"Losing our Religion" on NPR

[_Bhodi]

You are correct. Although what I posted was selected from the website because it should be common knowledge, I should have provided the website URL for reference. Thank you for doing so.

Have you plagiarized anything else and passed it off as your knowledge? Will you apologize for the insulting comment "Anyone who pays attention to the news or reads about politics or world history now and then should know at least some of this. Apparently you do not” since you did not know either and had to copy someone else’s thoughts? Apologizing for the unethicality is only part of the ethical necessity.

[_subgenius]

The following facts concerning the problems with religion in Iran were the basis for my question. Anyone who pays attention to the news or reads about politics or world history now and then should know at least some of this. Apparently you do do not.

• Iran is a theocracy that mixes religion and state more thoroughly than any other country in the world.

• Shiite Islam (the dominant form of Islam in Iran) gives a special place to its clerics and demands blind obedience to their rulings on religious law.

• Since 1979, the Islamic Republic has imposed a strongly patriarchal order.

• The contemporary Shiite revival has given Iran influence in the Muslim world and especially among other Shiite communities in the Arab world and South Asia, challenging the Sunni secular nationalists and traditional monarchies.

Iran is clearly not a country that one should be proud of overtaking in terms of religiosity. Apparently the fact that Americans are slightly more religious than Iranians is a point of pride for you. Think about it.

Last time I was in Tehran, the taxi in which I was riding was stopped at a checkpoint near the airport at night. Two bright lights came on from the floor behind the front seat. They were mounted so as to point up into the rear passenger's face so that the passenger was essentially blind to anything outside the cab. The muzzle of an automatic weapon was thrust through the rear window and I was ordered to show my passport and visa to someone I could not even see. One small example of Iranian theocracy at work.

So, what is your point? The evidence form the OP simply can easily be concluded as proving that freedom from the ills that you seem to list for Iran could be alleviated by being "more religious"...since America is being viewed as more religious than Iran it would appear that the problem is that Iran is not religious enough.
Otherwise it is obvious that you simply want to insert more anecdotes, as some sort of appeal to authority, about you being in Iran in lieu of actually understanding the references you posted....ironic.

If you are referring to Ludwig, he is Hungarian, not Belgian (although I am not surprised that you appear not to know the difference).

its more likely that i do not care, or that it was intentional since he has done little to be humble about being Hungarian.

Turns out that Ludwig and I share a number of common experiences. Both of us served in the military during the Cold War era. Both of us have worked professionally in physics and engineering (and specifically with microwaves and electromagnetic field phenomenon). Both of us apparently think a lot of Hungarians (an attitude based on long experience).

congratulations, you make a lovely couple

If you think Ludwig is a dilettante, I would suggest that you have this miss-perception because you do not have a clue as to what he actually knows and understands.

this forum has an abundance of clues, he is no doubt well read across a variety of authors and subject, has a vast life experience both professionally and personally and appreciates everything he offers....of which is primarily unoriginal in as much as it usually authored by another...which is why he has made exhaustive postings about not being able to post his favorite cartoons....obviously a crippling burden to his ability to "express" himself....wherever i got the notion of "dilettante" must surely be baffling.

Try to imagine what the average Hungarian would think about you and your demonstrably bizarre Mormon-based worldview if you tried to describe or explain it on a Hungarian language message board. Your apparent dislike of English language sentence structure, failure to capitalize, etc., don't reflect well on your efforts in your own native language. You can bet that Ludwig writes better in Hungarian (and perhaps even in German or Russian), than you do on this board in English.

i suggest you Google "grammar nazi".

Actually, i take the same position as Ludwig....just as he has admitted, i only read the first sentence of a post and then i decide everything else about the poster and the post from that...wait...no, i don't do that...my myopia is only afflicting my eyesight.

So, considering that your above listed "problems" are not occurring in America... exactly how do you explain your original statement of there being a "problem" with America being more religious than Iran? The evidence of "world history" seems to point to the only "problem(s)" being in Iran not America.

Got an actual clarification as to what the "problem" is with America being "more religious" than Iran?
Are you concerned that if we become less religious we will become more like Iran???

