life-size oxen made out of what appeared to be gold
Uh weird, I seem to remember there being a rule about that somewhere.
Check out a New Era article from 1976. Baptismal fonts in the temple do indeed rest on the back of 12 oxen representing the 12 tribes of Israel and mirrors the temple of Solomon. The material used varies from temple to temple. None of the fonts is pure gold. Some are bronze, others are stone, a few are wood.
I think a lot of that, for the religious orgs, goes into building massive churches. LDS is insanely wealthy and spares practically no expense in making huge, ornate temples. When they're about to re-dedicate one, us "impure" commonfolk can go inside, and I did that one time and saw some life-size oxen made out of what appeared to be gold surrounding a big ornate pool presumably used for baptisms, and then some expensive looking theaters (practically a multiplex) used for displaying religious propaganda to the public, and practically all of the floors and walls adorned with either granite or marble in pretty much the entire temple, with each room (and there are many rooms) being about two stories in height with really big chandeliers. I guess another way of describing it would be something four times as big, expensive, and decorated as the whitehouse. And in spite of the massive size of this thing, very few people even go inside, and they have about 170 of them throughout the entire US.
I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have chapels and temples. You're off on some of your description of our temples. There are 151 temples throughout the world, not 170 in the US. We pay cash for our temples so we do studies to find how to lower costs without lowering quality and workmanship. The White House is approximately 55,000 square feet; approximately 25 temples are at least that large. The largest temple is in Salt Lake City (253,000 square feet); our smallest temple (Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico) has 6,800 square feet. Only a few rooms in each temple have those huge chandeliers and 20+ foot ceilings. Building materials vary. The Provo City Center temple has mostly wood walls, for example.
And for some reason they see fit to ask that their members pay all of the expenses for their own missionary work, even though people of that age typically don't make much at all and it takes them years to save up for that. (My dad was required to save up for it by his parents for about 5 years, and then when he turned 17 he moved away from home and spent it on college and pretty much just ignored the church for the rest of his life.)
There is a standard amount for each missionary based on home country. During my mission, those from the US paid $350 / month while Brazilians paid R$100 / month. There is a general missionary fund available for those unable to pay. All money is pooled together and missionaries get an allowance based on mission. I received about R$100 / month (rent and utilities were paid before I received my allowance). As your dad left the Church at 17, I guess that shows your bias.
How about religious group Hobby Lobby, who wants to allow their employees to have health insurance, with the string attached that the health insurance not cover birth control pills?
Why should Hobby Lobby be forced to pay for something which goes against its beliefs? Employees can get supplemental insurance for birth control.
How about religious group Salvation Army, who wants to allow their employees to have spousal benefits, with the string attached that those employees not be gay?
Why is it wrong that a religious organization get to dictate such standards? I doubt a religion would want to pay someone for breaking their commandments.
How about religious schools such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, who employ people with the string attached that they not get divorced (but only if they're women)?
My sect has several schools. It is right and just that religions get to dictate conditions of employment. If someone doesn't wish to abide by these conditions, they can obtain employment elsewhere.
These few examples are but a drop in the bucket. True, they're not "religions", they're only organizations run by religious people. But they all claim to be exempt from the law because of religion. Also, you can find as many and more examples of religions doing the same. Religions attach strings to their money because they feel it is their moral duty (in the most generous interpretation). Do not pretend that they're just helping people; they're helping the deserving people, and they get to decide which ones are deserving. Also, do not read this as a defense of government as the highest good; there are plenty of problems there, as well.
If you don't like an organization, then don't support it.
Interesting thought; I'm genuinely curious: Who contributes more to doling out welfare: private funded charities (including religions) or the government?
I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This sect does have for-profit divisions which pay appropriate taxes. Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and all that. We open our chapels for temporary housing following disasters. Our fast offerings go to help the needy regardless of religious affiliation. Our "Helping Hands" groups are often the first ones on the scene to clean up after disasters. Our tithing does not make its way into leaders' pockets.
I know there are words that others find vulgar or offensive, but I don't care about words, I care about ideas. And how the hell do you filter out ideas? For an example, I don't care about any of these words: "I can't wait to shred your daughter's vagina", but when put in that order, I do. Another example: "Black lives matter".
What gets me is that most swears have legitimate uses, but I don't want to be bombarded by gratuitous vulgarities. I doubt a computer would ever be smart enough to block what I find offensive without a ton of false positives. Sometimes someone is so emotionally charged that only a vulgarity conveys all that emotion, but I dislike vulgarity to compensate for a small vocabulary.
