selek

Not to put too fine a point on this, "Prove it." Just because it's something you want to hear doesn't make it "the Holy Spirit". That particular standard requires a number of much higher hurdles than "warm tinglies". Bare minimum, it would need to be in keeping and in accordance with the Scriptures and revealed will of God. So far, you're 0 for 2.

Be grateful her father didn't catch you and don't do it again. If it were my daughter, you'd be needing someone to help open your ketchup bottles. Serious question here: Assume for a moment that you will NEVER get to have sex with this girl. Do you still want to be with her? Are your passions for er company still running as high? Don't lie to either me or yourself. If the answer is anything other than a whole-hearted and unreserved "yes", then it's not "love" you're struggling with, but rather it's lust. Don't be ashamed, God gave us that for a reason, too. But you need to decide which passion you will be ruled by: a craving for temporary sexual satisfaction or an eternal and godly love and respect. Choose wisely.

The situation in North Korea is almost identical to the situation in Iran, in Syria, in Egypt, and many other places where disfunctional autocracies rule with an iron fist. The only thing holding their "society" together is fear and hatred of "the outsider". Without the external threat, the rank-and-file peons would turn their attentions on their internal miseries, and threaten the power and security of their putative leaders. The ayatollahs, the Chinese Central Committee, and the various other chamber-pot dictators live as much (if not more) in fear of their own people as they do worries about Western "imperialism". North Korea is an extreme example because they've been propped up by the various powers for the last sixty years- and their rhetoric has, of necessity, become more and more shrill. Alarmism and shrill rhetoric lose their urgency when you hear them too often or for too long. How many decades did we hear that smoking caused cancer? And how long until it faded into background noise? Like a drug losing its effectiveness from over use, so too must alarmism be ratcheted up to keep people in fear (a tendency we've noted in our own political "discourse"). North Korea is a genuine threat for two reasons: 1) they've got nothing left and 2) they've got nothing to lose. The North Korean government is brittle and extraordinarily fragile- if the people (or a even a small cadre of military officials) ever awaken to their power, Little Kim will be lined up against a wall and shot. And he knows it, too- which is why he's purged so much of Korea's military leadership. Those who remain are either personally loyal to him (or have seen the dangers of being less than adoring of his personage). And contrary to the myth-making China has NOT been a faithful or legitimate partner in keeping the peace. The approach is two-fold: China uses North Korea both as a distraction and as a threat. On the one hand, they tell us, "Hey, we're not so bad- look at those guys!" So long as the rabid pit bull is tugging at his leash barking and foaming at our neighbors, we pay less attention to China's atrocities such as forced abortions, persecution of religious minorities, and suppression of internal dissent. On the other hand, they regularly use North Korea as a threat: "You better be nice to us, because you need us to contain those guys." It's all a cynical lie: North Korea would not exist as a nation except for the protection and support of the Chinese government. It was Chinese troops who rescued the defeat North Korean army in 1954(?). It was Chinese supplied men and arms who propped up that failing regime. Since that intervention, China has- with clockwork regularity- propped up the North Korean government, armed them, excused their excesses, and floated their economy. They've kept North Korea on a short leash, to be sure- but have never actually called them to heel or offered them a meaningful disincentive or punishment. Like the gang-banger and his rabid pitbull, they insist that we need them to protect our children and neighbors from the North Korea killer- all the while glossing over the fact that they are the ones feeding the dog on gunpowder and cayenne pepper* in order to keep him vicious. The situation in North Korea will go away when one of two things happens: 1) China can no longer control them. 2) China no longer needs them. And between the recent missile tests and the overtures China has been making into other troubled areas of the world, I believe either is possible in the short-term. The only question is how many people die in the transition. * This is more than just an analogy- feeding dogs gun powder and hot pepper is/was a technique used to "train" particularly vicious dogs (usually for dogfighting).

Offered with only a few sadistic chuckles...

If not, there should be. Perhaps another button? Readers could choose "laugh", "thank", or "Do Not Resuscitate" in response to the various posts...

