I once made the AI give me about 10 planets (leaving him with one planet left) for a peace treaty. Then I invaded his last planet. I did the same thing with the other two AI's I was at war with. My alignment didn't suffer (such an act is both dishonorable and evil imo) and the last AI to whom I offered peace for planets didn't seem all that concerned about the treachery I had perpetrated against his allies in a simliar deal.

The AI needs a memory.

And alignment needs to be affected by more than simple event choices. I'm thinking invasion tactics, diplomatic conduct, etc.

Hehe, possibly mate, possibly. On the other hand the topic of this post is rather suggestive of another possibility. What, indeed, did happen to principles? Some would rather die than submit to perceived tyranny, and many have died doing just that. It seems however that the AI is rather too pragmatic on that note. I enjoy a little more backbone in at least some of my opponents. Perhaps I'd have enough respect for a show of strength in the face of overwhelming superiority that I might have chosen _not_ to utterly crush them.

The church IS accepting money from the tobacco company.

Why wouldn't they?

There was a big campaign to block the sale of beer and wine in a city I was living in. The churches were accepting large contributions to fight beer and wine sales by liquor stores in the next town. They won. Money makes a man act funny.

Well it's about damn time! I hope the church can also remove math and science from the local schools and get at least 3 hours a day of bible studies back into the curriculum! We need to focus more on God and less on alcohol and blasphemy.

The Church was already paid by the alcohol and bread industry. That's why you have Bread and vine as Christ's body and blood. If the tobacco industry pays enough, you'll get Christ's spirit in churces as well, embodied as "holy smokes".

This is no debate for GC2 forums.

Add all you like. It's an open forum.

I was pointing out absurdity brought on by organizations, money, and politics (you know, reality). For instance, there is the common perception that "the Church" is against science, when it is in fact very much for science (other then a few minor aspects of science such as, say, human cloning). Traditionally, "the Church" at its central/highest order of organization is for the advancement of understanding the universe and all in it (being men of education and intellectual curiousity), while it is the uneducated laymen or local church leaders that are against anything "controversial" (as such things traditionally challenge items they or their followers "take on faith" and causes worries that other things "taken on faith" such as the Church's teachings may also become "challengable" leading to a loss of followers which could cause their followers into the forbidden/taboos and cause a loss of their quality of life or afterlife, or more realistically, a loss of individual power/wealth/status/etc for the local leader or the unquestioning followers as their community shrinks).

While the ideal of "Equality for all in all things" has mutated into a political movement/pressure against teaching math and science in the government funded and supported American public education system because not all the students can do equally good at it, and therefore, the actual courses must be reduced or eliminated entirely.

Both are examples of how ethics in real world settings lead "good" (or "good minded/oriented") to do things "not good". Local church leaders order a stoning of road scholar teaching their flock that the earth is not the center of the solar system. Organizations out to better the life of all the poor children of America cripple those poor children's future by having their maths and sciences teachings reduced or effectively elinimated entirely. What happened to the principles in either case? What happened was that one aspect of their beliefs was given priority over all the other beliefs and teachings that go in that belief system.

Don't forget the evil equivalent of Commune With God... usurping his throne.

Now I'll admit I'm a bit out of the loop on these things, but is the church still against the use of anesthesia during childbirth on the grounds that it undermines God's punishment of Eve?