I've not seen any real proof that having a royal family living in the palace is a deal-breaker for tourists. And so I've also never seen any proof that they provide a net gain to the country because they get fecking millions in subsidies, security, and all the land and positions they own 'by divine right'.

They royalty are public servants - you would never catch me bowing to any of them, or treating them any differently than i would a stranger - respectfully, as equals.

As far as i'm concerned, they've got the luckiest life in the world by birthright, which goes completely against everything i believe in. So they better do a lot of charity work and never complain about it - which to be fair they have done, but only because they know they're on thin ice and will be summarily dethroned if they act up. Especially at a time like this.

Bollocks. Complete and utter nonsense.

There is no dietary cure for cancer. You can certainly lessen your chances of getting cancer by eating well, not drinking to excess, not smoking etc, but that you can live the healthiest life in the world and still just be unlucky.

And once you have it, no amount of vegetable enemas or crystals or homoeopathic woo will cure it.

Sounds like a very large simplification for something. You can't honestly think that the reaction was due to one single incident? And if you're sensible enough to realise that, are you genuinely suggesting that the black community is appropriately represented in prison and crime statistics?

Try and avoid racism when you reply.

I think you're living in a dream world. The abolition of slavery is only a generation removed, do you really think that many of these people have had the same opportunities as you have? Whether it be by design, by accident or what have you? I imagine your close ancestors were allowed to accumulate property and status in a way that their ancestors weren't.

That's not a recommendation for guilt, merely that unless you've lived their life in their world you have absolutely no idea what it's like, and you will only ever understand childhood and development (which form your opinions and beliefs) from your own perspective. So don't be too quick to judge others for their situation. I'd like to see how you fared if you grew up in the same environment.

You make it sound so simple to vote for black people... as though it's that simple, as though the democratic system in USA and UK alike isn't riddled with corruption, where money is power, and everyone is opposed to changing the status quo? How many of those in power know what life is like in a black community, to know what the problems are and how deep the divide runs between them and the councillors for their place of residence? ... I've got so many criticisms i don't know where to begin. You've got some points, but they're buried.

Fear is fear, whether it's of Hell or of prison, it's still fear. You need to teach with positive reinforcement, empathy, to instill in the kids a proper sense or right and wrong. The Bible has some good lessons, the Golden Rule is one of the best, Do unto others as you would have done unto you. I think just that act of projecting yourself unto others can give you the perspective to not be a dick all the time. At no point does God need to be involved, just an understanding and appreciation of your fellow man. Good and responsible behavior doesn't start and stop with religion, and I can't stand it when religions try and claim a monopoly on morality, because it just isn't true.

>> ^shinyblurry:

You're not going to stop kids from sinning by yelling at them. It's not the fear of going to prison which is going to stop them from screwing up, it's the fear of the Lord. If you raise your kids correctly, to honor and reverence Almighty God, using corporal punishment when appropriate, you will end up with a child of honor, who will respect other people, and want to contribute something good to society. Of course this also requires ample doses of unconditional love, and sensitivity to the needs of your child. It requires a total commitment to preparing a child for life in this world and giving him all the tools he needs to succeed. Discipline is a necessary component of this, one that is often missing in many homes. The scripture says if you don't discipline your child you hate him. Godly discipline, to note, is not to tear a child down in anger, but build a child up with love, and teach him how to take responsibility for his actions and own his mistakes instead of passing blame on to others.
If a bad product is coming out of a factory, then you need to check the assembly line. It's bad parenting which is creating these children. Parents who constantly coddle their children, try to be their friends and buy them off instead of discipline them. Parents who raise them on television and r rated movies and violent video games and all of this raw sewage of a corrupt and depraved culture being pumped into their fragile young minds. Parenting, just like everything else in life, is a garbage in garbage out principle. I just read a story about 4 eight year old kids performing sex acts on one another because they had figured out how to access internet porn on their ipads. This wouldn't happen if their parents actually knew or cared what was going on in their kids lives.
There used to be a moral standard in this country founded on the bible, but America has rebelled against God and rejected His laws, and now we are reaping the harvest of our rebellion. Our children are growing up without a moral compass or godly role models and you even cannot begin to count this cost. The only way this situation will change is if we fall on our faces and repent of our wickedness:
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

