mererdog

Something written a really, really, really long time from now would be nice. Barring that, I'd be willing to put up with What A Wonderful World, as performed by Louis Armstrong....

Sanitation.

I could be Jason Lee's twin brother. If you've seen the character Puggy in the movie Big trouble, you've basically seen me.

I'd be willing to bet that Murph can tell you what times the forum has the most traffic, which would seem like a good starting point. A poll can't hurt, though.

Not bad. I'd have liked to hear more about who Murph is on a personal level, and how that effects his involvement with the church. I would also have liked to hear more about what religious beliefs he has found to be "right for him", and what sort of journey he's taken to come to believe that way. I'd have also liked to get more of an idea of what his work as an admin actually entails on a day to day basis. You mentioned a future ability to take calls, which will be a good addition, but you might also want to consider using the forum to solicit questions and comments. The chat feature seems well suited to doing that during a live feed. Panel discussions on topics like tolerance, religious freedom, government regulation of religion, and the like would seem to have promise. If you could get a lawyer or three to do audience Q&As about marriage laws, liability insurance, confidentiality, use of honorary degrees, and tax issues, that should generate a lot of interest and be very helpful to a lot of people. An essay series on "what my ULC ordination has done for me" might be fun and food for thought, as might a series where people read excerpts from their favorite inspirational works. Profiles on ULC ministries and congregations highlighting ways the church empowers people to help their communities would be good. An open pulpit/open mic feature once in a while might also get some good results. Taking two ULC ministers from widely divergent faiths and having them discuss their commonalities could make for a good show. Lots of potential.

Usually, it's the ones that catch me by surprise with unexpected depth. Finding something truly profound in a comic book will effect me on a much more real level than will finding the same thing in a religious tome or work of philosophy. I'm not completely sure why that is true, but it is true.

That's just it. There aren't any "atheist views" on these subjects. When a baseball player wears a glove, that glove is not automatically a baseball glove. When a Christian has an opinion on a subject, that opinion is not automatically a Christian opinion. And an atheist's point of view is not automatically an atheist point of view. I do not expect this to be understood, but it is true.

I didn't watch any of the videos, but wanted to point out that it's "an atheist's pov", not "an atheist pov". Atheists do not share a common point of view on these issues.

whereupon a strange Pavlovian response caused by listening to too many Sax Pistons albums caused everyone in range to shout "I wanna be an Aunty Chris". Which wouldn't have been that big a deal if the lid had still been on the...

Yep. It's why something that a person shouldn't do isn't automatically something they should be prevented from doing.

It's like fishing. You can only catch a fish if the fish decide to take your bait, so it is easy to blame lack of success on the fish, by saying they just aren't biting. But if you never admit that you are partly responsible for whether or not you get a bite, you will never try to learn how to be a better fisherman. Take no responsibility for misinterpretations of your words, and you won't have motivation to make your words more effective. In other words, ambivalence towards ambiguity causes crappy communication.

Simple, declarative sentences create an air of confidence and authority. Look for the simple, declarative sentences in most persuasive writing samples, and you will have isolated the points they want to convince the reader of. It's a trick at least as old as Athens.

Please note that I liberally coated my posting with the word "if". I made few assumptions about your actions, and tried to be very generalized. Pardoning the fractured metaphor, it only takes a very small amount of power to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.In a place like this, you do not know where the people who hear your words are coming from. One confident voice can decide the course of a lifetime, with the speaker never having any idea of the effect they had. If you don't believe that your words have power, never apologize for anything you say. Pardoning another fractured metaphor, if you do believe your words have power, watch for when you place a single straw on the camel, not just for when you drop anvils on it. Nothing at all. It just means that you have to be careful about how you apply that power. No. If my town is not in danger of flooding, does that make me qualified to decide which clouds should develope rain? Yes. it is simply a discussion. But the words you used have been used by others to shore up support for forced sterilization programs. Simple conversation is a starting point, not an ending point. The stuff we say today will shape the stuff people do tomorrow. Had the political winds in this country shifted just a bit differently in the middle part of the Twentieth Century, my wife would never have been born. And political winds are created by words. Nothing more, and nothing less. This is not a little thing.

True enough. But when your words change someone else's actions, your words earn you partial responsibility for those actions. If your words talk someone out of getting pregnant, you earn responsibility for that. If your words talk someone into pushing for forced sterilization programs for habitual offenders, you earn responsibility for that. Loose lips sink ships, after all. And even if we accept as a given that it is patently obvious that not every opportunity for pregnancy should be taken, does that mean that you or I is qualified to know which opportunities for pregnancy should be taken? Would knowledge that any specific set of tragedies will befall a person give you all the knowledge needed to weigh the potential worth of that person's life? If I show you where someone's life will start, can you show me where it will end? If you talk someone out of getting pregnant, that is exactly what you are doing. You simply never see the person you decided should not live, so the consequences of your actions are hidden from view, thus exactly what you are responsible for is kept unknown. Liar. You mind. You might not think it's your place to do something about it, but you mind. Am I wrong?

Oh. Government should have no authority in our lives. So the government should not "allow" the actions, any more than a murderer should "spare" you.

Of course. But the drug use was the problem, not the pregnancy. Demonize the drug use all you want, but just remember that when you start dictating who should and should not get pregnant you are dictating who should and should not be alive. That is a heavy responsibility, and not one to be taken lightly.

No. it wouldn't. That would effect what I can say with assurance, but it would not effect what you can say with assurance. I can't speak for you on this.

The problem lies not in the problem she addressed but in the solution she proposed.

Sure. But what does that really change? Can you say with assurance that it is always better to never be born than to be born with severely adverse effects?

You did. My wife's mother was (possibly still is) a street prostitute. She was (and possibly still is) a drug addict. She was unwilling or unable to stop using. For my wife to be born required her to get pregnant. You said that she shouldn't get pregnant, thus that my wife should not have been born. I am not trying to get you to apologize, nor am I saying that your words are offensive. I just think it bears pointing out that a pregnancy can be a good thing, even if it is surrounded by bad things, and you don't make the world better by getting rid of the good things just because they are surrounded by bad things.

You just said that my wife should never have been born. I doubt it's what you meant to say, so I think maybe you haven't really thought this through.

Allowed by whom?

Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand by Primitive Radio Gods Life In A Northern Town by Dream Academy is a close second.