How can you tell the difference between a chemist and a plumber?
Ask them to pronounce unionized.
while I love this joke. . . . chemists will write it different. . . un-ionized.
or, maybe, say "neutral" or "ground-state". . . . .
How can you tell the difference between a chemist and a plumber?
Ask them to pronounce unionized.
Please define what "the cage" is exactly.
Oh Oprah has authority alright. And she got the POWER!
Um...is there going to be a pop quiz later? I suck at math.
That goes the other way even more strongly. Attempts to set the fulcrum in the same place for everyone not only affects everyone's fulcrum, but affects those whose fulcrum most comfortably placed differently from yours in a manner that is particularly harsh.
I don't see it as coming from God, but I see no reason that should be relevant to you. I only asked for integrity on the matter. If you want to step up and say "God says women aren't equal, so he gave men authority", I have no desire to counter that; the admission suffices for me. It's the pretense that there is equality in face of the disparity in authority that I find demeans you.
In order: yes, yes, yes, I don't know, yes, yes, no (AFAIK), no, yes, probable yes, no, no, yes, yes. In each case that had authority, they were able to use that authority to more effectively leverage their influence. For example, Ghandi without an organized support system to listen to him is just a guy in jail. You would never have heard of him.
I didn't say one way or the other, so there is nothing to agree with.
What you are not addressing is the fact that all of these individual fulcrum's are interconnected and moving one affects them all. This is like living in an HOA, you all may be individuals, but each of you as individuals have a say in the association as a whole as well. It's more than just a "me" thing.
Yes, actual authority is important. A key point in this is that the source of the authority comes from God in this instance. If the Church gives authority to someone that God is not actually backing, it turns into apparent authority where it looks like they are an agent of God, but they truly have no legitimate/actual authority. That can cause problems. You seem to be implying that this authority can be changed on a whim by man, but the only being that can change this is God. If you do not believe in God in the same way, then you see this from a worldly view.
Question for you. Ghandi, did he have authority? Martin Luther King Jr., did he have authority. Mother Theresa, did she have authority? Confucius, did he have authority? Plato, did he have authority? Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, Madame Curie, William Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci, Hellen Keller, Thomas Paine, Oprah, Martin Luther... I could go on and on. Was it authority that made them great?
![]()
I understand that for an LDS person, or a person still holding an LDS notion of "authority", there is a specific definition of "authority" that is deemed as traceable to the Universal Standard Authority. A lot of folks think "authority" requires some higher level of official sanction or official position in the affirmed correct value system. OB would likely relate to this as having the sanction of "experts" in one field or another of human endeavor, or maybe even "government" recognition.
Jesus might have felt he had authority because of his special relation to the Father, for example, and he might have felt obliged to honor the office of the Chief Priest or Pharisees or priests of his day "as they sit in Moses' seat". . . . but clearly, he also viewed integrity and truth as bearing authority on their own merits, and ranked that above a mere "office" or "recognition" by any presumed source of validation.
Gandhi did not claim "authority", but "virtue". Martin Luther claimed "scripture". Mother Theresa claimed "compassion". Confucious claimed "wisdom". Plato claimed "reason". Albert Einstein claimed "math" and "intuition". Madam Curie claimed persistence and dedication, Shakespeare claimed understanding, Da Vinci claimed imagination, Thomas Paine claimed liberty.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Helen Keller, Oprah, and Nelson Mandela all claimed Nietzschean progressivism to the vulgar cheers of an uncomprehending press. Helen Keller was an innocent exploited by sophisitcates, Oprah is a calculating wench, King Jr. had elemental character in his own right, but exploited association with a crowd of exploiters. . .. willing to ride the wave of political activism. If only anybody actually believed in or paid attention to what he said, it might have actually made a difference. . . . as it is, the black folk were only exploited and turned into the stockade to be kept as a leige class for the special exploitation of the elites. . . .. dependents belonging to the government. . . . mere puppets for socialism. . . .
Nelson Mandela lacked the essentials of personal truth but was a good stooge for the use of statists. I call him out because of his atrocities(necklacing) and other immoralities. Right out the Trotskiite notebook. Mao and Stalin and Pol Pot are his "set" of cohorts.
The folks who fall into the favoritism of statists will have the blessing and "authority" of the statists, but can do nothing fundamental to lift folks out of the statists' powers.
Please define what "the cage" is exactly.
Which is why it's important to me to do everything I can to have that fulcrum point be a place that God says is best for everyone. If it is moved by one group or another, somebody else will always be offended. This is why it's important to have God, who sees all and knows all help out with the process.
I also find it interesting that if a person moves from the seat on one side of the teeter totter; which is designed to be the most useful spot, balanced spot, as well as comfortable spot to another position why would you complain about discomfort and try to force others to move to make it more comfortable for you. That's your choice, why force everyone into a position of discomfort because of your choice to move?
Putting words in my mouth again? I never said what you put in quotes, you are just trying to interpret things in a negative light because it suits you.
Lets put it this way, and I'm sure you will disagree again.
