A dictator brags that he's been doin' a heckuva job and his rule has been wonderful for the country, and you're citing that as proof that it has been?!
Got any other miraculous success stories to share with us? I hear Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Kim Jong Il has just been doin' a bang-up job with a much smaller percentage of his population slated to resort to cannibalism this year...
You're either a troll, a shill or worst of all, a product of the Texas educational system.
According to a poll by the University of Maryland,
Some foreigners come into your country and ask, "Hey, do you support our leader?"
I'm amazed seven percent found the courage to say no.
EVERY dictator in history has had amazing opinion polls. When you can execute your opposition, you tend to remain popular, at least in the official story.
Lee Kuan Yew? The dictator who rules Singapore with an iron fist?! That's who you're calling on to bolster your argument?! Hey, why not pull in the cheery guys who rule Burma while you're at it?
But seriously, I've heard your argument since 1975. "We're losing the low-value grunt work. The high-dollar brain work will still be here."
Except it didn't work out like that. We lost manufacturing. We've also lost research. The simple fact is when you're facing a labor pool of four billion desperate people with little-to-no-civil-rights and the same genetic possibilities as you, you're not going to compete on quality alone.
Your argument -- "They ain't never gunna be as smart as we are" -- has already been put to the test. It failed. The opposing viewpoint -- "It's a race to the bottom" -- has already been proven.
I'm just hoping we can pull up short of impact.
I don't shop at WalMart. Still can't boycott China
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China Hits Back At Google
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· Score: 5, Interesting
Ever since I watched Tiananmen in horror, I have tried to boycott China. That boycott has failed miserably.
I just fixed my brakes last Saturday. I literally tried every auto parts store in town. I could not find rotors not manufactured in China, not in my town on a day's notice. I have no doubt I could have gotten some mail-order, but not in time to get to work on Monday and still keep my job.
I bought a camping knife as a present from Buck Knives, a "Made in the USA" company last year. Despite the advertising claims, the knife came stamped "Made in China."
I bought a set of Carhartt work clothes last year, another "Proudly made in America" company. They arrived with manufacturing defects. Did some checking, sure enough, Carhartt is moving it's manufacturing to China.
I got so fed up when a 14mm wrench snapped in my hand last year I was ready to cough up for Snap-On tools. Guess where Snap-On is moving their manufacturing?
Even the "proud-to-be-an-American-we-support-the-troops" redneck favorite companies Spyderco pocketknives and Surefire flashlights are moving to China.
Neal Stephenson was prophetic. The only thing we know how to make in this country any more are pizzas and movies.
If the majority of the Chinese support this system of government...
And how are we to know that? How do we know the majority support this system of government? Oh, right, you hold elections. You listen to people who protest.
Well, gosh, elections aren't scheduled for the next gajillion years, and the last major protest resulted in the massacre of more than 3,000 students. The cherry on the top of that mess is that the Chinese government just promised to stop executing prisoners to sell their organs on the black market. Eventually.
Works that way here too. The problem is the HOA currently has an armed guard working for it. Eventually, they'll lose in court, but there's not going to be any penalty for their bad behavior in the meantime.
A gilded cage is still a cage. Golden handcuffs are still handcuffs. Comfortable cells are still cells. Freedom and liberty are not "cultural" issues.
You're arguing that the Chinese people do not need to be free because they are well cared for. In the understatement of the year, they aren't, but even if they were, comfort is not a reasonable trade for freedom.
I've actually heard your argument before. A white supremacist argued that blacks in America should be grateful for slavery, because the slaves were well fed and cared for, and that slavery allowed their children to eventually become citizens of the United States.
I didn't follow his argument, and with respect, I'm not following yours either.
Arguing from, with, and on scripture is pointless.
When I speak to my friends, I speak English. When I speak to some of my family, I use their native language instead. When my friends and family are together, I try to speak English, because it's rude to cut my friends out of the conversation, but sometimes I have to drop out of English to get my point across to my family.
When I'm speaking to Glitch, as fellow believers we share a common song. I'm playing specific notes of scripture for specific reasons in a specific way to get my point across. I understand that cuts the resident atheists out of the conversation, and for that rudeness I apologize.
the only thing we can rationally conclude is that, due to a complete lack of evidence
Agreed, and Bertrand Russell said it better. Religion is the opiate of the masses, and Christianity is the philosophy of slaves. I'll go you one better and stipulate the Christian religion has been used to justify some of the more heinous wars and atrocities in history. The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, the justification for slavery -- anyone who's ever had a repugnant idea has always pulled out a Bible and a flag to cover it. John Ashcroft spouted scripture while permitting state-sanctioned torture for the first time in the nation's history. The KKK references Genesis all the time.
