Strife767

"Science may not have all the answers, but every answer we've got, came from science." --paraphrased from memory, and I forgot who said it, d'oh. Good quote, though.

Lie. If you think Paul's posts are childish, what do you call this, for example? How would you know? Are you stalking him? You say this as if no one else contributes anything. What about, for example, the scientists who invented the medicines and vaccines that made it so that it's no longer true that most children don't live beyond infancy? You could have been one of those, you know. And that's just one example--there are a lot of people who deserve recognition and gratitude for their contributions, not just vets.

The capital "A" was intentional and for emphasis, obviously.

Yes, we were all (hopefully) capable of reading it the first time. Churches can do good, sure. But they can also do bad. On one hand, they give to charities or start them themselves (which, by the way, is a whole lot easier for them than most other organizations, considering they don't have to pay any taxes like the rest of us; I'd be able to give more to charity if I didn't have to pay taxes too). On the other, most of the churches belong to one of the Abrahamic religions, all of which are divisive at their very core (meaning they have tenets describing their religion's followers as being 'the saved' or 'the chosen' or some other title which puts them 'above' those who don't believe in some way); this divisiveness has been the root of countless needless conflicts throughout history. Comparing the lives saved to the lives lost, I don't even think 'the churches' have broken even yet, honestly. Also, not all of these church-based charities are truly charitable--a few of them will refuse help to people who do not share their beliefs, or people who are homosexual, or something else like that. The Salvation Army is a good example--last I heard, they were still quite open about stating their refusal to help people in need if they happened to be gay. I don't consider any such charity a true charity--need is need, isn't it? Do you truly, honestly believe that? Serious question. There sure are--just don't forget that secular charities exist too: http://www.the-brights.net/action/brightso...t_charities.htm

Cite or stfu. I can tell by how you're keeping it far, far away from this forum. What is there to add to nonsense like the above? Be glad your tripe is getting a response at all.

Uh, how about the fact that prayer won't make the rain come any faster, and that time spent doing that is totally wasted? Not to mention the total hypocrisy of these people--they pray for something, and if they don't get it, they say it's just God's will. Well, if it's God's will, and he's going to do what he wants anyway, why bother praying in the first place? I have yet to get a reasonable explanation for why anyone who believes in "God's will" or "God's plan" prays for anything to begin with. Think about it, and let me know if you've got the answer. Hope is one thing, false hope is another. That old straw man again. Yawn. I care about people--that is why I would rather they did something useful in dire times, something to help protect themselves. What was the better way to spend the time when Katrina's 'arrival' was imminent: pray for protection, or get your stuff together and do your best get the hell out of the way? You've really got no idea. I have plenty of compassion for the people, but I have nothing but contempt for the mentality that causes people to engage in such futile activities, and actually expect them to create results. And if you're not capable of differentiating people from their beliefs, that is your problem, not mine.

I'm not the one who drew a parallel between thanking a vet and reciting the pledge of allegiance. As obvious as it is, apparently it needed to be pointed out to the people ignorant enough to draw such an erroneous parallel.

I'm sorry, could you point out where I trivialized any veteran's service in any way? Exactly. Accomplishments. Chanting is not an accomplishment, which is why one is not magically a patriot just for saying the pledge of allegiance. So far you've called me ignorant, yet it almost seems like you read someone else's post before you wrote this. No--verbatim chanting by rote is not recognition. If you want to recognize the sacrifices of veterans, the LEAST you can do is say something that actually comes from you. Just saying "thank you" directly to a veteran, in his/her presence (or even not), means a hell of a lot more than chanting the pledge of allegiance from memory a million times. The latter, in the end, does nothing for anyone except apparently give a lot of people an undeserved sense of accomplishment. Stop pretending that chanting the pledge magically makes you more patriotic than someone who doesn't. It doesn't.

