Fiannan

I have nothing against all people co-existing together. However, as for the underlying ideology you speak of, what is the origin of it? Is it in the Constitution or was it from quotes of Jefferson, Madison or even Lincoln?

OK what is the difference between Islamic and Christians in Gods eyes I did not know God felt different about some of his children who were born in a primarily one part of the world then others I think why this is such a hot button issue is because very few of us have ever seen someone walked to the gallows before and it disturbed our spirits. Think about it I know it disturbed my household and the news was not watch for few days. Once was enough and that I turned off. Disturbing Vary Disturbing Christians used to take their kids to watch the public executions. Guess it depends on one's culture. Again, watching Saddam take the plunge was a lot less disturbing than watching his supporters slice the heads off innocent hostages in their recruitment videos. If you want to know "disturbing" go over to radio commentator Mike Savage's website and click on some of the Islamofascist links. Now that's disturbing.

I trust you're not implying two wrongs make it suddenly Right? Two wrongs make something righ? What's that got to do with Rosie? I've never heard her say anything right in the first place.

Better yet, let's also add Rosie's racist comments and let Michelle Malkin rip on the hypocrite:

Again, I do not think that racism has anything to do with people not wanting to date outside their race. Perhaps it has to do with wanting to actually maintain diversity -- if everyone just blended together after a few generations then what becomes of ethnic identity?

And parts of the Koran as well?

Heard that Rosie's racist joking (the "ching chong" thing) made quite a few Asians mad. Wonder why that did not get more MSM coverage. I also don't think it's a sign of racism to prefer to date people in your own race. Racism involves looking down on people due solely on their race, not wanting to marry people in your own race and have your children also inherit your cultural identity. Let the firestorm begin, I don't really care.

I just saw the video on the internet (looks as if it is filmed on a cell phone) and indeed it is a bit uncomfortable. But then I remembered the tortures he put people through (like punishing an opponent buy kidnapping a child of the person and cutting the little child's arms off) or his son's iron maiden he had in his recreation hall (and not for decoration either). Then let us not forget it's Sunni extremists (many loyal to Saddam) that have kidnapped hundreds of people (Shia Iraqi police, Nepalese workers, Americans, etc) and videotaped their heads being sliced off so they could use the videos on the internet to recruit young Muslim men across the Middle East and Europe to wage war on the infidels. Sorry, Saddam earned every thread in that rope he dangled on (I will note however, that hangings in the USA involve a knot that snaps the neck instantly but that's not used in the Middle East -- just a warning for those curious to see the full video).

It all depends on context. I would not want you coming to my door wearing a bikini or a burka either. If I was at a beach that was clothing optional be my guest to ask people for contributions to the MofD.

I think that if you drink hot tea and are a nudist you are taking a great risk. Remember the lady who sued McDonands for spilling her coffee in her lap? If she'd been nude then that would have really hurt. If a person gets nude for one of those "Girls Gone Wild" vieeos advertised on TV or gets nude to get money at a strip club or gets nude to tease other people then that is a sin. If they get nude to go swimming or merely socialize with other like-minded people then I do not believe that is a sin. Same for the WOW. If you drink tea out of defiance towards the WOW then that is a sin. If you are in a remote Third World country where drinking water is dangerous, and you drink tea that has been at boiling point then I don't believe that is a sin.

Very 70's but a tremendous message: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_P9gcUAsNs Last time I heard this I was sitting in a cafe in Yangshou, China. You know, travel and other things people wish for and fantasize about and I have done my share. However, if I didn't have a wife and children waiting for me at home going to remote places would not mean a thing to me.

Actually, a glass of wine per day for men has been connected with lowering heart attack risk. However, the antioxidant compounds in red wine are also found in grape juice. It is not the alcohol that is associated with health. And women drinking only a glass of wine per day increase their chance of breast cancer and do not get the heart protection. If people want to get healthy hearts and reduce their cancer risks they need to exercise more often, have more sex and eat moderately right (no, I am not a health food Nazi). I have never desired alcohol -- either before or after joining the Church. Nor do I desire heroin or cocaine - also drugs that are dangerous to the body (although kill far fewer people than alcohol). Coffee? Hate the smell of it and especially hate the breath of people after they drink it. Cigarettes? Repulsive and dangerous. Never have smoked one in my entire life. Tea? That is something I grew up on (ice tea that is). That's the only thing I actually gave up when joining the Church.

Oh, I don't know, how old were the ten children of her opponent that she had hanged?

