HL2 Episode 1 didn't even work after I shelled out the $20 for it. I complained online as did many others. No fix after 6 months. Who knows, perhaps they'll fix their bug by then. Otherwise I'm not going to buy Episode 2.
YOU LISTENING TO ME, VALVE?! OTHERWISE I WON'T BUY IT!!!!
Until I get a better system. But I'm not going to buy a new computer just for your game.
"the adherents are gullible, egocentric, deluded and practice deception, faulty logic and are eager to to lie for god."
First off, it is a sin to bear false witniss. Learn the word "some" or "some of". Then you might get lucky and make a true statement, but, even then, you'd still be bearing false witniss, unless you specifically had seen what you are describing.
Second, I owe you thanks for earning me some blessings today: Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."
Yes, in fact, I have seen miracles. I've never seen a limb regrown, except things like lizard tails, but the LORD could do it. It is a mistake to expect the desired result only in the literal manner you requested, but Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Although I didn't see it, I do believe it.
If you don't have any faith, I know the tirekicking can be easy, but you haven't SEEN it yet. Pray and ask for faith.
PS The photos could have been taken on the very same day.
I've met Krishnas that "owned" worshipping basil. They call it a god... Basil worship is against the first of the 10 Commandments. I told some of them as much, to help them follow Jesus' instruction, in particular since they CLAIM to FOLLOW Jesus' teachings, and worship GOD, alongside the rest of their pantheon, but they didn't seem to care that Jesus told his disciples to keep the 10 Commandments, and the LORD wrote the 10 Commandments into Stone.
No Gender-neutral article? Well then, what's this on the first page of the KJV Bible? "And God saw the light, that IT was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." Does that mean you're going to he-she-it LIGHT from now on, too?
Moving right along. 'A variety of people and beliefs.' There are people on/. who have used blashpemy. I hope you aren't going to "adapt" for them, as well. You have to draw your line somewhere, and it might as well be WITHIN the stronghold of your faith, rather than out there in the jungle. And it is a mistake to accomodate the "politically correct sensetivities" of somebody who doesn't even know the LORD.
"deserve the same respect as anyone" They deserve the same CORRECTIONS as anyone. If they choose to spit on the Commandments and Christ's teachings, that's up to them. But what they're not going to do is stand there cowering in sin, on judgement day, pointing fingers at ME for standing idle.
I guess I could ask what spectrographic and geological analysis have to do with faith. I posted the Genesis material b/c it is absolutely related to the topic, but not because I intended to "topple" or replace the entire field of geology with a few pages from Genesis.
As I said, the LORD could easily have compressed time to accomplish ALL THE CREATION of Genesis into 6 days, and THAT by purely "organic" "naturalistic" and "self-causing" means. That does not in any way contradict Geological analytical tools. He could have "slowed time down" again, for mantime. -OR- He could have just snapped his fingers and gotten the same result. -OR- He could have made the earth into a star treck - style holodeck. If your analytical tools tell you that the minerals were formed a billion years ago, according to scientifically-founded forensic methods, then that's just part of the holodeck.
When a geologist tells me that the earth is a billion years old, according to their analytical techniques, I take that to mean that a scientifically-founded forensic process has yielded that conclusion. It doesn't make their conclusion accurate. It's a "legitimate" conclusion, but that doesn't mean I believe it.
This conversation has dragged me all over the map to explain things to people, most of whom disregarded the truth, disrespected the LORD, disrespected Jesus, disrespected my faith... You doubt that? (uh oh, there I go AGAIN! a _question_!) The originial post was modded down to 1 just for QUOTING the Bible. If I'd quoted the greek creation myth and described the Titans or something, it would have been rated 5. k? Now THAT'S antichristian. From a group of people that CLAIMS to be open minded, THAT is closed minded.
Anyhow, I take no insult. I spent half my life doing the same impish things that I've seen over the last few days. I'm just putting the facts in there with the rest of the salad.
YOU SAID: 1.) and how exactly did he/she/it create the moon? AND THEN YOU SAID: "first off I didn't insult god and nor did I intend to."
SO NOW I SAY: I strongly recommend shedding the he/she/it "cuteness". Because it's not cute, and it's not smart; it IS flatly, impishly and unmistakenly insulting to the LORD.
and: This is MY quote: "You call me closed minded for insisting on THAT?" It is a question, not an accusation. Poorly chosen words; I was pressed for time. I apologize if you detected a note of "are you still beating your wife?" in the question, but the initial post attracted alot of attention, and took more time than I wanted to give. (Odd, considering it was downmodded to 1 due to it being a Christian post.)
Perhaps you are unaware of the convention, but when we write the word GOD it is capitalized like so: "God", unless we are discussing false/ mythical/ polytheistic/ wannabe gods, the worship of which is designated as "sin", due to the first of the 10 Commandments.
"Question - do you use the same level of accuracy when you quote god[sic]?" It's 3 am. If that's all you'd written in this post, I would not even have replied to you.
I think you should take off your angry-hat and re-read my post. You raised objections to things that I didn't even say. Genesis has some of your answers, and I wrote good responses to some of your other ones.
First off, you're talking about the LORD. Just stop for a moment and consider how stupid it is to insult GOD ALMIGHTY, be that in public OR in private. He deserves your love, your fear and your respect.