Maybe next you can ask God to bless your spelling so that you don't look uneducated when you're trying to talk about "veterAns."

lol, it's not exactly insider information, my friend. I have absolutely no idea. Why are you wasting time (especially considering how long posts can stew here before they actually make it onto the forum for all to see) asking me when you could go to Town Hall and ask someone who is sure to know?

How much? Now I'm curious to know just what kind of a financial burden it would (or wouldn't) be to get a personal copy of this information. What a short-sighted thing to say--uploading the information onto the website and maintaining it would cost both time (and labor costs money) and money, most likely more than it would save compared to the cost of getting a personal copy run off for you. How much was that, again? In other words, your response is that sometimes ignorance is preferable. Whatever you say, man.

I like how people like you are so scared of entertaining the thought that Paul has people who genuinely agree with him, that you have to convince yourself in your own feeble minds that I'm some sort of puppet. What a fool you are. Oh, if only I was as immature as you, I might have been offended by that. Better luck on the playground--after all, it's likely the source of this 'wit' of yours.

They're already posted, "stupid." Go to Town Hall or the library, you lazy bum. Why do you need your hand held? This information is no secret. Then again, knowing how decisive your action on the whole 'storming the meeting' thing was(n't), it's no surprise that you're not willing to make the slightest effort to inform yourself.

I think you're unaware that Jefferson was a Deist. This means that he believed in God, but did not believe that God has an active role in people's lives, nor that he intervenes in any way following the initial creation. I'm not seeing a conflict here--the whole thing with the Jefferson Bible and wall of separation etc. does not contradict the tenets of Deism in any way. Of course, if you were totally ignorant of Jefferson's beliefs, that would be an easy mistake to make. Jefferson was very clear about his desire for religion and state not to mix. He would have no problem with Matthew's actions. Also, don't forget that the whole self-serving thing is entirely a product of your imagination and bias.

All that conspiracy theory has taught you to string together unrelated things, I see. Patriotism is action. Chanting/memorization makes no difference in the end. And theism or the lack of it is completely irrelevant.

It's kind of a middle-ground...while no active action is being taken (so I'd say "technically not really patriotic"), it definitely isn't ultimately pointless the way reciting a bunch of words by rote is. Veterans are actual people, who made actual sacrifices, and showing gratitude for that is a Good Thing™, I think.

It's on the public record; complaining that it's 'hidden' in any way is pure bullshit, frankly. What's the matter, a trip to the library too strenuous for you? Honestly, now--you're totally wrong and we all know it. I'm sure you do, too--just admit it and move on. Your credibility isn't looking any better with this semantic dance of desperation.

<edited out; added to previous post>

That's a pretty good deal, then.

Or maybe it's a total coincidence. Assuming God exists for the sake of argument, why would God allow such an area that's pretty much chock-full of devout worshippers to experience such a dangerous drought in the first place? Not to mention that it was at most one inch of rain, not nearly enough to actually make any significant headway against the drought. So does this mean that God is toying with those people, then? Taunting them with a 'gift' that isn't even close to enough to solve the problem? Is that the kind of deity you believe in? Also: http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/11...prayer-all-wet/ and http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/11...rayed-too-hard/

What the hell? Lawyers don't ask anyone to swear on anything, and no one requires anyone to swear on a Bible for any reason in a court setting. Let's try it again, this time in English, please.

Hah, I almost don't even want to know the answer to that question--might be depressing.

Did you get too caught up in your whining to ask any actual questions, like your topic implied? I've never seen Austria. It must not exist either!

Well, there goes that suggestion out the window--so much for the squandering claim.

Haha, yeah, I heard about this. "We need to call on God, because what we're doing isn't working," he says. What better alternative is there than something that's never been proven to have any measurable effect on anything, right? Right?! And hey, if that doesn't work, let's all try screaming gibberish at the same time! Maybe that'll do it! :D ============= On this subject, anyone who hasn't read this may find it interesting--it's about an attempt to measure the effect of solicited anonymous prayer on recovering surgery patients: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/3...df6e949&ei=5070