Opinion certainty 4/5 debate potential 3/5

Tom Pierce: Defense Department Service Is as Noble as Pastoral Ministry

Tom Pierce · Everyone Else Gave Him Data. Tom Gave Them Something Different. · Aug 22, 2023 · at 15:55

Tom Pierce, a defense contractor and pastor, discusses how he reconciles pastoral ministry with working in defense technology.

0:00 / 0:17exact quote · 17.7s
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“So, in many ways, I felt like that my service to the United States Department of Defense Was just as much a noble calling as my effort to minister to church members and communities through pastoral care and scripture.”

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“You know, the excuse of I was just doing my job really doesn't fly in any of those roles. You're always making decisions of whether or not to continue to support whatever endeavor you're a part of. And it always takes courage to walk away and say, I'm not goin…”
Tom Pierce Aug 22, 2023 ▶ 21:19 Everyone Else Gave Him Data. Tom Gave Them Something Different.
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Tom Pierce Aug 22, 2023 ▶ 26:21 Everyone Else Gave Him Data. Tom Gave Them Something Different.
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Pierce: Increased human data filtering multiplies opportunities for deception
“The more human involvement that is necessary to filter and analyze data to make sure it's fit for consumption, the more you've opened the opportunity for human deception, because all of us humans have parts of us that are less than a hundred percent pure.”
Tom Pierce Aug 22, 2023 ▶ 38:12 Everyone Else Gave Him Data. Tom Gave Them Something Different.
Opinion
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“Many of the concepts that I was part of, I was involved in those discussions certainly seemed to have borne fruit in, in the way the conduct of the First Gulf War went. The logistics were really quite amazing, the way they played out.”
Tom Pierce Aug 22, 2023 ▶ 11:38 Everyone Else Gave Him Data. Tom Gave Them Something Different.
Insight
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“If, to the degree that, You have trust and confidence in your entire command structure. You don't have to understand the whole picture of what your contribution is contributing to the war effort if you trust that the cause is good and being well, well conducte…”
Tom Pierce Aug 22, 2023 ▶ 14:56 Everyone Else Gave Him Data. Tom Gave Them Something Different.
Insight
Tom Pierce: Arrogant Software Engineers Act Like Top-Down Preachers
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