It gets even worse. I've read the Old Testament. The Book of Ezekiel is a slasher film. You think I don't understand your point? My faith is forged in a Russian crucible of doubt.
I was born and raised in the United States of Jesusland and as a young man got so sick of the nonsense and the hypocrisy of the church that I walked away from it for decades. I mean, really, how could anyone with a brain associate themselves with people who built a "Museum of Creationism" where they put a saddle on a dinosaur?!
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen, which means from here on out, strictly speaking, I'm talking nonsense.
I could tell you that Science proceeds from the assumptions that the universe is observable and comprehensible -- and those are reasonable assumptions to make -- but that I believe the universe goes beyond our observation and is probably beyond our comprehension. More things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio...
I could make those arguments in good faith, but not sincerity. Faith cannot be shown by a geometric proof; you cannot mathematically derive a belief in God. Pascal's wager is a clever dodge, and CS Lewis' arguments are so specious not even he believed them in the end.
I find my faith at the place of the skull. I see that image in my head, I feel that place in my heart, I hear "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" and I know the truth of it.
I find that as my hair goes completely grey, matters become simpler. I suppose time boils my anger and ego away, and properly strips matters down to the bone. A man becomes a good husband by devoting himself to his wife, by placing her needs above his own. A man becomes a good father by giving himself over to the care of his children. It's simple. A man builds a home by joyously tearing out of pieces of his own flesh for bricks.
Those three nails tether me to that Cross, and I feel my God's love as surely as I feel my wife's love when we are oceans apart, as surely as I know my children even without a paternity test.
The hammering begins to all the mob's cacophony of the politicians hiding behind Him for power, and the polyester televangelists crying for money, and the idiots using him to justify their every craven impulse...
And before we come to "It is finished," all that noise has faded to silence, and I am left alone with blood and nails and the World. What do I believe?
I believe in a God who died to save His own creation, who died to redeem His children. I believe I want to follow my Father on that path, and that all the rest of it doesn't matt
The atheists and others who believe in the separation of church and state
Um, Render unto Ceaser that which is Ceaser's and Render unto God that which is God's? Remember Pontius Pilate's question? Are you a king? The response? My Kingdom is not of this world. As far as this world goes, our Lord Jesus Christ believed in the separation of church and state. He specifically chose not to join the Zealots who wanted to overthrow pagan Rome and found a new free Isreal loyal to God. You want to talk about evil Liberals suppressing religion, can you imagine living in a world where the cities you lived in were officially dedicated to a Pagan god?
And Christ chose not to bother with it. He had larger concerns than temporary distractions like the rule of Rome.
But let's suppose you got the Theocracy you want. Which Christian Church is to hold sway? Will you follow a President loyal to the Pope? No? Greek Orthodox? An Anglican, perhaps? No? Want a Good Ol' American denomination, do you? Episcopalian? Methodist? Seventh Day Adventist? Plain ol' Baptist? Church of Christ? Oh, you'll be happy so long as it's Evangelical? Really? Southern Baptist? Assembly of God? Vineyard Ministries? Got a favorite in there, do you?
We can't even get the followers of Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn and Robert Schuller to agree on a coherent plan of action. When you try to wed civil power with Christian religious authority, it results in endless fighting. You might want to ask the British about that.
There's a reason why the first Amendment begins with "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." That's why the Founding Fathers used weasel words like "Creator" and "Nature's God," because they specifically did not want to reference Jesus Christ the Messiah or Lord God Almighty Jehovah. By the way, more reading to do -- "Deism."
If the liberals who hate religion would ever get their way to lay down the law then all religion would be banned in this country unless it was talked about and practiced within the confines of a church or home.
Hi. Remember me? The Liberal? No one is looking to ban religion in this country. For goodness' sake, the Sheriff's office directs traffic at the churches on Sundays in my town. Our previous attorney general was the son of an Assemblies of God minister and a fervent supporter of that church. To imply that the Christian Church in America is under any kind of persecution is to dishonor the memory of all the Christians who actually were persecuted and actually did die for their Faith.
But let's suppose it happened, let's suppose Obama really did turn out to be Lucifer's left hand, and the First Amendment got repealed next week. Let's suppose a profession of Christianity merited summary execution starting next Monday.
