drham3rd

I'm not sure the market can effectively produce an open Internet. What will keep Comcast from blocking Netlix or changing more for Netflix than for other web sites. In most communities, cable has a legal monopoly. I think that issue would need to be addressed first if one was to argue that we do not want the FCC regulating ISP's. Right now the cart is being put before the horse, deal with the monopoly issues first then competition would allow the market to correct the situation BUT right now market can not act without some form or regulation!!

As someone born with cerebral palsy, I experienced a lot of discrimination during my youth! I know personally how it feels to be excluded from activities because you are different! There were teachers who excluded me from activities in grade school, so it was not only the kids!! There is NO justification for actively discriminating against someone! As far as spiritual matters go, I always consider that we are to love the sinner but disagree with the sin! Its a fine line there, but I think that a big part of being Christ like is to work hard to live unto that standard! My problem with the same-sex marriage issue is that we in this country have created a set of benefits that are only attainable by being marriage! That is where the 14th Amendment comes in here! We should either afford any adult couple who choose to form a union those same benefits OR do away with the benefits so that all adult relationships are on the same footing legally!

Another example is India. I remember reading about the formation of the Indian government post the British. One point was made that when a school schedule was being constructed, they had a big problem; if every religion was accommodated their holiday..there would be no school! If the Indians can construct a democracy out of having multiple religions represented,, then that does support the notion that regardless of religion, humans can find a common moral ground. And in most of the worlds democracies, that common ground mostly reflects the Judeo/Christian/Islam ethic of the Bible!!

It seems to me that the argument about is there more evil or more good must be viewed in context of issues like history, population growth, and the ability of us to instantly know about things! Looking at history, we can clearly see that there have been worse times in the past, the Dark Ages, the Plaque, World Wars, etc. I think that in 100 years when they write our history, they will be concentrating on the technological advances of the past 60+ years and not really on the good vs evil! There has been an almost log scale growth in human population in the past 200+ years and that affects our perception of what happens. Is there more crime than in the past, maybe not if you adjust crime rates to population growth? Poverty levels were definiately larger as a percentage of population in the past. The technology increase has increased human life expectancy and that affects the way we view things also. Our instant view of the world now also provides us with a different perspective! Just think that less than 100 years ago, we would only really be aware of the society we directly lived in! Awareness of what was happening in the next state or another country required waiting for the news, sometimes weeks at a time! Now we know in seconds what use to take weeks to realize, so as the world shrinks in this regard, our perceptions of reality is altered.

Actually it is the revelations of the proxy work for those who have died that attracted me to study LDS doctrine since I was always bothered by the notion that most Christian churches pronounce that unless you accept the Lord in this life, you are condemned to hell! Being able to offer salvation to those already dead makes so much sense when you look at the overall doctrine of the Gospel! Accept this doctrine and do the work! My wife and I have many names ready for temple work, enough to keep us busy for years to come!!

My wife and I got married in May 2013 so that my 80 yr old mother could be present! We then got sealed this August in the temple. But we both have been married before so our situation is different. I would say that follow your heart and what your prayers to God are telling you. I agree with those who say that the three people most important to satisfy are you, your spouse-to-be, and God. What everyone else thinks or says in very secondary! Good luck to you both.

A suggestion from someone who has been there, try a separation first. You and your wife sit down and draw up a separation agreement that details each other's responsibilities! That should help each of you focus on what would happen if you do separate! Go Iive with a relative for 6 months and spend that time in much prayer and searching the scripture! Sometimes, being apart can bring issues into focus and help see what the real problems may be!

If we step back and look at the history of mankind as detailed in the Old Testament and the BOM, we find that we as temporal beings have a great tendency toward pride and selfish behavior that tends to separate us from our loving Father. Remember that scripture documents many a people that became "prideful and hardened in their hearts" which resulted in their turning away from God. The evil we do is a direct result of these two characteristics, pride and hardened hearts. Thus, it is not simply an issue of evil vs good, but rather an issue of what are our priorities that can lead to either humble and loving characteristics or pride and hardened hearts!

Our main problem is that we assume too much about other countries and then when we get involved, we find out our assumptions were wrong e.g Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, etc. We are always assuming that our way of life and our morals are superior to others, thus we think we should "help" others gain those same things. We never really study the history of the country, we never really try to understand their way of life or their morals! We need to stop assuming other countries see things like we do..our experience tells us they DON'T!!!

My counter argument to yours is that our country is tired of war! We just finished fighting two wars, one that started out in response to 9/11 and the other based upon a bold-face lie! Why should we waste our sons and daughters and our national treasury on a part of the world where most of the populace can care less who is in charge! Iraq was Vietnam all over again and when we left, we left an artificial situation that had no-where to go but down! The Islamic factions have shown repeatedly over history that they can not co-exist peacefully unless forced to by a dictator! One has to look at the history of these countries to understand the real situation. Iraq should have been divided into three states, each one with their own form of Islam. The unified Iraq was a British idea that really never worked! Yes ISIS is a threat, but let those countries directly threatened handle the situation! Why are not the Saudi's and others in the region forming a response to ISIS? We have too many problems in our own country, we need to concentrate on bettering the lives of our own people and let the rest of the world deal with their own problems!

I think this is a prime example of the age old problem that the press usually does a poor job of relating scientific studies of any kind. Its a common problem that is irritating but not much we scientist can do except use the Internet to really explain our results to the public! Also, I really think that this study is using sex as a measure of "success" and that seems very narrow definition of "success". I'm a husband who does most of the cooking at home, simply because I love to cook and cooking is not one of my wife's most favorite chores! What each spouse does to support the home and marriage is a complex, individual process! Having been in churches (Baptist) where we were brow-beaten to follow more traditional roles; I find the teaching of our church to be most delightful! Emphasis on the "equal partnership" of the relationship is so refreshing against the backdrop of the teaching of other churches!

Let me say my experience of being a new convert who married a long-time member; I have experienced nothing but fully love and support from everyone in our ward! Of course, there are always those in any group who one might call "bad apples" but my experience has been one of total acceptance!

As a biologist, I like to remind everyone of the simple concept that manifest evolution; that is random genetic change that increases reproductive success! That is evolution at its basic core. I use this example to demonstrate in class; take a bacterial infection of 1,000,000 cells, apply an antibiotic and kill 99.99%. That leaves 0.01% of 1,000,000 that survived the antibiotic based on random mutations in its DNA that provided resistance to the antibiotic. That is evolution in real time! Godless makes a good point above; evolution is a LONG term processes! Also, species DO NOT evolve from each other, rather they share a common ancestor based upon common characteristics. Most of the time we do not know what the common ancestor was because the fossil record only goes back so far!

Any one or group that takes human life should be labeled as evil! Of course there are many different levels of evil but murder , regardless of the circumstances, is an evil event! ISIS seems to be a very ruthless form of islamic terrorists! There is a good article at Huffington post written by Alastair Cooke (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/isis-aim-saudi-arabia_b_5748744.html) that goes into the history and the connection of ISIS with the Saudis. I recommend it as a good summary.

From my experience of a 33 yr marriage that failed, one thing to think about is that you can do everything you can to support her and fully service her needs BUT if she is unwilling to reciprocate, then it makes for a difficult relationship. I mistaking thought that I could make everything right by doing everything for her, I did all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. But, I have now realized that I was becoming a slave to her..so be careful about how you approach the issue of service to your spouse!