Or are other people's lives so simple that they merely excluding certain words makes the pain go away? I'm interested to know which words people find, under all circumstances, offensive.
I find the F-bomb offensive, but if I mentally filter it out if it's not used with abandon. I've walked out of movies for hearing the F-bomb 10 times in the first 5 minutes. Even more offensive to me is to hear people profane the name of Deity, but computers will never be smart enough to parse context.
I hope they do NOT open an Amazon store in my state.
If they do, then I'll have to pay fucking 9%+ sales tax on my amazon orders, and well......why would I really wanna buy from them as much then?
That savings and free shipping is what makes them so desirable right now, but add in that 9%-10% sales tax, and well, I don't see that much a reason to get everything from amazon anymore.
See if your state has a "use tax" in addition to sales tax. Technically, I'm supposed to pay a use tax on everything I buy out of state (including online) for use in state. The use tax in my state is equal to the sales tax. If I don't pay the use tax, I am technically committing tax fraud and open myself up to an audit.
You would have to think about it??? Why wouldn't you do it, assuming no side effects?
The rub is this "assuming no side effects". We don't have any "junk" DNA, just DNA whose function we haven't yet determined. We don't know how different sections of DNA play together. We simply can't fathom the side effects until it's done.
I'm sorry that this appeared to be a reply to (and maybe an attack on) you personally or your religion specifically; I meant it as a more general point about how we all take things on trust because we have to. The younger we are, the more easily we are influenced and the more deeply we are conditioned; these influences may become deeply-held beliefs which have no testable basis in fact or reality and can remain untouched by exposure to opposing evidence, no matter how carefully explained, proven and presented. Nothing you've said has refuted that. Members of the Church of LDS have adapted to the modern world and rationality and reason in many ways (and promote ideas of community and charity which are lost to many outsiders) but they still retain their core belief in the supernatural and the truths their 19th century founders revealed to them, as do you. I'm guessing that you believe what you do because you grew up around Salt Lake City and your parents taught you their beliefs; your truth is very regional.
When are the worthy females going to get a go?
Religious organizations face a tough situation: they cannot disavow what previous leaders have said without declaring those leaders mistaken (or worse), but they must adjust for the modern world. Mormonism addresses this by sustaining the President of the Church as a Prophet who is able to receive revelation for the whole world (he is considered God's mouthpiece and all people are God's children) and to change Church doctrine and policies. Mormonism got its beginning in 1820 through Joseph's First Vision, though he didn't publish the Book of Mormon and formally establish the Church of Christ until 1830 (he later renamed it to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to distinguish it from unrelated Church of Christ organizations). In his lifetime he saw membership grow from 6 men (as required by New York law) to thousands of believers. During the rapid growth period new quorums were created (such as the Seventy, dividing members into "wards" with bishops, etc) and doctrines were established (temple ceremonies, tithing vs Law of Consecration, etc). Today we have seven quorums of Seventy to support millions of members, and got rid of the Quorum of the Fifty. For over a hundred years we've been commanded to strengthen the stakes of Zion where we live instead of congregating to Church Headquarters. Things do change, but at a much slower pace because we've been around for so long.
LDS culture is regional, but doctrine is universal. The Prophet, Apostles, and other General Authorities travel the world to make sure we have unity in faith. The same thing is taught in Hawaii, Utah, California, Brazil, England, and everywhere else in the world. We may wear different clothing (lavalava is common in Hawaii, but virtually unseen in Utah). We may have different customs (in Hawaii, 90% of talks in Hawaii start with Aloha with the congregation replying in kind). In Utah people are usually baptized in the chapel while many baptisms in Hawaii are performed at the beach. Utahns eat a ton of Jell-O (I don't know if this is limited to Utah Mormons), whereas members of the Church in Hawaii eat long rice and huli-huli chicken at pot luck dinners.
You mention that faith isn't testable. Read Hebrews chapter 11 for a good discourse on faith. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. You don't hear God crying out in a loud voice that this Church or that has the truth. What I consider evidence (eg. my experiences) might not be sufficient for you. Everyone must find their own path. Since faith isn't scientifically testable, we must respect the beliefs of others.
