2 more comments have been lost in the ether at this killed duplicate.

If I find that I'm wrong on the day that I die and I stand in front of God, exposed as the person that I am...then I want to stand in front of God as the person that I am.

I don't want my sins forgiven by the sacrifice of another. I don't need my slate wiped clean by ritualistic confession and contrite acts. I am human; flawed and broken and wonderful. I will stand in front of your God for all my actions, thoughts and intentions.

In my life I have callously hurt others, I have taken what wasn't mine, I have dispensed wrath and sought vengeance. Because I am weak and selfish and scared.
But I also endeavor to heal more than I injure, give more than I take and provide comfort to others when things seem darkest. Plus....I always smile and ask how you are. That's important.

As a thoughtful, empathetic human being, I know that the positive actions of other humans is the only balance against the entropy that surrounds us. We are our own hope and salvation against a random universe that has our destruction built into the very laws that compel it.
I don't do good things because I fear judgement. I don't do them because I'm commanded to. I do good things because I'm one small part of a community that extends as far as humanity can reach. The effect of my actions, positive and negative, ripples out, rebounds and reflects infinitely. I do good things because it's good to do them.

If I'm wrong, I'll be judged by your God and if I'm found lacking in my actions then I'll own my sins and the consequences. But if the balance of my life has been positive and I am found unacceptable only because I could not believe in the existence of a Creator...if the sum total of my affect on others matters less than my ability to accept illogical supernatural conclusions....then your God is Evil.

Besides, if your god is omniscient, then he knew how he would judge me when he created the universe. So I had no real power over my actions. If he did, in fact, give me free will such that he did not know how I would live my life, then he's not omniscient. In which case, upon our meeting, he will disappear in a puff of logic.

It's also fiction as far as most Christians are concerned - the idea of rapture didn't come about until the 19th century and was popularized in Dispensational groups in the early 20th century by the Scofield Reference Bible.

Reception Area is decorated with Aloe Vera plants: Hors d'oeuvres include frozen treats and serving bowls filled with varying-sized bandages and gauze with surgical tape dispensers on the walls nearby.

BYO flame-retardant clothing and crazy, drunk uncles....

Bridesmaids-Nurse uniforms
Groomsmen-EMT Uniforms

could toooootally do your next wedding ladies...

I'd much rather Starbucks because when you ask for a latte, they make you a latte. They don't put a cup under a machine and it dispenses powdered milk and a tiny drip of instant coffee.

I miss the coffee in Melbourne. The best I've had here is from a popular cafe down the road from work called Olimpico. They're latte's are small, but damn good. If you're in the Mile End area of Montreal, check it out.

Keep a-tweakin' them genes, poindexter...

Future foodstuffs of Earth:
a white, semi-translucent, gelatinous substance can be found in dispensers with spigots and eaten from suitable dishes. Its composition is given as a single-celled protein, vitamin, mineral, and amino acid colloid. Reviews are unfavorable due to its consistency. It's compared to "runny eggs" at best and "a bowl of snot" at worst."
-http://matrix.wikia.com/wiki/Food

The entire approach needs to look like a target from the air to pilots and pasengers with no visible sign of the affectation du arte on the ground and structures used to create the illusion-Also, they should have unlimited squinchy ear-plug dispensers in the lobby-I'd live there and party (naked when called-for)on the frikkin' roof, NIGHTLY!

@chingalera dude, I never assumed "there are equitable rules that govern which corporate entities may enjoy a seat at the big-boy's table", but the exact opposite of that.

There is a criminal elite, I don't think that elite is, indiscriminately, "corporations". That's childish. Most corporations are also victims of bigger corporations in bed with government, imposing abusive taxation and unfair regulation. You and NinjaInHeat need to learn to make more refined distinctions. Know your enemy.

Please don't ever dispense diagnosis on other people's world views. You stink at it!

*promote
....the emperor's new clothes include an invisibility cloak and a one-sip-does-it, Kool-Aid dispenser which never runs dry.

@enoch hi, thanks for replying. You might notice I never said I wasn't hostile, just that my hostility wasn't sparked by mere disagreement, but by being misrepresented, by prejudice.

Try to remember any time in your life when you were the target of prejudice. How did that make you feel? Can you remember how you reacted?

When I was hostile towards people who disagreed with me, it might take some empathy to spot where and how people I argued with were misrepresenting me and my opinions as well.

In your post, I felt that you made many assumptions about me that I know to be false. How would you feel about a complete stranger dispensing advice to you as if they've honestly mistaken you for someone they're familiar with? I'm sure it wouldn't bother you any less if they did so with the best of intentions in their hearts.

I also don't take kindly to the suggestion that I'm incapable of civilized discussion. I'm sure you can appreciate that.

I would be ok with them installing a button that, when pressed, dispensed a new intern out of a chute for him to play with, if that meant he could serve another term or two.

@aaronfr Socialist nonsense. What crooked notion of free market do you have where government doesn't enforce property rights, contracts, and punishes fraud? Not understanding that is like implying free speech doesn't require protection from libel and slander.

I'm sick and tired of free markets being misrepresented by socialists, and dared to provide historical examples of something they claim never existed, but have no qualms blaming for every conceivable problem in the world economy.

"removing the government from the economy means removing the people from the economy"... If government = entire society to you, congratulations, you're a socialist. I'm not. Government, to me, is just the part of society that collects taxes as an excuse to provides services, most of which are dispensable and done poorly.

Your projections of what would happen in a free market is the typical delusion of your misconceptions. I can't argue with them, because I can't possibly fathom the disturbed scenarios playing out in your head.

I was speaking of the people above who think he should have been dispensed more pain for his behavior.

However... a taser is not simply for "detaining a suspect", although it may be used to do so. It's an extreme form of non-lethal (usually) force to be used when other means have failed or are untenable. UNCAT even classifies it as a torture device. Tasers are just another tool cops use to be lazy assholes, IMMHO, and I think it's unfortunate that they have become so ubiquitous and citizens so ignorant that they cheer for more when they see a guy get tased for merely being a jackass, which, I don't think, is against the law.

Not what a taser is for, otherwise the police academy would be a two-day course. It's like you nubs* people think cops are Judge Dredds or something. Guy was a jerk, but cops don't dispense justice.

*EDIT: sorry

and I thought fridges with water and ice dispensers were nice.