Do you suppose it would endanger the Church at all? Or will you join me in believing that God Almighty alone decides the fate of the Body of Christ? By the way, that decree actually happened once. Rome decided to stamp out Christianity once and for all. All the Roman swords and lions did was fan the flame of the Word all the way across Europe.
Do you know why? Because Men and Earthly politics do not decide the fate of the Church. God doesn't need the support of the Legislature, or the school board or the Media.
Since this is Slashdot, after all, God... doesn't need a starship.
I have good news for you, Brother Glitch. God is still in His Heaven, and all the evil sandal-clad long-haired dope-smoking Liberals of the world do not pose a threat to His Church. He built that church on a rock, and the very gates of Hell will not stand against it, so I don't think Nancy Pelosi is much of a problem.
You can relax. We're covered.
Well, we're covered on that problem. As I continue to read the Gospels, we seem to have other issues. It seems that our Lord (Luke 4) has come to preach good news to the poor, t
You literally are saying "give up, give everything away, let people walk over you and SMILE while they are doing it!". Time for a reality check.
Yes, that is pretty much exactly what Dad told us to do:
Matthew 5:44 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Actually, that whole chapter in Matthew pretty much sums it up; give up, give everything away, let people beat and steal from you, and BLESS them while they're doing it:
Matthew Chapter 5:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
I find it easy not to steal, kill or bow down to false idols. "Love your enemies" is the hardest thing Pop ever told me to do.
Jesus Christ was the Son of God and He died for my sins. We follow God by taking up our crosses and feeding the hungry, visiting the imprisoned, healing the sick and clothing the naked. We preach the good news and the acceptable year of the Lord.
I am a Liberal, I am your Christian brother, and if you don't believe me, just go ask Pop.
And as much as it pains me to point this out, you have some reading to do.
There is nothing wrong with making known our history just because it has a religious foundation, except for those who hate religion.
I'm assuming you're referencing the Puritans, since Jamestown was a fairly commercial endeavor. Your problem is that those Puritans would not have recognized you as a fellow Christian, any more than you most likely recognize Catholics as fellow Christians. If you're a Southern Baptist, Assembly of God or any other Evangelical, you'd have been shunned as a heretic.
BTW, those Puritans you're putting on the pedestal, you might want to read a little Hawthorne, or the history of King Philips' War. The Indians saved the lives of the Puritans that first winter. The children of the Pilgrims paid them back by slaughering the Indians' children and stealing their lands. Like I said, don't take my word for it. Go spend some time with Nathaniel Hawthorne.
"There is no reason to hide that fact unless the agenda is to try to make our country look like it was not founded on religious beliefs."
Sigh. Start reading Jefferson. Read it long, read it hard, and read it in the knowledge that it was written by a man who spent his nights literally cutting and pasting the supernatural out of his copy of the Bible. Read it in the knowledge that the man who wrote this nation's beginning had a decades-long affair with a woman that he owned as a slave.
If you think it's going to be diffiult to square Jefferson with your theology, tighten your seatbelt and hang on, because when you read about the unbridled debauchery that was Benjamin Franklin...
When you can't take that any more, start in on the "Federalist Papers." They're dry, they're tedious, and they'll permanently put to bed any idea that this was meant to be a "Christian" nation.
As far as taking "In God We Trust" off the currency, it is for the same reason as what I stated above.
Sigh. That motto was put on US currency in 1956, during the same wave of panicked nationalist fervor that spawned Hoover and McCarthy. Are you sure the Church should be laying claim to that?
But since we're talking about Christianity and Coins, let's go back to the book we really ought to be reading. When the Zealots asked Christ "Is it lawful to pay taxes unto Ceaser?" it wasn't a financial question. You didn't exactly file a W-2 with Rome. Taxation under Rome was a lot closer to outright mugging. Why do you think tax collectors like Zacchaeus were so hated?
What the Zealots were really asking was "Don't you think it's time to throw off Roman bondage and establish Isreal as God's Holy Nation again?"
Look at His answer. Give it to them. Look at His other answers. Sell all that you have, and give to the poor. If they take your shirt, give them your coat too. If they make you a slave, do more than they ask you too. Resist not evil men. Give to any who asks. Here, take this, care for this man and if you need any more, charge it to my account. I'll pay it. Put down that sword, I don't need you to fight for Me, my Kingdom is not on this world and if you're fighting over things that are here, you have missed the point. Yes, I'll die to save people who do not deserve it. I'll die to save the people who are actually killing me.