Apples and oranges comparsion. This thread, by its very nature, is a political hit piece- an attempt to incite. IMO, the OP got his wish. The behavior I was referring to, however, was not Chavez-specific, but refers to the behavior on the board in general. Certain posters will offer cutesy little snark attacks (such as Mahone's above) and politicize the thread with little droppings of..umm...wisdom from the leftist/progressive point of view. When conservatives return the favor, they are invariably called out (usually by the provocatuers fellow travellers) for that very same behavior. It mirrors the larger political landscape in that leftists/progressives can commit all manner of steretypes based on gender, ethnicity, age, or orientation, and can call conservatives all manner of names- but it is only conservatives who get called out for "hate speech".

The Great Waldo Pepper. I was looking for some good WWI dogfighting scenes. Boy was I disappointed...

Never have been.A serious pain in the posterior, but never a hater.

They're called "circus peanuts" and they've been pretty much relegated to the lower shelves in the grocery store candy aisle.Maverick and 7-Eleven are also usually reliable sources for your fix.

Yeah- but Sarai rated your cuneiform penmanship was "needs improvement"

How about this? Columnist wants to end military funeral honors for vets who 'did nothing heroic' - Washington Times

My thought is that algebra is "math" in the same way that the Atonement is "justice". Just as the Savior stands in proxy for us, the letters stand in proxy for the numbers needed to make the equation balance. As the statistics, I side with Twain: "There are lies, damned lies, and stastics." Each step indicates a greater degree of intended deception.

You can find official statements about what we believe and teach at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To be honest, that should be your go-to source for most of your questions, and they have a number of resources (including an Ask A Missionary chat room). We're more than happy to help answer your questions: but the "straight dope" can be found at the website above. Your first stop should be the MeetingHouse locator. LDS congregations are determined geographically, with multiple congregations sharing the same building. The MeetingHouse locator will tell you not only where you should go, but what time and who the Priesthood leaders are. As to the rest, I gotta be honest: LDS members are attracted by new faces. If you attend, one or more of us will seek you out. Welcome to the boards, good luck in your search, and God bless.

Indeed. Shall we leave the strawmen out as well?I am not questioning Anne's faith or testimony- only her reasoning. Implicit in your argument (and mine) is the notion that Latter-day Saints do actually sustain the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve as prophets, seers, and revelators. With that established as a foundation, how then can one look at the policies, practices, and official Proclamations of the Church and still state with a straight face that the Lord has not made his opinion clear? It is the very fact that she does sustain these men that makes her argument so disingenuous.

Anne, your last bout of board-nannying and finger-wagging bought us both a week's suspension. I have no desire to be goaded into repeating that exercise. Unless you have something substantive to offer, why not take your own advice and put me on "ignore"? After this post, I am extending you that same courtesy. The simple fact is that you are selective in both your "facts" and in your assessment of what is and is not "offensive". You called me out for allegedly "insulting" NoxNulla- but have said nothing about the insults NoxNulla himself offered- let alone those others have offered both within this thread and elsewhere. That suggests that your indignation is driven more by political bias and personal animosity than anything else. Give that she agrees with you, I shouldn't doubt it.Unfortunately, you and I do not agree- and so you hold me to a very different standard. Implying, of course, that- solely by dint of our disagreement and your animosity towards me- that I am not a "genuinely good" person. What was that about "insults", again? Now, onto substance: The notion that Christ and his servants DID NOT and DO NOT have a position about gay marriage is simply stunning in either its duplicity or its Scriptural ignorance. Christ (or Jehovah, if you prefer) was the law-giver of the Old Testament. The dictums laid down in the Old Testament vis-a-vis homosexual fornication are HIS. When the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints- the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve speak in his name, our Scriptures demand that we treat them as if they were revealed by Christ's own lips. Thus, Latter-day Saints can absolutely assume that the Proclamation on the Family IS Christ's position. That- coupled with the fact that homosexual sexual conduct will result in excommunication- is a clear and unequivocal statement of both the Church's position and the Lord's. Unless, of course, one does not actually sustain these men... Speaking as a faithful Latter-day Saint, your claim simply does not hold up to substantive, rational analysis.

Ah. Pity.

