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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (4366)	11/2/2000 7:51:05 PM
From: Skeeter Bug	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

>>i do the best I can. And that's what I believe. << that's all you can do. right is being a positive influence on people. some ways i do right are: 1. respect all people. everyone has neat insight into life due to their special and unique experiences. 2. provide encouragement. all else being equal, if a person is told they can be successful they will be more successful than if they are told they are a waste. people tend to live up to expectation. 3. give people hope. i'm buying some computers and installing them at a friend's mother's day care center. young kids will be exposed to computers and educational software. my friend's family will develop networking skills. the children will have a context for going to school and learning math. they will have an incentive to learn. what a return on a $1500 investment! 4. share knowledge. i'm guiding a number of folks toward database application books. i started on visual vasic. now i'm into linux/apache/mysql/php programming. it might not help them, but it might influence their kids someday. the ways i do wrong will go unmentioned ;-) i've thought of a good way to stay in focus is to consider what type of truism you want on your grave stone (i don't reflect on this as much as i should). i think the world w/b a much better place if folks went to the cemetery occasionally and pondered what is really important in life (i've never done it, but should). do we want "i drove a nicer bmw than my friends" imprinted on our headstone forever? a lot of folks act like it. i ran across a nice quote the other day. "i can't hear you b/c your actions are speaking too loudly." i do believe in god and that helps me stay centered. god tells me i'm a knucklehead and i prove it daily. seriously, i have a good idea what i ought to be doing to be the best possible person and i fall darn short. btw, i'm a christian that doesn't believe in the eternal hell some folks like to batter people with. i respect god b/c of his character, not b/c he's all powerful. the god i respect would NEVER burn someone in hell forever w/o actively revealing himself to the person (i believe that can be done in this life or the next). when that happens, i believe everyone will know it. i respect a lot of nonchristian folks for their excellent values and character. i could not respect god if he burned my friends in hell forever. i would not want to live knowing my friends were being tortured forever (sounds so stupid to me!). i do not understand the mentality of folks who glibly toss around the hell doctrine w/o fully understanding how uncaring and uncompassionate it is. i bring this up b/c religion was an issue in a prior post and somebody posted about gore burning in hell with what i perceived as almost glee. the religious right doesn't represent all christianity. not mine, for sure.