Now. (Genesis 1:27) "So God created man in HIS own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." The LORD created your species in HIS own image.
Before you persist in disputing that, make sure your genitals are in place, and consider whether you LIKE having them in place.
Now, as to how the LORD did what he did in terms of creation... Well I honestly don't know HOW the LORD did what he did. I agree with you that studying the LORD's creation is a goodly and acceptable thing, especially if it is done with a deep and genuine appreciation for the LORD's BOUNDLESS GOODNESS, for his STAGGARING GENIOUS, for his INFINITE MAGNIFICENCE, and for his LIMITLESS POWER in all things. What's even more amazing is the fact that I, his own creation, CAN STAND THERE AND APPRECIATE HIS WORK.
The LORD's power really is infinite, and creation of Genesis REALLY COULD have all been compressed into 6 days and one single day of rest. The LORD really could have done it all in that amount of time. He could have compressed geological and astrological time just to make sure that it all happened in 6 days. Or he could have just snapped and brought them into existance, carbon-14 and all. You call me closed minded for insisting on THAT ? I call it closed minded to insist that the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, who created the universe and everything you and I have ever known, is NOT strong enough to have done all creation in 1 minute. He probably just took His time since making the world was probably really fun.
Well, you've contradicted your own argument just now. On the one hand you claim that Agnosticism is the logical position. On the other hand you persist in gainsaying the contents of the Bible, God's own nature, the likelihood of miracles, the fact that God DOES look out for us (and I'm telling you, he DOES).
What have I seen with my own two eyes? Experienced? There was a light in my heart for 3 days, and ALL that I could feel towards anyone was boundless love. Love so strong that it was a physical sensation. I saw the sun at high noon in the sky on a clear blue day and it was double-encircled by two concentric 360 degree rainbows.
I've called a coin toss 16 times in a row, and I KNEW that it would be right, each time. Bust out your calculator. ( 1 / (2^16) ) = x
I've performed surgery on myself, and succeeded!
I've prayed and asked for help to get my motorcycle out from being hopelessly lost in backwoods, and my VISION was modified to show me the right way until I was back on the state highway.
I've contended with more demons than you could even guess. Those demons were the fallout of my agnostic years. Re-Read that, and don't say I didn't warn you. If you wait too long and the day comes it's going to be hell to pay. I've been there and I know.
My FAITH is STRONG. In fact, it is stronger than all the antifaith on/., the atheist's conventions and mensa combined. When I PRAY, my PRAYER is ANSWERED. I know and trust the LORD.
LIFE is FILLED with amazing events. They happen on a regular basis. One day you'll know for sure that God exists. How you've been living up till then depends on what you believe now.
It is impish to conflate virgin sacrifice and demonic practices as if they were on par with Christ's teachings. The old testament forbids human sacrifice. It also forbids killing. The new testament stipulates that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Flawed or not, the Bible provides you with no contradiction on that point.
Conflating ALL religions as if they were ancient Aztec heart-cutting blood sacrifice is a deliberate attempt at conversational derailment. But if you must know, there ARE demons in the world, and it is best to avoid them, if for no other reason than to keep the first commandment.
Yes, you're right that there are some odd contradictions in the Bible, I've seen them myself, and I'm not blind to them. I can't explain them all, but I've made a genuine effort to mitigate the contradictions or resolve them so that they make sense, and CAN be followed.
What's much MORE important than scripture and verse is the fact that I KNOW AND LOVE THE LORD, AND THE LORD ANSWERS MY PRAYERS.
I make the effort to keep good faith with God, to keep the 10 Commandments, to keep Jesus' teachings, and that effort is rewarding and fulfilling.
IF you really claim to be an agnostic then you cannot honestly claim that prayer goes unheard. Consider that. A single prayer could make a world of difference for you. Having the LORD in your life is unsurpassed, in terms of the order of importance of things.
I will tell you this, in case you decide to ask the LORD into your life, that it is important not to assume that you KNOW how things are going to happen. The LORD is in charge, and the power of faith doesn't mean you're suddenly Merlin. It means that you recognize the LORD will meet your needs in a way that HE chooses.
Ad homein argument.. I guess I could ask if that's your best foot forward.
"Atheist" is a negative faith. To be even more clear than I already was: Atheism is a faith which stipulates that there is no God. It takes as much faith to willfully disbelieve God's existence as it does to BELIVE His existence.
Most atheists probably come from the process of looking for "proof" of God's existance. Then, when they don't find solid proof, they say "God doesn't exist. I know that for fact." Perhaps not all cases are like that, but that's how it all started with me, back when I was a junior atheist.
However, if an atheist is intellectually honest, then they must also look for proof that God does NOT exist. Failing to find that, they become a agnostics. People who say "maybe God exists, and maybe he doesn't, and if he does, I certainly don't know anything about Him."
Hence the claim "Atheism is a negative faith," or an antifaith. It is a brand of faith which states that God does not exist.
Then you proceed to claim that the Atheist's negative faith will move mountains? Perhaps it would, but they don't have any faith in that, and, once they saw that faith DOES move mountains, they'd stop being atheists.
One thing you failed to consider is the possibility that your own negative faith HAS been moving mountains (in a "wrong" direction) all this time.