Men = 1+3+4+4
Women = 6+2+2+2
Both have completely different numbers that go into their equation, and yet Men=Women.
You are free to feel my belief in God demeans me, and I am free to believe your lack of faith in God limits your view.
I don't necessarily agree with some of your answers or feel any actual authority they had was either late in the game or made minimal difference in what they were able to accomplish. Ghandi's support system you mentioned was not there because of any actual authority he had. It would have been there regardless.
Martin Luther was an adversary of the pope and was excommunicated from the church. He may have started with some authority but much of his life's work was done without the backing of authority.
I say most, if not all of these individuals would have been just as influential and effective in their lives without direct authority.
Sure like you say, it can help, but it is a small side note and what they were able to accomplish had much more to do with who they are rather than any authority from a pope, government, or organization. In fact, they often were in opposition to some such group.
If we had a God, or a pantheon, that spoke for themself/themselves, and set things up directly, I would have no reason to object. Instead, we have many different people claiming for speak for God/the gods, and their messages are not always consistent. You can certainly find religious people who think the fulcrum needs to be set by the couple involved, and not in a place set by society. Why does your claims of God's opinions hold more weight for the rules of society than theirs? Why would theirs hold more than yours?
No one is asking you to move your fulcrum, they just want to be free to move theirs. Do you really want to say that your discomfort with their choice of a position is sufficient reason to disallow their moving it?
Saying "if you want to say that" implies that I want to say "that". So you start this paragraph by saying you are not actually putting words into my mouth, but go on to accuse me of wanting to and claiming I am denying myself. Let me channel my inner OB and let you know that I know you are playing word games, that you cannot actually see into my soul or innermost desires, and that you need to stop pretending not to believe in God. I learned these things based on our conversations.I used the phrase "if you want to say that" as an indication that you have not said that. If you had said that, I would have used "when you said that". I'm aware that you would not say it so directly, of course. It's merely the inevitable consequence of what you have said, a consequence you deny to yourself.
Your logic is unequal. Treating everyone the same is unequal. Forcing everyone to be your version of "equal" is unequal.History has taught us that when those with authority claim they can maintain 'separate but equal', the reality becomes unequality. When only men have authority, all decisions made come from the perspective of men.
Besides, I would use math like:
Men = (1 ± 1)+(3 ± 2)+(4 ± 3)+(4 ± 2)
Women = (6 ± 5)+(2 ± 2)+(2 ± 2)+(2 ± 1)
People come in wondrous variety, not pre-made forms.
I apologize for not understanding precisely what about my beliefs was the demeaning part to me, and for thinking it was my belief in God.Yet, earlier in this very post you were complaining of me putting words in your mouth, from a similar statement. I was very clear on what I thought was demeaning to you (the rationalization that women can be equal when denied equal authority).
If you are trying to break authority down to the different levels, that's fine, but as it relates to authority to act in the name of God you have to have that given to you from God.
If you want to act in the name of the USA, you have to have that authority given to you by the people of the USA.
If you want to act in the name of your local chess club, you have to have that authority given to you by the chess club members.
You just need to realize that the chess club president will have an uphill battle when trying to sit and vote in congress meetings if he was not voted in to congress. You can try, see how far you get, but when it's all said and done and push comes to shove you will be sent home and any decisions you make for congress will not be valid.
They all most likely have different methods of bestowing that approval, but it should be express authority for it to be binding. If you are taking authority you can also do that as far as you are allowed, but it is most likely not binding.
It is also possible that OB and I have not reconciled the point that in a church that believes in God, that authority must come from God. If OB does not believe in God he will have troubles believing and understanding this and will approach it from a here and now social or other perspective. Tough to reconcile ideas when you are in different places. This is why in order to understand the perspective of someone else as much as you possibly can, you need to first understand the base point where your views diverge.
I can for the most part understand what OB is saying, he can understand what I am saying for the most part, and we can agree to disagree.
We can continue to discuss or argue the finer points of things and hopefully come to a mutual respect of each other, but realize that we are in different places.
So the only way you will believe in God is if he directly speaks to you and tells you what he wants?
As to society, we should all have a say, but that's a point. I should be able to speak my mind and push what I feel is important as much as the next person.
We are in a society, and all in this together. What makes you think we are all on our own teeter totter? If that was the case, who cares and sit on the ground wherever you want. As it is, it's my analogy and we are all on one teeter totter.
Saying "if you want to say that" implies that I want to say "that". So you start this paragraph by saying you are not actually putting words into my mouth, but go on to accuse me of wanting to and claiming I am denying myself. ...
Your logic is unequal. Treating everyone the same is unequal. Forcing everyone to be your version of "equal" is unequal.
I believe I said equal weight, not that they were twins or exactly the same.
A 10 lb bucket of corn and a 10 lb bucket of iron have the same weight. Are they the same, no. Can you do the same things with them, no.
They have different functions, but are both important in their own right.
If any decisions are made by a man and not revelation from God, that's when there are issues.
Men and women can have equal value, and equal weight without being clones.
I prefer a world of men and women as opposed to Imperial Stormtroopers.