My Kingdom. Is. Not. Here.
Those men in Texas have forgotten this. They don't want to take up their cross. They want to lay down the law. They seek to further the Kingdom by political will, rather than by feeding the hungry, healing the sick, clothing the naked and visiting the imprisoned.
And my real fear for those men is they'll be asked why they didn't one day...
"Maley's dismissal comes amid ongoing budget and staff cuts at Pennsylvania's IT security organization, the source said. Over the past 18 months to two years, the administration has cut information security budgets by close to 38%, and staff by 40%. They also put a "lockdown" on talking about cybersecurity, the source claimed."
They're gutting my budget and staff, cracking us wide open to attacks such as this one, and putting a gag-order on us to hide their downright malicious mismanagement.
And exactly how do you think most whistleblowers get their start?
Every whistleblower ever gets painted first as a "disgruntled employee crying for attention." When that doesn't stick, they move on to "violating security by disclosing classified information."
The problem is, we never find out about bad behavior covered by secrecy from people who are happy and secure within the organization. Criminal enterprises both in and out of government usually get uncovered when they try to screw over one of the lower guys who still knows enough about where the bodies are buried.
Your problem is you're talking to a hillbilly who was the first one in his family to go to college.
Farmers ain't never been fans of the "free market." We've always been socialists, it's just most of us don't understand the term. Up here in the hills, we had things called "barn-raisings" where the whole town would come together to help build someone's barn. A common gift for young married kids was we'd all get together and build them a house to start 'em off right. If someone got hurt, the doc would come and we'd pay him as best we could, but still, no doc worth the name would leave someone to suffer.
"Free-market?" Son, you're talking like the town banker, or one of them noisy fool jackasses from the city who come out here to hunt -- well, more like drink and annoy the animals, really -- looking like orange-covered billboards for REI.
Up here in the hills, we look out for each other and we work together. It's the only way we get by. We don't like outsiders much 'cause most of them are just coming to take away something we need.
Home water purification? You mean like a pump, a barrel of charcoal and a still? Kinda hard to take showers that way.
Solar? Great for drying clothes.
Wind turbines? You do understand most windmills were "socialist" town projects, right? It's the only way to get enough money together to build one.
Micro CHP? Huh?
Biomass? We've had compost heaps forever.
Dry toilets? You mean outhouses?
Satellite/wireless? No one but the town banker can afford that stuff.
Tongue-in-cheek aside, all of the technologies you just listed only got their start BECAUSE of government subsidies.
"Why should the public pay for moving electricity from the Midwest to the East coast?"
Because Utilities are a textbook market failure. Left to the market, water, power, waste and communication services thrive in the cities, but don't exist in rural areas. If you want power and telecom capabilities in the sticks, you need a government program like the TVA to get it done.
Why should the government pay to get Midwest power to the Big Cities on the East Coast? Because the government paid to get East Coast power to the Midwest in the first place.
*BA HA HA HA* *Gasp* Oh God, stop it you're killing me! *BA HA HA HA HA*
Have you actually tried this? Did you enjoy the audit? Do the words "back taxes and penalties" haunt your dreams?
You do understand the IRS considers this tax fraud and aggresively looks for it, right? You got this idea from your copy of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" didn't you?
Do you have kids? Do you plan to? You work 12-16 hour days constantly and they will end up pregnant addicts. NOTHING screws up your kids faster than parents who don't have time for them.
on vacations I do have to keep one eye on my email and be willing to get up a few hours early to handle anything
That's not a vacation.
There are no sick days.
You are one car accident away from bankruptcy.
When a client makes unreasonable demands I just charge more.
No, no you really don't. Been there, done that. Over time, clients expect you to constantly get cheaper. In time, you'll find yourself competing against third-world labor.
don't let a client down even if it means pulling all-nighters until your not sure what day it is
I see you have your cardiac arrest penciled in for next year. What does your doctor think about this plan?
I've never been happier in my career.
Been there. Done that. Talk to me about how you feel after three years of this.
Slashdot Mirror
A dictator brags that he's been doin' a heckuva job and his rule has been wonderful for the country, and you're citing that as proof that it has been?!
Got any other miraculous success stories to share with us? I hear Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Kim Jong Il has just been doin' a bang-up job with a much smaller percentage of his population slated to resort to cannibalism this year...
You're either a troll, a shill or worst of all, a product of the Texas educational system.
According to a poll by the University of Maryland,
Some foreigners come into your country and ask, "Hey, do you support our leader?"