You are somewhat wrong with regards to my background. My chosen handle and posts on/. should indicate I grew up in Hawaii, where only 4% of the population is LDS. My ancestors joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s. One ancestor was an original member of the Twelve Apos
When you're told something is true by your parents from the first day you can comprehend, when all your friends, relatives and teachers believe the same thing and it's repeated over and over whilst you're growing up, to be told that this thing is not true can be so psychologically damaging that the mind will go to any lengths, however absurd, to retain that belief.
But I don't live in a bubble. My high school was only 25% LDS; the city where I currently live is 40% LDS; the office where I work is about 30% LDS; 75% of the cousins I know on my side of the family are LDS; only half of my wife's family is LDS (and she converted while a teenager). I am LDS, not FLDS.
It's very difficult to undo childhood conditioning, no matter which God or flag you were told to worship.
This is why outsiders and new ideas are so dangerous.
Outsiders dangerous? Is that why we have approximately 80k full-time proselytizing missionaries? President Hinkley told new converts and people considering joining the Church to bring all their knowledge and good attributes with them. The LDS Church does not have a monopoly on good works, and truths can be found in just about every religious organization. New ideas aren't considered dangerous. We sustain the President of the Church, his counselors, and the Twelve as Prophets, Seers, and Revelators. Our General Authorities address us in world-wide conferences twice a year. Gordon B. Hinkley had new ideas about a perpetual education fund, and for smaller temples. We fully embrace technology, including putting our scriptures and teaching material online for anyone to access. BYU is undergoing a review on how to protect victims of sexual assault (which is rare on campus) while still upholding the honor code. The LDS Church now accepts tithing online (using checking accounts). Apostles have had doctorate degrees in hard sciences (geology, biology, chemistry). One Apostle was a heart surgeon. The LDS Church opened the Priesthood to all worthy males in 1978.
A bunch of gullible rubes believing what some jack-off "read" off of some sketchy tablets. Same bunch of gullible rubes still believing it when, after a skeptic asks him to reread them presuming it would result in a verbatim repetition that could potentially suggest some truth, he says he's "not allowed to" and will "read" from a new set of tablets that say generally the same thing but not verbatim. You've had over 150 years to decode that scam and you still haven't. How do you look yourself in the mirror and NOT see an absolute moron?
Ad hominems galore! Are you capable of debating without resorting to name calling?
I believe you are referring to the lost 116 pages known as the Book of Lehi? As Joseph dictated the translation, Oliver Cowdery only made a single copy. Oliver convinced Joseph to let him show his wife and others. Those pages got stolen, so no known unaltered edition was in neutral hands. If Joseph wree to retranslate the same section of plates, it would have been a trap. If he produced a verbattim copy, the enemies of the Church would have altered Oliver's first copy. If Joseph made a single change (such as using a synonym), his enemies would have counted it as proof that he wasn't a prophet. Since Moroni collected the plates in 1830 we cannot attempt a new translation from the original source. Later editions standardized spelling, punctuation, and grammar (spelling and grammar were in flux in the 1800s, and Joseph didn't dictate punctuation).
Nephi was the son of Lehi, so he saw many of the same things as his father.
It's the same trap the Jews attempted on Jesus when a woman was caught in the very act of adultery. If Jesus said to stone the woman, as dictated by Jewish law, he would have been in violation of Roman law. If Jesus said to let the woman be, he would be in violation of Jewish law.
Being a god of your own fucking planet if you're good enough on this one. Fucking PLEASE. Pious virtue, my ass. That kind of goal is pure ME ME ME on an even more insane level than 72 virgins or endless happiness in the clouds watching your descendants masturbate.
Oh, I see you also have to resort to copious amounts of gratuitous profanity. Profanity generally shows a limited vocabulary.
Don't Jews and mainstream Christianity also call God with the title "Father"? Jesus addressed the Almighty with "Our Father, which art in heaven". Don't children have capability of becoming like their parents? Why call out Mormonism for believing what the Old Testament prophets, Jesus, and the apostles taught? If anything, it makes us more Christian than mainstream Christianity.
It was a crazy science fiction cult then and it's a crazy science fiction cult now, just like scientology. I don't know or care what your thoughts are on those nutjobs but given the seemingly universal loathing of them by everyone, I'd assume you think they're wackos too. The thing is, the only difference between them and you is time. In 150 years, if people still haven't smartened the fuck up, scientology will be viewed as just as valid as your bullshit. Pretty fucking sorry company. Think about that next time you have your little "I'm gonna be a god if I always smile and act friendly" orgasm.
