pajarito

You're correct. I definitely do not place judgement on the whole. Thanks Darius!

I'm ready to do my part at the Emerald Coast Skydiving Center on the beach this weekend for Memorial Day!

I guess everyone's got to have something to spend their money on. Whatever floats your boat...I guess.

Problamente, si. Like I said, however, I've not read the Quran so I couldn't say for sure. I'd like to see a Muslim out there quote something like that from the Quran, put it into context, and display its proper meaning. Darius11??? It would be interesting to see if the terrorists are, in fact, taking it out of context.

You're in California -- I'm sure you could have some of your own installed Wendy W. Mmmm......sexy!!!

distillation or dilution?

Probably so. I have never read any of the Quran so I couldn't say. I just believe things must be taken in context to get their full meaning.

You have to use context Billvon and not just pick and choose single verse “zingers” to make your point. Without using context, one could make just about any point he/she wants to make out of almost anything. Exodus 21:7-10 If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. God decided to reveal himself to the people of Israel. It makes sense to me because they were already receptive to the concept of one single deity. They were, however, primitive and slavery was the accepted practice of the day. God did not immediately abolish slavery and other acts such as polygamy but he did regulate them in order to make them more humane. These practices were not God’s ideal. They were permitted for a time, however, due to the hardness of human hearts. It does not mean that God condones slavery as his way of doing things. You have to understand that this was an initial stage of development in God’s plan. 1 Timothy 2:11-14 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. Men were created to be the “spiritual” leader in the home and church. Women were created to be man’s companion and helper in fulfilling God’s desire for their lives. This does not mean that husbands are supposed to be domineering over their wives or are superior in any other sense. Husbands, as spiritual leaders, are supposed to love their wives unconditionally and sacrificially as God loves and demonstrated to us. Jesus loved all of us so completely that he gave up everything, including his life, for our wellbeing. Husbands are supposed to be willing to do the same for their wives. Anyone who takes this verse to mean that he can control, beat, or dominate his wife is wrong. Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. The key here is “submit to your husbands as to the Lord. and as the church submits to Christ. On the other hand, husbands must love their wives as Jesus loved us. If this is done, there is perfect harmony. Again, it does not in any way mean that a man can dominate over his wife or that she is to accept subjugation to his selfish control. If a man is truly the spiritual leader of his wife and family in the way set forth in the example of Jesus, the wife should have no problem with submission to his authority. The problem is that people often do not follow Jesus’ example in this matter and act from their own instinctual selfish desires. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you. Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head – it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because fo the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head. In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice – nor do the churches of God. NIV Study Bible: Perfect spiritual equality exists among men and women as heirs of God’s grace, yet it is an equality involving order and subordination with respect to authority. As God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of man, and man is the head of woman. Paul bases the husband’s headship not on cultural considerations but on God’s creative activity and purpose in creating the woman to help the man. Subordination is not demeaning to one’s person, for it does not imply suppression or oppression. Rather it states that the husband must recognize the worth God places on the woman and that his responsibility involves protecting and leading her in such as way as to fulfill God’s will for her in the home and the church. Just as Christ is not inferior or second-class because the Father is the head, so the woman is not a second-class person because man is her head. Furthermore, in God’s kingdom, leadership never implies being “greater.” Servanthood and obedience are the keys to greatness in the kingdom. Head coverings and veils were the custom of the day in Paul’s time. So was the length of hair for both men and women. The principle still applies today, however. A Christian woman should dress in a modest and careful way, with honorable and dignified attire that allows her to go anywhere with security and respect. In any sense, the point is to glorify God. Judges 21:11-14 ”This is what you are to do,“ they said. “Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin.” They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan. Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them. NIV Study Bible: Most of the Israelites in Jabesh Gilead were killed because they refused to join with Israel in the war against the Benjamites. Their sin was seen in not standing with God and his people against the heinous sin committed by some of their brothers. These were the acts of evil people and are not intended as a blueprint for how to treat women as you are alluding. This was not God’s instruction in this verse and it is certainly not something he would condone. CONTEXT…CONTEXT…CONTEXT!!! Jay

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I think that the way it was presented was not argumentative or offensive. I thought it was funny in a comical sense. I think it would be rather silly if presented to argue a point. Therefore, I don't think it had to be moved to Speaker's Corner.

