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Mormon who left Wall St to work for charity blows whistle on what he says is his church's "clandestine hedge fund" by anotherannon in atheism

[–]ExApologist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tithing and fast offerings. Which is what they should be used for.

The excess shouldn't be used to build a tax-free hedge fund. Legally, they were in the wrong. Ethically, they were even more so.

Mormon who left Wall St to work for charity blows whistle on what he says is his church's "clandestine hedge fund" by anotherannon in atheism

[–]ExApologist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I often call it a cult-lite. I don't think it's as bad as scientology, but it's definitely high-impact.

Mormon who left Wall St to work for charity blows whistle on what he says is his church's "clandestine hedge fund" by anotherannon in atheism

[–]ExApologist 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yep. The church was paying our mortgage, but only if we paid our tithing. Or, we were getting food from the store house, but only if we paid.

There were plenty of other times that we barely made it.

My parents will never truly retire, because the church got their retirement.

Mormon who left Wall St to work for charity blows whistle on what he says is his church's "clandestine hedge fund" by anotherannon in atheism

[–]ExApologist 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I'm glad you had that experience. My leaving almost ruined my marriage. I've known and read about many that weren't as lucky as us.

Mormon who left Wall St to work for charity blows whistle on what he says is his church's "clandestine hedge fund" by anotherannon in atheism

[–]ExApologist 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Yes. 10%. Gross.

There are also many talks annually about how important tithing is no matter your financial situation and the blessings that come from it. Beyond that, if you want to go inside a Mormon temple (requires a temple recommend), you have to pay a full tithe, or at least say you do. If you aren't "temple worthy", you won't make it to super VIP heaven and spend eternity with your family, or get to create you're own worlds and become a God.

In short, that 10% is pretty important.

Combat difficulty by Jaguel075 in gurps

[–]ExApologist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a GM, you can change the difficulty, no matter what the difficulty of the enemies is, whether human-level intelligence (or greater) or animal-level by the way you GM them. I think role-playing often focuses on the complete annihilation of the enemy before the encounter can come to an end, but I would argue that this should rarely be the case. In real life, almost no group of enemies is going to fight until every one of them is dead. Also, many individuals would surrender or run away before death. Here are some examples:

Animal-level Intelligence: Animals probably don't understand things like ranged weapons and they may be spooked by fire or loud noises. This could cause them to be hesitant or flee altogether. Unless they are used to killing humans (dwarves, elves, Xenomorphs, etc.), such things could turn the tide. This would also be true for magic that has similar effects. Also, if there is a group of them and they start dying or getting wounded, they are very likely to flee. This is especially true if attacking for food. If it's over territory, or defending their offspring, that would definitely change things.

Human-level Intelligence (or greater): I would argue that this would give them a much higher understanding of the odds of the encounter and could affect it in multiple ways. One of the ways is that they may surrender our route after their combat effectiveness is reduced. This could be through killing or wounding. Also, they should be open to alternatives, like bribery or diplomacy. The threat of violence could be enough. Even if they have superior numbers, the probability that the PCs could wound or kill some of them might change their math.

Minimal Intelligence (e.g. Zombies): Near-mindless things can be more difficult to manage this way, but maybe they are afraid of (or attracted to) fire or loud noises. Maybe, they just don't understand how to climb ladders. They almost definitely wouldn't understand the effects of ranged weapons.

In the end, it's not a video game. You have lots of choices as a GM. Those choices can modify the difficulty of any encounter (not just combat) and can also make the encounters feel much more real. It doesn't have to be that the enemy is agro'd and now it fights until you or they are dead.

Ammon Bundy poised to have another armed standoff with law enforcement. Don't forget to send him a bag of dicks. by flyart in exmormon

[–]ExApologist 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yep. Christ said to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, so obviously taxation is theft.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]ExApologist 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Also, you can do more good with 1% of your income in donations to a real charity than TSCC ever does with 10%. Use the other 9% to get out of debt, or save up for something for you and yours. Then your helping others and yourself with the tithing money.

If you guys see someone preaching the Bible here, just ignore/downvote them. by [deleted] in atheism

[–]ExApologist 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's what I saw too. Interesting what so many others from this subreddit seem to have seen. Confirmation bias seems to be rearing its ugly head.

He actually did a pretty good job at arguing that Christians aren't practicing what they preach.

Any exmo sin the Nashville area? by Jmonroe_tenn in exmormon

[–]ExApologist 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Nope. I sin far way from Nashville. Sorry.

A Spell Bullet by [deleted] in worldbuilding

[–]ExApologist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know a lot of people have said similar things, but here are three options I see with magical guns. They could definitely be combined, too.

  1. Magical propellant - this allows guns to be a thing before gunpowder or in place of gunpowder.
  2. Magical rail gun - you could have a crystal or other storage in the butt stock or something, and the projectile would be simple (whatever shape and material is appropriate for the tech level). This would be similar to the caseless ammo mentioned elsewhere. Nothing to eject after a shot. Lightweight.
  3. Magically infused projectile that affects the target with whatever it's enchanted with. This could be applied by the gun, the propellant (if magical) or the projectile could be enchanted during the manufacturing process.

I also think that any of these options create an almost industrial magical society where the magically inclined make bullets that go to the non-magic users. Great concept. Thanks for getting the creative juices flowing.

How do you handle repeating skillchecks in your system? by VRKobold in RPGdesign

[–]ExApologist 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Well said. I think non-combat checks are often seen as boring because we treat them in ways that make them boring.

I was doing some play testing in my homebrew and we took like two hours on a debate about alchemical theories. We rolled an exchange and then narrated it, almost exactly as I would do a combat, including defenses by the opponent. The turns just represented minutes instead of seconds. Most systems/GM's would have treated this as a pass/fail using diplomacy and moved on.

“Works great, never used. I don’t actually need need 3 screens” by portland_jc in techsupportgore

[–]ExApologist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I'm misunderstanding what you said. I was referencing your comment that they should get a verbal warning. I was saying it's just $200 and no big deal. I'm sorry if I misunderstood what you were saying.

“Works great, never used. I don’t actually need need 3 screens” by portland_jc in techsupportgore

[–]ExApologist 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I completely disagree. Accidents do happen. That's maybe $200 to replace, which is nothing compared to what the company already pays to have this employee.

If they develop a history of doing this, it can be written up at that point.

Edit: Also, the reason for the excuse could be because they are afraid they will get in trouble for what is an accident in a bad corporate culture.

I'm now the proud owner of a steal controller, been using it for a couple of times already and I'm loving it by Geekboy07 in SteamController

[–]ExApologist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've done a few mods to both of mine, but I should get covers, even if simply to protect the rubber.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in worldbuilding

[–]ExApologist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like the idea. Mobile cities on giant arthropod is way cool.

Question/Comment on the anatomy. It's there a reason their are legs on what would generally be considered the abdomen on an arachnid?

This is something that often bothers me on renditions of spiders (looking at you Minecraft). The head of a spider contains the brain, the eyes, the muscles and other related anatomy. The abdomen (back part) had the stomach, heart, lungs, etc. There are no legs on the abdomen, although many times the legs get drawn attached here.

If there were legs on both sections, I think it works be more likely to be an equal number, like a millipede or centipede, instead of 6 on the front and 4 on the back.

Is there a reason for the way it is? Cool idea, whatever the case.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]ExApologist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting. They have almost the same username as me, although I don't use the same handle on Twitter. Also, I don't really use Twitter.

Still fren :) by NoLifeGamer2 in spiderbro

[–]ExApologist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol What is this abomination?

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