Mormonism has produced some good science fiction writers (Orson Scott Card being the most famous), but I don't see Mormonism per se as science fiction anything. The word cult has lost all meaning except an organization with whose doctrine / ideology I disagree. If you're so blind as to not see the differences between Mormonism and Scientology you are beyond my help. Research is validating things in the Book of Mormon which would not have been known to Joseph Smith in 1830. If you are interested in the truth instead of a shouting match we can take this offline.
It's not ad hominem when it's your STORY I'm ripping apart, but that doesn't stop me from calling you a fucking imbecile for living in
Go ahead and question theology if you wish, but further ad hominems will be ignored.
So will your hilarious beliefs. How is magic underwear different from dancing with snakes? Less snake bites, I guess, but no less bullshit.
Sorry, but we don't use magic underwear; we don't ascribe any magical properties to our temple garments. They serve as a physical reminder of the covenants we have made; the garments work perfectly for that. BTW, what does it say of you if you are obsessed with underwear others use?
I can't put my finger on it, but I can't help feeling weird about a message delivered by the angel Moroni that led to the creation of the Mormons.
Sorry, but you're decades late with the Mormon / moron jokes. The nickname "Mormon" was applied to us by enemies because we accept the Book of Mormon (subtitled Another Testament of Jesus Christ) as Scripture in addition to the Bible. The Book of Mormon is so-named because a prophet named Mormon compiled the writings of previous prophets and historians into a single volume. Go ahead and question theology if you wish, but further ad hominems will be ignored.
Along with Allow: and Disallow: it should have a Pay: for site admins to tell the crawlers what they have to pay before going through all content.
Flag as Inappropriate
Because robots.txt is only a standard, not a law.
There have been reports of Bing's web crawlers not respecting robots.txt - and Bing has a huge user base (whether you like it or not) and that's just at the top of the iceberg.
Here is what I propose: Sites should make proper use of robots.txt. Sites should be able to sue search engines who index content which should be blocked based on robots.txt. Have something similar apply to sitemap.xml (do other search engines look at the sitemap?)
They have this fancy thing called barcodes and numbers to ID them.
And we register you when you get a driver's license, in person, where we take this thing called a picture. Automatically.
Epic Fail, extreme right. We do it, we do it more cheaply, and more people vote.
Except you can't require photo ID of voters because of racism! If I were in charge, I would require ID verification of all voters, but it seems too many minorities can't afford state issued drivers license or id.
Like ultra liberal disgusting slob Michael Moore or Dances with rattlesnakes religious nevertrumper Glen Beck....
Glenn Beck is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (more commonly called Mormons by outsiders). We do not dance with rattlesnakes or anything like it. Calling him a "nevertrumper" is actually a compliment; I'm tired of politicos saying how bad a candidate is during the primaries, then once the other candidate gets the party's nomination everyone falls in line about how great the candidate is.
I'm genuinely surprised the article was fake.
I saw the headline in Facebook, but didn't read the article. I often look to Snopes when I see an overly outrageous headline or story.
It's only an airlock if you're in space or underwater. In this case it was just a door.
I would imagine they have an actual air lock; the air you want to protect is the air inside the spaceship. I've even seen buildings in cold environments which have a small anteroom so when the door opens only a small amount of temperature-controlled air is lost. For space, the airlock can even suction the air off before opening the outside doors meaning near-zero air loss.
I believe it was something stupid like $2 a minute.
With AT&T, I pay $3 / minute when roaming outside the US / Canada / Mexico:( On the plus side, once I pay off my phone I can unlock it and put in a pre-paid SIM from OI or another local provider.
You apparently don't read. THE SUMMARY says that he bought online ads.
I did read the summary; I know that he spent $18k on advertising, but I still fail to fathom how he could have got thousands of people to legitimately sign up for the trial without resorting to spamming (eg. buying email addresses) or other unethical practices.
Slashdot Mirror
life-size oxen made out of what appeared to be gold
Uh weird, I seem to remember there being a rule about that somewhere.
Check out a New Era article from 1976. Baptismal fonts in the temple do indeed rest on the back of 12 oxen representing the 12 tribes of Israel and mirrors the temple of Solomon. The material used varies from temple to temple. None of the fonts is pure gold. Some are bronze, others are stone, a few are wood.