Have you ever heard the word "enabler"? You might wish to look it up.It is no longer simply a matter of "teaching them correct principles and allowing them to govern themselves"- they are now insistent on teaching their incorrect principles to our children under the guise of "tolerance"- which curiously enough, always seems to be a one-way street. We are expected to be tolerant of their positions and beliefs...but they are under no constraint to return the favor: witness the hate and bile heaped upon Chik-Fil-A (and currently upon the conservative justices of the Supreme Court). I remember when the slogan was, "What we do in our bedroom is none of your business." Now it's moved beyond their bedroom and into the public square- and a demand for public recognition and praise. Now it's moved into our children's elementary school classrooms. You are, of course, entitled to your opinion.You are not, however, entitled to radically redefine the most basic elements of society (and to force us to go along with your hare-brained scheme) based solely on your "hunch"- and that is precisely what the homophile lobby is demanding. The key words (and only truths) in your statement are to be found in the last sentence.YOU DON'T KNOW. So why should we as a society turn cartwheels to support your theories? Why should we turn our society inside-out to entertain your experiment in social engineering? And yet it is demonstrably a perversion of the moral law we are given.Relationships that were once considered disfunctional, perverse, and sinful are now being celebrated as wholesome, healthy, and even desirable. What was once unthinkable- and has been in every human society in history- is now being taught as morally equivalent to the order and law God himself set forth. If that is not the literal fulfillment of the Scriptural account of calling evil "good" then the Scriptures have zero relevance and less legitimacy. Thank you for the condescending moral judgement.Who knew that every prophet in history- including the Savior- was a "backwords" thinker. To quote Han Solo (and with every bit as much sincerity as he displayed), "I'm glad you're hear to tell us these things." In less than three decades, the homosexual lobby has moved from the demand to be left alone to demanding our praise and approbation- as well as control of what we teach our children. They have "evolved" from demanding privacy to demanding that we celebrate and praise their lifestyles- and teach it to our children. They are no longer content to live their lives as they see fit, but are now demanding and dictating that we approve of their choices- and are using the courts and the media to punish those who deviate from their new Gospel. Anyone who thinks the homosexual (and moral relatavism) lobbies will be satisfied with state recognition and celebration of their perversion is not only deluding themselves but is also profoundly ignorant of history. They will not rest until any semblance of criticism of their moral failings is delegitimized and eradicated. Appeasement is the act of moral cowardice in which one throws the other ducks to the alligator in the hopes that he'll eat you last. But devour you, he will, all the same. It's simply dismaying to see how many self-professing Latter-day Saints would rather be praised as "enlightened" embracers of Babylon than derided as "backwords" followers of Christ.

I take it you didn't catch the "Doctor U" parody at the OffBroadwayTheatre is SLC this past month? For shame!

Offered without commentary (....or is that AS commentary?)

This was my response to the in-your-face homophiles.

Speaking strictly as a father of four daughters.... ...if it's something you'd feel comfortable doing to my daughter while I sit five feet away cleaning the shotgun, then no, you don't need to see your Bishop...

Mostly by the reactionary antics of the open-minded "tolerance" crowd.Somehow, those who scream the most shrilly about "politicizing" threads are the ones who do it most often... ...and then shriek like scalded dogs when we return the favor.

Sorry. The court ordered those records sealed after the incident...

Right on both counts- though as I stated, one's point of view and underlying assumptions will also help determine how you process things.As to the rest, that's how I learned it: line-upon-line, precept-upon-precept. No one eats an elephant in one swallow- but only one bite at a time. I hope that helps, and will keep you in my prayers.

None of us is guaranteed even one more breath.By that standard, it seems to me to be more important to make the most of what we have been given instead of worrying about what we haven't... Did you ever hear the joke about the farmer on the Missouri River? Told that the river was rising and that he and his needed to evacuate he replied, "Nope. The Lord's gonna take care of me." When the river was at his porch- and his farm underwater, the neighbors came by in a rowboat and asked him to leave. "Nope," he replied. "The Lord's gonna take care of me." As night fell and the water reached his roof, the neighbors returned and begged him to leave. "Nope," he replied. "The Lord's gonna take care of me." At midnight, a search amd rescue helicopter found the farmer perched at the top of his chimney and threw him a rope. Still the farmer refused to leave, insisting, "The Lord's gonna take care of me." Right around three a.m., the farmer found himself standing before the Lord dripping wet and soaked to the gills. Sputtering in shock, the farmed demanded, "Lord! You said you'd take care of me!" Replied the Lord, "I sent you two boats and a helicopter! What more did you want!?" While I understand your righteous desire to share the word of God, it is foolish for you to overlook the opportunities you have been given while awaiting his word and will.