And that, good friend, is one of the reasons that I always advocate optimism.
Well, the forensicists wanted to explain how the moon was formed, so I thought it would be a good idea to provide the Christian explanation of that phenomenon, so that it could be seen alongside the secular explanation.
What I hoped to accomplish was to inform those people who might never have heard the Christian view, and yet wanted or needed to hear it, for whatever reason might be.
The time and place seemed particularly relevant, given that the forensic explanation was not very likely to mention the LORD, who, I believe, deserves full credit for creating the Earth's moon.
What's more, even for those who insist on naysaying, or crying "myth" in a crowded church, the verse, itself, is an interesting and fun read.
Well, I appreciate your effort, but GOD is GREAT, and when the Bible says the LORD created the world in 6 days, BELIEVE it. The LORD is GREAT!
Your statement is right, when you say that the Bible need not be inconsistent with science. That's completely true, since science is merely a method of asking and answering questions in order to test hypotheses about the behavior of material world phenomena. But Jesus said that faith can move mountains, and there is no countercheck in the scientific method to compensate for faith. In fact, the placebo effect HAS been documented, but perhaps it has not been given full recognition.
On the other hand, the Bible IS inconsistent with the CONCLUSIONS that some secular FORENSIC investigations have reached.
I've seen God's influence in my own life. I've seen miracles, signs and AMAZING coincidences. There isn't any need to subjugate FAITH in GOD to material world things, but I can say that I HAVE seen material world things that have BOOSTED my faith, and also DEFIED ANY explanation from secular forensics.
I have not taken that as a reason to abandon the forensic method, but I have taken it as a reason to question forensic evidence, and, in particular, to relegate things of this world as secondary to matters of faith.
PS: The verse that I pasted specifically said that the LORD created a light for the day, and a seperate light for the night, and that was on the third day.
-and-
The LORD really could, and did, create the world, the heavens and the earth, etc., in 6 days. Thank the LORD, since keeping a 150 million year sabbath might be challenging. Saturday, is the sabbath day, and it does not last several million years.
13And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
I don't mean to be a stickler, but it seems healthy to remember that there's more than one non-anonymous hop between the user and the proxy, since each of the intermediate routers IS a computer with all kinds of software and programs running. There's no telling what router version they run.
If they could be double-forwarding packets (100% packet logging / decrypting) then I'm inclined to keep that in the forfront of my awareness. They could (theoretically) be decrypting EVERYTHING they route.
In fact, that's precisely what the FBI's infamous "Carnivore" was made to do. It supposedly require(s/d) a warrant.
The reason I place emphasis is that it's better to be aware of the "shortcomings of encryption in the wild" than to live in a false sense of "VPN tunnel" security.
How do you propose that there is only one hop in between, for instance, San Francisco or Buenos Aires or Moscow and Sweden? (or whereever it is their server is hosted?)
Use the traceroute command to their proxy server and that will tell you how many hops there are between you and their VPN-tunnelled proxy.
Incidentally, the feedback from that traceroute informs you just how many intermediate hops could be ratting you out by silently double-forwarding your packets to an NSA-style Big Blue.
I'm not sure if you are joking, but your insinuation that "encryption is only-to-get-away-with-crime" is not correct.
There are plenty of good, legitimate reasons to want your internet connection to be safe from wiretaps.
If you lived in China, for instance, and wanted to browse pro-democracy websites, or religious websites, or anything else under the allegedly-censored regime, then the pirate party's tool could be quite helpful until the government cracked it, at which time it could just give the user a false sense of security.
In this case, I would be genuinely surprised if most Christians would actually follow through with Christ's instruction.
If I were TRYING to follow it, the deed would have to be made out to Anonymous Coward, you'd have to sue me without knowing my real name, and if you did a background check you'd find that I don't own any land; nor do I hold the deed to any house. That would make it clear you were filing a bogus lawsuit, and committing perjury on top of that. Perjury is a serious crime.
More to the point, if you'd swindle Christian(s) out of their homes based on their religious faith, you ought to consider the fact that eventually you'll have to face GOD.
Specifically, there is a commandment that says "thou shalt not steal", and another that says "thou shalt not bear false witniss against thy neighbor". Christ instructed us to keep the 10 Commandments. Salvation is predecated upon repentance. Christ did not appear on earth in order to make the world an easier place to be a crook.
Eventually God judges us.
But if you think you'd be forgiven for swindling people out of their homes then you must agree that they'd definitely be forgiven for declining to honor your bogus lawsuit.
Christ said in unmistakable terms that people are not supposed to retaliate for anything. The instruction to "turn the other cheek" is very clear. Whether you can carry through on that is a different matter.
Regarding your example, Christ didn't hurt those people, and he wasn't defending himself, either.
For clear reasons, Jesus didn't want the moneychangers making money off the temple, the LORD's house, so he kicked their tables over and told them to get out of his Father's house.
From Matthew 5, King James version. Pay special attention to verse 39.
38Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
I really doubt it is that one sided. Normally it takes alot to drive an old man to retaliate. HE might have been hearing something that YOU haven't been hearing, and that HE couldn't flag to the cops.
Perhaps you can prevail upon him to show you mercy with the following advice from the Bible:
Make peace with him as soon as you can. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do not resist evil. Do not retaliate. Always forgive. Bless your enemy. Pray for your enemy. If your neighbor sues you with the law, yield to him.
