http://www.democraticunderground.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sat, 25 May 2013 18:00:30 Sat, 25 May 2013 18:00:30 and they have saturated their market. All of these various and sundry permutations of doctrine are efforts to trot out some "new and improved" Christianity to keep those butts in those pews. Unfortunately, they're clamoring for a growing share of a shrinking market.

Since religion is emotionall... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/290 Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:47:08 and require no external verification unless I seek it. As a compassionate and fair person I give to you that same option. You are at liberty to develop knowledge and to act on any part of that knowledge in any way you see fit. Some call it free will.

The only work you have been doing is engineer... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/289 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:40:51 It has seemed to me that science and faith have been converging at the subatomic level. I have no idea what that convergence, if it is happening, will look like. I can almost guarantee it won't be a bunch of new age woo. In my most optimistic moments I like to think that maybe we will find a new wa... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/288 Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:57:49 The reason you don't hear about psychics that have found out differently is because they aren't psychics any more. The psychic and the fundamentalist you mentioned are one dimensional caricatures because their motivations don't conform to your definition of knowledge. Maybe they are motivated by so... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/287 Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:19:55 I don't think there should be a hierarchy between the activity outside one's head and the activity inside it. Creationists try to apply their belief systems to a world that can and should be objectively measured and fail every time. Those attempts and others liked them should be vigorously challenge... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/286 Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:38:09 I find myself in front of a proper computer keyboard and some time to type a bit, so I thought I’d try a Thanksgiving post.

We don’t seem to suffer from any lack of instruction about how we should behave in this world. The number of schemes, means, methods, practices, rituals, hierarchies, and o... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/285 Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:16:58 You'd better check that first amendment again.


http://i.word.com/idictionary/respecting
Main Entry: re·spect·ing Function: preposition Date: circa 1611 in view of 1 : in view of : with respect to 2 : with respect to : with respect to

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Establishment_Clause
he e... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/283 Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:10:19 "There is nothing to forbid God from government", no matter how well intentioned, creates a pernicious one way street. Needless to say God himself won't show up, but it gives his trusted representatives wide open access to the levers of power.

Obviously there is nothing wrong with elected officia... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/284 Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:28:30 but it does leave open the question what we would be observing.

For instance, at this moment I am furious with someone. I know why and yet there is the obvious emotional component that cannot be ignored. The examination of that is an introspective exercise and only I can access that information ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/280 Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:09:27 What's the point of amassing all that data and recombining it into something new? You may believe we are just vessels for the replication of DNA and all our efforts are just efforts to make more that look like us, but the vast overwhelming majority of the people who have ever lived would disagree wi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/281 Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:35:07 I also consider it nonsense.

You just have to use the right tool for the job. The items listed above are useless in the way they are used (unless it's to part fools from their money). But to not consider flights of fancy, emotions, brain farts, myths, legends, beliefs and all the rest unnecessar... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/279 Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:23:12 furthermore, if a spike in supply is needed it can easily be produced. This natural resource can be exploited with little capital investment and managed without much more. The potential for profit from the exploitation of this resource is among the greatest the human race has ever seen and has been ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/282 Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:39:34 Firearms give liberals the heebie geebies. Conventional wisdom requires Democrats to root for peace, progress, and the nurturing of others so they can achieve their greatest potential. Shooting holes in people doesn't do that. Guns symbolize all that is opposite of most liberal ideals.

The most ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/278 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:20:54 The Sunday school ladies were feeling bored and sanctimonious so they decide to put up a cross. They cabbage up some money from the wives of their businessman town father friends and one of them calls her brother in law/ cousin/ uncle/ son/ brother (who is a deacon in the church) to put it up. He po... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/277 Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:06:22 Let me help.

[div class="excerpt"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia
The term militia (play /mɨˈlɪʃə/)[1] is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens[2] to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in ti... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/276 Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:46:54 [div class="excerpt"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism
Liberalism first became a powerful force in the Age of Enlightenment, rejecting several foundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as hereditary status, established religion, absolute monarchy, and t... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/275 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:20:06 which is to say what I believe in is movement.

We walked out of Africa two million years ago and we've been moving ever since. We move more than just physically. We move intellectually, imaginatively, and emotionally. Movement is so much a part of the human experience that those who are unabl... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/274 Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:30:32 I should offer what I think is an inspiring churhc.

http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq240/jefflobooger/00a_thebirds_bodegachurch_anseladams_550_ecf15-1.jpg

To my mind a church should facilitate fellowship with people who know each other personally, not the organization that put up the build... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/272 Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:55:49 the best art is not religious. Artmaking is cultural research and development. The R&D department moved its offices out of the church a long time ago and religion has done nothing but attempt to appropriate whatever trend it can to stay profitable. Surely you don't think your example, while quite lo... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/273 Tue, 06 Sep 2011 11:56:28 How do you feel about the return of the AWB?

If you're willing to shoot someone for stealing [b]anything[/b] you think is important enough to kill them for, how far are we from a world where dueling becomes popular again? Were talking about a moral imperative here that will not simply be confined... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/271 Sun, 04 Sep 2011 23:53:34 to sustain your life, then lethal force would probably be justified. But that depend on what the term "life" means. For over half the planet eating every day is life. For many in this country three hots and a cot means life. For some therapy at $150 an hour means life. For many others cable TV and a... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/270 Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:42:49 if you say you're a Christian - you're a Christian. If you read the sacred text and live by your interpretation of it that's what it means to be a Christian.

How do you distinguish your claim that somebody is not a Christian or living by the proper interpretation if the sacred text from the clai... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/269 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:47:49 But there is no way to prove that. The only actual evidence that means anything is the break in by an individual who was not supposed to be there. Other evidence will include prior criminal history. The authorities will investigate, collect evidence, and decide if they can determine whether or not ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/268 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:05:39 and much appreciated.

But much like Stradlater in [i]Catcher in the Rye[/i] the cool people are "secret slobs" who decry the antics of the fundamentalists but nevertheless benefit from them.

While fundamentalists would like to see the privatization of defense and law enforcement placed in the... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/267 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:13:52 why I wouldn't want to shoot you. It would cause me to have to do a whole lot of explaining to the authorities probably through a very expensive mouthpiece. And the stakes are very high since I'm risking incarceration if I pull the trigger by mistake or do it wrong and hurt an innocent bystander. Ev... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rrneck/266 Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:44:56