I'm amazed seven percent found the courage to say no.
EVERY dictator in history has had amazing opinion polls. When you can execute your opposition, you tend to remain popular, at least in the official story.
Lee Kuan Yew? The dictator who rules Singapore with an iron fist?! That's who you're calling on to bolster your argument?! Hey, why not pull in the cheery guys who rule Burma while you're at it?
Also known as producing and shuffling paper. :-)
But seriously, I've heard your argument since 1975. "We're losing the low-value grunt work. The high-dollar brain work will still be here."
Except it didn't work out like that. We lost manufacturing. We've also lost research. The simple fact is when you're facing a labor pool of four billion desperate people with little-to-no-civil-rights and the same genetic possibilities as you, you're not going to compete on quality alone.
Your argument -- "They ain't never gunna be as smart as we are" -- has already been put to the test. It failed. The opposing viewpoint -- "It's a race to the bottom" -- has already been proven.
I'm just hoping we can pull up short of impact.
Ever since I watched Tiananmen in horror, I have tried to boycott China. That boycott has failed miserably.
I just fixed my brakes last Saturday. I literally tried every auto parts store in town. I could not find rotors not manufactured in China, not in my town on a day's notice. I have no doubt I could have gotten some mail-order, but not in time to get to work on Monday and still keep my job.
I bought a camping knife as a present from Buck Knives, a "Made in the USA" company last year. Despite the advertising claims, the knife came stamped "Made in China."
I bought a set of Carhartt work clothes last year, another "Proudly made in America" company. They arrived with manufacturing defects. Did some checking, sure enough, Carhartt is moving it's manufacturing to China.
I got so fed up when a 14mm wrench snapped in my hand last year I was ready to cough up for Snap-On tools. Guess where Snap-On is moving their manufacturing?
Even the "proud-to-be-an-American-we-support-the-troops" redneck favorite companies Spyderco pocketknives and Surefire flashlights are moving to China.
Neal Stephenson was prophetic. The only thing we know how to make in this country any more are pizzas and movies.
If the majority of the Chinese support this system of government...
And how are we to know that? How do we know the majority support this system of government? Oh, right, you hold elections. You listen to people who protest.
Well, gosh, elections aren't scheduled for the next gajillion years, and the last major protest resulted in the massacre of more than 3,000 students. The cherry on the top of that mess is that the Chinese government just promised to stop executing prisoners to sell their organs on the black market. Eventually.
But the slaves are so happy, right?
Works that way here too. The problem is the HOA currently has an armed guard working for it. Eventually, they'll lose in court, but there's not going to be any penalty for their bad behavior in the meantime.
A gilded cage is still a cage. Golden handcuffs are still handcuffs. Comfortable cells are still cells. Freedom and liberty are not "cultural" issues.
You're arguing that the Chinese people do not need to be free because they are well cared for. In the understatement of the year, they aren't, but even if they were, comfort is not a reasonable trade for freedom.
I've actually heard your argument before. A white supremacist argued that blacks in America should be grateful for slavery, because the slaves were well fed and cared for, and that slavery allowed their children to eventually become citizens of the United States.
I didn't follow his argument, and with respect, I'm not following yours either.
You're right, of course. I feel sheepish at my lack recall.
Arguing from, with, and on scripture is pointless.
When I speak to my friends, I speak English. When I speak to some of my family, I use their native language instead. When my friends and family are together, I try to speak English, because it's rude to cut my friends out of the conversation, but sometimes I have to drop out of English to get my point across to my family.
When I'm speaking to Glitch, as fellow believers we share a common song. I'm playing specific notes of scripture for specific reasons in a specific way to get my point across. I understand that cuts the resident atheists out of the conversation, and for that rudeness I apologize.
the only thing we can rationally conclude is that, due to a complete lack of evidence
Agreed, and Bertrand Russell said it better. Religion is the opiate of the masses, and Christianity is the philosophy of slaves. I'll go you one better and stipulate the Christian religion has been used to justify some of the more heinous wars and atrocities in history. The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, the justification for slavery -- anyone who's ever had a repugnant idea has always pulled out a Bible and a flag to cover it. John Ashcroft spouted scripture while permitting state-sanctioned torture for the first time in the nation's history. The KKK references Genesis all the time.
It gets even worse. I've read the Old Testament. The Book of Ezekiel is a slasher film. You think I don't understand your point? My faith is forged in a Russian crucible of doubt.