I think a lot of that, for the religious orgs, goes into building massive churches. LDS is insanely wealthy and spares practically no expense in making huge, ornate temples. When they're about to re-dedicate one, us "impure" commonfolk can go inside, and I did that one time and saw some life-size oxen made out of what appeared to be gold surrounding a big ornate pool presumably used for baptisms, and then some expensive looking theaters (practically a multiplex) used for displaying religious propaganda to the public, and practically all of the floors and walls adorned with either granite or marble in pretty much the entire temple, with each room (and there are many rooms) being about two stories in height with really big chandeliers. I guess another way of describing it would be something four times as big, expensive, and decorated as the whitehouse. And in spite of the massive size of this thing, very few people even go inside, and they have about 170 of them throughout the entire US.
I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have chapels and temples. You're off on some of your description of our temples. There are 151 temples throughout the world, not 170 in the US. We pay cash for our temples so we do studies to find how to lower costs without lowering quality and workmanship. The White House is approximately 55,000 square feet; approximately 25 temples are at least that large. The largest temple is in Salt Lake City (253,000 square feet); our smallest temple (Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico) has 6,800 square feet. Only a few rooms in each temple have those huge chandeliers and 20+ foot ceilings. Building materials vary. The Provo City Center temple has mostly wood walls, for example.
And for some reason they see fit to ask that their members pay all of the expenses for their own missionary work, even though people of that age typically don't make much at all and it takes them years to save up for that. (My dad was required to save up for it by his parents for about 5 years, and then when he turned 17 he moved away from home and spent it on college and pretty much just ignored the church for the rest of his life.)
There is a standard amount for each missionary based on home country. During my mission, those from the US paid $350 / month while Brazilians paid R$100 / month. There is a general missionary fund available for those unable to pay. All money is pooled together and missionaries get an allowance based on mission. I received about R$100 / month (rent and utilities were paid before I received my allowance). As your dad left the Church at 17, I guess that shows your bias.
How about religious group Hobby Lobby, who wants to allow their employees to have health insurance, with the string attached that the health insurance not cover birth control pills?
Why should Hobby Lobby be forced to pay for something which goes against its beliefs? Employees can get supplemental insurance for birth control.
How about religious group Salvation Army, who wants to allow their employees to have spousal benefits, with the string attached that those employees not be gay?
Why is it wrong that a religious organization get to dictate such standards? I doubt a religion would want to pay someone for breaking their commandments.
How about religious schools such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, who employ people with the string attached that they not get divorced (but only if they're women)?
My sect has several schools. It is right and just that religions get to dictate conditions of employment. If someone doesn't wish to abide by these conditions, they can obtain employment elsewhere.
These few examples are but a drop in the bucket. True, they're not "religions", they're only organizations run by religious people. But they all claim to be exempt from the law because of religion. Also, you can find as many and more examples of religions doing the same. Religions attach strings to their money because they feel it is their moral duty (in the most generous interpretation). Do not pretend that they're just helping people; they're helping the deserving people, and they get to decide which ones are deserving. Also, do not read this as a defense of government as the highest good; there are plenty of problems there, as well.
If you don't like an organization, then don't support it.
Interesting thought; I'm genuinely curious: Who contributes more to doling out welfare: private funded charities (including religions) or the government?
I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This sect does have for-profit divisions which pay appropriate taxes. Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and all that. We open our chapels for temporary housing following disasters. Our fast offerings go to help the needy regardless of religious affiliation. Our "Helping Hands" groups are often the first ones on the scene to clean up after disasters. Our tithing does not make its way into leaders' pockets.
most swears have legitimate uses
Name some
Hell refers to the abode of the dead. Damn means condemn. Bush is a similar to a shrub.
I know there are words that others find vulgar or offensive, but I don't care about words, I care about ideas. And how the hell do you filter out ideas? For an example, I don't care about any of these words: "I can't wait to shred your daughter's vagina", but when put in that order, I do. Another example: "Black lives matter".
What gets me is that most swears have legitimate uses, but I don't want to be bombarded by gratuitous vulgarities. I doubt a computer would ever be smart enough to block what I find offensive without a ton of false positives. Sometimes someone is so emotionally charged that only a vulgarity conveys all that emotion, but I dislike vulgarity to compensate for a small vocabulary.
Or are other people's lives so simple that they merely excluding certain words makes the pain go away? I'm interested to know which words people find, under all circumstances, offensive.
I find the F-bomb offensive, but if I mentally filter it out if it's not used with abandon. I've walked out of movies for hearing the F-bomb 10 times in the first 5 minutes. Even more offensive to me is to hear people profane the name of Deity, but computers will never be smart enough to parse context.
