The Hall of Fire

That's deep.

I'm considering altering the conditions of entrance to the HoF to require that members have brains that "work funny". Warning: this is very oblique. This describes Tolkien's work very well. As vison said, his language is so very rich in meaning, so that even a short, primarily philological...

A very warm welcome for our newest members, Yov and IE. I am very happy to have both of you here.

My ideal of Net debate was Teremia's M00bies reads the b00ks thread, where a wealth of opinions was flung on the table like a heap of multi-colored jewels, each unlike the other, all adding to the brilliance of the total. (Forgive the metaphors of a severely sleep-deprived writer :oops:) Posters wo...

Queen B, to quote Sam, 'I does ask. And if that isn't nice enough. I begs.'

Sorry, Whist, but I have to disagree with you. Yes, you are a conservative (read right-wing if you wish), fundamentalist Christian, but you are not militant. You don't try to push your views on other people, and you are unfailingly respectful. That is not militant. One of the things that I greatly v...

Thing is, those powers are acquired through decades of self-discipline and practice and devotion. There is nothing 'magic' about it, in the sense we usually use that word.

That is exactly correct. The only thing that I would add is an intimate knowledge of and connection to nature.

Jn, the subject of the melding of Catholic and African animist traditions in the Americas in Voodoo, Candomble, Santeria and other traditions would be worth a thread of its own. I've been present during Yoruba ceremonies in which different Orisha (roughly equivalent to the Valar of Tolkien's mytholo...

Good observation, Faramond.

Yes, that is it exactly. Unfortunately, stupidity can sometimes be just as dangerous as malice. ETA: One thing that I don't want to see happen is have this thread osgiliate into a political discussion about President Bush. I know that some here are supporters of the president and others are not. Let...

I see what you are saying, Jn, and I tend to agree with you. But I don't think the analogy to wearing the yellow star is a good one. I'm sorry, but I don't see that type of thing as "persecution of Christians" in the way that making Jews where yellow stars was persecution of Jews. Rather, ...

Welcome, Melly, eärendil, and Semprini!

Eru, I LOVE those pictures.

vison, you may want to repost that lovely description in this thread: Nature's Beauty Painted in Your Words

For today, in honor Goldberry and Tom Bombadillo:

Another point, humor (and particularly gentle self-parody) is often a helpful icebreaker.

TP appears to support current legal precedent which (mostly) prohibits religious displays on government property. She makes the point that they must necessarily be paid for with tax dollars. I don't think this is an especially strong point - surely all of us have some objections to how our tax doll...

Vinnie, you are mediator as part of your legal work and hence must be able to place your hands (keystrokes?) on material which provides some guidance on how to argue civilly (ie argue an idea, rather than argue a person). It may be a Very Good Thing if you could create a Dummy's Guide to Debating o...

Welcome TIGG!

I thought about putting this in the Welcome forum, but this is really the obvious place for it. I think it is natural for people of good will to shy away from disagreeing with each other. Particularly on the internet where it is so easy for people to be misunderstood, and for feelings to be hurt uni...

Welcome Nienor!

I think (though I could be wrong) that Imp was speaking figuratively rather then literally, making the point that she was posting her own thoughts rather then responding to the things that others had written. In any event, Imp, I thought that what you said followed naturally from what I and others h...