(and as far as getting on Hungarian forums ,blah blah...i am afraid i no little about the Rovas alphabet and besides...
https://www.LDS.org/ensign/1990/06/the- ... w?lang=eng )

[_DrW]

You are correct. Although what I posted was selected from the website because it should be common knowledge, I should have provided the website URL for reference. Thank you for doing so.

Have you plagiarized anything else and passed it off as your knowledge? Will you apologize for the insulting comment "Anyone who pays attention to the news or reads about politics or world history now and then should know at least some of this. Apparently you do not” since you did not know either and had to copy someone else’s thoughts? Apologizing for the unethicality is only part of the ethical necessity.

What I posted about religion in Iran was my knowledge. That is why I asked subgenius if he had ever been there. I used some of the text from the website because it was a succinct and up to date summary of the points I wanted to make about religion in Iran.

I should have put the text in quotes and/or provided the URL, but I didn't. Having spent time in Iran since the fall of the Shaw, none of it was new information to me.

[_Bhodi]

What I posted about religion in Iran was my knowledge.

No it was not, it was Juan Cole's knowledge. It was word for word Juan cole. If it was your knowledge, you would not have had to plagiarize.

That is why I asked subgenius if he had ever been there. I used some of the text from the website because it was a succinct and up to date summary of the points I wanted to make about religion in Iran.

Have you ever been there? I suspect not, but...?

I should have put the text in quotes and/or provided the URL, but I didn't. Having spent time in Iran since the fall of the Shaw, none of it was new information to me.

Highly unlikely. If this was true you would not have had to plagiarize.

You did not answer my question, have you plagiarized anything else. This is not a gotcha question, I do not have an example to pounce on you when you answer, I am just curious if you will be honest.

In your claimed PhD program, would they have accepted quoting word for word "common knowledge" as plagiarism or not? Curious about the ethicality of the program. Also if you do not mind answering, what school was it? Again just curious.

As for the rest, keep in mind, you accused me of being someone I am not, which was untrue. You claimed knowledge of Oman, then said things about Omani culture that were not only completely untrue, but 180 degrees opposite of truth. You claimed something was common knowledge and to prove it had to plagiarize someone else completely (not even paraphrase) and pass it off as your own thoughts, to prove how common it was. Now you have claimed to have worked in Iran, and I suspect you will have as little knowledge of that culture and region.

As I said before, the data points all seem to indicate complete fabrication.

[_DrW]

What I posted about religion in Iran was my knowledge.

No it was not, it was Juan Cole's knowledge. It was word for word Juan cole. If it was your knowledge, you would not have had to plagiarize.

That is why I asked subgenius if he had ever been there. I used some of the text from the website because it was a succinct and up to date summary of the points I wanted to make about religion in Iran.

Have you ever been there? I suspect not, but...?

I should have put the text in quotes and/or provided the URL, but I didn't. Having spent time in Iran since the fall of the Shaw, none of it was new information to me.

Highly unlikely. If this was true you would not have had to plagiarize.

You did not answer my question, have you plagiarized anything else. This is not a gotcha question, I do not have an example to pounce on you when you answer, I am just curious if you will be honest.

In your claimed PhD program, would they have accepted quoting word for word "common knowledge" as plagiarism or not? Curious about the ethicality of the program. Also if you do not mind answering, what school was it? Again not curious.

As for the rest, keep in mind, you accused me of being someone I am not, which was untrue. You claimed knowledge of Oman, then said things about Omani culture that were not only completely untrue, but 180 degrees opposite of truth. You claimed something was common knowledge and to prove it had to plagiarize someone else completely (not even paraphrase) and pass it off as your own thoughts, to prove how common it was. Now you have claimed to have worked in Iran, and I suspect you will have as little knowledge of that culture and region.

As I said before, the data points all seem to indicate complete fabrication.

Bhodi,

Why don't you stop making a fool of yourself and PM me for references to folks on this board who know who I am and what my experience is overseas.

[_Bhodi]

Bhodi,

Why don't you stop making a fool of yourself and PM me for references to folks on this board who know who I am and what my experience is overseas.

You just plagiarized simplistic information that actually is common to those who have studied the Middle East, and claimed that you plagiarized it BECAUSE it was common knowledge. It was so common and easily known that you had no other choice than to plagiarize it, rather than present your own knowledge?