I was born and raised in the United States of Jesusland and as a young man got so sick of the nonsense and the hypocrisy of the church that I walked away from it for decades. I mean, really, how could anyone with a brain associate themselves with people who built a "Museum of Creationism" where they put a saddle on a dinosaur?!
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen, which means from here on out, strictly speaking, I'm talking nonsense.
I could tell you that Science proceeds from the assumptions that the universe is observable and comprehensible -- and those are reasonable assumptions to make -- but that I believe the universe goes beyond our observation and is probably beyond our comprehension. More things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio...
I could make those arguments in good faith, but not sincerity. Faith cannot be shown by a geometric proof; you cannot mathematically derive a belief in God. Pascal's wager is a clever dodge, and CS Lewis' arguments are so specious not even he believed them in the end.
I find my faith at the place of the skull. I see that image in my head, I feel that place in my heart, I hear "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" and I know the truth of it.
I find that as my hair goes completely grey, matters become simpler. I suppose time boils my anger and ego away, and properly strips matters down to the bone. A man becomes a good husband by devoting himself to his wife, by placing her needs above his own. A man becomes a good father by giving himself over to the care of his children. It's simple. A man builds a home by joyously tearing out of pieces of his own flesh for bricks.
Those three nails tether me to that Cross, and I feel my God's love as surely as I feel my wife's love when we are oceans apart, as surely as I know my children even without a paternity test.
The hammering begins to all the mob's cacophony of the politicians hiding behind Him for power, and the polyester televangelists crying for money, and the idiots using him to justify their every craven impulse...
And before we come to "It is finished," all that noise has faded to silence, and I am left alone with blood and nails and the World. What do I believe?
I believe in a God who died to save His own creation, who died to redeem His children. I believe I want to follow my Father on that path, and that all the rest of it doesn't matt
Everyone but Deckard is a replicant, only he doesn't know it...
The atheists and others who believe in the separation of church and state
Um, Render unto Ceaser that which is Ceaser's and Render unto God that which is God's? Remember Pontius Pilate's question? Are you a king? The response? My Kingdom is not of this world. As far as this world goes, our Lord Jesus Christ believed in the separation of church and state. He specifically chose not to join the Zealots who wanted to overthrow pagan Rome and found a new free Isreal loyal to God. You want to talk about evil Liberals suppressing religion, can you imagine living in a world where the cities you lived in were officially dedicated to a Pagan god?
And Christ chose not to bother with it. He had larger concerns than temporary distractions like the rule of Rome.
But let's suppose you got the Theocracy you want. Which Christian Church is to hold sway? Will you follow a President loyal to the Pope? No? Greek Orthodox? An Anglican, perhaps? No? Want a Good Ol' American denomination, do you? Episcopalian? Methodist? Seventh Day Adventist? Plain ol' Baptist? Church of Christ? Oh, you'll be happy so long as it's Evangelical? Really? Southern Baptist? Assembly of God? Vineyard Ministries? Got a favorite in there, do you?
We can't even get the followers of Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn and Robert Schuller to agree on a coherent plan of action. When you try to wed civil power with Christian religious authority, it results in endless fighting. You might want to ask the British about that.
There's a reason why the first Amendment begins with "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." That's why the Founding Fathers used weasel words like "Creator" and "Nature's God," because they specifically did not want to reference Jesus Christ the Messiah or Lord God Almighty Jehovah. By the way, more reading to do -- "Deism."
If the liberals who hate religion would ever get their way to lay down the law then all religion would be banned in this country unless it was talked about and practiced within the confines of a church or home.
Hi. Remember me? The Liberal? No one is looking to ban religion in this country. For goodness' sake, the Sheriff's office directs traffic at the churches on Sundays in my town. Our previous attorney general was the son of an Assemblies of God minister and a fervent supporter of that church. To imply that the Christian Church in America is under any kind of persecution is to dishonor the memory of all the Christians who actually were persecuted and actually did die for their Faith.
But let's suppose it happened, let's suppose Obama really did turn out to be Lucifer's left hand, and the First Amendment got repealed next week. Let's suppose a profession of Christianity merited summary execution starting next Monday.
Do you suppose it would endanger the Church at all? Or will you join me in believing that God Almighty alone decides the fate of the Body of Christ? By the way, that decree actually happened once. Rome decided to stamp out Christianity once and for all. All the Roman swords and lions did was fan the flame of the Word all the way across Europe.
Do you know why? Because Men and Earthly politics do not decide the fate of the Church. God doesn't need the support of the Legislature, or the school board or the Media.
