MrShorty

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  1. Haha
    MrShorty reacted to Vort in Any love for this document?   
    Differentiation is not the answer. Integration is the answer.
    PS That's not arithmetic. That's calculus.

  2. Like
    MrShorty reacted to The Folk Prophet in Updated CES Standards   
    You have to explain that to me. How does the beard ban sift anyone? You mean there are legitimately, otherwise well qualified, righteous, faithful, honorable men who, because they'd have to shave, didn't attend BYU? And that's good.......why?
  3. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Ironhold in Updated CES Standards   
    I started growing a mustache at the tail end of junior high because teachers kept confusing me with two other students who had glasses and similar builds. 
    By the time I graduated high school, it had become part of my signature appearance. 
    I went for a type of beard known as a "Van Dyke" (mustache and goatee combo, like Evil Spock) to further stand out from various individuals I kept getting confused with, and started growing out mutton chops because the skin near my ears is so thin that any nicks would just keep bleeding. 
  4. Like
    MrShorty reacted to The Folk Prophet in Updated CES Standards   
    Because, as we all well know, Jesus was "slovenly".
    The strange thing to me is that the no beard thing is 100% cultural. There's no reality to it other than perception. And it is my perception that the entire beard=rebel thing is pretty darned outdated. Obviously wording such as they used with mustaches would make sense. But a well groomed beard still being against the honor code is just weird.
    It feels very out of touch.
    Shrug. What do I care?
  5. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Vort in Updated CES Standards   
    By the way, I have no objection to "missionary standards" that include a short haircut and a requirement to shave, or even the idea that CES institutions might have a grooming code including short hair and clean-shaven status. For missionaries especially, I think such a grooming code might be a very good idea. But as a general rule, I think that telling men they need to shave is probably anachronistic and, in most cases, not overly helpful.
  6. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Vort in Updated CES Standards   
    I can, and I do.
    There are many cultures, including ours, where a woman would never willingly shave her head bald. Covenant women might do so if asked to, only because they feel obligated by their covenants; but unless there is a pressing reason for them to do so, I think it would be unwise to require or even strongly suggest that they shave their heads.
    Likewise, some men might feel that shaving their beards strikes at the very foundation of their open display of masculinity, and might thereby hesitate to be clean-shaven. In the same way as a woman being asked to shave her head bald, I think that requiring or even suggesting that a man should be clean-shaven should generally be done only when there is a pressing reason to do so. I think it's plausibly arguable that in the counterculture attitudes of the 1960s and 1970s, it was reasonable to ask men holding certain positions (such as missionaries or men in leadership positions) to be clean-shaven. Please note that, at least to my knowledge, temple recommends have never been generally denied to men who wore beards or other facial hair, even in the 1960s and '70s.
    Today, I think that such counterculture elements would be far more likely to include things like gauged-out earlobes, facial or other tattoos, pink or green hair, and so forth. If such things are to be considered acceptable or at least not something the leadership counsels people about, I cannot imagine that wearing any sort of facial hair would be.
  7. Like
    MrShorty reacted to The Folk Prophet in Updated CES Standards   
    I'm legitimately surprised they're still asking for no beards to be worn. 
  8. Like
    MrShorty reacted to prisonchaplain in LDS teen sueing Fellowship of Christian Athletes over religious discrimination   
    FCA is Evangelical Christian. It's similar in that sense to Promise Keepers, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Non-denominational churches, and many Christian colleges/universities. These organizations/churches don't emphasize doctrine WITHIN Evangelicalism. Nevertheless, as a Christian, Evangelical organization they will have some doctrinal norms, such as belief in the Triune God, salvation by faith (which often excludes Catholics), etc. So, why would you seek to be a leader in an organization that promotes teachings you don't agree with? If your distinctives are true, if the Holy Ghost is mighty in you, then you don't need to be a leader for that to shine. On the other hand, by becoming a leader you might be perceived as supporting teachings that you don't agree with. Perhaps FCA has done you an unwitting favor. 
  9. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Just_A_Guy in LDS teen sueing Fellowship of Christian Athletes over religious discrimination   
    Welcome, Dylan!
    I would join with others who would say that FCA is a private organization with specific institutional goals (among which, as I understand it, is to turn out Trinitarian, Nicene Christians) and that if they don’t want to Latter-day Saints among their leadership ranks—well, their house, their rules.  🙂
    Now, if the Spirit is telling you that you should still make the request—by all means, go for it.  It may create opportunities for good conversations that will lead folks to a higher path down the road; especially as you strive to comport yourself in a godly manner regardless of whatever opposition you face.  If, in the process, the local FCA bigwigs comport themselves in a way that openly shows to all and sundry that their religion has utterly failed to turn them into decent human beings (and may actually be excusing and exacerbating their natural human flaws)—well, all the better for us, as we try to model a more excellent way.  
    But, don’t go into the thing thinking that they’re going to accept you.  They aren’t.  By their standards, we are damnable heretics.
  10. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Vort in LDS teen sueing Fellowship of Christian Athletes over religious discrimination   
    Welcome, Dylan.
    FCA is just a group of people who want to associate with each other and work toward common goals. It appears they welcome Latter-day Saints as members, but don't want them as leaders. Is this fair? To be blunt: Yes, it's fair. People who form associations are allowed to choose how those associations manifest themselves. If we're honest, we will admit (heck, we will openly proclaim) that we do not see many doctrinal issues in the same light as our non-LDS Christian cousins.
    Look at it this way. If your non-LDS friends wanted to join you in your Young Men's activities, would you welcome them? Of course you would. Would your bishop then call them to formal positions of leadership within the youth groups? Impossible, or at least highly unlikely. But that's discrimination! Well...yes. Yes, it is discrimination. The word "discrimination" means the ability to make distinctions between things. We can discriminate between a small cat and a large rat, and pick the cat out 10 times out of 10. Based on that distinction, we decide how we're going to treat the animal. We Latter-day Saints are in fact distinguishable from our other Christian friends, a thing we're not unhappy about. But this also means they probably won't ask us to preach in their churches, even if we visit their churches. They probably won't ask us to pray at their barbecues, even if we show up at their barbecues. And they probably won't invite us to be leaders in their organizations, even if they invite us to participate in them.
    Try not to take it personally. Instead, if you're going to participate in FCA, do so with a positive attitude. Don't worry about leadership in the group. It could be worse; they could accept your application for leadership, then demand you change your beliefs and actions. This way is probably better for all involved.
  11. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Jamie123 in Neuro's seitch for fremen fanboys   
    I remember reading that too. In fact I don't think Arrakis was always a desert planet - it once had oceans. It was turned into desert by the action of the sandworms.
    I've only read the original trilogy. One day I'll have a go at God Emperor, but I found Messiah and Children so turgid that my hopes for it are not high.
    The original Dune is a rip-roaring read!
  12. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Carborendum in Neuro's seitch for fremen fanboys   
    Leto II said in conversation (in Children of Dune) that they were "introduced" to Arakkis before the Butlerian Jihad (the war on Earth where the humans rose up against the machines).  But he didn't go into detail about where they came from.  He knew by going into ancestral memories.
    However, since they have never been found on any other planets other than Arakkis, I would believe they were somehow engineered, and thus introduced to Arakkis.
  13. Like
    MrShorty reacted to NeuroTypical in Neuro's seitch for fremen fanboys   
    The 5th and 6th book had the sandworms successfully transplanted to another planet.  Arakkis had been turned into a lifeless smoking hole by outside enemies to all the players we knew in the trilogy.  A Bene Gesserit project to keep the spice flowing and worms existing, had them release sandtrout onto their secret home planet, which they were slowly turning into a desert and waiting a few decades or centuries for the worms to reappear.
     