Meanwhile, don't be a hypocrite. That means you also keep the advice yourself. To be sure of that, figure out how to stop bugging him, or ask the young offenders to stop bugging him.
I must admit that my sympathy goes out to the old man, since my OWN neighborhood has been plagued by a bunch of offensive juveniles, who, for some time now, have taken perverse advantage of my goodwill, shouting profanity, taking the LORD's name in vain, and shouting jockspeak from a basketball court just in front of my house. They ingnored and sometimes threatened ME, and meanwhile I've had alot of trouble conveying to the police just how disturbing their noise has been. It seems that I've been in your shoes, but reversed.
I played basketball at their age, but it didn't turn me into a terrorizor.
Not a reassuring name for the astronauts riding atop tens of thousands of pounds of rocket fuel.
(dictionary.com) Phoenex: A bird in Egyptian mythology that lived in the desert for 500 years and then consumed itself by fire, later to rise renewed from its ashes.
But perhaps that last part suggests we could clone the astronauts back if there were a mishap.. ?
>>Ironically enough, your day of awakening was based on your demonstrably flawed sense perception.
Ad homein: "Attempting to discredit the debator rather than addressing the specific claims he has made."
First, I did not attempt to use logic to prove that God exists. I used logic to level the playing field and move science down to its rightful place.
Furthermore, A solipsist would tell you that consensus derived of corroberating empirical opinions is nothing more than phenomena corroberating other phenomena, and therefore empty. I am not a solipsist, but their argument does apply, in terms of [the negation of] your validating your own perceptions with those of other people.
When I point out that Kant's breakthrough (which was, in all fairness, Descarte's failure repackaged as Kant's success) levels the playing field between the fields of natural science and religion from the perspective of one who would default to the scientific and the empirical, I do so not in order to justify Kant's morality; Kant's morality is not all that interesting to me. Rather, my emphasis is on that levelling of the playing field, since that levelling of the field compells the intellectually honest person to reconsider religion and faith, and provides legitimate ground to disregard otherwise compelling things, such as arguments that Darwinian Speciation disproves creation.
I do not base my own definition of morality on Emmanuel Kant. But his achievement in the field of philosophy is unmistakable. He shattered the scientists "monopoly on truth," and levelled the playing field with religion.
Personally I don't think that "levelling the field" goes far enough. I've SEEN demons; I've seen miracles. I've seen signs. I pray and the LORD answers. I have a very good scientific mind, but there are things that can vex the most rational of minds until a person accepts the fact that the LORD is real, and is all powerful.
If you haven't seen it, I can understand that, but "atheist" is a negative faith, and it is intellectually dishonest, since it asserts that God does not exist, when God's existence is not a thing to be rationally proved or disproved. Agnostic is the default refuge for an intellectually honest (but spiritually lost) atheist. Go ahead, try agnostic and grow discontnent. Once you're sapped out, seek and ye shall find.
I warred AGAINST the LORD for years, before coming to terms with that.
Regarding the rest of your argument, fine, choose your own religion.
I recommend one that keeps the 10 Commandemnts.
Buddhism and hinduism both have karma, and believe me you don't want it on your tail. What's more, Tibetan Buddhusm and Hinduism are polytheistic. That means you can't abide them alongside the 10 Commandments, which are essential to Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
Regarding Islam. Mohammed spoke with an angel. Not God. That's from the verse itself. Satan is a [fallen] angel because he sought the worship of other angels, and tried to set his throne higher than God. So who cares if Mohammed spoke with an angel. As I see it, (being an infidel =) Mohammed doesn't have crudentials, since it is not up to angels to dictate faith to humans.
Christianity claims to offer salvation; I've seen days when it seemed unlikely, and other times when it seemed very likely. It also says keep the 10 Commandments, love your enemy, love your neighbor, love the LORD, help the poor, don't love money, always forgive, return kindness and blessings in exchange for evil.
As for me, I keep the sabbath on saturday, just as Jews and Muslims do. I don't believe Constantine or the Pope ever had the authority to change the sabbath day, and exodus 16 / exodus 20 make it clear that the LORD didn't want the sabbath changed.
And I believe the sistine chapel is painted with "God", who is in heaven, and therefore the catholic church maintains a sin on its chapel roof, and furthermore with the crucifixes, statues/drawings of angels and statues/drawin
Christ taught that we are to love our enemies, always forgive, never retaliate, return kindness and blessings in exchange for evil. Pray and ask the LORD to help our enemies.
As for your comment, I read it as an opportunity for rewards in Heaven:
Matthew 5:11 - 12
11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Slashdot Mirror
HL2 Episode 1 didn't even work after I shelled out the $20 for it. I complained online as did many others. No fix after 6 months. Who knows, perhaps they'll fix their bug by then. Otherwise I'm not going to buy Episode 2.
YOU LISTENING TO ME, VALVE?! OTHERWISE I WON'T BUY IT!!!!
Until I get a better system. But I'm not going to buy a new computer just for your game.
"the adherents are gullible, egocentric, deluded and practice deception, faulty logic and are eager to to lie for god."
