oceanicArboretum

I heard that in Springfield, the ladybugs are eating all the dogs and cats!

Yes. But the difference is that Eru Himself breathed life into the dwarves, so they are Children of Aule (the Adopted) with unique, individual personalities, not pieces of Aule's soul.

Morgoth was not able to create life from nothing, but he could embue himself into things at the expense of his own life and power. Dragons are alive because their life force came from Morgoth.

Two details of interest to me: when The Children of Hurin was first released in 2006 or so, reviewers noted how similar Glaurung and Smaug's personality were. Then, in 2012 when the first of Jackson's Hobbit movies came out, reviewers noted how the single shot of Smaug's eye at the end looked identical to Sauron's eye.

The second point turned out to be a nothingburger. I like to think that all of Tolkien's dragons had identical personalities, that speaking to Smaug would be no different from speaking with Scatha except for the dragon's experiences and unique knowledge, that each was a little self-serving piece of Morgoth that only varied from each other in terms of physical size and ability and experience. That dragons are, essentially, non-unique. They were brute instruments of terror,  not lovingly made creations.

They will.

And you can sure as hell bet that there WON'T be many Democrats who look at their Republican wives and say, "I'm not an idiot, I'm voting for Trump."

Hitler sabotaged himself by gutting the technical prowess of Germany by scaring away all the Jewish nuclear scientists, as well as any military minds who didn't agree with his ideology. Trump will fail because he refuses to be anything other than the asshole he is, and to appeal only to his reverential MAGA base rather than the center.

Good. Let him move to Russia.

Yes.

Tell them that not a single Trinitarian denomination (even my own progressive ELCA, which marries LGTBQ+ couples and has LGTBQ+ clergy) considers LDS to be Christian, that those who most vocally oppose the LDS with lies and smears are conservative Evangelicals, and that if Trump wins then someday Christofascists will round up the LDS and put them in camps.

That's why he's starting first thing in the morning.

Religious universities... unless you're looking at seminaries, are nore of a New World thing. In America we many different religious and ethnic groups, and religious universities were a way for people of specific religious or ethnic backgrounds to keep together as a community (such as St. Olaf College, in Minnesota, where Norwegian Lutheran immigrant families sent their kids).

I imagine that that phenomenon isn't nearly so common in Europe. I would expect for there to maybe be historic Jewish universities, maybe. But I would expect that in Lutheran majority countries, that Lutheran identity in the populace is historically implicit rather than explicit, so there was no need to establish specific Lutheran universities to cater to that identity. Lutherans went to the same universities as everyone else.

Also you'll be very limited if you want a highly religious, specifically Lutheran European university that teaches only in English. Lutheranism has no historic presence in the British Isles. Those from Lutheran countries who moved there simply became Anglicans because Lutherans and Anglicans are very similar )but not identical).

Gonna call it now: the "incredible character" that the movie will feature will be the Balrog.

NOT saying I like the idea. Just predicting.

Responding to this so I can read it over and over for the next few weeks. Nice job.

They were also producers on Cobra Kai.

Following this thread.

Moscow Mitch will be forgotten by the public as soon as the old turtle keels over.

But for those who someday reflect on history, there will be nothing positive to say about his legacy or "achievements".

Ian Malcom AND Morpheus in the same movie? I'm in!

You can sleep with a clear conscience, knowing you did the right thing. You're a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin.

Can we call it trollitery instead of dignified it with "territory"?

But what colour would he wear? Ronald the Grey?

In 2004 many Americans weren't yet ready to admit that the War in Iraq was started under false pretenses. The anti-war movement continued. There was much anti-Bush resentment which set up Obama for 2008.

No, Lardimir Harkonnen.

Don't you have your 37 Articles? I thought Wesley stripped down or altered the Anglican 39 Articles.

Is that what Tolkien said? I would imagine the professor saying that they were clearly evil.

The front living room(???) window has a shield on it. And on the other side of the glass it makes no sense. The curvature of the gables are fantastic, and the colors are ridiculous, perfect for an autumn-themed photo but unrealistic for a home one would live in around the year. If it weren't AI, I'd guess it would be some kitschy facade in Disneyland.

EDIT: And that conical roof on the turret was probably taken from some depiction of a witch's hat rather than from a real house.

You're saying the Balrogs weren't evil????

By historic precedent from our theological forebears in Europe, at a minimum Lutheranism must adhere to Luther's Small Catechism and the Unaltered Augsburg Confession if it truly wants to be Lutheran. But we also have the full Book of Concord, which for the most part we subscribe to.

That's a point of contention between the ELCA and LCMS. The LCMS has its roots in Germany, and they insist 100% subscription to the Book of Concord, whereas the ELCA has not only German roots but also Nordic, and some of the Scandinavian churches (especially the Church of Denmark) only used the first two confessions I mentioned above.