Personally, as long as I can maneuver them out of the airplane, I haven't found one too big yet. Some are more difficult to handle than others but I've felt comfortable taking just about anyone. I weigh 170.

People have been breaking the word of God since the beginning. The Bible gives the perfect example. It is the standard which we should try to meet. Of course, since we are people, we cannot possibly meet that standard. We aren’t perfect. People will always lean in the direction of wanting to meet their own selfish desires whatever those may be. I didn’t say that they always will. I just said that is their tendency. Idolatry comes in many forms. Power…wealth,…religion. As you’ve said, some Christians have used their religion throughout the ages for reasons other than that of God. That doesn’t put any sort of “crimp” in the “unaltered word of God” or its purpose. On another note, do you blame all modern Germans for the atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust?

Well duh... What a weird ass comment. If a soldier hears gunfire and blindly decides to open up on a school killing all the civilians, of course he's fucked up. If, however, a soldier hears gunfire coming from the school and determines that he's being shot at by the enemy using that school as cover, he has the right to defend himself and either shoot back or call-for-fire. How does your made up scenario relate to anything? Do you think they shot up a wedding party to teach the Iraqis a lesson? Your anti-Americanism really knows no bounds.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Personal_Galleries/auskydiver/Skydive_Opelika&image=skydive_001.jpg&img=&tt= Caw!!! Caw!!!

I typically like to control the flare during landing myself and don't bring it up to the student. Up in the air, I let the student fly around but tell them to give up the toggles at around 1000ft. That is, unless they show an interest in progressing in the sport and aren't there just to make one jump. In that case, I try and give them as much experience as possible and I let them assist in the landing flare. They've got to show me some kind of attentiveness and capability of listening, though, prior to the jump. If they act like an idiot from the start, they're not getting to control any part of my landing.

His pants remind me of Wally Gubbins. I always jump with goggles and an altimeter but I go without a helmet quite often. I also jump a lot in the summer in Tevas. It all depends on what type of jump I'm doing as to whether I jump with a helmet or not.

That is PISS POOR!!!

Excellent! Justice served. I still think he should have gotten a dishonorable discharge after his imprisonment, though.

But I thought you were a lesbian...a hairy one, but a lesbian You’re kinda making my point. Even if I had feelings, temptations, or tendencies leading in some other direction, I choose to be in a monogamous heterosexual relationship with my wife. Therefore, I qualify for what marriage is. The union of one man and one woman. Anything else is not, by definition, “marriage.” ……I’m not that hairy.

I've always been sure that I am a lesbian trapped in a man's body. Then yuo should't have been allowed to marry your wife I'm male. She's female. We choose to be in a monogamous heterosexual relationship. We both qualify.

I've always been sure that I am a lesbian trapped in a man's body.

It does appear so...

The restriction in place that we're referring to is not restrictive against homosexuality. It is against the redefinition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. My Christian views are my own personal beliefs. It's ok that you have a problem with that.

Being Christian is more important than being Catholic or anything else. Denomination is secondary to Bible based theology. I could just as easily go to a non-denominational church and be happy as long as the Bible is used as the final authority. I may differ with their ideas as to whether you should be immersed or sprinkled during baptism or whether children should be baptized or just dedicated. I may differ with their ideas concerning pre-destination vs. free-will or both. As long as the fundamentals are emphasized, I can have my own ideas about the small stuff. We have to keep the goal in sight and not get tangled up in the weeds. I think there is way too much division in the Christian church (speaking collectively). I also consider myself Evangelic. I would change my affiliation immediately as soon as I felt like God was not at the center of my church. If His will was not being done and anything else took the forefront (i.e. the church system, power structure/hierarchy, peoples own selfish desires, etc.).

I'm sorry everyone. I didn't mean to steer this into a religious debate.......again. I actually tried on a couple of occasions to bring it back on track. Christianity and its teachings just plays an integral role in the minds of most Americans concerning this topic and makes Christians a popular target in these threads. I don't think this debate will be won or lost based on Christian religious beliefs.