First off, it is a sin to bear false witniss. Learn the word "some" or "some of". Then you might get lucky and make a true statement, but, even then, you'd still be bearing false witniss, unless you specifically had seen what you are describing.
Second, I owe you thanks for earning me some blessings today: Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."
Yes, in fact, I have seen miracles. I've never seen a limb regrown, except things like lizard tails, but the LORD could do it. It is a mistake to expect the desired result only in the literal manner you requested, but Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Although I didn't see it, I do believe it.
If you don't have any faith, I know the tirekicking can be easy, but you haven't SEEN it yet. Pray and ask for faith.
PS
The photos could have been taken on the very same day.
:)
/. who have used blashpemy. I hope you aren't going to "adapt" for them, as well. You have to draw your line somewhere, and it might as well be WITHIN the stronghold of your faith, rather than out there in the jungle. And it is a mistake to accomodate the "politically correct sensetivities" of somebody who doesn't even know the LORD.
Tom-ey-to, tom-ah-to, Basil.
I've met Krishnas that "owned" worshipping basil. They call it a god... Basil worship is against the first of the 10 Commandments. I told some of them as much, to help them follow Jesus' instruction, in particular since they CLAIM to FOLLOW Jesus' teachings, and worship GOD, alongside the rest of their pantheon, but they didn't seem to care that Jesus told his disciples to keep the 10 Commandments, and the LORD wrote the 10 Commandments into Stone.
No Gender-neutral article? Well then, what's this on the first page of the KJV Bible? "And God saw the light, that IT was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." Does that mean you're going to he-she-it LIGHT from now on, too?
Moving right along. 'A variety of people and beliefs.' There are people on
"deserve the same respect as anyone"
They deserve the same CORRECTIONS as anyone. If they choose to spit on the Commandments and Christ's teachings, that's up to them. But what they're not going to do is stand there cowering in sin, on judgement day, pointing fingers at ME for standing idle.
I guess I could ask what spectrographic and geological analysis have to do with faith. I posted the Genesis material b/c it is absolutely related to the topic, but not because I intended to "topple" or replace the entire field of geology with a few pages from Genesis.
As I said, the LORD could easily have compressed time to accomplish ALL THE CREATION of Genesis into 6 days, and THAT by purely "organic" "naturalistic" and "self-causing" means. That does not in any way contradict Geological analytical tools. He could have "slowed time down" again, for mantime.
-OR-
He could have just snapped his fingers and gotten the same result.
-OR-
He could have made the earth into a star treck - style holodeck. If your analytical tools tell you that the minerals were formed a billion years ago, according to scientifically-founded forensic methods, then that's just part of the holodeck.
When a geologist tells me that the earth is a billion years old, according to their analytical techniques, I take that to mean that a scientifically-founded forensic process has yielded that conclusion. It doesn't make their conclusion accurate. It's a "legitimate" conclusion, but that doesn't mean I believe it.
This conversation has dragged me all over the map to explain things to people, most of whom disregarded the truth, disrespected the LORD, disrespected Jesus, disrespected my faith... You doubt that? (uh oh, there I go AGAIN! a _question_!) The originial post was modded down to 1 just for QUOTING the Bible. If I'd quoted the greek creation myth and described the Titans or something, it would have been rated 5. k? Now THAT'S antichristian. From a group of people that CLAIMS to be open minded, THAT is closed minded.
Anyhow, I take no insult. I spent half my life doing the same impish things that I've seen over the last few days. I'm just putting the facts in there with the rest of the salad.
RUN run Run run Run.
Pant Pant Pant Pant Pant.
SWEAT SWEAT SWEAT SWEAT SWEAT.
(Bursts through door)
"It's called Orion!"
"We Know."
YOU SAID:
1.) and how exactly did he/she/it create the moon?
AND THEN YOU SAID:
"first off I didn't insult god and nor did I intend to."
SO NOW I SAY:
I strongly recommend shedding the he/she/it "cuteness". Because it's not cute, and it's not smart; it IS flatly, impishly and unmistakenly insulting to the LORD.
and:
This is MY quote: "You call me closed minded for insisting on THAT?"
It is a question, not an accusation. Poorly chosen words; I was pressed for time. I apologize if you detected a note of "are you still beating your wife?" in the question, but the initial post attracted alot of attention, and took more time than I wanted to give. (Odd, considering it was downmodded to 1 due to it being a Christian post.)
Perhaps you are unaware of the convention, but when we write the word GOD it is capitalized like so: "God", unless we are discussing false/ mythical/ polytheistic/ wannabe gods, the worship of which is designated as "sin", due to the first of the 10 Commandments.
"Question - do you use the same level of accuracy when you quote god[sic]?"
It's 3 am. If that's all you'd written in this post, I would not even have replied to you.
I think you should take off your angry-hat and re-read my post. You raised objections to things that I didn't even say. Genesis has some of your answers, and I wrote good responses to some of your other ones.
First off, you're talking about the LORD. Just stop for a moment and consider how stupid it is to insult GOD ALMIGHTY, be that in public OR in private. He deserves your love, your fear and your respect.
Now. (Genesis 1:27) "So God created man in HIS own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." The LORD created your species in HIS own image.
Before you persist in disputing that, make sure your genitals are in place, and consider whether you LIKE having them in place.