You're not going to stop kids from sinning by yelling at them. It's not the fear of going to prison which is going to stop them from screwing up, it's the fear of the Lord. If you raise your kids correctly, to honor and reverence Almighty God, using corporal punishment when appropriate, you will end up with a child of honor, who will respect other people, and want to contribute something good to society. Of course this also requires ample doses of unconditional love, and sensitivity to the needs of your child. It requires a total commitment to preparing a child for life in this world and giving him all the tools he needs to succeed. Discipline is a necessary component of this, one that is often missing in many homes. The scripture says if you don't discipline your child you hate him. Godly discipline, to note, is not to tear a child down in anger, but build a child up with love, and teach him how to take responsibility for his actions and own his mistakes instead of passing blame on to others.

If a bad product is coming out of a factory, then you need to check the assembly line. It's bad parenting which is creating these children. Parents who constantly coddle their children, try to be their friends and buy them off instead of discipline them. Parents who raise them on television and r rated movies and violent video games and all of this raw sewage of a corrupt and depraved culture being pumped into their fragile young minds. Parenting, just like everything else in life, is a garbage in garbage out principle. I just read a story about 4 eight year old kids performing sex acts on one another because they had figured out how to access internet porn on their ipads. This wouldn't happen if their parents actually knew or cared what was going on in their kids lives.

There used to be a moral standard in this country founded on the bible, but America has rebelled against God and rejected His laws, and now we are reaping the harvest of our rebellion. Our children are growing up without a moral compass or godly role models and you even cannot begin to count this cost. The only way this situation will change is if we fall on our faces and repent of our wickedness:

2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

I think the point of this story is that this is a fairly commonplace occurrance, part of daily life in the world of a black male in America, especially the South. In other words, maybe it isn't all that surprising that Z hasn't spent a day in prison nor even at a police station, and THAT's the problem.>> ^cyberwire:

How can you even bring up self defense if you put yourself in the situation by following the kid after the cops tell you not to... I just don get it... I cannot believe he hasn't stepped foot inside a cell by now like any other person in that situation would have if it were in any other town.

It's a farce to think contemplating how large the universe has nothing to do with the grand design.

The Universe itself is only the tip of the iceberg - it's not nihilism, the truth is we do not know anything at all ; but the journey to continue on the path of real Truth by piecing it together is one of the more beautiful and meaningful aspects of life in a world so closed-minded, fearful & narcissistic. It is all in the eye-of-the beholder but know that no religion knows what the powers that be are... we will probably never even develop the senses to get anywhere close to understanding.

I am speaking to the pale blue dot theory that humanists rejoice in, to wave the size of the Universe around as a magic wand that erases the idea of any absolute truth, especially when it pertains to a belief in God. To say that our perceived insignificance in the face of the deep invalidates the idea that God, if He even exists, could possibly care about what is going on here.

It is to see through everything and thus see nothing at all, which is essentially what nihilism is. You say we can't know anything; well, the obvious question is, how do you know that? I agree, this existence that we have now is only the tip of the iceberg, but in the manner that it is a poor reflection of what is to come. The size of cosmos is infantesimal in comparison to the depths of the mind that created it. It is not the material that is interesting, it is the glory of that one who spoke it into being, to which the cosmos testifies:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech nor language

Where their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

The temporal is only temporary, because time is running out. What we see now is a pale rendition of the actual, eternal reality. We are spiritual beings, and these are just clay vessels, dust and ashes. The things that are seen are all perishing; it is the things that are unseen which are eternal.

I understand atheism, I used to consider myself one. But, I think atheism gives itself too much credit in face of the vastness amount of possibilities / possible impossibilities we will never understand but could maybe to a finite degree, comprehend.

I agree and so does francis collins:

"of all choices, atheism requires the greatest faith, as it demands that ones limited store of human knowledge is sufficient to exclude the possibility of God."

Well, philosopher, what I will say is that the only thing that matters is what the truth is. If you cannot define what the truth is, it is impossible to understand anything at all. And unless you are omnipotent, you cannot know that truth, but one who is omnipotent could reveal it to you. That is the only reason anyone can know what is true, because we heard from the One who was there at the very beginning. Now if you can admit the validity of special revelation, then you are one step closer to understanding where I am coming from.

