mererdog

I'm sure that's what they said about the witches. After all, better to harm the innocent than do nothing?Sorry. I just get so tired of it. Endless cycles of violence. Everyone so scared of not making things better they just keep making it worse. Calling moral cowardice courage and sending other people off to die. It's just sad. Nothing personal. Your words just sort of set me off.

Sounds like fun. Thanks for the quick response. Now I remember why you were cannonized...

I'm getting alot of database and SQL server errors preventing me from viewing topics. I could not access the forum at all last night. Error message example- "Warning: mysqli_query(): (HY000/2013): Lost connection to MySQL server during query in /home/ulcnet/public_html/forum/ips_kernel/classDbMysqliClient.php on line 234"

I have nothing to add. Just wanted to say hi.

My spelling and syntax are without error. I simply make unusual stylistic choices.....

The problem, of course, is that getting them off the streets doesn't prevent them from harming others (just limits who they can harm) and requires harming them. You could argue you are causing a lesser harm to prevent a greater harm, but these sorts of harms aren't really measurable.

What I am suggesting is that you accept that others will communicate in ways that you do not like, and that you find ways to maximize your enjoyment of the forum when it happens. Because it is going to happen. Over and over again.

Or, did I answer the question, and instead of addressing my answer, you nit picked how I answered, going so far as to accuse me of not actually answering? That was how it looked from my end. As far as starting new topics versus derailing old ones, topic-hijacking is traditional here. The remedy of choice is to go back to the original topic when you want to as if it was never interupted. Sometimes a random necromancer will stumble in and shame us all by successfully doing it to a topic killed off years earlier... As a tip of the trade, keep in mind that if you mention the source of the interruption in an attempt to segue back onto topic, you are most likely going to prompt continued interruption...

This is true in broad terms. There are a lot of exceptions.though. Taking rapists off the streets is good for society as a whole, but not for rapists, right? Often, putting in a new road means taking away someone's family home, and economic gains don't always fully compensate for that sort of loss. And benefits are never equal, as some are always in a better position to take advantage of them. The road lowers distribution costs, which lowers the prices you pay, but you would have to buy a lot of stuff to equal the benefit to the guy whose land went up in value by a couple million when the road was built. Which isn't to say it is unfair, just unequal.

You should never discount luck. And the idea that society's benefits are equally available is simply wrong. The roads do not lead everywhere, and not all the roads can handle the same amount of traffic. Cops show up.faster in some neighborhoods than in others. Many places don't have running water or access to firemen. Schools often underperform. Rural areas lack decent public transportation. It is harder to get a loan if you have the wrong address. It is harder to get hired if you.have the wrong name. And, of course, nepotism is not exactly a rarity.Back to your initial question, we all owe debts of gratitude and we all have reason for vengeance or forgiveness. We are social animals. Like it or not, for good or for bad, we are in this together.

I prefer the sequel, where the pencil has an existential crisis after going straight from factory to landfill unused. "Only God could coordinate all that effort, but how did God manage to get it so wrong?"

It's only three schools. And the value seems to be that they are printed in a very rare language, and are free. It looks like a beggars can't be choosers moment.

Neither is a wicker basket. Nor a telephone pole. Corporations are, however, large-scale social organizations. And because there is wide diversity in how they are organized and they have measurable goals, they illustrate how different ways of organizing shapes outcomes. Monkeys are not humans but you cam learn about humans by watching monkeys....

"Resist not evil" is a direct command. There is a difference between treating others as we would expect to be treated and treating others as we would have them treat us. I expect to be treated poorly. I want to be treated well. Remember that the sermon tells you that you have to exceed the righteousness of others. Because the courts of the day were just? The progression of examples given goes man who sues, man who compels, man who asks, man who borrows. In each case, the instruction is to give freely. Simple declarative sentences. Actually, he challenges the man to condemn him for his words, showing a willingness to accept more punishment than a simple slap. And the book is silent as to whether or not he literally turned his cheek, which is not the same as saying he didn't. Simply in terms of what the words say, that simply isn't the case.

It's not really a tradeoff. Which is more efficient: a hammer or a screwdriver? It depends on whether you are driving nails or screws, right? Centralization versus decentralization is similar. The relative cost, effectiveness, and efficiency all depend on what you are trying to do. The most effective corporations use a mix of the two.

I've heard the claim. I've never gotten a straight answer on how to tell the difference between gaining insight through the Holy Spirit and inventing convenient justifications.

I find that one odd, as well.

As I said, I speak only in terms of plain language reading comprehension. I make no comment on other ways of gleaning meaning from the text. I brought it up only because Dan's accusation that people ignore the words struck a chord. I also believe people ignore the words in the Bible in order to make things fit. Unlike Dan, I believe the early church as guilty of it as later churches.

And yet, centralized control creates things like DARPA, NASA, and Mitsubishi. Historically, those sorts of centralized power structures have provided a lot of technological innovation and if an android gets a soul that android will likely be designed by someone working for that sort of entity.

There are actually two parts I quoted from the Sermon. One regards helping others. The other regards helping the self. Jesus specifically says to place faith in God to provide needs, rather than working to provide the needs yourself. As I said, this is plain language reading comprehension. Looking at what is said, purely in terms if what is said. The language is quite strident, leaving no implication of exception. If you don't think the words are meant to apply to lazy people, I suggest you look again. The rule is to treat even the worst people well. Even your enemy, even those who curse you, even those who strike you. They ask for shoes you give them socks too. Of course doing all that stuff only makes sense if you trust in God to provide your daily bread and you believe that to be poor is to be blessed. Otherwise, you will assert that people should earn things.

Not really. You were created by biological processes. The difference is important because it wouldn't be fair to blame your parents if you had down syndrome.

Doing the same thing over and over is not a good way to get different results. That is true.

Communication is only possible if we ascribe the same meanings. Even if only temporarily, for the sake of mutual understanding.

The canon was created by combining works together. Revelations is last, only because the others were added in front of it. This is how compilations are made. Plain language reading comprehension shows otherwise.Paul: "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." Sermon On The Mount: "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away" "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" What does the word "reality" mean?

They are synonyms. Not all robots are androids and not all androids are robots, but there is overlap. It was a pun.