I hope they do NOT open an Amazon store in my state.
If they do, then I'll have to pay fucking 9%+ sales tax on my amazon orders, and well......why would I really wanna buy from them as much then?
That savings and free shipping is what makes them so desirable right now, but add in that 9%-10% sales tax, and well, I don't see that much a reason to get everything from amazon anymore.
See if your state has a "use tax" in addition to sales tax. Technically, I'm supposed to pay a use tax on everything I buy out of state (including online) for use in state. The use tax in my state is equal to the sales tax. If I don't pay the use tax, I am technically committing tax fraud and open myself up to an audit.
You would have to think about it??? Why wouldn't you do it, assuming no side effects?
The rub is this "assuming no side effects". We don't have any "junk" DNA, just DNA whose function we haven't yet determined. We don't know how different sections of DNA play together. We simply can't fathom the side effects until it's done.
I'm sorry that this appeared to be a reply to (and maybe an attack on) you personally or your religion specifically; I meant it as a more general point about how we all take things on trust because we have to. The younger we are, the more easily we are influenced and the more deeply we are conditioned; these influences may become deeply-held beliefs which have no testable basis in fact or reality and can remain untouched by exposure to opposing evidence, no matter how carefully explained, proven and presented. Nothing you've said has refuted that. Members of the Church of LDS have adapted to the modern world and rationality and reason in many ways (and promote ideas of community and charity which are lost to many outsiders) but they still retain their core belief in the supernatural and the truths their 19th century founders revealed to them, as do you. I'm guessing that you believe what you do because you grew up around Salt Lake City and your parents taught you their beliefs; your truth is very regional.
When are the worthy females going to get a go?
Religious organizations face a tough situation: they cannot disavow what previous leaders have said without declaring those leaders mistaken (or worse), but they must adjust for the modern world. Mormonism addresses this by sustaining the President of the Church as a Prophet who is able to receive revelation for the whole world (he is considered God's mouthpiece and all people are God's children) and to change Church doctrine and policies. Mormonism got its beginning in 1820 through Joseph's First Vision, though he didn't publish the Book of Mormon and formally establish the Church of Christ until 1830 (he later renamed it to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to distinguish it from unrelated Church of Christ organizations). In his lifetime he saw membership grow from 6 men (as required by New York law) to thousands of believers. During the rapid growth period new quorums were created (such as the Seventy, dividing members into "wards" with bishops, etc) and doctrines were established (temple ceremonies, tithing vs Law of Consecration, etc). Today we have seven quorums of Seventy to support millions of members, and got rid of the Quorum of the Fifty. For over a hundred years we've been commanded to strengthen the stakes of Zion where we live instead of congregating to Church Headquarters. Things do change, but at a much slower pace because we've been around for so long.
LDS culture is regional, but doctrine is universal. The Prophet, Apostles, and other General Authorities travel the world to make sure we have unity in faith. The same thing is taught in Hawaii, Utah, California, Brazil, England, and everywhere else in the world. We may wear different clothing (lavalava is common in Hawaii, but virtually unseen in Utah). We may have different customs (in Hawaii, 90% of talks in Hawaii start with Aloha with the congregation replying in kind). In Utah people are usually baptized in the chapel while many baptisms in Hawaii are performed at the beach. Utahns eat a ton of Jell-O (I don't know if this is limited to Utah Mormons), whereas members of the Church in Hawaii eat long rice and huli-huli chicken at pot luck dinners.
You mention that faith isn't testable. Read Hebrews chapter 11 for a good discourse on faith. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. You don't hear God crying out in a loud voice that this Church or that has the truth. What I consider evidence (eg. my experiences) might not be sufficient for you. Everyone must find their own path. Since faith isn't scientifically testable, we must respect the beliefs of others.
You are somewhat wrong with regards to my background. My chosen handle and posts on /. should indicate I grew up in Hawaii, where only 4% of the population is LDS. My ancestors joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s. One ancestor was an original member of the Twelve Apos
When you're told something is true by your parents from the first day you can comprehend, when all your friends, relatives and teachers believe the same thing and it's repeated over and over whilst you're growing up, to be told that this thing is not true can be so psychologically damaging that the mind will go to any lengths, however absurd, to retain that belief.
But I don't live in a bubble. My high school was only 25% LDS; the city where I currently live is 40% LDS; the office where I work is about 30% LDS; 75% of the cousins I know on my side of the family are LDS; only half of my wife's family is LDS (and she converted while a teenager). I am LDS, not FLDS.