This guy says it best "It's humongous big." True that, brother. Keep on spacin' out, it's the closest we will get to any sort of truth.

I think this is a lot closer:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,b but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.






>> ^shagen454

It's a farce to think contemplating how large the universe has nothing to do with the grand design.
The Universe itself is only the tip of the iceberg - it's not nihilism, the truth is we do not know anything at all ; but the journey to continue on the path of real Truth by piecing it together is one of the more beautiful and meaningful aspects of life in a world so closed-minded, fearful & narcissistic. It is all in the eye-of-the beholder but know that no religion knows what the powers that be are... we will probably never even develop the senses to get anywhere close to understanding.

I understand atheism, I used to consider myself one. But, I think atheism gives itself too much credit in face of the vastness amount of possibilities / possible impossibilities we will never understand but could maybe to a finite degree, comprehend (edit: through imagination).

This guy says it best "It's humongous big." True that, brother. Keep on spacin' out, it's the closest we will get to any sort of truth.


>> ^shinyblurry:

Good advice for matters of petty materialism, bad advice for everything else. The significance of Earth isn't measured by the vastness of the Cosmos, nor is the significance of our lives, and the impact of our choices. Personal responibility is intimately connected to matters of justice, of love and mercy, and ultimately life and death. I hope he keeps investigating and sees through the stumbling block of nihilism inherent in atheistic naturalism and opens his eyes to the bigger picture and the grander design.

>> ^speechless:

>> ^Enzoblue:
Gotta agree with QM here. No way you can tell me she'll show her daughter a video and still be proud of her work. No freakin way. That alone makes it wrong imo.

I wouldn't want to show my daughter a video of the act that resulted in her conception. By your logic, that means the sexual act which brought her life into the world is also wrong and shameful.


No, the fact that you videotaped it is.

>> ^Enzoblue:

Gotta agree with QM here. No way you can tell me she'll show her daughter a video and still be proud of her work. No freakin way. That alone makes it wrong imo.


I wouldn't want to show my daughter a video of the act that resulted in her conception. By your logic, that means the sexual act which brought her life into the world is also wrong and shameful.

When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you're life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money.

That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.

Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.

I see what you did there. If we disagree with your statement we are automatically "left" and therefore there is room for us to move to the centre.

I would hope that everyone disagrees with the original, satirical statement, but the horror is, there are people who actually speak and think that way, and the majority of them are on the left. Political correctness came from the left side of the aisle. It is the left that has never taken the threat of communism seriously, even though 100 million people have been murdered by communist regimes the world over.

I call poppycock on that, in fact the whole argument of left vs. right is utter nonsense in my opinion, what matters much more is rational thought, a solid moral foundation, and the truth.

From a certain point of view, left versus right seems arbitrary and bizarrely divided. For example, if the left values "equality" then they would demand women and especially the elderly become handgun experts so as not to be victims of larger or multiple attackers. Conversely, if the American Right championed individual rights as much as it claims, hooking and drugs would already be legal for adults.

Rational thought, a solid moral foundation, and the truth? I'm a big fan of all three. Rational thought is too rare to be made national policy and while it's possible for atheists to be moral, a solid moral foundation is still owned by religion. The third, "truth" has very few friends, because it doesn't care who is offended by it.

Regarding this sift, since few will take a stand, I will: islam is not worth saving. It was founded by a gigolo/pedophile warlord, then layered with still-more bizarre interpretations after his demise. islam is "supercessionary", meaning its laws and doctrines "override" Christianity and Judaism. islam offers 3 choices for followers when they meet infidels: kill, convert, enslave. Any muslim who does not do one of these three is also considered an infidel to be killed.

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

No nation that wishes to survive should allow more than a handful of muslims to immigrate; they are ill-suited for life in First World Western nations in the 21st century, or the 19th century for that matter. No sane woman should want to see muslims take over, either.




