RicOlie_2

darth_ender said:

Well put and I agree, my friend.

That’s boring, how am I supposed to argue with people if no one disagrees with me? 😉

darth_ender said:

Separation of Church of State: what does it mean?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state#Friendly_and_hostile_separation

Ooh, I can’t resist giving my two cents here…

Freedom of worship is not equivalent to freedom of religion, despite the opinion of many non-religious or nominally religious people. Therefore, I firmly believe that politicians must be allowed to let their religous beliefs influence their policies, since for them, it is no different than a non-religious person allowing their political beliefs to affect their decisions.

So I think a Catholic politician, assuming they are actually Catholic (i.e. believe everything the Church teaches), would be obliged to oppose abortion, regardless of what the majority felt was right within their constituency. It would be wrong for such a politician to promise that he would vote to maintain the status quo (which in Canada is 0 laws restricting abortion). On the other hand, such a politician would be wrong to vote to impose aspects of Catholicism on the general population that are only required of Catholics, such as abstaining from work on Sunday (and these two categories sort of blend into each other, so there’s definitely a grey area).

I also think those working in any public institution, whether they be a teacher, a senator, or a civil servant, should be free to express their religious beliefs openly and freely, provided they do not actually impose such beliefs on others. The idea that religion is a private affair that ought to be left at home when one goes to work is absurd, in my opinion, and preventing people from bringing their religion into the public sphere is a violation of their religious rights, as far as I am concerned.

Mike O, I don’t know what to say, but hang in there. And always feel free to rant, even if no one responds. It’s good to share rather than keeping everything inside, even when we can’t offer you any help.

Purchased a 136-year-old book at a flea market in Quebec. Looks pretty interesting (it’s about/by a priest who lived during the time of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy under Napoleon in France).

Mark’s Down On Your Syntax said:

Not to ignore what everyone else was commenting on but I just read some earlier posts. My heart goes out to you both, Ric and Ray. I’ve been there, I know how it feels.

Thank you. I’ve tried to think about it as positively as I can, and that helps a lot. I got to spend time with her and say goodbye to her right before I left on holidays, and we were at a very positive point in our relationship. I made a real effort to spend time with friends this year, so I was able to get to know her, and be with her about as much as I could have. If I hadn’t made that a priority, I would be feeling a lot of regret, and that would have made this that much harder to deal with.

Thank you Bingowings. I never thought someone so close to me would die at this age. There have always been people I know who have gone through these things, but it never really seems like it could happen to you until it does.

I keep thinking about her dreams and aspirations; how they will never come to fruition now. She was always so happy, it’s so hard to think that she can’t share her joy with the world anymore.

I appreciate it.

The shock has worn off now, but I don’t think the reality of it has fully sunk in yet. I’m on the other side of the country, so I guess it still feels sort of distant and not entirely real.

Thanks guys. It’s still so hard to believe it happened.

ray_afraid said:

A year ago today my best friend passed away. Today I’m focusing on all the great times we had. I’m lucky to have had such a good, close friend like him. For 16 years we were each others sidekick and hero. We were never shy about saying we loved one another (or shouting it across a crowded bar), and I’m very glad for that.
This is for my friend, Travis:
Madness- One Step Beyond

I feel you man. I just lost a close friend yesterday. Not my best friend, and I only got to know her really well over the past year and a bit, but damn it hurts. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the good times we had in my last year of high school. It’s hard to think that there won’t be any more.

Thank you. Pray for her family too. I can’t imagine how painful it must be for her parents to lose their youngest child; to not have been with her in her final moments.

I know I haven’t been here much lately, but I need whatever emotional support I can get right now. A close friend of mine passed away very suddenly yesterday afternoon. They suspect it was an aneurysm, or maybe even a heart attack of some sort. She was an amazing person with such a beautiful personality…I really connected with her, especially in the past few months. She was selfless, always putting others before herself, and nearly always cheerful and positive. Nobody ever saw this coming. She was too young to die–we were born on the same day.

This is the first time I’ve lost someone close to me. I’m not quite sure how to handle it emotionally. I’m just grateful that I was able to spend meaninful time with her the evening before I left to go on holidays.

I wish they did every commercial like those ones…they’re a lot better than most annoying crap you see.

Not if you’re in Canada…that’s about the only time it rains. Rest of the time it just snows.

I’ve decided to join the club:

TV’s Frink said:

I was really into math in high school and I also took a drafting class with a really great teacher, so I decided to become an Engineer. I’ve been doing it for 22 years now (gulp).

Cool, I’ve often wondered what you do.

And you haven’t been doing it that long. Only four years longer than I’ve been alive. 😉

Haha, that about sums it up! There’s a lot more that could be added to eastern Canada, but it’s pretty accurate (although isn’t Bigfoot a BC thing, not a Nunavut thing…?)

It’s not a requirement for pictures to be NSFW… 😛

Wow, that’s impressive. I guess they can stack like that…

You married your long-distance relationship? How does your wife feel about that?

Yeah, pretty sure those things don’t stack that easily, LOL. 😃

JEDIT:

oojason said:

^ likely photoshipped…

Haha, just saw what you did there…

Well that escalated quickly.

It probably suggests things to him based on his browsing history. Is there any way to wipe your browsing history on a phone?

You’re wrong.
😉

JEDIT: Huh, I didn’t realize you could bold emojis.

Well that’s blasphemy if I’ve ever seen it. It’s a good thing (for whoever made those) that it’s Christian’s beliefs being trivialized and disrespected and not Muslims, or there’d be hell to pay. 😛

That’s something, I guess. But be aware that marijuana can be addictive, and it certainly won’t help you overcome your problems in the longterm.