>>185

Thanks, those are really important questions. I hope you'll read my answers with an open mind.

First off, the practice of mutilating a girls genitals is purely CULTURAL. Anyone who tells you otherwise is misinformed, lying, or is an extremist who has drank the Kool-Aid. Sadly it is practiced in many third-world countries, but it has no place in Islam at all.

Your next three questions are part of a much larger discussion, but I'll do my best to answer you.

Sex is a gift. The Quran talks quite frankly about it, because sexuality is such a large part of the human condition. The orgasm is probably the closest an earthbound creature can get to experiencing pure bliss.
Islam has nothing against carnal pleasure. It teaches that men and women were created to give each other companionship and joy.

To deny yourself the pleasures of sex is to deny a gift from God. On the other hand, to wantonly indulge in sex is to cheapen that gift and take away its meaning. It's not about complete denial, it's about *restraint*; it's about respecting the act of sex and respecting the person you're having sex with.

>>185

So, yeah, I do believe that the world would be a better place if extramarital sex were curtailed. Right now most people casually move from one relationship to another. You'll feel the joys of love or the excitement of passion, but those feeling dim and time moves on and you become more desensitized. Sex just becomes something fun to do, with someone you may or may not like, when it's supposed to be so much more. That kind of... disconnection, has got to be detrimental to a society. It's not natural to be so intimate with another human being and be so distant at the same time.

Also, I don't agree that sex is the purest form of love and the most beautiful thing in life. Sex, like I said, is a gift, meant to be shared with someone you love. It's a private, intimate act. It might be the purest *physical* manifestation of a love between two people, and a wonderful, special thing, but it is not the zenith of human experience.

Great love is born of generosity and self-sacrifice. Feeding the poor, visiting the sick and elderly, joining the Peace Corps, actively campaigning for a candidate you believe in, participating in some great act of good that transcends you as an individual... these are all acts of love that are so much more beautiful than sex.

Love expressed by sex can give you great personal joy.
Love expressed by generosity can change the way the world works.
Which is greater?

>>185

Now your last question. Do I believe in heaven. Honestly? I don't know. I don't know, that's kind of the point isn't it? I don't know what happens when I die.

But I choose to believe. I don't have evidence to the contrary, so why not? I choose to believe that my actions have weight and meaning and consequence. I choose to believe that there is some purpose to the universe, and it's not just all random chaos. That's my answer: I choose to believe.

No; he needs to confront his issues and not take it out on other people. If he can't confront his issues, then tough shit, he shouldn't take them out on everyone else. Harming others without their consent and for your own pleasure may or may not always be justified, but in this case it is not. Therefore, your friend is a douchebag.

>>118
>>For all of his life, he has experienced oppression from his father, the school-system, employers, the Navy, and society. Now everyone has known what it feels like to be oppressed, but not everyone has been to the same degree as him. He was diagnosed with "Borderline Personality Disorder" and suffers from overwhelming feelings of anxiety, intense paranoia.

Making you believe that he has a legitimate issue is his real troll talent. He even has you cleaning up after him,
>>I usually remove any of the garbage in it, and attempt to find a place for lose objects,

while still managing to give you a light trolling.

I've met people with the same personality type, it's always their wives faults that they've been divorced so many times; vindictive co-workers for why they've lost jobs; People not "knowing the real them" for why others consider them assholes.

I've met the "real them" with at least three persons I would classify in this group, and all that's there is a greedy core.

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy

Without a proper psych evaluation, we'll never know.

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If he can justify it to himself, then he is justified.

Any form of government has the opportunity to succeed/fail. The leaders who are in charge of the government are as important as the form of government itself.

>>149
My opinion is that, unless in emergencies, a perfect government would have no leaders.

>>170

i mostly agree with that except on a few points.

1. a government without leaders is extremely hard to set up.

2. they're extremely hard to keep balanced.

3. when they do inevitably collapse they usually collapse into dictatorships which can be much worse and much harder to get rid of.

4. if freedom ever becomes defined by the majority it would cease to be freedom.

personally my view on what a government official should be is a janitor or a mechanic.

in an ideal government they're not ment to lead, only to maintain the constitution and protect the freedom of they're citizens.

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>>150
>>157

i agree although at the same time as a christian i hope one day God's going to answer all my questions.

i also hope he'll give me new ones, new content and stuff, y'know, kinda like making an expansion pack for the universe.

I think enlightenment is like perfection. It can't be achieved, only striven for.

BTW how do you define enlightenment? The complete comprehension of anything and everything?

I once thought I reached enlightenment, but then when encountering the personal problems of others, which soon became my problems, I was forced into anger and depression. I was distracted by psycologically manipulative pleasures as well, such as being entertained by video games or television, and recieving positive attention. More than that, because I believed myself to be enlightened, I stopped the journey to enlightment, and thus was certain. Though I did not think "right and wrong" truly existed, I still believed myself to be right. I was proven wrong.

I think an enlightened person would never acknowledge being in a state of enlightenment.

I found a pretty in depth site about it:
http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/miscon/speed.html

I didn't know it was so intensive -_-'

>>137

wow.
that is rather intense.

so the actual "electron sea" moves slow while the energy moves quickly.

something that interested me that you can vary the speed of the "electron sea".
i wonder if it might ever be possible to speed up the ES fast enough to become observably more massive?

wouldn't it be cool i they made that technology small?
imagine, a wire grid with variable mass.
you could have alot of fun with that (and get into alot of trouble too).

You'd need some super high melting point metal cut REALLY thin and then pump a whole lot of charge through it. I doubt we have a substance that wouldn't liquefy right away from the intense heat, but that's still a good Relativity test.

>>61

i hate racism but honestly all the reverse racism, ignorance of the past (on both sides) and the self denial surrounding it makes me lol.

>>52

besides i could discard this "e-identity" at any time and create a brand new one.

>>52

I've always wondered that myself. However, I can't say that I value true anonymity on the Internet, anyway. It doesn't really matter to me if someone finds me online because I have absolutely nothing to hide.

What do you have to hide? This isn't a question directed at anyone in particular, but I think it's best to analyze that question and answer it for yourself before you do anything online or otherwise.

What do you have to hide?

>>54

personally i act differentially because normally i'm shy, obsessive compulsive and i honestly care to much about what others think.

but here (online) i can always start fresh!
i can meet someone and if we're friends stay in touch, if not i can get lost in a sea of people and may never come in contact with him again.
so i worry less about if they thing i'm odd, and more on being me.
failure, both small and epic, can always be lived down should i so chose (i honestly haven't yet but it's good to have the option).