    The 6th book had one of the most original and cool plot twists I've ever seen in a work of fiction, in how the battle between the Bene Gesserit and the evil LeotardSpaceNookieNuns ended.
     
  14. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Dylan in LDS teen sueing Fellowship of Christian Athletes over religious discrimination   
    I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I'm considering trying to join the leadership team of my school's FCA club. A already am and have been a member of the club for 2 years, and the FCA states that they want leaders who can lead by example, not exactly who can answer theological questions. I had a friend who tried to join the leadership team last year, and after talking for hours upon hours with the FCA regional director of our area, he was still denied. This regional director's whole reasoning for why my friend couldn't be a leader was that he wanted everyone "on the same page" with doctrine; but why should this matter if we are there to lead by example and not to teach doctrine, which might have some differences. We believe in Jesus Christ and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, and we strive to follow Him in all we do; why can we not join the leadership, why can we not be an example to others? The whole thing about it being a private organization so it can't be charged for religious discrimination is true in the legal sense; but even though it's okay legally doesn't mean it's morally the best decision. There's a reason the constitution protects against religious discrimination, I get that private organizations don't have to abide with this, but why wouldn't they? A popular phrase among Christians is "What would Jesus do?" Would Jesus deny anyone who believes in Him from standing as a witness of Him. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and I want to stand as an example and a witness of Him through being on the FCA leadership team. Why should I, a Christian with a few ideological differences from what may be considered "normal" by the FCA, be denied that?
  15. Haha
    MrShorty reacted to NeuroTypical in Neuro's seitch for fremen fanboys   
    Meh.  Some of us poop with poo, some of us poop with "fungal excretions mixed with water".  I guess if you wanna be technical, it's more than poop, it's poop soup.  
    Looks like in your research, you missed the most influential and highly researched published study relevant to the topic at hand: 

  16. Like
    MrShorty reacted to NeuroTypical in Neuro's seitch for fremen fanboys   
    A very common and understandable perspective.  I'm a sucker for universe-spanning epics that span millennia in the telling, so what do I care if such a universe has more than one author.
    The folks who lose interest be warned: You're missing out on living chairdog furniture, and the battle between the two kinds of space nookie nuns, and how the final battle with the robots involve all the main characters from the main books coming back as muppet baby versions of themselves while the last robot dies of boredom.
    (I'd preface that with a spoiler warning, but people usually argue with me about my epic summaries, so your experience shouldn't be diminished by reading what I just wrote.)
     
