Hermit

I agree that faith is only compatible with reason up to a point, but I'm not getting the cognitive leap to "evil".  Faith is certainly used as an excuse by many to justify some unreasonable moral positions, but that's not universal, and it's irrelevant to the question of whether faith and reason can coexist.

Telling another person you subscribe to a different belief system than they, and find their beliefs antithetical to your own is wrong?
 

I KNOW, rite? 
 
 
Well, you called  that.
 
Respect, LL... as usual, you were your calm, polite, nice, and dare I say 'reasonable' self when I think others might have growled a bit. I know I would have been tempted to. 
 
 

*must...resist...urge to permanently refer to you...as...Lord Diadem!*

Not sure who did this, but it's brilliant
 

What, in terms of what it says is possible and how most of us understand it, is the difference between magic and general relativity? Quantum physics? Multi-dimensional geometry? These are indisputably the product of reason. They're logical, they're mathematically describable; but most of us can't relate them to our perception of reality, and have to take the word of "experts" that they make sense.
 
But please note, I never said that religion is never unreasonable -- it's obvious that its adherents can be very unreasonable, and never more obviously than lately. I only pointed out that reasonable people can have faith, and reason alone can't refute the premises of religion.

Not sure who did this, but it's brilliant
 

I don't disagree with you in regards to what "Christian faith" is being used as a justification for in the present day. But what you're describing is a broad modern interpretation of some Christian tenets. All religious faith is by definition a strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. Those doctrines vary widely. The moral dimension you attribute to faith isn't inherent, and the belief in the fundamental goodness of God, people, love etc. is not and never has been universal. Certainly the Old Testament of the Bible is full of stonings of sinners, destruction of cities for their immorality, and other scenes that depict a God more concerned with obedience and punishment than compassion and mercy. The history of Christianity is replete with torture, murder, conquest and exploitation in the name of God.
 
"Unreasonable beliefs" are pretty hard to pin down when you're talking about religion. Someone being resurrected from death days later? Physically ascending into Heaven? The whole human race descended from one couple? Sounds absurd based on our personal experience, but the moment you accept the concept of an omnipotent God, then the boundaries of the possible are whatever It decides they are. Then again, the Earth being round, or it orbiting the Sun, or solid matter made of atoms, or quantum theory, also seem unreasonable based on common experience. Science justifies our belief in those latter things, but most of us haven't tested those beliefs ourselves, and don't really comprehend the depths and scope of contemporary science. We accept, on faith, that scientists know what they're talking about. Yet the ranks of scientists include some deeply spiritual people, who believe their research into the mysteries of the universe grants them insights into the mind of God. So I reiterate, faith and reason are not incompatible.

Not sure who did this, but it's brilliant
 

Not sure who did this, but it's brilliant
 

My work here is done...
 
my horrible horrible work
 
 

Jayzon, since your group is operating out of Millennium City, here's how superhuman registration shakes out on official Champions Earth in the United States, per p. 40 of Champions Universe, in the chapter, "Superhumans and Government." Note that that chapter also discusses registration policies in countries around the world, which vary widely.
 
In 1980, following an almost successful attempt by Dr. Destroyer to conquer the United States using several American villains as his pawns, Congress responded to widespread public outcries by passing the American Superhuman and Paranormal Registration Act. ASPRA required all innately-powered superhumans to register with the federal government (specifically, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms), providing information on their true identities, the nature and extent of their powers, and so forth. Costumed crimefighters using super-technology were also required to register with the BATF under different provisions of the Act, and to reveal the capabilities (but not precise technical details) of their devices. Although public support for ASPRA was extensive, it was coldly received in the superhuman community. Relatively few superheroes, and no villains, came forward to register, forcing the government to declare them outlaws.

The truth of the matter, though, was that the law was toothless; the government couldn’t pursue superheroes directly due not only to the negative publicity involved in targeting popular heroes, but the simple fact that without superheroes, America would be helpless before any number of superhuman threats (not to mention the likes of VIPER). Recognizing this, the government adopted a strategy of attrition. As supervillains were captured, they were identified as extensively as possible, and the information entered in the ASPRA databases; when superheroes needed government assistance or law enforcement sanction (as they often did), the price for cooperation was registration. Neither side was very happy with the result, but in the end it (mostly) got the job done, and allowed the United States government to build the world’s second largest database on superhuman powers (after the one maintained by UNTIL).

ASPRA, or the “Registration Act” as most superhumans refer to it, has been updated and revised several times since then, but never abolished. Responsibility for registration and recordkeeping was turned over to PRIMUS when it was founded in 1986. Many states and local governments have patterned their own registration laws after it. Today, superhumans are far more used to, and forgiving, of the Act’s requirements, and compliance with its mandates is more common than ever. The government can proudly point to the fact that the ASPRA databanks have never been penetrated by outsiders, nor has any information obtained through the Act ever improperly been used against a registered superhero (on the other hand, ASPRA information about villains is freely distributed to law enforcement agencies that need it).
 

We had 24 at Grandma's house for Thanksgiving:
 
Grandma (obviously)
 
Two of Grandma's brothers, one with his wife
 
Lady P, myself, and the two kids
 
Lady P's older brother and his family, including:
 
* Their daughter and her husband;
 
* Their oldest son and his boyfriend;
 
* Their middle son who returned from a two-year LDS mission that very day; and
 
* Their youngest son
 
Lady P's oldest sister and her husband
 
Lady P's older (but not oldest) sister with her husband and son
 
IBIL (see The Cranky Thread)
 
Two family friends at BYU who had no family nearby
 
There was food in abundance, lots of stories and memories shared, and no drama. It was a good night.
 
 

I'm in a race?
As out of shape as I'm in? 
I'll never make it
 

Depends on the genre of fantasy. I long ago ran an ancient Greek FH campaign set in the Hellenistic period but with Homeric and mythological deities and monsters (e.g. the first adventure involved centaurs). The deities' presence was very much felt explicitly as they interfered with the PCs adventures much as they do in the Trojan War in Homer.

I think it's just English English, which Americans improved so we could tell Mother England "We don't need U"
 
They never got the joke *Sigh*
 

If we're going to have a cold war sequel, I want NASA to get major funding to get some American Astronauts on Mars and back again! There ought to be something good about this.

Oh, my bad, I thought for some reason you were trying to gain some
I feel a bit foolish now 😮
 
But congrats on closing in on your goals!

Prayers sent to London 

We had a eleven at our table for our feast.  Six present were family (including me, obviously); two were gaming group members; one was a very long time friend of my wife's family (he's in his 90s); the on-again-off-again beau of my sister-in-law; one was student from the Los Angeles area who didn't run home for the holiday.

Not your fault, DT. 
Speaking for myself, a bit of the duldrums...
but the goodnews is I got my 50000 words for the NANOWRIMO this year.
 

Not your fault, DT. 
Speaking for myself, a bit of the duldrums...
but the goodnews is I got my 50000 words for the NANOWRIMO this year.
 

If we're going to have a cold war sequel, I want NASA to get major funding to get some American Astronauts on Mars and back again! There ought to be something good about this.

If we're going to have a cold war sequel, I want NASA to get major funding to get some American Astronauts on Mars and back again! There ought to be something good about this.