MarginOfError

But what about Abraham? Samson? I'm sure we could drudge up plenty more examples. But you're already avoiding the assumption of the question. Given that God commanded you to kill somebody, would you be able to follow that commandment?

Have you never seen celebrity death match?

I would hope, that like Nephi, I'd have to be presented with a pretty strong argument before I agreed. Even then, not sure I could do it. Killing people is just a messy business.

I do have a connection for you there. If you do not understand the finer details of internal combustion (and neither do I for the record, so I'll continue in the first person plural), we are indeed driving our cars in an act of faith. However, our faith has been reinforced by experience; namely, most of the time, when we hop in our cars and turn the keys and drive off, it works for us. Faith in God works much the same way. By having experiences that we cannot fully explain, we develop our faith into a kind of working knowledge--we've come to expect certain things because of the past experiences we've had. Just like, after time, because of our faith we expect the car to work. Phase two of the analogy: what happens when the car fails to work? If it were to happen the first time we ever experienced a car, we'd probably abandon the idea entirely. But, since we have more experience with them working, when they don't work, we assume something in the vehicle has changed. We also learn this from seeing other people's cars break down, but someone with more knowledge is able to repair it. These experiences are why our entire faith system in cars doesn't come crashing down around us when one doesn't work. The parallel: Sometimes, even when we have faith, something happens in our lives that is contrary to the results we expected under our system of faith. It could be an illness, a job loss, your arch enemy called as bishop, or a crazy girlfriend. But because our faith tells us what to expect most of the time, when these trials arise, we can assume that something in the system is different. We can rely on other with more knowledge and/or experience to help us understand these things, or we can just trust that those people do understand them and let them handle them (Stake Presidents, Bishops, etc). The analogy deviates from car in that with faith, the change in the system is sometimes in us and needs modification. You can try to tie up the loose ends on your own if you like. But I think the gist of what I'm saying holds, even if the details don't line up exactly.

I've come to work under the definition that it's faith if you can't explain the workings of the system. In the case of most Americans, I would say that flipping a light switch is not a case of faith because most Americans understand that flipping the switch completes the circuit, sending electricity to the bulb, which causes the filament to burn. I like to use the x*0=0 example because it's something that everyone assumes they know, but the majority of people can't explain why x*0=0, and they certainly can't prove it. But it's something we apply all the time and trust that it must be true because if it didn't, things would start to get screwed up in a hurry. I could carry the analogy further, but I'd get way to excited, and that should never happen.

Faith is accepting that x*0=0 for all real numbers x

Well, there we go then, I'd say it would be a pretty important difference then. Thanks for pointing that out. Now I've met my quota of knew knowledge for the day! :-)

I've heard this debate before, and if my understanding is correct, then the Red Sea and the Reed Sea are the same body of water. If they are indeed the same body of water, I would suggest that calling it the Reed Sea is like using Constantinople instead of Istanbul--the correct choice is dictated by the historical context. Yet, at times it may be simpler to use the incorrect choice so that people understand what you're saying. I'm my understanding is incorrect, and the Red and Reed seas are different bodies of water, then there is a very big difference. I'm just not sure where you'll find a body of water in Egypt large enough in which to drown an army and that isn't the Nile, the Mediterranean or the Red Sea.

The definition of 'active' that I've worked with in most units has been 'attending at least half of regular Sunday meetings.' I think the origin of that definition was from an old version of the Membership Progress Report. I couldn't say if it is still phrased like that these days.

We used to say that you could always tell Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Mormons apart by how they crossed themselves. Orthodox Christians cross themselves using three fingers. Catholics use two fingers. Mormons pull at their knees.