Let me put it another way. You are so well educated on a subject, your only method of talking about it is to copy someone else's thoughts, word for word?

And then you say that I am making a fool of myself?

Keep in mind your comments about Oman was ridiculously incorrect, so there is some utility in plagiarism.

If you don't want to say about your school, ok.

You have twice now avoided the question about plagiarizing other things. Have you plagiarized anything else?

[_DrW]

Bhodi,

Why don't you stop making a fool of yourself and PM me for references to folks on this board who know who I am and what my experience is overseas.

You just plagiarized simplistic information that actually is common to those who have studied the Middle East, and claimed that you plagiarized it BECAUSE it was common knowledge. It was so common and easily known that you had no other choice than to plagiarize it, rather than present your own knowledge?

Let me put it another way. You are so well educated on a subject, your only method of talking about it is to copy someone else's thoughts, word for word?

And then you say that I am making a fool of myself?

Keep in mind your comments about Oman was ridiculously incorrect, so there is some utility in plagiarism.

If you don't want to say about your school, ok.

You have twice now avoided the question about plagiarizing other things. Have you plagiarized anything else?

Time to cut the sling again.

I will wait for your PM.

Have a nice day.

[_subgenius]

Bhodi,

Why don't you stop making a fool of yourself and PM me for references to folks on this board who know who I am and what my experience is overseas.

You just plagiarized simplistic information that actually is common to those who have studied the Middle East, and claimed that you plagiarized it BECAUSE it was common knowledge. It was so common and easily known that you had no other choice than to plagiarize it, rather than present your own knowledge?

Let me put it another way. You are so well educated on a subject, your only method of talking about it is to copy someone else's thoughts, word for word?

And then you say that I am making a fool of myself?

Keep in mind your comments about Oman was ridiculously incorrect, so there is some utility in plagiarism.

If you don't want to say about your school, ok.

You have twice now avoided the question about plagiarizing other things. Have you plagiarized anything else?

+1 For the Win

[_DrW]

subgenius,

In case you have not noticed, there is an important difference between Bhodi and me.

When I make a fool of myself, I acknowledge the fact and move on. When Bhodi makes a fool of himself, he just keeps digging, either by making lame excuses for his behavior (as with the provenance of his screen name) or by simply continuing on with relentless restatements of the few things he does know or, worse yet, a lot of things he does not know.

[_Bhodi]

Time to cut the sling again.

I will wait for your PM.

Have a nice day.

No, you're running away to hide, like you did before. I'm going to keep asking if you plagiarized before, and you're not going to answer, so you've got to hide from the question. Based on your posting here, you live in a world of conflict, of contention, and of fighting and anger. When I said I did not have a quote where you plagiarized before, I was being honest, I don't, but I doubt you believe that or could even understand it.

The fact is you probably have plagiarized before, and you want to hide this.

If you admit it, you lose face, you will be shamed, and your ego cannot handle that. If you say no, then I suspect you believe I will drop another example and you will be shamed and you will lose face, and your ego cannot handle that. I doubt you could conceive that I could care less about your plagiarism, that your ego means nothing to me. I don't enjoy conflict; I do not feel the need to shame others. I do not think that this is something you are familiar with, however.

Unfortunately, you had no clue what you were talking about, as evidenced that you looked up the website you plagiarized. You then insulted others based on the imaginary knowledge you had just stolen and thought you could get away with it. This is probably not the first time, either. Now, you're stuck, and you have no option but to run away.

The internet is a funny place, anonymity is a powerful aphrodisiac, it is seductive. It can make people feel powerful and strong, but this is just an illusion. You have made some wild claims, but there is always someone who knows more in real life, and eventually that anonymity hits a brick wall of reality, as it has here. Incidentally I'm also an engineer, and likely know far more about your field than you might imagine. Most people realize that aggressiveness ends in disaster and develop some humility. I do not think you have. You posted a bill claiming significant payment. No one without a HUGE need for validation would do that, whether the bill is real or fake. That sort of desperate need for ego stroking is only going to hurt in the future. You may want to take some time off and just chill a little, or find a hobby.