start

ding. Do like the mediums

Done.

Done, no green.

Done, no green.

Done

more like an easy ng/ng

Well put Phil. It all could and should be done. Brilliant.

done

Have you ever been in an area overrun by deer or bears, or where cougars, wolves, foxes, etc. destroy your herds? Do you recommend, upon hearing your animals being attacked, that you call the local gun club owner to open his shop so you can retrieve your weapon to destroy the animal that is destroying your livelihood? This is just one exception that would need to be made...what others could you add to the list?

Drwho - the term "Christian Fundamentalist" is a generic term for some of those who use the bible to do awful things. It's not up to you to define it, as much as you'd like. For example, Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, have said hateful, awful things that without doubt caused their followers to engage in acts harmful to groups of people like the LGBT community. I wish Christianity were defined by Jesus' words, not a manipulation of them. Try the Sermon on the Mount for starters. '

"the term "Christian Fundamentalist" is a generic term for some of those who use the bible to do awful things." lol. Might be the funniest, most inaccurate thing I've read in my lifetime.

Judy, farmers with livestock that need to be protected are of course licensed. We don't have bears but we do have saltwater crocks, deadly snakes dingos and feral pigs that you wouldn't want to meet whilst curled up in your swag. Comes back to common sense. You would not need an assault rifle!

g,ng a dingo got me baby!

Diane - Jesus's Words:
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." Matt 10:34-5.

Yes, those words are attributed to Jesus. Many, if not most, biblical scholars understand that passage to mean that Jesus' message of acceptance and love may divide families; that one may choose the old "eye for eye" method; the other may choose to follow Jesus. Remember, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he told Peter to put away his actual sword, as those who live by the sword, die by the sword. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, not the Prince of War, or guns, or violence, or hatred.

That is one interpretation. Before Jesus told Peter to put away his sword, he told the disciples to obtain a sword. He said "blessed are the peacemakers for they shall obtain peace" but then twice took ropes and whipped those selling at the Temple. He healed one man at the pool of Siloam but left multitudes of sick and lame there to suffer.

For every scholar you can cite to explain away His actions, I can find another to refute their explanation.

He said that if a man looks at a woman and lusts the man is guilty of adultery, but then forgave a women caught in the act of adultery. My point is that His life was not this simplistic "peace and love" narrative that many present. He was a complex individual with what appears to be contradictory elements in His life.

Both liberal and conservative, orthodox and fundamentalist, quote the Bible out of convenience to support a preconceived conclusion.

Isn't it amazing that religion - any religion - is so often the cause of hatred and bigotry and superiority and bloodshed.

Jainie, I don't blame religion - that is an excuse. Men are hateful and bigoted because they choose to be that way.

Diane - He did not teach his disciples to hate? What about Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

To me that sounds like discipleship is predicated on hatred of others.

Taking biblical passages out of context, without understanding the history and all surrounding issues, makes a mockery of the gospels. No, Jesus did not teach his disciples to hate. The passage of Luke you quote is essentially the same as the passage of Matthew that you quoted previously. One must (at least I must) read then entire New Testament in context. The fundamental principal: Love your neighbor as yourself. Judge not lest ye be judged. If you choose to believe otherwise, that's your choice. IMHO, not a particularly informed one, at that.

So, you are right and I am wrong. Your interpretation is the "correct" one and I am uninformed. That does not sound like acceptance, that sounds like exclusivity. Which is exactly my point.

I would say that you are also taking scripture out of context. You are taking scripture that supports your particular narrative. Yes we must read the New Testament "in context" but what does that mean? Does it mean that we construct a mental image of Jesus first and the pick and choose the scriptures that support that image and ignore the others? IMHO that is exactly what you are doing. You throw out a scripture and then I counter with another. But in your mind - you have already taken the moral high ground and now must eschew anything that does not support your position.

But, KnightTime, they act superior and bigoted and try to hurt those who do not believe the same as they do....all in the NAME of religion

But Jainie, there are many non-christians, non-religious that do exactly the same thing.

Hey, let's all gang up here and scroll this conversation below the fold so we can enjoy just playing Sudoku without all the baggage on the right side of the screen...

The first smart thing anyone (including me) has written all day

😊

So, a Priest, Rabbi, Imam, and Atheist walk into a bar. They get drinks and sit down and enjoy a nice conversation. Later, they have some peanuts.

after that they completed a medium sudoku puzzle - all of them had the correct solution

done

Diane: I did not define the term Fundamentalist as it relates to Christians. There are actually Christians who identify as Fundamentalists. The definition I gave is consistent with how self identifying Christian Fundamentalist would define it. Perhaps you missed my earliest comments on the origin of the term.

Tuco: My point wasn't that Muslim Fundamentalist must necessarily believe in violent Jihad, but that maybe the name Fundamentalist was misapplied. Perhaps radical Islam or Muslim extremist would be a better name.

Actually, what ever you call them, Islamic terrorists do believe that Islam commands them to do their awful deeds. They believe they will be rewarded with 24 virgins in Paradise. We are indeed at war with a Muslim sect, or more accurately, they are at war with us.

DING. A tandem virtual and a unique rectangle. Not bad. 24.

Diane: Your assertion that the teachings of certain Fundamentalists (none of the men you listed actually are or were Fundamentalists) encouraged their followers to commit hateful acts against homosexuals is silly. Do you believe theft is sin? If so, do you hate thieves? Shame on you, you hater. Undoubtedly you won't rent a room or give a job to an ex-con.

If I am wrong about your attitude toward ex-cons, is it possible you could be wrong about the attitude that Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christians take toward homosexuals?

Difficulty score 29. No green.

So much for scrolling stuff away so we can just get back to Soduko...

Sudoku. Why do I always mess up the vowels in that word?

AND WHY IS THIS MEDIUM SO DARN HARD? My wife said it was easy. She lied to me.

Phew. Finally did it. No greens. I assign it the numerical value of π.

And now back to the 4 years of backlog I have here... Next up, February, 2012...

Er... March 5, 2012...

Correction: Jerry Falwell did identify with fundamentalism. Robertson and Graham not so much.

Andy: maybe the score should be Φ, the golden mean. This irrational number is arguably the most irrational of all the irrational numbers. For instance π can be approximated by the rational fraction 355/113 accurate to 6 decimal places. You will not find a rational approximation of Φ as compact and accurate as that.

An interesting way to approximate Φ is with the ratio of 2 successive numbers from the Fibonacci sequence. Doing this produces a new sequence that converges very slowly on Φ.

The 13th Fibonacci number is 233, the 14th is 377.

377/233 approximates the value of Φ to only 4 decimal places.

Only when you take the ratio of the 17th and 18th Fibonacci numbers (2584/1597) do you get an approximation of Φ accurate to 6 decimal places.