2015 April Conference Thread

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I'll just collect in advance.

No you won't because you aren't willing to make a bet. I'm willing to allow for you to not attend should DHO be at your Ward when you arrive and you feel unwelcome that a minimum wage employee blocked you from his Twitter account. I'm thinking you won't accept the terms either.

[Northwestcoug]

Lol at anyone who thinks Oaks reads comments on his Twitter feed.

Edit: HFNW beat me to it.

[TripletDaddy]

So what is the wager? I don't want your money. I'll accept your bet, my side is that if Monson speaks you attend all three hours of church for 6 consecutive weeks and return and post something positive or uplifting in a non-cynical way that you got out of the meeting. What is your end of the wager?

That is a horrible wager. No way I would take that kind of risk.

[YOhio]

2015 April Conference Thread

That is a horrible wager. No way I would take that kind of risk.

What? It sounds like you don't attend all three hours of church. Why haven't you mentioned it before?

[New Mexican Disaster]

What? It sounds like you don't attend all three hours of church. Why haven't you mentioned it before?

Unpeeling the onion, one layer at a time.

[SoonerCoug]

At this point the question is less about whether Monson will show up.

I think he'll make an appearance.

If the question is whether he'll say something crazy, then the answer is an unequivocal yes. Never has a conference gone by without him saying something crazy. The same could be said for every last one of them.

[YOhio]

At this point the question is less about whether Monson will show up.

I think he'll make an appearance.

If the question is whether he'll say something crazy, then the answer is an unequivocal yes. Never has a conference gone by without him saying something crazy. The same could be said for every last one of them.

[Harry Tic]

At this point the question is less about whether Monson SoonerCoug will show up.

I think he'll make an appearance.

If the question is whether he'll say something crazy, then the answer is an unequivocal yes. Never has a conference CS thread gone by without him saying something crazy. The same could be said for every last one of them.

FIFY

[TripletDaddy]

At this point the question is less about whether Monson will show up.

I think he'll make an appearance.

If the question is whether he'll say something crazy, then the answer is an unequivocal yes. Never has a conference gone by without him saying something crazy. The same could be said for every last one of them.

Every last one of them??

name something crazy said by Cree-L Kofford. You can't.

[SoonerCoug]

FIFY

Actually I'm one of very few sane people on this board.

Religion views human beings as raw material who are exploited because of their inherent fear of death. Redemption is offered in exchange for 10% of your income and surrendering your brain at the door. Why else does Elder Oaks lament the decline in Mormon family size?

To quote Chris Hitchens: "Religion makes intelligent people do stupid things. Handed a small baby for the first time, is your first reaction to say--'Beautiful. Almost perfect. Now please hand me a sharp stone so that I may do the work of the Lord!' In the ordinary moral universe, the good will do the best they can and the bad will do the worst they can. But if you want to make good people do evil things, you'll need religion."

Consider the millions who have died from AIDS because of religion's refusal to promote condom use.

Consider the institutionalized discrimination promoted by our own religion against blacks, women, and gays.

And all of it is based on supernatural beliefs without one shred of evidence.

Lebowski might counter by saying that religious people are happier or talking about good side-effects of religion. Is that what the debate has been reduced to? Once everything is proven false, you're reduced to: "You may not think much of Joseph Smith, but you should see our missionaries doing service in Peru!" Well you don't need to invoke God to do service or to be happy. One poll says Utah is one of the happiest states while another says Utah has the biggest depression problem. It takes more than a little poorly done social science to convince me.

I will say that I'm grateful Mormonism taught me to avoid certain vices (e.g., smoking, alcohol). And I enjoyed interacting with my neighbors, which Mormonism forced me to do. That's about it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Lebowski might counter by saying that religious people are happier or talking about good side-effects of religion. Is that what the debate has been reduced to? Once everything is proven false, you're reduced to: "You may not think much of Joseph Smith, but you should see our missionaries doing service in Peru!" Well you don't need to invoke God to do service or to be happy. One poll says Utah is one of the happiest states while another says Utah has the biggest depression problem. It takes more than a little poorly done social science to convince me.

