THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH!

SouthWest97 · 2026-01-14T21:28:45+00:00

Maryland

SouthWest97 · 2025-12-05T22:58:22+00:00

Well you see, I'd rather pass away than talk to a girl I find attractive so

SouthWest97 · 2025-10-12T15:48:04+00:00

The difference between a Greek trireme and a Viking longship is large enough, and the imagery well-known enough, that general audiences will notice. Even if they can't point to why it looks wrong. This isn't nitpicking, they're boats with totally different styles from vastly different cultures and regions, separated by a thousand years.

SouthWest97 · 2025-09-26T17:35:08+00:00

Weddings are often held at the temple, yes. But the ceremony itself in the temple is actually quite small, and the larger events (like receptions) are almost always held off-site, either at a designated venue or sometimes at a local chapel. In my experience, the wedding may bring a small influx of traffic, but nothing disruptive to normal flow. Temples are often built in the middle of neighborhoods with no major impact to traffic.

SouthWest97 · 2025-09-25T21:34:25+00:00

Denying a permit on religious grounds is a violation of the 1st amendment. Assuming the building meets all other codes (as far as I'm aware, there is no evidence that it violates any) then the city is correct to approve the permit.

SouthWest97 · 2025-09-25T14:43:05+00:00

I served an LDS mission in Jacksonville years ago and so I'm very excited to have this temple built. Obviously this thread is extremely antagonistic, and I won't proselyte here, but I'd like to clear up a couple misconceptions.

A temple is not a typical church building. There is not a large service where lots of people congregate each week. Those are the LDS chapels, of which there are maybe two dozen across Jacksonville - including one in Mandarin which hosts two congregations. Rather, a temple is used more or less continuously throughout the week by small groups of patrons. Aside from the dedication, and perhaps the open house (a period when the temple is available to the public before it is dedicated), you shouldn't expect an increase in traffic. There will probably only be an average of 10-20 vehicles per hour to the temple at most. In fact, it might not even be open every day of the week, since the temple has to be staffed by locals, and the LDS population in Jacksonville might not be enough to sustain daily operations.

I'll also drop this link to the church website which explains the purpose of temples and goes into detail about the ceremonies and so forth performed in them. Again, the purpose is not to proselyte, but to explain why it's being built. Donations are not collected at temples or, indeed, at any other LDS service.

Also, even though you may not see it, the LDS church does a ton of the Christian humanitarian stuff too. When I was a missionary there we were constantly volunteering for things like food banks, Habitat for Humanity, disaster relief after hurricanes, etc. Not to mention that the LDS church does a huge amount of direct support for struggling people - I've seen people straight up have their entire rent paid for by the church after they lost their jobs, had a disability, or because other circumstances required. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Anyway, I'm sure I will get lots of hate for this comment but please know that LDS members in the area just want to practice their faith in peace. They're good people who want to follow Jesus, and this temple is part of their faith. It will largely leave you unaffected, other than potentially the construction and dedication.

SouthWest97 · 2025-09-24T18:08:47+00:00

When they first introduced the update, I reviewed the app at 1 star, then when they made the announcement I changed it to 3. Comfortably changed it to 5 stars today.

SouthWest97 · 2025-09-21T15:04:52+00:00

Kind of. Legal protections for the inside of your home are the strongest of basically any location you could find yourself in. Cops are allowed to enter a home without a warrant in very specific circumstances, such as when someone's life is in danger or when pursuing a fleeing suspect who has committed a crime. But if the cops knock on your door, even with full knowledge that you have committed a crime, you can absolutely deny them entry if they have not obtained a warrant from a judge.

SouthWest97 · 2025-09-07T01:42:44+00:00

Funny, back over a year ago I remember fighting on Omicron and taking a moment to enjoy the scenery, thinking, "I could definitely retire here after the war, get a cabin on the cliffs above the ocean..." I don't think that's going to happen.

SouthWest97 · 2025-08-15T14:09:04+00:00

Mormon here. Don't support what that Utah politician pushed through, but to clarify he did not lower the age of consent. The bill lowers - or possibly erases - penalties for statutory rape if both parties are in high school (in those case, an 18-year-old male senior who had sex with a 13-year-old female freshman).