Now, as to how the LORD did what he did in terms of creation... Well I honestly don't know HOW the LORD did what he did. I agree with you that studying the LORD's creation is a goodly and acceptable thing, especially if it is done with a deep and genuine appreciation for the LORD's BOUNDLESS GOODNESS, for his STAGGARING GENIOUS, for his INFINITE MAGNIFICENCE, and for his LIMITLESS POWER in all things. What's even more amazing is the fact that I, his own creation, CAN STAND THERE AND APPRECIATE HIS WORK.
The LORD's power really is infinite, and creation of Genesis REALLY COULD have all been compressed into 6 days and one single day of rest. The LORD really could have done it all in that amount of time. He could have compressed geological and astrological time just to make sure that it all happened in 6 days. Or he could have just snapped and brought them into existance, carbon-14 and all. You call me closed minded for insisting on THAT ? I call it closed minded to insist that the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, who created the universe and everything you and I have ever known, is NOT strong enough to have done all creation in 1 minute. He probably just took His time since making the world was probably really fun.
Well, you've contradicted your own argument just now. On the one hand you claim that Agnosticism is the logical position. On the other hand you persist in gainsaying the contents of the Bible, God's own nature, the likelihood of miracles, the fact that God DOES look out for us (and I'm telling you, he DOES).
l
/., the atheist's conventions and mensa combined. When I PRAY, my PRAYER is ANSWERED. I know and trust the LORD.
What have I seen with my own two eyes? Experienced? There was a light in my heart for 3 days, and ALL that I could feel towards anyone was boundless love. Love so strong that it was a physical sensation. I saw the sun at high noon in the sky on a clear blue day and it was double-encircled by two concentric 360 degree rainbows.
I've seen the sun as a star of david over death valley. Here's a photo of the very same:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/rnr/197236852.htm
I've called a coin toss 16 times in a row, and I KNEW that it would be right, each time. Bust out your calculator. ( 1 / (2^16) ) = x
I've performed surgery on myself, and succeeded!
I've prayed and asked for help to get my motorcycle out from being hopelessly lost in backwoods, and my VISION was modified to show me the right way until I was back on the state highway.
I've contended with more demons than you could even guess. Those demons were the fallout of my agnostic years. Re-Read that, and don't say I didn't warn you. If you wait too long and the day comes it's going to be hell to pay. I've been there and I know.
My FAITH is STRONG. In fact, it is stronger than all the antifaith on
LIFE is FILLED with amazing events. They happen on a regular basis. One day you'll know for sure that God exists. How you've been living up till then depends on what you believe now.
It is impish to conflate virgin sacrifice and demonic practices as if they were on par with Christ's teachings. The old testament forbids human sacrifice. It also forbids killing. The new testament stipulates that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Flawed or not, the Bible provides you with no contradiction on that point.
Conflating ALL religions as if they were ancient Aztec heart-cutting blood sacrifice is a deliberate attempt at conversational derailment. But if you must know, there ARE demons in the world, and it is best to avoid them, if for no other reason than to keep the first commandment.
Yes, you're right that there are some odd contradictions in the Bible, I've seen them myself, and I'm not blind to them. I can't explain them all, but I've made a genuine effort to mitigate the contradictions or resolve them so that they make sense, and CAN be followed.
What's much MORE important than scripture and verse is the fact that I KNOW AND LOVE THE LORD, AND THE LORD ANSWERS MY PRAYERS.
I make the effort to keep good faith with God, to keep the 10 Commandments, to keep Jesus' teachings, and that effort is rewarding and fulfilling.
IF you really claim to be an agnostic then you cannot honestly claim that prayer goes unheard. Consider that. A single prayer could make a world of difference for you. Having the LORD in your life is unsurpassed, in terms of the order of importance of things.
I will tell you this, in case you decide to ask the LORD into your life, that it is important not to assume that you KNOW how things are going to happen. The LORD is in charge, and the power of faith doesn't mean you're suddenly Merlin. It means that you recognize the LORD will meet your needs in a way that HE chooses.
Ad homein argument.. I guess I could ask if that's your best foot forward.
"Atheist" is a negative faith. To be even more clear than I already was: Atheism is a faith which stipulates that there is no God. It takes as much faith to willfully disbelieve God's existence as it does to BELIVE His existence.
Most atheists probably come from the process of looking for "proof" of God's existance. Then, when they don't find solid proof, they say "God doesn't exist. I know that for fact." Perhaps not all cases are like that, but that's how it all started with me, back when I was a junior atheist.
However, if an atheist is intellectually honest, then they must also look for proof that God does NOT exist. Failing to find that, they become a agnostics. People who say "maybe God exists, and maybe he doesn't, and if he does, I certainly don't know anything about Him."
Hence the claim "Atheism is a negative faith," or an antifaith. It is a brand of faith which states that God does not exist.
Then you proceed to claim that the Atheist's negative faith will move mountains? Perhaps it would, but they don't have any faith in that, and, once they saw that faith DOES move mountains, they'd stop being atheists.
One thing you failed to consider is the possibility that your own negative faith HAS been moving mountains (in a "wrong" direction) all this time.
And that, good friend, is one of the reasons that I always advocate optimism.
