Cantousent

I agree. When defending the honor or name of a nation, they often aren't really concerned with the well-being of it's people, but more so defending the concept of the country. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sometime these interests coincide.

The connection at my wife's work is terrible. Well, the connection is okay, the computer is a pentium 133. This is maddening. Ugh. Anyhow, Lucius, I was saying your mother might have had the same opinion put forth by Hild. I would prefer to translate it as "t is a flaw, either to believe in everything or nothing."

My momma is a what? " <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It's actually quite similar to one of meta's signiture quotes. Your mother might have been of the same opinion.

Ironically enough, your definition is subject to a relativistic interpretation... " <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Of course. I appreciate someone noticing, from the outset, that I providing compromise. Most folks probably might not realise that I conceded anything at all. This is a matter of definition. There are examples, broadly taken, of absolute morals. What there are, however, are arguments over definition of the specifics, like murder, incest, theft, etc. I might do a search later and see exactly what Cloris wrote. I'd rather not fight a shadow, so hopefully her arguments are still floating in cyber-space.

The dictionary definition is too sterile for my taste. The language lives within us, so let us come to our own agreement of how we understand the term. I'll give it a try, and then folks can raise points as they see fit. Relativism is the belief in debateable standards: the belief that the fine details of right and wrong, goodness and badness, or truth and falsehood are not absolute but change from culture to culture and situation to situation. Nevertheless, there are universal truths that transcend situation, time, or space. I can live with this definition of relativism. I don't expect that my definition, used solely for the sake of this discussion, will meet with "universal approval." Nonetheless, I'll submit this message and hope that we can inch towards some sort of consensus.

On this? Considering that most religions consider they and only they to be right and the others wrong and they have to convert people so they can be saved its kinda hard sitting in the middle of the fence. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hostile atheists often have the same characteristics in my opinion. However, I don't see why such a discussion should be doomed from the very beginning. People of good faith and tolerance should be able to engage in respectful debate. TEETH himself made used a term, relativism, that he has since refused to define. It might be the starting point from which we can embark on our journey.

sounds tasty

My codename is Bandit Hyena.

I think it's important to understand the areas where we are in complete agreement, the areas where agreement is impossible, and then, finally, to focus on areas where agreement is possible. The most important step is to agree, first and foremost, on the terms. You and I have come to a working agreement on "relativism." Actually, I offered that I would take "relativism" as I myself might use the term "good manners." Why don't you give a more detailed explanation of what you mean and perhaps we can build on that one term.

Good God, I didn't even know we had such a word. Funny, means something like "hidden woman hatred" or some such in Greek. hahaha. I agree that there is a fine line between gritty and pointlessly ugly. That point might not be defined by the reader or the author so much as both the reader and the author. ...Or it may be defined by posterity.

Star Wars is a powerful story of redemption. On the other hand, it's weird to have a church celebrate a series like this. Why not celebrate the Lord of the Rings, then?

Just because English originated in England doesn't make it your sole possession, foolish ones.

This is why I find math most appealing, myself. On the other hand, part of the problem is that we can't conceive of a universe in which 1+1=2. In fact, math is the language that defines the box in which we live, and it's impossible, at the point of mathmatics, for any of us to think outside of the box. If it turned out that, in some other part of the universe, 1+1=2 wasn't a true statement, we would simply be unable to understand it.

This one is too small to keep. I'll have to throw it back into the ocean. TEETH, you can do better than this one.

<Eldar goes into his "back in the day" mode> For sheer character, you losers don't have anything on Monte. For sheer irritation and an ego to put you to shame, Gromnir looms over everyone here. I know Vol sometimes irritates folks. :D hahahahahaha Maybe a little. Anyhow, I like Volourn. Nevertheless, that's not important. What is important is that Volourn is one of the few faithful members who's been here from the very beginning. BIS, Interplay, and Obsidian. In fact, he's keenly interested in KotOR 2 and NWN 2. That's like a whole cyber lifecycle. Finally, he's involved in multiple areas of the board. Whether folks like it or not, he's a part of what defines this community.

Certainly meant much more in jest than the literal translation would imply. Generally, if I refer to you as a "yutz" or a "doofus," I'm not serious.

This is actually a rather small community. I would detail the elements that created the community, as you've said, but that entails going back in history to the "glory days of BIS," the "fall of the house of Interplay," the "trail of tears to Obsidian," and the "infussion of new blood" as a result of KotOR and NWN2. As meta said, there are a variety of fora here. Perhaps it would be useful to discuss the sheer spread. For instance, my wife and friends often think I

I was fond of the music for Shadowlands, the RPG. Great system.

Stupid Card. I won't ruin Xenocide for those who have yet to read it, but I'm greatly disappointed by what Card's done with the Ender series. I've already found the Bean line sadly lacking. Entertaining, no doubt, but lacking in substance. The Ender line has gone from the promise of the first two books into all sorts of nonsense in the third. Like the Bean line, it's entertaining, but lacking. ...Or perhaps he showed a remarkable lack of restraint and reached beyond the extent of his abilities. At any rate, I'll finish the last two books, one for Ender and one for Bean. Maybe Card's abilities will extend as far as he has reached. Who knows?

Ok, you doofus, it wasn't quite that bad. What I mean is, I was able to post bail.

Walsingham: Maybe you've just read a bit too much Clancy. The same thing is happening with me as I read the Ender's series. I still like the books, but I found myself heaving a sigh of relief when I discovered that Card stopped both lines of the series at four books each. ...And I've finally managed to get into Xenocide, but if I had read that book first, I would never have read the other books in the series. I need to get away from science fiction, but I'd like to read a few more "just for fun titles." I think I'll read Master and Commander next. I should go out and buy the damned movie.

I tend to game with folks I know for one reason or another already. The last time I invited someone from online to game, she acted as if I were a pervert simply for asking her if she'd like to join our game. ...And that's someone who went to the same school, for crying out loud. I can't even blame her, since I worry about meeting strangers to play. My DnD games are parties. We usually grill something, have snacks and dessert, a wide variety of beverages. Everyone has showered recently. We all practice personal hygeine. I don't want to end up in a weird group that takes this stuff too seriously. So, while I'd love to play in a Lovecraftian campaign, I probably won't unless I can convince some of the other players in my groups to try it. Since we don't have a lot of time, that probably means it will be a while before we get to that point.

The graphic novel "Kingdom Come" which features Superman in retirement is an excellent read. My brother-in-law wanted me to read it and so I did. It had been about a decade since I'd read a comic, and so I figured it would be a quick read. It was not only a quick read but also excellent entertainment.

This attempt made it onto CNN headline news. The library did it mostly for publicity. My sister is the head of technical services, but she's always getting into stuff like this. I went to her library for the Tolkien faire. I've been there to help with author book signings. I'm going in July to play Dumbledore (however the hell its spelled) for the Harry Potter parade. My brother, who is 6'8" is playing Hagrid.

I've always thought it would be fascinating to try a Cthulu game. Unfortunately, the local crowd only goes in for Dungeons and Dragons. ...And by local, I mean both the crowd here in Sunny So Cal and my DnD group in Las Vegas NV. It's a hell of a drive just to play a game. (Las Vegas is my home-town, so I guess DnD isn't the [/b]only[/b] reason.) I think Lovecraft created a setting beyond his ability to write. His books are good enough, but the setting is great for games.