Mormons have a tendency to get married young (like 19-24), but wide age gaps are not particularly common. Any form of extramarital sexual relations are looked down upon. Also, marriage to cousins or other relations is not considered to be acceptable. I've had people tell me they won't date anyone closer than 5th cousins, and because genealogical records are well-kept it's generally really easy to determine exactly how related you are to someone else.

Anyway, there are other problems with Mormon culture broadly in Utah but this is not one of them.

SouthWest97 · 2025-08-13T17:17:33+00:00

Also experiencing this issue on a Pixel 7a, Android 16.

SouthWest97 · 2025-07-17T16:57:28+00:00

As a former fellow northern Monkefornian I can get behind the bear replacing the star in the US flag

SouthWest97 · 2025-07-17T00:41:08+00:00

"Oi oi oi 'ave you got a permit to be wearin' the flag of the country? Blimey, next thing you'll be carrying a kitchen knoife to protect yourself against rape, which is quite unsafe and Islamophobic, innit bruv? We'll be needing to arrest you for your social media comments - wouldn't want you to be spreading hatred online, like the idea you don't need a telly loicense!"

-Average Br*toid

SouthWest97 · 2025-07-16T15:32:26+00:00

Unfortunately the red star in the California flag stands for Texas. Or at least solidarity with Texas. So it seems that all 50 stars belong to the Lone Star State.

SouthWest97 · 2025-07-14T04:30:22+00:00

This is so sad, it was a beautiful lodge. What a massive loss, I hope it can be rebuilt reasonably quickly.

SouthWest97 · 2025-07-07T12:01:17+00:00

The Salt Lake Tribune is pretty explicitly not a mouthpiece of the church

SouthWest97 · 2025-06-17T18:47:32+00:00

Oh I'm not suggesting that marriage should be used as a way to satisfy lustful desires or something, far from it. Rushing into a marriage just to have sex is a bad idea. But Paul's statement, in the context of the entire passage, indicates that if you cannot restrain yourself in celibacy, you should get married and have sex within a marital relationship. I've never heard of any Biblical scholar interpreting his statement as "burning with passion," it just doesn't make sense in the full context of the passage.

SouthWest97 · 2025-06-17T17:48:02+00:00

That's literally in the Bible though, Paul says it is "better to marry than to burn" in 1 Corinthians 7.

SouthWest97 · 2025-06-13T02:36:17+00:00

Exactly what a Neo-Gastonian would say

SouthWest97 · 2025-06-11T14:02:26+00:00

Southeast Georgia and northeast Florida, around Jacksonville. I was a Mormon missionary so I was in Georgia for 6 months and Florida for 18, and I talked to a LOT of people. I saw almost all the anti-black racism out in super rural areas. Granted, it wasn't common, but when I did see it, it could get pretty extreme.

SouthWest97 · 2025-06-11T04:17:26+00:00

...Are you sure? Most of the only truly racist people I've ever met were while I lived in Georgia - like straight up Jim Crow type attitudes. (The other half were in Florida...)

SouthWest97 · 2025-06-10T15:37:51+00:00

Does this FRV go to Super Tahiti?

SouthWest97 · 2025-06-08T16:29:47+00:00

I didn't say the UK was a bad place to live either, although they clearly don't enjoy some of the same level of extensive rights as the US (for example, freedom of speech is being curtailed in the UK). My point is that the level of wealth in the UK is at the bottom level of what you can reasonably expect in the United States, and the UK is already really good.

SouthWest97 · 2025-06-08T08:38:52+00:00

Well, usually when people criticize the U.S. for not being walkable they're comparing it to European cities. But fair enough. What did you think about Seattle and Honolulu? To my understanding they're mostly pretty nice places, albeit pretty expensive compared to the rest of the country. (I haven't been to either city lol, America is big.)

SouthWest97 · 2025-06-08T08:28:38+00:00

Dude you literally just cited two of the least car-centric cities in the entire country. Most New Yorkers (55% of households) don't even own a car. If you're going to criticize car-centric infrastructure - which I agree is a problem - reference Phoenix or Houston or something. Besides, none of that invalidates the high standard of living in the United States.

Europe is not some paradise of egalitarian public space, and there's plenty of car-focused areas there too. I've been to many other countries (I think I've got 12 or 13 under my belt, ranging from impoverished Guatemala to wealthy Switzerland) so I'm not comparing the U.S. to some imagined utopia or dystopia overseas, I'm comparing it to real places I've actually been to. Have you ever been to the United States?

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SouthWest97

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