman a sonogram and informing them of any pain the fetus is feeling. Why? Because they say its a guilt trip. What does that say about abortion genius? If giving a woman ALL of the information before the procedure induces guilt, that should probably tell you something.

But you can thank your constitutional right to privacy and substantive due process that says the city can’t enforce this law.

So you’re saying that gays should marry so they can live in this turdbowl of a burg? Oh, that’s right — they aren’t allowed to!

It’s been shown that Christians are, on average, more likely to behave criminally and immorally than atheists. Does this mean that municipalities should get to bar them from living there?

“An example of abuse is that more children are killed by abortion on unwed mothers.”

Wait a minute. Children are being killed during abortions now? Who’s letting them get so close to the operating field and how exactly are they being killed? They shouldn’t even be allowed in the same room.

It’s interesting that some people recommend a “hands-off” approach when it comes to contemptible proceedings that reflect their personal views on things like homosexuality and marriage, yet scream holy hell when communities and entire states take the law into their own hands in ways you disagree with, such as agitating for gay marriage. I guess it’s only okay for local government to act in accordance with what its citizens want when pro-Christian, pro-asshat agendas are being carried out.

In the name of the community’s general welfare the town is well within its rights and its duties.