Okay, the reason I get up in arms over these issues is that few people know squat about history -- they know what Hollywood and maybe some history books in high school implied or taught. I had the opportunity to observe a high school class that one of my former high school teachers was conducting. One seemingly quiet blond girl, after reading the chapter on American Indians, asked the teacher I knew whay white people seemed to be so mean throughout the ages. The teacher (a Republican of course) said bad things occured in history but each and every race on the planet had done reprehensible things including genocide and slavery. It just seemed part of the human condition. Now what if the teacher had been a liberal and ran with this line of reasoning? Everyone reading this has probably faced such a teacher who can male even Mother Tereasa look like a fiend (I actually had a couple of professors in college who made humanitarians into villians by condemning them for saving the lives of women who would merely give birth to ten kids and then magnify the problems of poverty). If people truly understood the complexities of slavery then maybe they would not think it was a plight brought on by whites. Blacks, Arabs, whites and even Chinese bought African slaves. Arabs and Turks frequently captured white Europeans for slavery (the number has been estimated in the millions). Ghengis Khan sure did a job of genocide against white Slavs in the Ukraine and into the near east. And despite the myths of Dances With Wolves Indian tribes were quite nasty towards one another. Then of course we could discuss what killed off 9o% + of the casualties associated with the Conquistadors and it sure wasn't cannons or rifles that did it -- it was unintentional introduction of smallpox, plague, cholera and measles into the Indian populations. So maybe if history were presented more comprehensibly and instead of the "get whitie" approach then people wouldn't get so ticked over things like Kwanza.

Should I apologize for my non-white ancestors who fought for the Confederacy and did a pretty good job reducing the number of "Yankees"? That was a long time ago though and I don't see a point making slavery an issue of divisiveness today. I don't see the Arabs or Turks apologizing for enslaving millions of white Christians from Europe ovver the past thousand years. Heck, Turkey doesn't even apologize for exterminating 1.5 million white Christian Armenians in the early part of the 20th. Century Oh, and as for a great piece of history: Declaration by the People of the Cherokee Nation of the Causes Which Have Impelled Them to Unite Their Fortunes With Those of the Confederate States of America. http://www.civilwarhome.com/cherokeecauses.htm

Quite true. Although the Ethiopians also participated in the slave trade that mostly centered on eastern Africa in exporting fellow blacks into the Middle East for slave purposes. The Muslims were generally the ones in charge of much of the slave trade in Africa -- what, you think a bunch of white guys went on hunting expeditions into the heartland of Africa and snatched slaves? Also, while we are at it I was talking with a history professor the other day and I was actually unaware that Northern Africans went on slave raids as far as the coasts of Iceland up until the 17th. Century. I was aware that slave raids for hundreds of years took place in the British Isles, Spain, France, Italy, etc. and perhaps millions of Europeans were snatched ans sold as slaves in Africa and the Middle East. Also, the Ottoman Turks took part in slave raids into Greece until the beginning of WW1. And anyone who wants to see modern slavery needs only to see what the Islamic extremist government in Sudan is doing to the black Christian community in southern Sudan.

Just tell them the truth about Santa Clause. http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=38 As for the evolution of the modern image -- http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/santa.asp Why lie to a kid? Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus and I believe Bishop Nicholas would be the first to emphasize the irony of what has become of his image and the holiday itself.

http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2004/12/18/kwanzaa/ I wonder how many people are aware of this?

I have three daughters (and one on the way) and if any of them say they will not marry a man because he isn't a RM they are in big trouble. I personally believe that the vast majority of RMs are wonderful people but I really don't think one should make that a litmus test for marriage. I don't know if any of my four sons will serve missions (hope they do) but if they do not Ì will hold them in no less esteme. I converted to the Church in the late 70s and saw a lot of young men go inactive because of the frenzie to pressure all young men to go on missions.

GB-UK -- I have heard that there are some politically correct types in England trying to de-Christianize Christmas. I was happy to read that local Muslims have united with Christians to stop all this PC stuff because they don't want to get the blame for such actions. Maybe the two communities need to work together as in Islam their view of the last days is that Christians and Muslims will unite to wage war on the unbelievers and be victorious. Of course, in their view Jesus returns and then asks Christians to become Muslim so oh well.

If every Christian made it a point to buy ornaments with a religious theme and send cards that likewise have such a theme then it would go a long way towards keeping Christ in Christmas. Maybe use this time to invite friends and relatives to church and take your family to nativity shows. I realize that corporate America would like to secularize the holidays (makes it easier to make up ad campaigns) and there are always those who despise Christianity and want to erase Christ from any public place but the best way (on an individual basis) to stand up against these forces is to double one's personal efforts to confront this. Who is with me on this one?

Walmart -- bringing the USA's people together...in the unemployment line!

But alas many states disagree -- I think most states in the USA allow a woman to be married at 16 and a few allow marriage from 12 - 14.

That's okay Pushka, an easy mistake to make. It's the Democrat representative who doesn't know Shi'ite from a Sunni. I know there's a great idea for a t-shirt there but I have not got the nerve.

It's still idiocy and one knows if this had been a Republican congressman he would be the leading joke for Leno, Letterman and O'Brian and the talk of the news. Democrats get away with it of course, just like when Gore was visiting Montechello and while looking at a bust of Thomas Jefferson asked who the man was. In the 1990s a liberal Democrat from Oregon (Ron Wyden) was asked by an interviewer to point at a globe (with countries written in) and identify where Bosnia was since he had just voted for sending troops there. He had no clue where it was. Now he's a US senator. If you have such an important post as one overseeing intelligence not knowing much about Hezbollah or knowing the difference between a Shi'ite and a Sunni is unpardonable.