please consider the following as irrefutable evidence: mormons live longer: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54897327-78/health-coffee-disease-tea.html.csp
horses prefer prefer peppermint to oregano: http://www.horsesciencenews.com/horse-care/feed/flavor-favorites-for-horses.php Religious people are less depressed, less anxious and less suicidal than nonreligious people: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1015870,00.html 73.6% of statistics are made up on the spot: http://www.businessinsider.com/736-of-all-statistics-are-made-up-2010-2 Atheist headstone inscription: "All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Go". On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 10:59 PM, Joshua Marsh <[email protected]>wrote: > On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 7:28 PM, Nicholas Leippe <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Defend the implication that the LDS church receives no gain from its > > membership. Last I knew its coffers were pretty full. The remuneration > per > > ward from Salt Lake for financial aid of its local members is also > > frequently quite inequitable. There are wards collecting $100k+ each > month > > in tithing, sending it all to Salt Lake, and being allocated mere $1000s > of > > it in return--insufficient to help all the needy families in their own > > ward. > > > > That is an extremely misguided view of what Tithing is used for, how it > differs from fast offerings, and what the actual figures really are. If > they were simply paying tithing so the youth could go to camp during the > summer, you'd have a point. If tithing was used for helping needy families, > you'd be right. Neither of those are the case, so I can only assume you > haven't studied it well enough to make a cogent argument. > > > > > > Also, you must both qualify and quantify "such joy in their hearts". Esp. > > re the fact that Utah is the state with the highest use of > anti-depressants > > per capita. That's not a coincidence or simply correlation without > > causation. > > > > > Have you ever considered it might be the other half of the Utah population > that is taking the anti-depressants because they are forced to live in Zion > with the Mormons? The anti-depressant thing doesn't make complete sense to > me since there are other studies that show Religious people are happier in > general. What it boils down to for me is that you can find a study or a > figure to support any position you want. So, why be so antagonistic toward > someone who has found his place in this world where you haven't. > > > > > In defense of Sasha's position, I will qualify that there do exist > varying > > pockets of micro-cultures among the LDS church. *Some* of them, function > > altruistically and to the mutual benefit of all. Something Sasha may have > > not experienced yet is some of the other micro cultures that > exist--several > > of which I have personally experienced, and others which have been > > recounted to me first hand, which do not function in the idyllic fashion > > Sasha has experienced. To head off objection from Sasha, these other > micro > > cultures in no way violate the principles that the church espouses--they > > are right in line with the general handbook of instruction also--you > can't > > say they are apostate wards or anything and dismiss them or the effects > > they have on their members--they must be included in the equation. > > > > > This isn't much different than any other social group though. In any large > social group, norms can be diluted at local levels. What may be considered > "right in line with the general handbook of instructions" is up to > interpretation by the relative understanding of the people at the local > level. If those local interpretations sufficiently deviate from the larger > group, then the rest of the group must me made aware to bring the lesser > group in line with the whole or have the group removed. This has been > studied by sociologists well before the LDS church was around. I'm sure > you'll find that most of your in-groups will have similar issues. > > /* > PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net > Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug > Don't fear the penguin. > */ > /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