    Also, spice is worm poo.  Other people can have whatever theories they wish, but they've been unable to prove me wrong by quoting canon.
  17. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Vort in Neuro's seitch for fremen fanboys   
    I met him when I was 15. As I recall (no promises), he was a devout atheist. Judging by Dune, he had a fascination with Islam.
  18. Thanks
    MrShorty reacted to Vort in Neuro's seitch for fremen fanboys   
    Vinegar is slightly acidic, not alkaline.
  19. Like
    MrShorty reacted to NeuroTypical in Neuro's seitch for fremen fanboys   
    I never knew the guy, but I'm thinking if someone told Herbert that they were finding Christian typology in his books, he'd have a massive belly laugh.    His books are about how politics, religion, power, and random chance intersect, over and over again, randomly, across human history.   About how all four are wielded by different groups and individuals at different times for their own ends. 
     
  20. Like
    MrShorty reacted to NeuroTypical in Mandatory reporting and ministering visits   
    Notice to everyone who isn't me or my people:

  21. Like
    MrShorty reacted to zil2 in Mandatory reporting and ministering visits   
    And they are known to the state of California to cause cancer.
  22. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Carborendum in Neuro's seitch for fremen fanboys   
    Something along those lines.  The logic behind it was pretty much complete fabrication for the plot.  It went like this:
    PROBLEM:
    Because prescient individuals could look into the future, then they could eventually see the end of the human race.  And no matter how far into the future that end was, it was still an end.   Then they use reverse cause and effect to say that if anyone could see the end of the human race, then the race was doomed. SOLUTION:
    Create a breeding program where humans could no longer be detected by prescient observers.  That way, no one can see the end of the race.  The human race would be secure. By the end of God Emperor of Dune (fourth book) he had achieved such an individual who would continue that genetic characteristic to her children.  Thus the human race was secure.  (nevermind variables like the heat death of the universe). That was really twisted logic to me.  It was like believing in predestination because God has foreknowledge.  
    I began reading the next book Heretics of Dune.  I couldn't get past the second chapter.  It was just plain boring.  It didn't really have any of the same characteristics.  I was no longer invested in the story or characters.  And after the disappointment from God Emperor, I was not going to invest the time.
  23. Like
    MrShorty reacted to Vort in Neuro's seitch for fremen fanboys   
    I am not a Dunie (or Dunehead, or Dunefanboi, or a Herbertian, or whatever they might call themselves), so take my recollection with a few large grains of salt. (And yes, I fully realize that I'm responding to a comment Jamie made four years ago.)
    ***POTENTIAL SPOILERS, IF MY MEMORY IS ANYWHERE CLOSE TO CORRECT***
    As I recall, the whole überpoint behind the Dune series was that galactic humanity was going to be destroyed if nothing was done to set the future timeline straight, which was being corrupted by the incessant lookaheads of spice consumers, especially the starship captains (they have a special name that I don't remember). Paul thought to ignore this unpleasant reality and "do the right thing", as he saw it. His son Leto II decided instead to basically take the curse upon himself, transmute himself into a horrid sandwormy monster, live for a thousand (or more) years as a horrible tyrant, and in the end allow himself to be overthrown, all to put the otherwise-inavoidable galactic catastrophe to rest. So comparisons to the Harkonnens seem unfair, if not completely beside the point.
  24. Like
    MrShorty reacted to zil2 in Sunday School podcasts   
    Thankfully, I don't think I've heard this in my Sunday School class - if I have, it's been rare.  Personally, I wish the people doing those podcasts / YT channels / etc. would stop.  The point of CFM is for people to learn from the Holy Ghost.  If they have a podcast to turn to, they're not turning to the Holy Ghost.  People think that some stranger's brilliant insight is more impressive than the Holy Ghost telling them [whatever simple thing], but they're wrong.  Even feeling the Holy Ghost testify of the truthfulness of something presented in a podcast is not as important as learning to hear the Holy Ghost during your personal, private or family scripture study.  The podcast may be easier or more interesting, it may feel like you learned something, but it's not as important as learning to learn from the Holy Ghost. /rant
  25. Like
    MrShorty reacted to laronius in Sunday School podcasts   
    Is it just me or does it seem like every Sunday School class revolves around what Come Follow Me podcasts have to say about the scriptures? I know they can be helpful in personal study but I rarely ever hear a teacher say anymore "While I was studying the scriptures this week, here is what I learned...". It's kind of getting on my nerves.