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yes, the Spanish inquisition, the Crusades, witch-hunts, etc. were very effective applications.

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Biology is what keeps us from being inbred. Living creatures have a natural instinct not to mate with their direct relations. The only thing I can directly think of that Christianity did that had a profoundly positive effect was during the middle ages, when monasteries were the preservers of literature from antiquity and places of learning. But one can argue that Christianity was also a factor in the rise of the dark ages itself, so I guess that balances out.

The thing is, it's impossible to tell whether the 'boons' of religion wouldn't have happened without it, whether it's quite easy to point to the excesses that religion directly gave rise to, from giving legitimacy and cause for people to go on countless wars and slaughters to hindering the use of condoms in AIDS-ridden Africa.

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Let's be honest: if religion wasn't around, other excuses would have been found for massive crusades, pogroms, torture, wars and murder. I'm not defending it, and I don't really agree with it myself, but humans are like that. Jingoism being a main replacement, if you like..

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Yes, but at least people would be honest about it instead of calling it "god's work".

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Biology is what keeps us from being inbred. Living creatures have a natural instinct not to mate with their direct relations.

Biology doesn't really keep us from being inbred. It's just evolution motivating us not to. My point was that religion has at times taken the place of educating the masses, making them not do stupid things by telling them it's morally wrong instead of explaining the real reason (maybe because nobody knew the real reason.) Religious dietary laws are a good example of this, I think. I'm not advocating this method of controlling people in today's society, but my impression is it has proven useful.

Also, saying that religion's positive contributions are impossible to prove, but that the negative ones are quite easy to point out seems a tad unfair. There's a difference between religion causing something to happen (impossible, since religion in itself cannot do anything,) and assholes using religion to give legitimacy and cause for people to go on countless wars and slaughters, and hindering the use of condoms in AIDS-ridden Africa.

There's a difference between religion and what people that are religious are doing. I haven't thought/read about this as much as I should, but maybe I would say religious fundamentalism is bad, whilst religion is maybe too general a concept to really critique?

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Yes, but at least people would be honest about it instead of calling it "god's work".

"At least"? I guess that would make it alright then.:erm:

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I think there are plenty of motives other than religion behind the atrocities of history. Blaming religion for all of it is a pretty unsophisticated view, and I say that as someone who really doesn't like religion.

Also: Clever bastard.

An atheist and entrepreneur from New Hampshire, Bart Centre, is enjoying a boost in business for Eternal Earth-bound Pets, which he set up to look after the pets of those who believe they will be raptured.

He has more than 250 clients who are paying up to $135 (£83) to have their pets picked up and cared for after the rapture.

They would be disappointed twice, he told the Wall Street Journal. "Once because they weren't raptured and again because I don't do refunds."

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I'm sure I heard this scam/service ages ago as part of a stand-up routine or on a sitcom or something.

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yeah... it's an old business idea. But I don't agree that it is a scam, unless he wouldn't really take care of the animals.

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I think I've said it before, but my primary issue with religion is how it's viewed/used in many cases.

I'm fine with Option A, that being;

- Live by the Ten Commandments/similar scripture

- Consider the guidance of God #21293 in your daily life

And there are people who do this, no doubt there.

But the number of outright psychopaths who claim to "talk to God" concerns me. The number of things that have been done "in the name of God" concern me. I'm not saying organized religion is a totally bad thing (though I do think in many cases it's used utterly improperly), but I think it might be better off not being around as it is. A reformat, if you will.

But eh, not really the place for such discussions.

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So... 12 days to our second Norway trip. This time to Oslo, if the Icelandic volcano will let us fly.

Any ideas what would be best to see there in two days?

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So... 12 days to our second Norway trip. This time to Oslo, if the Icelandic volcano will let us fly.

Any ideas what would be best to see there in two days?

might I suggest the Oslo airport.

Edited by elmuerte

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The Opera! Also the Royal Palace, Akershus fort, City hall, and the other tourist traps.

You can take a boat from Aker peer out to the half-island of Bygdøy, where there are a cluster of museums, including a Viking one with two ships and everything that was found with them. There's also Nansen's ship, and a folk museum.

There's a giant park full of naked people* called Vigelandsparken, very nice for a picnic.

There's always cool concerts and events going on, especially if you are of the metal persuasion. Elm Street and Rockefeller are good rock places to check out, or just find an event calendar online.

*: The naked people are mostly statues.

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Thanks Hermie, these suggestions will surely help!

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I started noticing dead spots on my original DS touch screen when starting Picross 3D at the beginning of the year, and just as I finished the game tonight, the screen started displaying colored lines and developed an intermittent jitter.

Way past warranty, so it'd cost $75 to fix the lines alone according to Nintendo customer support. That's significant enough for me to consider a replacement.

Looks like it's hard to find new units of the original run. I'm looking at DS lites, since I still make use of the GBA port and the DSi doesn't have one, but I seem to remember hearing they had some easily broken shoulder buttons. Is this still the case?

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I started noticing dead spots on my original DS touch screen when starting Picross 3D at the beginning of the year, and just as I finished the game tonight, the screen started displaying colored lines and developed an intermittent jitter.

Way past warranty, so it'd cost $75 to fix the lines alone according to Nintendo customer support. That's significant enough for me to consider a replacement.

Looks like it's hard to find new units of the original run. I'm looking at DS lites, since I still make use of the GBA port and the DSi doesn't have one, but I seem to remember hearing they had some easily broken shoulder buttons. Is this still the case?

I seem to remember reading that the DS Lite was discontinued, The DSi is a lovely piece of kit though.

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I just realized that I can still use my original DS to play GBA games on the top screen even if the bottom screen dies entirely, since the main menu can be controlled with the buttons. :getmecoat

DSi it is, I guess, though I would have thought the DSi would be cheaper after the release of the 3DS.

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I can confirm a lack of GBA port on the DSi. I think someone mentioned the shoulder buttons in the 3DS thread. The DS that's 'mine' (we have one of every generation except the XL, as a household, which basically means shammack bought them and passed the old one(s) on to me if I wanted them) is the Lite and I haven't broken the shoulder buttons yet.

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I have dead triggers on both my DS lite and my DSi, it seems to be a fairly widespread problem. Seems the suspect culprit is just those systems being designed such that it's easy for pocket lint to work its way into the contacts for the triggers. (My original DS still works fine, despite having been through far more abuse.)

If your DS lite's triggers never seized up, you probably don't treat your DS in such a fashion that would cause problems with the DSi.

Also, yes, the DSi has no GBA slot.

The DSi is a nice little system though.

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I always kept mine in a sock. Maybe that has helped the shoulder buttons to continue to work.

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I recently had to replace the touch screen on my DS, because I would use WHATEVER was around as a stylus. It was cheap (8 bucks) and relatively pain free, save for the expense of time. A previous posted commented on shoulder button cockupery, and that can be easily remedied by having a can of compressed air up in there to just blow out all the shit that's worked its way into the system.

Getting a DSi is a good idea if you have the extra cash, but don't feel obliged to, because fixing a DS is relatively easy also

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