Harder to acquire than they are?
This doesn’t happen in the U.S. Every member of the military is our best and brightest and should be spoken of reverently.(/s)
Is it a problem? Times change… I don’t believe these shifts in paradigm occur over days, more like years/decades.
At one point in time it was considered progressive to push for an end to racial segregation.
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I don’t know. Maybe an IQ test? Or would that be racist(lol)?
Haha, ok. But you’re doing quite well. You’re number 1 in the world ffs dude.
There’s actually a lot of truth to this. Most modern kids won’t make the cut to enrol, same goes with Aus
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You know something? The MOST POLITE and well mannered military guys I’ve EVER met are Australians. Or maybe they were just not grouchy from the change in timezone. But they’re sure as hell a lot more polite than the locals here.
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Are you sure these guys were Australian? We tend to be friendly, but our humour can be very crass/inappropriate.
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No, they were really friendly. And yeah, they were officially here from Australia for some kind of specialized training I can’t mention.
I’ve met the crass Aussies with the inappropriate humor in social settings. They’re really fun to hang with. They’re probably even bolder with the humor when speaking with people overseas. Lots of jokes I can’t repeat here.
Lots of jokes you probably can’t repeat ANYWHERE 
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Reality is stranger than fiction
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Conversed with @unreal24278 yesterday and I have a feeling lots of fiction is just watered down accounts of real life experiences that would be too absurd to be believable by a mass audirnce if the real stories were told.
I remembering watching Trainspotting and thinking people are surprised by shit like this? I’ve seen lots of far weirder shit happen to people on drugs IRL. I think the only movies I’ve seen from the West that have been capable of coming close to all this weird shit that happens in reality are from Martin Scorsese, especially Mean Streets.
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I don’t believe in them. They were created to keep people slaves, subjects and peasants. It’s similar to religion. If I believe in anything, it would be values.
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I see our outlooks are eye to eye on this subject
I don’t even mention I’m religious nowadays unless I’m asked or participating in a specific topic. People start assuming you must be intellectually challenged for just for being a Catholic even though I constantly admit faith itself isn’t rational and there are various personal reasons why one would embrace a religion, not to mention what the individual truly believes in within the religion itself.
I remember there was a Vatican priest in Bill Maher’s Religulous who outright said he knew the birth date of Christ was taken from Greek or whatever mythology and His real birth date was on a day I can’t recall atm. They should have picked his brain a lot more instead of just cutting him off after that.
I’ve been through this before, I believe religion exists as a means to exert control over the masses via instilling (typically positive) moral fundamentals. Back in the day perhaps the belief of an omnipresent source/all encompassing power was required to keep society just, humane and in line. Especially during times wherein barbarity was a concept all too common to the average citizen.
That being said, the philosophical undertones present within religious scripture can be fascinating. I was contemplating looking into Buddhism, not to convert… but to study… Until I saw the fifth precept. I felt as if I’d be a hypocrite for studying/potentially preaching ideology of which I on occasion wouldn’t abide by
I think it CAN BE and I think organized religion was created for this purpose. That doesn’t mean it’s always used for this purpose when you look at it from a micro perspective. Some families just want their kids to grow up right and treat other people right while developing a sense of community that humans normally crave.
Look more into Confucianism or read the Tao Te Ching. Buddhism is better for it’s parables and moral lessons. There’s too much woo woo stuff for my taste. I’d go with the former first.
But, at your age, shouldn’t you be focusing more on your actual school studies? Don’t waste your time with this shit. It won’t benefit you in your career. Read the Art of War if you MUST read something.
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Buddhism also just goes into the territory of pure absurdity and can be even more self-flagellating than Catholicism sometimes. Fuckers love starving themselves.
The only interesting part is how they separate karma from retribution, one being causality, with the other implying some form of cosmic intervention. That’s about it.
I took a gap year in hopes to travel, unfortunately that didn’t pan out. University doesn’t begin until next year.
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Agreed, however I don’t believe religion is a necessity to raise well rounded, morally apt children. I’m not a degenerate, although I’d think based on our conversations @BrickHead would have a stroke if his kids turned out in a similar fashion to me. Note I was raised relatively religious, going to synogauge, Hebrew school, kept kosher, put on tefillin, celebrated Shabbat every Friday/Saturday (and still sometimes do)
the whole shebang. I was involved with the jewish community. I’m now considered the “black sheep”
of the family
What’s more, within the more traditionally religious circles, certain toxic ideologies can be latched onto. I wouldn’t want my child growing up discriminating against secular society as a whole based upon the prospect of “degeneracy” that imo is open to interpretation as to what quantities as degenerate. I would want my child to be worldly, to have street smarts as opposed to being engrained within a tight knit community and not having a clue as to what is going on within the greater world around him/her. A lack of worldliness can open one up to ease of manipulation when they find themselves independent or for whatever reason entrenched within unfamiliar surroundings.
Thankfully my family never harboured toxic or discriminative ideology, though some within our community did/weren’t very accepting of others with different/progressive world views.
It should also be noted artificially pushing someone in one direction can backfire. I was always told how sacreligious tattoos were… guess who is getting a tattoo. Granted this is because I want one in relation to the music I like. It has nothing to do with religious context, I just didn’t/don’t give a shit about the religious context that dictates something as silly as getting a tattoo is immoral.
I’ll abide by a simple moral code. If possible avoid (and it almost always is possible to avoid these) lying, cheating cheat, stealing or hurting others (emotionally or physically). Take a moment to picture yourself in others shoes prior to enacting a decision/action that could potentially alter the mental/physical status of others in any way.
I wouldn’t want my child feeling guilty over inherently normal/perfectly natural concepts like masturbation, lust or sexual orientation. I’d rather worry about more pressing issues, like enstilling the danger/ramifications that can be associated with a callous attitude. I’d want my children to be polite, respectful, contributing members of society (if possible) that don’t cause a whole lot of trouble. What constitutes as trouble? Vandalism, stealing, fighting, property damage, antisocial behaviour (casual sex imo doesn’t fit under this realm. It’s very common in Aus and we are doing just fine)
Yes, of course I agree. I’ve said many times my values were not derived from Christianity although I was Christian from birth. It was from Confucianism and other stuff. It’s just that there are quite a few overlaps. Christianity did instil lots of guilt in me though and I think it’s been a net loss for me if we’re speaking purely in secular terms.
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Non political. The most American gad damn thing I’ve ever seen.
Now I kinda wish we had Wales here. We’d have Zambelli do it after Pirate games. 
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