Posts: 3226
Threads: 244
Joined: April 17, 2012
Reputation:
54
Dumb anti-NSA argument
November 27, 2013 at 11:03 am
Am I the only one that realizes how dumb this argument is?
"We don't need the NSA watching us. We haven't had a major terrorist attack in 12 years. You're more likely to die in a car accident than to die in an act of terrorism. etc."
Um, what if the NSA's spying activities is the reason why we haven't had a major terrorist act? Maybe the NSA is the reason why you should feel safer flying in a plane than by car?
I'm not going to defend the NSA. I hate them. But this popular argument I often hear drives me nuts.
My ignore list
"The lord doesn't work in mysterious ways, but in ways that are indistinguishable from his nonexistence."
-- George Yorgo Veenhuyzen quoted by John W. Loftus in The End of Christianity (p. 103).
Posts: 1601
Threads: 2
Joined: January 2, 2013
Reputation:
32
RE: Dumb anti-NSA argument
November 27, 2013 at 11:06 am
A better anti-NSA statement perhaps would be - 'Where is the evidence that NSA prevented terrorist attacks?' But yes, you're right the argument in the OP is rather silly. In any case though, you are now residing in a city that was bombed and NSA did not prevent such a thing - you're turn, NSA. Defend yourselves, I know you're reading this.
Posts: 4940
Threads: 99
Joined: April 17, 2011
Reputation:
45
RE: Dumb anti-NSA argument
November 27, 2013 at 12:32 pm
This stupid argument is akin to saying, "Then why not allow terrorist attacks? After all, you're more likely to die in a car crash..." It's pretty much the same argument pro-gun nuts use about mass shootings.
Christian apologetics is the art of rolling a dog turd in sugar and selling it as a donut.
Posts: 4940
Threads: 99
Joined: April 17, 2011
Reputation:
45
RE: Dumb anti-NSA argument
November 27, 2013 at 4:12 pm
The stupid "more people die in car crashes than by guns" argument is a stupid reason to not have more stringent background checks. There are plenty of good arguments against gun control but claiming that more people die by other means is not one of them.
Christian apologetics is the art of rolling a dog turd in sugar and selling it as a donut.
Posts: 47
Threads: 7
Joined: November 27, 2013
Reputation:
3
RE: Dumb anti-NSA argument
November 27, 2013 at 5:19 pm
I'm OK with spying on real enemies and those that we have reasonable cause to believe would do us harm.
I'm sickened that we feel justified in spying on our friends, allies and our own citizens on the chance that we might trip over a terrorist. The right to privacy has been forgotten. It is naive to think that the NSA is only looking for terrorists. They are looking for anything that can exploited and turned to an advantage for the powers-that-be.
I support the right to privacy. I'm willing to risk taking a hit if the alternative is to simply become that which I detest.
"There's always a bigger fish."
Qui-Gon Jin (Star Wars)
Posts: 13901
Threads: 263
Joined: January 11, 2009
Reputation:
82
RE: Dumb anti-NSA argument
November 28, 2013 at 3:28 pm
In America there seems to be a group of people who think that they can oppress in the name of freedom. Whats that about?
You can fix ignorance, you can't fix stupid.
Tinkety Tonk and down with the Nazis.
