In related news, adopting a comprehensive view of the nature of ultimate reality affects your life comprehensively.
Stanford Scholars Say Religion Changes Hunting Habits
The introduction of Christianity has changed the hunting habits of indigenous people in the Amazon. While some new practices could benefit animals, others could put populations at risk.
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Interesting tidbit: “In my consulting experiences in the past, I found that estimated attendance was inflated by a factor of over 30 percent.” Also, counting people on a mission trip seems odd to me (a suggestion that comes near the end).
Many church leaders and members cringe when they hear or read about numbers and statistics in churches. Such a reaction is understandable. For many years in many churches, numbers were an obsession.…..
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I think panel two is my favorite.
Basic Instructions — Basic Instructions — How to Give Someone Hope
I am away from the internet for a bit, and cannot moderate comments. As such, comments are disa…
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This is absolutely true. One key insight: “I know much of success is luck, but I never realized how much the mindset of success comes from who you know. Luckily, who you know is up to you, not luck.”
It’s all who you know? | Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers Home, Blog, About, Projects
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This is good — especially the last sentence: “I think research in moral reasoning is important because understanding why good people do evil things is more important than understanding why evil people do evil things.”
If the world is just, only the guilty are tortured. So believers in a just world are more likely to think that the people who are tortured are guilty. Perhaps especially so if they experience the tort…
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This is a pretty good chart. It leaves out some options (and a ton of detail), but emphasizes the right things.
Click on the image below to see the full-size version: HT: Josh Byers
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Practical advice on stopping gossip in its tracks.
Pyromaniacs: How to shut down gossip and its nasty kin
First, understand what gossip is. Gossip is spreading harmful information in an ungodly manner — without love, and thus to no positive end. Its bastard stepchildren are the triplets: Strife, Dissensio…
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I am never sure how much to trust the details in these stories, but one section really leaped out at me: “He told Kim he would have to drop a case. A 9/11 case. “I hate to say it,” he said, “but being a Christian is gonna trump being an American.”
‘Imagine the Worst Possible Scenario’: Why a Guantanamo Prosecutor Withdrew From the Case
Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Couch truly believed Mohamedou Ould Slahi was guilty. He also believed that Slahi’s interrogators had broken the law — tormenting him physically and sexually, and threatening…
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Awesome comment at the end (although I do not know if it is true or not): “Do note that death insurance didn’t sell well until it was given the less accurate but more affable name, life insurance.”
Congestion pricing sounds like something to avoid since neither term is something you want. Eric Jaffe held a contest for replacement terms. Decongestion pricing is one possibility since it at least h…
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This is the best summary of the issue I’ve seen yet.
Pastor Disinvited from Giving Inaugural Prayer Because of Sermon on Homosexuality
The message of religious intolerance being delivered by President Obama, his staff, and many of his supporters is unmistakable: If you do not affirm homosexuality then you cannot be fair-minded. The m…