(Replying here to both of your posts from last week. Trying to get this back into one post, one reply)
Wait, you said it's for the same reason--what reason? Previously you said that homosexual activity is the reason gay marriage leads to excommunication, but that obviously doesn't apply in...
Whoops, looks like I have more questions here to cover:
It's a blessing to a child raised by homosexual or polygamous parents, because it renders them unaccountable for the spiritual instability of their upbringing. Other children don't need such a blessing, because there is no such...
I'm sorry about the confusion in the posts. You are correct, I was drafting that first reply when you posted your most recent one. I believe I am now current in answering your questions. If I have neglected any, please point them out.
Agreed. I think polygamy is a far better comparison...
And yet, we still have children from polygamous families entering the church at 18, despite the exact same setbacks. For that matter, we don't baptize people if church membership is deemed a source of deadly antagonism, as it is in some Muslim countries. If anyone needed the Gift of the Holy...
Your comparison of WoW violations with homosexual intimacy has me thinking about what the actual excommunicable behavior is, though, which brings me back to the first line of your original quote:
With deepest respect, I think the part in the parentheses is in error, and I think it's throwing...
Wow, thank you for your candor and courage in sharing this. I can tell that was hard on you. I agree that the Word of Wisdom is an excellent contrast to the doctrines on homosexual relations, so I'd like to explore that a little further. The line about how it's adapted to the capacity of the...
Wow, I can't wait to meet hi--oh... *blush*
I'd like to start with this. Katz, Elder Christofferson's explanation for this policy is that it's intended to be protective:
Source
What's your take on that explanation? The same article I cite there quotes a sociologist saying that a church...
In the debate with DebaterSlayer, Kazpur says the following:
The purpose of this one-on-one discussion is to expound on these recent policies, their applications and repercussions, and the role of the LDS church in public policy. She is struggling with some of these issues; I am not...
FWIW, I went to school with some kids whose mother was born the year their father graduated from HS. Go figure.
All I can say is, constant prayer on this. If it's the right thing, you'll get the direction you need. If it's not the right thing, you'll get the strength you need.
What the others have said about carbonation and caffeine is correct. I personally generally avoid caffeine, except for extreme situations where I need to stay awake. For example, I did a cross-country trek with my brother, taking turns driving, and used caffeine to drive all night while he...
"Dare to be a Mormon, dare to stand alone, dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known."
That doesn't only apply to setting an example to outsiders. Keep daring to stand alone, and daring to make it known. You have the other part down as far as I can see.
I'm pretty close to a transhumanist (cosmist, not singulitarian) and would love to see a board--or a set of boards--around here dedicated to that set of religions. Cosmist, technogaian, singulitarian, H+, etc. Who would I talk to about that?
FWIW, I think the Mormon Transhumanist Association...
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that people are still going to do some kinds of work, just for fun. After all, in tests of guaranteed income, the vast majority of people still kept working, even if they could afford to just lay around all day.
I was with you right up until this point. Why would robots be able to give us feelings? They might be able to give us chemical reactions in the brain, but we already have plenty of evidence that feelings are more than mere chemical reactions in the brain.
As for your more general question, I...
I think that may be the problem here: the pseudoscience of Social Darwinism has a much narrower definition. What you define here is perfectly good science: biological forces, including evolution, apply to humans. No argument there.
When people normally disparage social darwinism, however...
Geez, I'm out of it for a couple...years...and look who has a new friend with the initials "DS" to pal around with?
Just kiddin' Katz! Great to read your detailed, heartfelt answers again. I hope this debate goes on page after page!
Debater Slayer, I have yet to interact with you yet, but...
If anyone needs to apologize, it's those of us who weren't there for you. Here's my promise to come chat here every Sunday!
P.S. Never say "never" in a promise. It's tempting fate.
P.P.S. You can still go to Utah, right?
And that is factually false. In the original study that made these claims about the native american ancestry, the authors discarded a tiny minority of DNA as outliers, because that DNA was clearly related to European and other post-colonial populations. Semetic DNA was among that minority. So...