Since this is Slashdot, after all, God ... doesn't need a starship.
I have good news for you, Brother Glitch. God is still in His Heaven, and all the evil sandal-clad long-haired dope-smoking Liberals of the world do not pose a threat to His Church. He built that church on a rock, and the very gates of Hell will not stand against it, so I don't think Nancy Pelosi is much of a problem.
You can relax. We're covered.
Well, we're covered on that problem. As I continue to read the Gospels, we seem to have other issues. It seems that our Lord (Luke 4) has come to preach good news to the poor, t
You literally are saying "give up, give everything away, let people walk over you and SMILE while they are doing it!". Time for a reality check.
Yes, that is pretty much exactly what Dad told us to do:
Matthew 5:44
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Actually, that whole chapter in Matthew pretty much sums it up; give up, give everything away, let people beat and steal from you, and BLESS them while they're doing it:
Matthew Chapter 5:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
I find it easy not to steal, kill or bow down to false idols. "Love your enemies" is the hardest thing Pop ever told me to do.
Brother Glitch23,
Jesus Christ was the Son of God and He died for my sins. We follow God by taking up our crosses and feeding the hungry, visiting the imprisoned, healing the sick and clothing the naked. We preach the good news and the acceptable year of the Lord.
I am a Liberal, I am your Christian brother, and if you don't believe me, just go ask Pop.
And as much as it pains me to point this out, you have some reading to do.
There is nothing wrong with making known our history just because it has a religious foundation, except for those who hate religion.
I'm assuming you're referencing the Puritans, since Jamestown was a fairly commercial endeavor. Your problem is that those Puritans would not have recognized you as a fellow Christian, any more than you most likely recognize Catholics as fellow Christians. If you're a Southern Baptist, Assembly of God or any other Evangelical, you'd have been shunned as a heretic.
BTW, those Puritans you're putting on the pedestal, you might want to read a little Hawthorne, or the history of King Philips' War. The Indians saved the lives of the Puritans that first winter. The children of the Pilgrims paid them back by slaughering the Indians' children and stealing their lands. Like I said, don't take my word for it. Go spend some time with Nathaniel Hawthorne.
"There is no reason to hide that fact unless the agenda is to try to make our country look like it was not founded on religious beliefs."
Sigh. Start reading Jefferson. Read it long, read it hard, and read it in the knowledge that it was written by a man who spent his nights literally cutting and pasting the supernatural out of his copy of the Bible. Read it in the knowledge that the man who wrote this nation's beginning had a decades-long affair with a woman that he owned as a slave.
If you think it's going to be diffiult to square Jefferson with your theology, tighten your seatbelt and hang on, because when you read about the unbridled debauchery that was Benjamin Franklin...
When you can't take that any more, start in on the "Federalist Papers." They're dry, they're tedious, and they'll permanently put to bed any idea that this was meant to be a "Christian" nation.
As far as taking "In God We Trust" off the currency, it is for the same reason as what I stated above.
Sigh. That motto was put on US currency in 1956, during the same wave of panicked nationalist fervor that spawned Hoover and McCarthy. Are you sure the Church should be laying claim to that?
But since we're talking about Christianity and Coins, let's go back to the book we really ought to be reading. When the Zealots asked Christ "Is it lawful to pay taxes unto Ceaser?" it wasn't a financial question. You didn't exactly file a W-2 with Rome. Taxation under Rome was a lot closer to outright mugging. Why do you think tax collectors like Zacchaeus were so hated?
What the Zealots were really asking was "Don't you think it's time to throw off Roman bondage and establish Isreal as God's Holy Nation again?"
Look at His answer. Give it to them. Look at His other answers. Sell all that you have, and give to the poor. If they take your shirt, give them your coat too. If they make you a slave, do more than they ask you too. Resist not evil men. Give to any who asks. Here, take this, care for this man and if you need any more, charge it to my account. I'll pay it. Put down that sword, I don't need you to fight for Me, my Kingdom is not on this world and if you're fighting over things that are here, you have missed the point. Yes, I'll die to save people who do not deserve it. I'll die to save the people who are actually killing me.
My Kingdom. Is. Not. Here.
Those men in Texas have forgotten this. They don't want to take up their cross. They want to lay down the law. They seek to further the Kingdom by political will, rather than by feeding the hungry, healing the sick, clothing the naked and visiting the imprisoned.
And my real fear for those men is they'll be asked why they didn't one day...