Here, this was put on craigs just so you could see the badge in the sky:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/rnr/197236852.htm
Antifaith is still faith, and its underpinnings are just as "shakey" as those of faith.
In good faith, there is no antifaith.
Well, the forensicists wanted to explain how the moon was formed, so I thought it would be a good idea to provide the Christian explanation of that phenomenon, so that it could be seen alongside the secular explanation.
a pter=1&version=9
What I hoped to accomplish was to inform those people who might never have heard the Christian view, and yet wanted or needed to hear it, for whatever reason might be.
The time and place seemed particularly relevant, given that the forensic explanation was not very likely to mention the LORD, who, I believe, deserves full credit for creating the Earth's moon.
What's more, even for those who insist on naysaying, or crying "myth" in a crowded church, the verse, itself, is an interesting and fun read.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&ch
Well, I appreciate your effort, but GOD is GREAT, and when the Bible says the LORD created the world in 6 days, BELIEVE it. The LORD is GREAT!
Your statement is right, when you say that the Bible need not be inconsistent with science. That's completely true, since science is merely a method of asking and answering questions in order to test hypotheses about the behavior of material world phenomena. But Jesus said that faith can move mountains, and there is no countercheck in the scientific method to compensate for faith. In fact, the placebo effect HAS been documented, but perhaps it has not been given full recognition.
On the other hand, the Bible IS inconsistent with the CONCLUSIONS that some secular FORENSIC investigations have reached.
I've seen God's influence in my own life. I've seen miracles, signs and AMAZING coincidences. There isn't any need to subjugate FAITH in GOD to material world things, but I can say that I HAVE seen material world things that have BOOSTED my faith, and also DEFIED ANY explanation from secular forensics.
I have not taken that as a reason to abandon the forensic method, but I have taken it as a reason to question forensic evidence, and, in particular, to relegate things of this world as secondary to matters of faith.
PS:
The verse that I pasted specifically said that the LORD created a light for the day, and a seperate light for the night, and that was on the third day.
-and-
The LORD really could, and did, create the world, the heavens and the earth, etc., in 6 days. Thank the LORD, since keeping a 150 million year sabbath might be challenging. Saturday, is the sabbath day, and it does not last several million years.
13And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
OK. One logical hop, many physical hops.
I don't mean to be a stickler, but it seems healthy to remember that there's more than one non-anonymous hop between the user and the proxy, since each of the intermediate routers IS a computer with all kinds of software and programs running. There's no telling what router version they run.
If they could be double-forwarding packets (100% packet logging / decrypting) then I'm inclined to keep that in the forfront of my awareness. They could (theoretically) be decrypting EVERYTHING they route.
In fact, that's precisely what the FBI's infamous "Carnivore" was made to do. It supposedly require(s/d) a warrant.
The reason I place emphasis is that it's better to be aware of the "shortcomings of encryption in the wild" than to live in a false sense of "VPN tunnel" security.
How do you propose that there is only one hop in between, for instance, San Francisco or Buenos Aires or Moscow and Sweden? (or whereever it is their server is hosted?)
Use the traceroute command to their proxy server and that will tell you how many hops there are between you and their VPN-tunnelled proxy.
Incidentally, the feedback from that traceroute informs you just how many intermediate hops could be ratting you out by silently double-forwarding your packets to an NSA-style Big Blue.
Right?
I'm not sure if you are joking, but your insinuation that "encryption is only-to-get-away-with-crime" is not correct.
There are plenty of good, legitimate reasons to want your internet connection to be safe from wiretaps.
If you lived in China, for instance, and wanted to browse pro-democracy websites, or religious websites, or anything else under the allegedly-censored regime, then the pirate party's tool could be quite helpful until the government cracked it, at which time it could just give the user a false sense of security.
In this case, I would be genuinely surprised if most Christians would actually follow through with Christ's instruction.
If I were TRYING to follow it, the deed would have to be made out to Anonymous Coward, you'd have to sue me without knowing my real name, and if you did a background check you'd find that I don't own any land; nor do I hold the deed to any house. That would make it clear you were filing a bogus lawsuit, and committing perjury on top of that. Perjury is a serious crime.
More to the point, if you'd swindle Christian(s) out of their homes based on their religious faith, you ought to consider the fact that eventually you'll have to face GOD.
Specifically, there is a commandment that says "thou shalt not steal", and another that says "thou shalt not bear false witniss against thy neighbor". Christ instructed us to keep the 10 Commandments. Salvation is predecated upon repentance. Christ did not appear on earth in order to make the world an easier place to be a crook.
Eventually God judges us.
But if you think you'd be forgiven for swindling people out of their homes then you must agree that they'd definitely be forgiven for declining to honor your bogus lawsuit.
Matthew 5:40
o ld=0&commentsort=0&mode=thread&pid=15853538#158539 15
Never resist lawsuits. If somebody sues you, yield and give them MORE than they asked for. It IS the answer Jesus advocated.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=193203&thresh
Christ said in unmistakable terms that people are not supposed to retaliate for anything. The instruction to "turn the other cheek" is very clear. Whether you can carry through on that is a different matter.
Regarding your example, Christ didn't hurt those people, and he wasn't defending himself, either.
For clear reasons, Jesus didn't want the moneychangers making money off the temple, the LORD's house, so he kicked their tables over and told them to get out of his Father's house.
