LittleWyvern

The lack of a central organizational structure in Islam makes this much more difficult than a similar process in Christian religions. Individual imams in the UK and the US will almost universally condemn the attacks, but because mosques are usually self-contained (think of what the Church would be like if the highest authority figure was a Bishop), don't expect a unified campaign against violence unless it's from a large organization (like CAIR in the US). For instance, what would Muslims excommunicate this man from, exactly? EDIT: Also what prisonchaplain said. EDIT 2: I also want to make it clear that I do believe that it is the responsibility of Muslims to root out extremism. It is, however, an ideological battle that is being fought on many fronts and at much smaller scales than what we may think.

What I love about this statement, is that the Church is applying the same standards it has always had for Church activities long before this controversy to Church-sponsored activities as well. We welcome all youth who are actively striving to follow Church standards to Church activities, and I don't see why Church-sponsored activities, including the BSA, should be any different. I think the Church's statement is both consistent and fair, and a positive thing for both the Church and the BSA. As an aside, I had hoped this would address the concerns of those clamoring for a full boycott of everything BSA, but the amount of my Facebook friends who were supportive of a boycott who are now disappointed in the Church is a bit disheartening.

I've found that most of these sensationalized stories die out because they turn out to be far less crazy than the breathless media reports them to be. The initial details seem like crazy conspiracy theory fuel, but once the rest of the story comes out (as there's always more to a sensational story posted on internet news sites), the story becomes far less interesting for the purposes of those who report it, so they move on to more interesting things. For example, that school kid who got in trouble for wearing an NRA shirt? It turned out that there was just one school officer that applied the school's standards for dress wrong. He came back to school the next day wearing the same shirt. Since that hardly supports a kind of government conspiracy against guns or the 2nd amendment (which is why it was posted by the people who posted it), this benign conclusion hardly gets a mention anywhere.

Hey, everybody sees the world through their own two eyes.

Well, yeah, that's true, but I've seen so much of "rah rah Muslims are terrorists" at other places that I want to make sure that garbage doesn't infect us here (we, of all Christian religions, should know enough not to stereotype people). So, for some preventative measures, the largest society of US Muslims have strongly condemned these terrorists attacks, and the Qur'an itself proclaims that killing innocent people is an extremely serious sin. EDIT: I apologize for being aggressive here, it's just that this kind of stereotyping really irks me for some reason.

The point I was trying to make is that this terrorist attack says a lot more about Chechnya than it does about Islam.

Chechen Islamic immigrants are as Muslim as the Italian Mafia is Catholic.

Sorry for double posting, but y'all should see this video of the national anthem being sung at a Boston Bruins hockey game.

The ricin guy ended up being some random dude in Mississippi. EDIT: I found his youtube page. He's an Elvis impersonator, of all things.

No. These bombs were clearly made with hate, and were clearly made to cause as much human damage (as opposed to building damage) as possible (low-speed explosive, shrapnel, etc). Suggesting somebody did this just to look nice helping people is completely nonsensical.

Uh, the board? I'm sure you knew what I meant, but I don't know exactly who locked the thread. Spare me.

Really? I thought we had locked the conspiracy thread.

If you don't mind me bumping in and doing a little PSA here, the FBI is requesting that anybody who has photos or videos of the event should call their hotline.

On the subject from Handbook 2: Thus, I think each family needs to come to an individual answer through prayer and advice from a medical professional.

Pop politics nearly always forgets De mortuis nil nisi bonum. Time softens these views except for those whom it shouldn't have ever applied.

Your link is messed up (here's a fixed one), but I don't think I need to read the article to know what Limbaugh thinks about this.

The talk President Holland gave yesterday has some advice I think is applicable here. I offer these without comment (for obvious reasons), but with a hope that they will have a calming effect on the discussion. I must also note that this is not the official transcript, as it has not been released yet. I owe this transcript to this site.

Ah, I think I called "favorite talk" a bit too early. Loved this one :)

Then would it be too much to ask for you and selek to stop ascribing to me beliefs and traits I do not have? I'll make this as clear as I possibly can: I do not consider myself a brave non-conformist. I am not an arksteadier. I am not an agitator. I do not "fancy [myself] more "enlightened" than the Brethren." I do not "view this as a victory over the Church." I do have a testimony of the Gospel and of the Church. I'm only participating now because I believe I have a right to defend myself when people say things about me (either directly or indirectly) that are not true. EDIT: No, scratch that, after this I'm done. I've made what I feel clear, I think.

That's not what I meant at all. I felt I was going against the grain about talking about the prayer itself, not the controversy surrounding it.

The debate, as I saw it, wasn't whether a woman is allowed to pray at General Conference or not, but whether a woman praying at General Conference would be a positive thing or a negative thing. Now that the prayer has happened, I'm simply stating that I think it turned out to be a positive thing. I didn't feel like it was much of a history-making event (beyond the first event of anything is kinda cool), I just liked it. That's it. Disagree with me as you wish, but that's the feeling I got from the prayer (and thus I was offering what I felt like was the outcome of an uncertain event) and I don't feel like debating it anymore.

This thread? Heck, THIS thread, now?

Your guess is as good as mine on this one. I have no idea.

I meant go against the grain of this board. I'll explain why below... ...Wait, hold up... Well, I've never felt such an opinion was controversial until now. I didn't mention that I enjoyed all the prayers of previous conferences because it was obvious. For this prayer, it is much less obvious: people have differing opinions here. I'm trying to make my opinion clear where it is not immediately obvious, that's all.