It's very difficult to undo childhood conditioning, no matter which God or flag you were told to worship.
This is why outsiders and new ideas are so dangerous.
Outsiders dangerous? Is that why we have approximately 80k full-time proselytizing missionaries? President Hinkley told new converts and people considering joining the Church to bring all their knowledge and good attributes with them. The LDS Church does not have a monopoly on good works, and truths can be found in just about every religious organization. New ideas aren't considered dangerous. We sustain the President of the Church, his counselors, and the Twelve as Prophets, Seers, and Revelators. Our General Authorities address us in world-wide conferences twice a year. Gordon B. Hinkley had new ideas about a perpetual education fund, and for smaller temples. We fully embrace technology, including putting our scriptures and teaching material online for anyone to access. BYU is undergoing a review on how to protect victims of sexual assault (which is rare on campus) while still upholding the honor code. The LDS Church now accepts tithing online (using checking accounts). Apostles have had doctorate degrees in hard sciences (geology, biology, chemistry). One Apostle was a heart surgeon. The LDS Church opened the Priesthood to all worthy males in 1978.
A bunch of gullible rubes believing what some jack-off "read" off of some sketchy tablets. Same bunch of gullible rubes still believing it when, after a skeptic asks him to reread them presuming it would result in a verbatim repetition that could potentially suggest some truth, he says he's "not allowed to" and will "read" from a new set of tablets that say generally the same thing but not verbatim. You've had over 150 years to decode that scam and you still haven't. How do you look yourself in the mirror and NOT see an absolute moron?
Ad hominems galore! Are you capable of debating without resorting to name calling?
I believe you are referring to the lost 116 pages known as the Book of Lehi? As Joseph dictated the translation, Oliver Cowdery only made a single copy. Oliver convinced Joseph to let him show his wife and others. Those pages got stolen, so no known unaltered edition was in neutral hands. If Joseph wree to retranslate the same section of plates, it would have been a trap. If he produced a verbattim copy, the enemies of the Church would have altered Oliver's first copy. If Joseph made a single change (such as using a synonym), his enemies would have counted it as proof that he wasn't a prophet. Since Moroni collected the plates in 1830 we cannot attempt a new translation from the original source. Later editions standardized spelling, punctuation, and grammar (spelling and grammar were in flux in the 1800s, and Joseph didn't dictate punctuation).
Nephi was the son of Lehi, so he saw many of the same things as his father.
It's the same trap the Jews attempted on Jesus when a woman was caught in the very act of adultery. If Jesus said to stone the woman, as dictated by Jewish law, he would have been in violation of Roman law. If Jesus said to let the woman be, he would be in violation of Jewish law.
Being a god of your own fucking planet if you're good enough on this one. Fucking PLEASE. Pious virtue, my ass. That kind of goal is pure ME ME ME on an even more insane level than 72 virgins or endless happiness in the clouds watching your descendants masturbate.
Oh, I see you also have to resort to copious amounts of gratuitous profanity. Profanity generally shows a limited vocabulary.
Don't Jews and mainstream Christianity also call God with the title "Father"? Jesus addressed the Almighty with "Our Father, which art in heaven". Don't children have capability of becoming like their parents? Why call out Mormonism for believing what the Old Testament prophets, Jesus, and the apostles taught? If anything, it makes us more Christian than mainstream Christianity.
It was a crazy science fiction cult then and it's a crazy science fiction cult now, just like scientology. I don't know or care what your thoughts are on those nutjobs but given the seemingly universal loathing of them by everyone, I'd assume you think they're wackos too. The thing is, the only difference between them and you is time. In 150 years, if people still haven't smartened the fuck up, scientology will be viewed as just as valid as your bullshit. Pretty fucking sorry company. Think about that next time you have your little "I'm gonna be a god if I always smile and act friendly" orgasm.
Mormonism has produced some good science fiction writers (Orson Scott Card being the most famous), but I don't see Mormonism per se as science fiction anything. The word cult has lost all meaning except an organization with whose doctrine / ideology I disagree. If you're so blind as to not see the differences between Mormonism and Scientology you are beyond my help. Research is validating things in the Book of Mormon which would not have been known to Joseph Smith in 1830. If you are interested in the truth instead of a shouting match we can take this offline.
It's not ad hominem when it's your STORY I'm ripping apart, but that doesn't stop me from calling you a fucking imbecile for living in
Go ahead and question theology if you wish, but further ad hominems will be ignored.
