So I was cruising on the Autobahn at 220 KPH this morning...

[mseang]

I thought to myself, how great it is to be living in Germany. Drivers are courteous and follow the rules of the road. The drive fast, but they do not abuse this freedom.

They really have much more freedom (not just speed limit) in Germany than we have in the states currently and contrary to what most Christian fundamentalists would have you to believe, they have not driven Jesus out of Europe. They actually teach religion in their public schools. The children receive at least two hours per week. The main difference is that classes are provided for every religion that is present from Islamic to Jewish to Catholic and Protestant. All are treated with respect.

Why is it that the greatest free society in the history of the World is now mediocre in what was once its greatest achievement? Perhaps, more importantly, win or lose, why would 1 person much less 50,000,000 vote to continue this direction?

(220 KPH is about 132 MPH)

[slackmaster]

1. My Mennonite ancestors didn't feel so welcome there

And that in a nutshell is why I live in America.

Good to hear that Germany has, at least officially, gotten its shit together on religious tolerance. It wasn't always that way.

[mseang]

3. How are they looked upon in America?

I know that as a child growing up Methodist we studied many religions as cults. The LDS church being one example of this. I lived in Salt Lake City for about 6 years and found that I was given bad information as a child. The LDS church may not have the same beliefs as the Methodist Church, but they are no more a cult than any other religion.

I would believe that it would be very difficult to live as a Mennonite anywhere south of the Mason/Dixon line.

[QC]

7. Lots of Mennonites in Alabama and Tennessee.

Quite a few Amish as well. They seem to be doing fine. I can't recall ever hearing anyone say anything negative about them.

Perhaps the issue here is your easy (and lazy) assumptions about life "anywhere south of the Mason/Dixon line."

[Tsiyu]

10. I owned a former Mennonite Farm

and may yet get it back since someone isn't paying taxes ( not the Mennonites). The area where I lived is about 30 minutes from here. Mennonites all over the place. They're even seen in the WalMarts in the valleys.

They treat others with respect, work hard and do a lot of good for this Tennessee community. We have all religions on this mountain well South of the Mason Dixon. Everyone gets along. The mountain also went for Kerry. Tells you something, huh?

[Eurobabe]

2. pft, got you beat, i did 260 when I lived there

rag top on the boxster was vibrating like a drum! that was my top comfort speed...i've also done 200 on a motorcycle. (and i'm a girl!)

the europeans learned x-tianity lessons the hard way, guess we still have yet to learn this.

[mseang]

4. I know a few fast women around here...

Well, not that kind of fast, but many that drive much faster than I do. ;-)

[johncoby2]

5. I knew of one fast women here in houston.......

She ran over her husband 4 times. I guess she wanted to make sure he didn't cheat on her again.

(Happened right here in my area!)

[barb162]

6. slow down and conserve some gasoline; shows the USA is not the

only idiot country in regard to wasting resources

[Selatius]

8. Their cars are more fuel efficient

They have to be according to law, and they pay 4 to 5 dollars in gas per gallon over in Europe. It's the US that's far worse.

[uncle ray]

11. it's really not that wasteful

a high performance car built to go fast will not use any more, likely less fuel than a big lumbering SUV, even at high speed. a motor that is powerful and efficient can push the aerodynamic cars to a much higher speed at the same engine RPM and fuel consumption thanks to overdrive transmissions etc.

Americas speed limits save neither gas nor lives.

[uncle ray]

9. gawd i envy you!

meanwhile here responsible drivers who are competent, pay attention and have capable vehicles get stuck behind asshats in suv's who feel it's their god given right to drive as slow as they want in the fast lane, usually pacing themselves with the suv right next to them while talking on their cell phone. hey buddy, drive as slow as you want, just get the hell out of the PASSING lane!

there is so much wrong with this country, it's nice to bitch about the "little" thinks once in a while!

[Imajika]

12. The German economy stinks...

There is a reason the Social Democrats are getting routinely pounded at the ballot box and are recently losing almost every election - even in SDP strongholds. Schroeder is about as popular as colon cancer and only managed to eke out a victory last time around by vocally opposing the Iraq war. With the German unemployment rate stuck at around 10% and the nation commononly referred to as the "sick man of Europe", don't be surprised if the CDU/CSU win next time around.

To everyone whom thinks they can flutter off to Europe or Australia to escape rightwing nationalists/conservatives, you'd better think again. Everything is cyclic, both in the US and in Europe. Places like Italy have rightwingers firmly in charge, and there is no reason to believe this can't happen elsewhere in Europe. Same with the nation of Australia - madatory voting has produced years of Howard and delivered increasing majorities to the right.

By the way, your rosy fluff about how the Germans respect religion is a bunch of nonsense. Anti Islamic sentiments are rising rapidly in Germany - and God forbid what happens when/if the Germans collectively decide they have made a mistake allowing so many Muslims into their country and convince themselves that action must be taken.

Imajika