Sections 13, 20, 84, 107, 110, 121, 131 are the core revelations on Priesthood organization and government. You should also check out this article by Boyd K. Packer. What Every Elder Should Know--and Every Sister as Well: a Primer on Priesthood Government

The thing about minimum wage increases is that wages across the board tend to go up in the two years following an increase in the minimum wage. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that all wages should rise with inflation. But this has never been the case. Over the last 30 years, the government has worked hard to keep inflation down and to prevent inflation of commodities. As they've done so, businesses have not bothered to increase wages either. Over time, businesses have been able to develop huge profits and have used the profits to inflate the income of top tier business leaders and share holders. This holds up fairly well so long as commodities don't increase. Now that the prices of our commodities are starting to approach what their comparable value from 30 years ago, we're seeing people getting squeezed for money because their wages and salaries aren't adjusted yet. The current economic problem is one that has been building for years. Rectifying it is going to hurt a lot. As much as we would liek to think that tax cuts would solve it, that won't work. The long term solution involves mild tax cuts, but it has to be accompanied with wage increases for the lower and middle class.

This might be one of the worst things we could do. Cheap gas brings low incentive for developing alternative energy sources. If we truly want to be independent energy providers, we want to be off gas entirely, and getting hit in the pocketbook is always the fastest way to inspire new technology. If we were to build an average of 2 power plants for each state, we'd have so much electricity that we could all drive electric cars and still have left over electricity. Nuclear power would be a fantastic option for this country. Entirely unrelated, if you adjust for inflation, the prices we're paying for gas are still relatively low. We're just upset by it for two reasons: 1) We saw that change happen so quickly, and 2) The average wage hasn't increased with inflation. If the minimum wage would increase with inflation, the economic prognosis would probably look an awful lot better.

This I'm aware of, but it's so much more fun to just stereotype the whole group. I was in a ward once where a member (who was certifiably a little off his rocker) said that no Mormon in good standing could be a democrat. I didn't have the heart to give him examples.

All of the First Presidency and Twelve are closet members of the Green Party. They all vote democrat too.

For me, it was 11 years.

Crazy? I was crazy once. They locked me in a rubber room. I had fun in that room. I bounced around the walls all day long. I even died in that room. Then they buried me. Rats infested my grave. Rats? I hate rats. They make me crazy. Crazy? I was crazy once. They locked me in a rubber room.....

Congratulations on achieving your senior member status! If you want the financially minded answer, you have to consider how much your earning potential will increase if you complete your education. Will you be able to earn a dollar more per hour or 10 dollars more per hour? Will you work full or part time? Will your job after education provide benefits? If the cumulative sum of your increased earning potential is greater than the sum of the debt you will incur, then it's worth it to go to school. However, in matters like this, I don't think it's always best to think strictly financially. If getting a job now will lessen your debt while making you miserable at work, then it's probably better to get the education, and vice versa. So, I'd say consider the options, determine which one you think will give you the most long term happiness, and go for that one.

You'd like to think so, but my wife worked with the administrator of their elementary school and has verified the account.

That's actually a really good point. Somewhat related to that, I remember discussing a study in one of my college Communication courses about fatherless communities. The study found that children who lived with a single mother turned out just as stable so long as they grew up in communities where the majority of children had fathers in the home. In communities where most fathers weren't in the home, the children grew up with all sorts of drug, behavior, and crime related issues.

This is one I actually support. If you want more good research on the subject, check out the Gutmacher Institute.

Concerning that there were boys named Orangejello (pronouced o-RON-zhelo) and Lemonjello (pronounced le-MON-zhello), and even one kid who's name was pronounced sha-TEED (I can't spell it here), yeah, I think it's appropriate to have a judge step in.

I'm having trouble finding a more official source, but I'm reasonably sure this is true. The article I pulled this quote from is at: LDS programs evolve over the years | Deseret News (Salt Lake City) | Find Articles at BNET

One of them was a stripper. Well, she used to be. She'd gotten out of the line of work a couple years before. But let me tell you, nothing is so awkward as being on a date with a girl, watching a movie in your dorm room, and she tells you she was a stripper.

Family meals reduce risky teen sex | NEWS.com.au When I was in grad school I did some studies on teen sexual behavior, and I've kind of followed the new studies coming out since then. It amuses me how every step of the way, the best thing we find for delaying sexual activity in teens is positive parental involvement. This new one is fantastic! Teens who report eating a meal with their family more than once a week engage in fewer and less risky sexual activities, and don't start until they're older.