So will your hilarious beliefs. How is magic underwear different from dancing with snakes? Less snake bites, I guess, but no less bullshit.
Sorry, but we don't use magic underwear; we don't ascribe any magical properties to our temple garments. They serve as a physical reminder of the covenants we have made; the garments work perfectly for that. BTW, what does it say of you if you are obsessed with underwear others use?
I can't put my finger on it, but I can't help feeling weird about a message delivered by the angel Moroni that led to the creation of the Mormons.
Sorry, but you're decades late with the Mormon / moron jokes. The nickname "Mormon" was applied to us by enemies because we accept the Book of Mormon (subtitled Another Testament of Jesus Christ) as Scripture in addition to the Bible. The Book of Mormon is so-named because a prophet named Mormon compiled the writings of previous prophets and historians into a single volume. Go ahead and question theology if you wish, but further ad hominems will be ignored.
The robots.txt is limited and should be expanded.
Along with Allow: and Disallow: it should have a Pay: for site admins to tell the crawlers what they have to pay before going through all content. Flag as Inappropriate
Because robots.txt is only a standard, not a law.
There have been reports of Bing's web crawlers not respecting robots.txt - and Bing has a huge user base (whether you like it or not) and that's just at the top of the iceberg.
Here is what I propose: Sites should make proper use of robots.txt. Sites should be able to sue search engines who index content which should be blocked based on robots.txt. Have something similar apply to sitemap.xml (do other search engines look at the sitemap?)
They have this fancy thing called barcodes and numbers to ID them.
And we register you when you get a driver's license, in person, where we take this thing called a picture. Automatically.
Epic Fail, extreme right. We do it, we do it more cheaply, and more people vote.
Except you can't require photo ID of voters because of racism! If I were in charge, I would require ID verification of all voters, but it seems too many minorities can't afford state issued drivers license or id.
Like ultra liberal disgusting slob Michael Moore or Dances with rattlesnakes religious nevertrumper Glen Beck....
Glenn Beck is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (more commonly called Mormons by outsiders). We do not dance with rattlesnakes or anything like it. Calling him a "nevertrumper" is actually a compliment; I'm tired of politicos saying how bad a candidate is during the primaries, then once the other candidate gets the party's nomination everyone falls in line about how great the candidate is.
I'm genuinely surprised the article was fake.
I saw the headline in Facebook, but didn't read the article. I often look to Snopes when I see an overly outrageous headline or story.
The airlock is RIGHT THERE.
It's only an airlock if you're in space or underwater. In this case it was just a door.
I would imagine they have an actual air lock; the air you want to protect is the air inside the spaceship. I've even seen buildings in cold environments which have a small anteroom so when the door opens only a small amount of temperature-controlled air is lost. For space, the airlock can even suction the air off before opening the outside doors meaning near-zero air loss.
Anyone left not using some form of adblocking?
What adblockers are available for smart phones? I am especially asking about ones that work for the Facebook App for either Android or iOS.
Expensive, but the point was that it works.
I believe it was something stupid like $2 a minute.
With AT&T, I pay $3 / minute when roaming outside the US / Canada / Mexico :( On the plus side, once I pay off my phone I can unlock it and put in a pre-paid SIM from OI or another local provider.
Hmm. Didn't seem to have a problem with my Verizon phone in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.
LTE is based on GTE (which is used pretty much everywhere), but if you're off of an LTE network, you may experience issues.
Unlimited everything just $50 a month for the first line, additional lines are less. Had it for years, still has it.
Sprint and Verizon fall back onto CDMA, which means phones for these networks will be useless outside the US unless on an LTE network.
You apparently don't read. THE SUMMARY says that he bought online ads.
I did read the summary; I know that he spent $18k on advertising, but I still fail to fathom how he could have got thousands of people to legitimately sign up for the trial without resorting to spamming (eg. buying email addresses) or other unethical practices.
You, sir or madam, have a very bleak outlook on life.
How does any one person get thousands of people to sign up without resorting to spamming and / or throwing ethics out the window?
When referring to the US State, it's just "Oregon", not "The Oregon".
That is true, but we talk about "the Oregon Supreme Court", and not just "Oregon Supreme Court".
To sum up: Trumpistas are now concern trolling the Dems with material that a hostile foreign secret service dug up for them.
I am not a Trumpista. Come election day I will vote for a 3rd party candidate (still looking for one which matches my views and values).