Searching "compromise" on Google returns:
"Did you mean: completely acquiesce"
"Maley's dismissal comes amid ongoing budget and staff cuts at Pennsylvania's IT security organization, the source said. Over the past 18 months to two years, the administration has cut information security budgets by close to 38%, and staff by 40%. They also put a "lockdown" on talking about cybersecurity, the source claimed."
They're gutting my budget and staff, cracking us wide open to attacks such as this one, and putting a gag-order on us to hide their downright malicious mismanagement.
Sounds like a whistle-blower to me...
And exactly how do you think most whistleblowers get their start?
Every whistleblower ever gets painted first as a "disgruntled employee crying for attention." When that doesn't stick, they move on to "violating security by disclosing classified information."
The problem is, we never find out about bad behavior covered by secrecy from people who are happy and secure within the organization. Criminal enterprises both in and out of government usually get uncovered when they try to screw over one of the lower guys who still knows enough about where the bodies are buried.
"Barn-raising" or "Co-op."
Your problem is you're talking to a hillbilly who was the first one in his family to go to college.
Farmers ain't never been fans of the "free market." We've always been socialists, it's just most of us don't understand the term. Up here in the hills, we had things called "barn-raisings" where the whole town would come together to help build someone's barn. A common gift for young married kids was we'd all get together and build them a house to start 'em off right. If someone got hurt, the doc would come and we'd pay him as best we could, but still, no doc worth the name would leave someone to suffer.
"Free-market?" Son, you're talking like the town banker, or one of them noisy fool jackasses from the city who come out here to hunt -- well, more like drink and annoy the animals, really -- looking like orange-covered billboards for REI.
Up here in the hills, we look out for each other and we work together. It's the only way we get by. We don't like outsiders much 'cause most of them are just coming to take away something we need.
Home water purification? You mean like a pump, a barrel of charcoal and a still? Kinda hard to take showers that way.
Solar? Great for drying clothes.
Wind turbines? You do understand most windmills were "socialist" town projects, right? It's the only way to get enough money together to build one.
Micro CHP? Huh?
Biomass? We've had compost heaps forever.
Dry toilets? You mean outhouses?
Satellite/wireless? No one but the town banker can afford that stuff.
Tongue-in-cheek aside, all of the technologies you just listed only got their start BECAUSE of government subsidies.
"Why should the public pay for moving electricity from the Midwest to the East coast?"
Because Utilities are a textbook market failure. Left to the market, water, power, waste and communication services thrive in the cities, but don't exist in rural areas. If you want power and telecom capabilities in the sticks, you need a government program like the TVA to get it done.
Why should the government pay to get Midwest power to the Big Cities on the East Coast? Because the government paid to get East Coast power to the Midwest in the first place.
Oh, come on, man, everyone knows Dexter uses human bodies to dump at sea.
It's dead pigs, for Goodness' sake! How does that not just scream "Jigsaw" to you, or at least that pig farmer Frank Black fought on "Millenium?" :-)
I need to get out more.
On Balmer and Gates' foreheads.
Last week on Slashdot, we had a discussion about how people with more than two years of coding experience were unnecessary.
Today we're talking about how unmanageable and buggy code is literally killing people.
Am I the only one who wishes that the code that controls whether or not my car crashes and burns was written by a guy with decades of experience?
*BA HA HA HA* *Gasp* Oh God, stop it you're killing me! *BA HA HA HA HA*
Have you actually tried this? Did you enjoy the audit? Do the words "back taxes and penalties" haunt your dreams?
You do understand the IRS considers this tax fraud and aggresively looks for it, right? You got this idea from your copy of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" didn't you?
"and most days are 12~16 hours long"
Do you have kids? Do you plan to? You work 12-16 hour days constantly and they will end up pregnant addicts. NOTHING screws up your kids faster than parents who don't have time for them.
on vacations I do have to keep one eye on my email and be willing to get up a few hours early to handle anything
That's not a vacation.
There are no sick days.
You are one car accident away from bankruptcy.
When a client makes unreasonable demands I just charge more.
No, no you really don't. Been there, done that. Over time, clients expect you to constantly get cheaper. In time, you'll find yourself competing against third-world labor.
don't let a client down even if it means pulling all-nighters until your not sure what day it is
I see you have your cardiac arrest penciled in for next year. What does your doctor think about this plan?
I've never been happier in my career.
Been there. Done that. Talk to me about how you feel after three years of this.
Penn Gillette turned me around on this issue.
...to good use.