Andrew K

Is correcting misogynistic practices less important than unquestioningly following Islamic law?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090311/ap_on_re_as/as...

I personally don't have a problem with crosses on the side of highways, yes they look tacky, but they don't particularly bother me, and I think the standard small crosses are arguably a secular memorial symbol, but when you go to 14' I think the connotation changes, since nearly all similarly sized crosses are for religious purposes and the state government should avoid instituting such memorials, especially when they may not be willing to put up a giant Flying Spaghetti Monster symbol or a giant Star of David for a trooper of a different religion. What are your thoughts on this case?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090310/ap_on_re_us/hi...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090304/ap_on_re_mi_ea...

The combination of misogyny and dark age barbarism is pretty terrible in my opinion. Does anyone think this really equates to justice? Does torture warrant more torture?

You believe Jesus ascended bodily into the heavens and that Muhammad rose bodily on a winged horse. Why did Muhammad need the horse when six centuries earlier Jesus had done the bodily ascension without equine assistance?

Personally I find both stories unbelievable, but I was curious about the rationale for the discrepancy.

In the spirit of this amusing quote from Star Trek V, can you name a favorite act/behavior from the deity of the Bible/Torah/Quran which seems inconsistent with the behavior one would expect from an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent deity?

The Catholic church has announced it is eliminating funding for many religious schools in America in the face of economic problems. Is the fact that they're eliminating funding for schools before eliminating funding for Pro-Life advertising campaigns indicative of their priorities?

As a mechanical engineer I was given the Machinery's Handbook as a desk reference and it's been the most used book in my library since graduating. Can anyone suggest a similarly quintessential reference for new civil engineers?

The Vatican just released a statement on bioethics saying Catholics can use vaccines developed using embryonic stem cells (or as they put it - aborted fetuses). They still say the research is wrong, but have no problem using the results. Does anyone else see the extreme hypocrisy in this? If you're using the vaccine you're endorsing the product, to then go and condemn it and try and prevent other similar vaccines from being created and help other people in a similar manner just strikes me as wrong.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_re_eu/eu...

The Vatican just released a statement on bioethics saying Catholics can use vaccines developed using embryonic stem cells (or as they put it - aborted fetuses). They still say the research is wrong, but have no problem using the results. Does anyone else see the extreme hypocrisy in this? If you're using the vaccine you're endorsing the product, to then go and condemn it and try and prevent other similar vaccines from being created and help other people in a similar manner just strikes me as wrong.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_re_eu/eu...

Did anybody catch the debates between the non-established parties on C-Span Sunday night and if so what were your takes on the third party candidates and their platforms? (I admit I missed it myself.)

First off the prophecy clearly indicates Nebuchadnezzar would be the one to permanently destroy the city, and he failed to even conquer it.

Others will say the city was only the island, which Alexander permanently destroyed, only the city was always the island and the coastal town, and both still exist though some ruins on the island have sunk underwater, the Alexandrian causeway has actually been built up and expanded upon.

The city of Sur (formerly Tyre) was not permanently destroyed, and is currently the fourth largest city in Lebanon. Using this as an example of fulfilled prophecy is an extreme distortion of the truth.

My Mormon pals, why can't men attending BYU grow beards? Lots of famous Mormons had beards, like Brigham Young himself. Why does the dress code at BYU prohibit them? It just seems kind of fascist.

Yesterday was my birthday. Last month was my wife's birthday. In the weeks leading up to her birthday, those kids BUSTED THEIR BUTTS to earn money for a nice gift. I was incredibly moved.

Yesterday -- last night after dinner, specifically, when the day was all but over -- they came up to me and said, "Dad, give us $5 so we can buy you a pack of cigarettes".

Then they smoked half the pack on the way home!!!

AND IT WASN'T EVEN MY BRAND!!!!!!!

This won't do, and I'd like to punish them somehow for not treating my birthday with the same respect that they treat their mother's.

He gave Israel to the Jews, Saudi Arabia to the Muslims, and Utah to the Mormons. All three are basically deserts. Why did God give his chosen people such crappy property rights instead of like Hawaii and Aruba?

After Moses smashed the first set of commandments because everyone was worshipping the golden calf, what happened to the broken pieces of the tablets? The second set went into the arc of the covenant, but is the first set still out in the desert somewhere?

I'm curious if anyone in here has read Slaughterhouse Five and what your opinions are on the form of predestination it presents.

What do you think the universe would look like to someone observing it from outside space and time, or to a race that percieved time significantly differently from humans?