I provided hard data, dude. Kind of sad that you are so anti-science now.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

So Sooner what happens if Monson shows up, speaks and doesn't say something crazy? You've said it is money in the bank, yet aren't willing to make a simple wager, so what happens if you and your sources are incorrect?

[pellegrino]

Actually I'm one of very few sane people on this board.

Religion views human beings as raw material who are exploited because of their inherent fear of death. Redemption is offered in exchange for 10% of your income and surrendering your brain at the door. Why else does Elder Oaks lament the decline in Mormon family size?

To quote Chris Hitchens: "Religion makes intelligent people do stupid things. Handed a small baby for the first time, is your first reaction to say--'Beautiful. Almost perfect. Now please hand me a sharp stone so that I may do the work of the Lord!' In the ordinary moral universe, the good will do the best they can and the bad will do the worst they can. But if you want to make good people do evil things, you'll need religion."

Consider the millions who have died from AIDS because of religion's refusal to promote condom use.

Consider the institutionalized discrimination promoted by our own religion against blacks, women, and gays.

And all of it is based on supernatural beliefs without one shred of evidence.

Lebowski might counter by saying that religious people are happier or talking about good side-effects of religion. Is that what the debate has been reduced to? Once everything is proven false, you're reduced to: "You may not think much of Joseph Smith, but you should see our missionaries doing service in Peru!" Well you don't need to invoke God to do service or to be happy. One poll says Utah is one of the happiest states while another says Utah has the biggest depression problem. It takes more than a little poorly done social science to convince me.

I will say that I'm grateful Mormonism taught me to avoid certain vices (e.g., smoking, alcohol). And I enjoyed interacting with my neighbors, which Mormonism forced me to do. That's about it.

what is it they say about how if you have to tell someone that you are [insert adjective here] then you probably aren't?

[Clark Addison]

Actually I'm one of very few sane people on this board.

Religion views human beings as raw material who are exploited because of their inherent fear of death. Redemption is offered in exchange for 10% of your income and surrendering your brain at the door. Why else does Elder Oaks lament the decline in Mormon family size?

To quote Chris Hitchens: "Religion makes intelligent people do stupid things. Handed a small baby for the first time, is your first reaction to say--'Beautiful. Almost perfect. Now please hand me a sharp stone so that I may do the work of the Lord!' In the ordinary moral universe, the good will do the best they can and the bad will do the worst they can. But if you want to make good people do evil things, you'll need religion."

Consider the millions who have died from AIDS because of religion's refusal to promote condom use.

Consider the institutionalized discrimination promoted by our own religion against blacks, women, and gays.

And all of it is based on supernatural beliefs without one shred of evidence.

Lebowski might counter by saying that religious people are happier or talking about good side-effects of religion. Is that what the debate has been reduced to? Once everything is proven false, you're reduced to: "You may not think much of Joseph Smith, but you should see our missionaries doing service in Peru!" Well you don't need to invoke God to do service or to be happy. One poll says Utah is one of the happiest states while another says Utah has the biggest depression problem. It takes more than a little poorly done social science to convince me.

I will say that I'm grateful Mormonism taught me to avoid certain vices (e.g., smoking, alcohol). And I enjoyed interacting with my neighbors, which Mormonism forced me to do. That's about it.

When I had a son it was actually my doctor who recommended this, so I group the mdical profession right there with religion.

[creekster]

At this point the question is less about whether Monson will show up.

I think he'll make an appearance.

If the question is whether he'll say something crazy, then the answer is an unequivocal yes. Never has a conference gone by without him saying something crazy. The same could be said for every last one of them.

This post is a perfect example of why I usually don't even bother to engage you. Given how you have defined terms and limited the engagement, there is no possible way you could be wrong. So what's the point? You're just as religious as any of us here, and you know it. We all define our terms and find out that we are right and live our lives the best we can. That's all you're doing, it's just that your terms seem to include showing up here from time to time (and maybe elsewhere) and making inane comments seemingly calculated to do little more than vex and annoy. Maybe you should go do service in Peru instead.