From Matthew 5, King James version. Pay special attention to verse 39.
h apter=5&version=9
38Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&c
I really doubt it is that one sided. Normally it takes alot to drive an old man to retaliate. HE might have been hearing something that YOU haven't been hearing, and that HE couldn't flag to the cops.
Perhaps you can prevail upon him to show you mercy with the following advice from the Bible:
Make peace with him as soon as you can.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Do not resist evil.
Do not retaliate.
Always forgive.
Bless your enemy.
Pray for your enemy.
If your neighbor sues you with the law, yield to him.
Meanwhile, don't be a hypocrite. That means you also keep the advice yourself. To be sure of that, figure out how to stop bugging him, or ask the young offenders to stop bugging him.
I must admit that my sympathy goes out to the old man, since my OWN neighborhood has been plagued by a bunch of offensive juveniles, who, for some time now, have taken perverse advantage of my goodwill, shouting profanity, taking the LORD's name in vain, and shouting jockspeak from a basketball court just in front of my house. They ingnored and sometimes threatened ME, and meanwhile I've had alot of trouble conveying to the police just how disturbing their noise has been. It seems that I've been in your shoes, but reversed.
I played basketball at their age, but it didn't turn me into a terrorizor.
Just curious, have you tried earplugs?
Not a reassuring name for the astronauts riding atop tens of thousands of pounds of rocket fuel.
(dictionary.com)
Phoenex: A bird in Egyptian mythology that lived in the desert for 500 years and then consumed itself by fire, later to rise renewed from its ashes.
But perhaps that last part suggests we could clone the astronauts back if there were a mishap.. ?
Cuz it doesn't look like news for nerds OR stuff that matters.
>>Ironically enough, your day of awakening was based on your demonstrably flawed sense perception.
Ad homein: "Attempting to discredit the debator rather than addressing the specific claims he has made."
First, I did not attempt to use logic to prove that God exists. I used logic to level the playing field and move science down to its rightful place.
Furthermore, A solipsist would tell you that consensus derived of corroberating empirical opinions is nothing more than phenomena corroberating other phenomena, and therefore empty. I am not a solipsist, but their argument does apply, in terms of [the negation of] your validating your own perceptions with those of other people.
When I point out that Kant's breakthrough (which was, in all fairness, Descarte's failure repackaged as Kant's success) levels the playing field between the fields of natural science and religion from the perspective of one who would default to the scientific and the empirical, I do so not in order to justify Kant's morality; Kant's morality is not all that interesting to me. Rather, my emphasis is on that levelling of the playing field, since that levelling of the field compells the intellectually honest person to reconsider religion and faith, and provides legitimate ground to disregard otherwise compelling things, such as arguments that Darwinian Speciation disproves creation.
I do not base my own definition of morality on Emmanuel Kant. But his achievement in the field of philosophy is unmistakable. He shattered the scientists "monopoly on truth," and levelled the playing field with religion.
Personally I don't think that "levelling the field" goes far enough. I've SEEN demons; I've seen miracles. I've seen signs. I pray and the LORD answers. I have a very good scientific mind, but there are things that can vex the most rational of minds until a person accepts the fact that the LORD is real, and is all powerful.
If you haven't seen it, I can understand that, but "atheist" is a negative faith, and it is intellectually dishonest, since it asserts that God does not exist, when God's existence is not a thing to be rationally proved or disproved. Agnostic is the default refuge for an intellectually honest (but spiritually lost) atheist. Go ahead, try agnostic and grow discontnent. Once you're sapped out, seek and ye shall find.
I warred AGAINST the LORD for years, before coming to terms with that.
Regarding the rest of your argument, fine, choose your own religion.
I recommend one that keeps the 10 Commandemnts.
Buddhism and hinduism both have karma, and believe me you don't want it on your tail. What's more, Tibetan Buddhusm and Hinduism are polytheistic. That means you can't abide them alongside the 10 Commandments, which are essential to Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
Regarding Islam. Mohammed spoke with an angel. Not God. That's from the verse itself. Satan is a [fallen] angel because he sought the worship of other angels, and tried to set his throne higher than God. So who cares if Mohammed spoke with an angel. As I see it, (being an infidel =) Mohammed doesn't have crudentials, since it is not up to angels to dictate faith to humans.
Christianity claims to offer salvation; I've seen days when it seemed unlikely, and other times when it seemed very likely. It also says keep the 10 Commandments, love your enemy, love your neighbor, love the LORD, help the poor, don't love money, always forgive, return kindness and blessings in exchange for evil.
As for me, I keep the sabbath on saturday, just as Jews and Muslims do. I don't believe Constantine or the Pope ever had the authority to change the sabbath day, and exodus 16 / exodus 20 make it clear that the LORD didn't want the sabbath changed.
And I believe the sistine chapel is painted with "God", who is in heaven, and therefore the catholic church maintains a sin on its chapel roof, and furthermore with the crucifixes, statues/drawings of angels and statues/drawin
Christ taught that we are to love our enemies, always forgive, never retaliate, return kindness and blessings in exchange for evil. Pray and ask the LORD to help our enemies.
As for your comment, I read it as an opportunity for rewards in Heaven:
Matthew 5:11 - 12
11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
God Bless You.