Hi Celivia
I think you took my basic premise to an unwarrented extreme.. but in a way, that illustrates the core of the problem in determining what is 'extravagant' and 'modest'...

The external frills spoken of by Peter

3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.

Is more about extravagance than normality. I find it obscene that rich rappers adorn themselves with million dollar diamond encrusted objects and other high profile identities paying $10,000 to fly in her manicurist or hair stylist.

Of course.. as Robert originally said.. the 'line' between extravagance and neccessity can be difficult to draw..but I think when peoeple are wayyy over the top, it's quite noticable. Wedding rings.. I don't think they can be included in the 'extravagance' issue, but then..if someone deliberately had one made to glorify their wealth, rather than their union.. it would be a bit suspect..don't you think?

Polycarp, thanks for your reply.

To be honest, I really don't care what Peter said or what other people do with their money as long as they earned that money honestly and paid their taxes.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of greed in the world- and like you, I'd rather see the very wealthy donate more money to charity rather than buy extravagances but I'm not in charge of their spending habit.

My grandmother never wanted anything for herself for birthdays, she asked people to donate to her choice of charities instead.
But does that mean that I, because I'd love a new charm for a bracelet, am greedy and should follow in her footsteps?
I think when you compare people to others, you can always find people who are more generous than average.

Everything is relative, even the clothes we wear. What is acceptable in one culture seems offensive in another.

Sometimes you just have to let go of frustrations with others' choices and habits and actions and live your life the way you think is best, and let others decide what they prefer to do, no matter how selfish, greedy, 'slutty' or superficial their choices may seem to you.

Just live and let live.

Well Foxy, now you've gone and done it.

That last post made me laugh so hard I've gone and accidentally snorted my coffee up my sinuses. I don't think it was designed for consumption in this manner.

There's a new sensation which certainly warms one's face up... Shame about the watering eyes and sneezing.

If clothing hides the real person, what about plastic surgery? It must be a bit of a surprise to marry a very good looking person with small ears,a cute nose and shapely breasts, and then your children are born with stick out ears, a big nose, and a flat chest.

Do Muslims and people who wear modest clothing really have happier marriages? I doubt it.

In Australia some of the muslim women may be hidden from the view of the other sex but their handsome husbands are free to be ogled by other women.

Do men really not think about sex when all the women are covered over? They say when interviewed that they think of sex all the time whether women are present or not. Nuns have been raped by soldiers and they've been covered over.

One thing about a society that has stricter rules on marriage and female sexuality is that it prohibits lots of availabe sex everywhere like we have in Western society. Which means there is too much fun to be had and so there is no commitment to settling down and having children and so we are becoming a dying race which will be very noticeable in another 2o or 3oyears.

I was reading an article on women who had reached 40 and hadnt had children recently. They said they had been willing to have children but blamed it on their male partners and serial relationships that break up after 5or6 years. These women ended up passed their fertility date because they either stayed in that relationship or had to spend a couple of years establishing another relationship. The men just move on to another 29year old that isnt interested in having children yet.
Doctors say it is only 3% of women who can have children at 40 and over.

This is the real problem for a society where all this sex is on tap. It becomes a dying race. Societies that strictly restrict the sexual availability of women and don't allow contraception which of course goes hand in hand with freedom of sex for women will inherit the earth in terms of numbers. Now if they were more like western society maybe it would be the answer to the earths overpopulation. Then again it may just mean a lot more sexual disease like HIV.

How about everyone take a little more responsibility for their own actions and interactions. If we are better at communicating and reading people, then your hypothetical becomes less likely.

Angelina

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