>> ^ghark:

>> ^quantumushroom:
According to leftist doctrine, we are never to judge other cultures by the standards of our own, as all cultural values are equal. The witch doctor and the neurosurgeon are on the same level. Christians proselytize, muslims rape children. Values-wise, there is no difference.

I see what you did there. If we disagree with your statement we are automatically "left" and therefore there is room for us to move to the centre. I call poppycock on that, in fact the whole argument of left vs. right is utter nonsense in my opinion, what matters much more is rational thought, a solid moral foundation, and the truth.

>> ^sometimes:

I for one can't wait to return small village life in a world free of highways, airplanes, locally enforced regional prejudices, discrimination, and xenophobia. I look forward to the day when my local council of elders vote on whether or not the village will give into the demands of the wandering warlord currently attacking us.


I think you missed the point, America was doing this when they were only ~7% of GDP expenditure.

I for one can't wait to return small village life in a world free of highways, airplanes, locally enforced regional prejudices, discrimination, and xenophobia. I look forward to the day when my local council of elders vote on whether or not the village will give into the demands of the wandering warlord currently attacking us.

When all the comments are taken out about how stupid is the other side, we all sound very smart (That was a compliment to you.) God, my wife just screamed about the pantry hurting her... sorry, random, painful thought... I tried not to say you are a moron, I tried to say we all have moron tendencies that come out when telling someone else off.

On your note, you are correct--evolution began life, not the world. I was crossing big bang versus intelligent design versus evolution and creationism. And that cannot be blamed on the Percocet either--since I would have made the same mistake anyways.


As far as those intolerant laws you mention, they are more based on personal gain and okayed through religion than religion-based. I say this because, when we break it down, religion is just another form of governance. People are scared to break another bond "we" all "should" have towards each other... That is sad...

Greed is obvious in slavery, but it is also there in rape (Owning a woman) and the death penalty.
********************************************

I used to be big on rhetoric, ie. I was the best at calling out religion, the right, and before, long ago when I was young and quiet foolish, calling out gays. I stopped hating gays for obvious reasons (The fact that I was being an asshole in that regard.) But after John Stewart's rally, and after the little girl died with the assassination attempt in Tuscan, I am going to "attempt" to better myself. I still will argue, but there will be no expectations to win, no placating and no superior point of view. That is for the "other side" of the debate...

And for my wife

>> ^hpqp:
>> ^Lawdeedaw:
>> ^Opus_Moderandi:
>> ^hpqp:
People like this should get there their teaching credentials automatically revoked. And how the eff is it legal to teach lies opinions in school? How about historians teaching that the holocaust didn't happen?


Hahha! Good one Opus. I like how people (I am not speaking towards you Opus) point out other morons first, but sometimes we never evaluate the moron within. Good to make Hp see the mirror.
This pastor-ish guy is not dumb, but just idealized. He is not spreading lies but beliefs. And as to how is it legal? How is it not? I think we have a bit too many laws on the books of intolerance. Such as the law against gay marriage, the laws against pot, public nudity, and looking at your wife's email...
There are plenty of dumb beliefs taught, even in school; where to draw the line is a bit harder. I think religion and Earth's creation should be taught in History class, not science. But then, I am one man and not an all-knowing dick.
And please don't spell check/ grammar check my own, I just had nose surgery and am on strong pain meds...

Wow, so I am a moron for making a common grammar mistake (as a French-speaker, mind you). Would you mind telling me the difference between beliefs and lies? If I say objects fall to earth because God wants them to, and not because of gravity, is that an opinion/belief? All the evidence points towards a Holocaust having occured but hey, I believe it's a Zionist conspiracy to occupy Palestine and oppress Muslims... shouldn't I be able to "teach the controversy"?
Yes, there are plenty of intolerant laws (almost all religious-based, hint hint), but because they're (woot, grammarnazically correct!) legal for now doesn't make them right. Remember all those God-given acts and principles that used to be legal (rape, slavery, death penalty for just about everything, etc.)?
Anyway, I said that more in a spirit of social equity... think of all the non-faitheads that are unemployed, surely there are decent, scientifically-minded replacements among them, no? Actually, considering the pitiful state of America's educational system, that might not be the case.
p.s.: you do know that evolution has nothing to do with earth's creation, right?