And what YOU conveniently ignore is that tax money is going to pay religious leaders in a military that is supposed to be protecting against that kind of thing. If religious leaders want to volunteer to provide every last thing you mentioned to members of our military that are religious, I have ZERO problem with that. Let their religions pay them for their trouble, not me....
"What about the religious exemption in Obamacare? It applies only to members of certain religions. Isn't that religious discrimination and a blatant violation of "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"?"
That actually kind of works both ways. You could argue this, but if they had attempted to make Obamacare universal, including with religious hospitals, the religions would have screamed bloody murder that the law violated the 1A since it forced them to do something.
If you want a better example of the government violating the first amendment, go with the fact that there are religious leaders on the military payroll. And if THAT doesn't piss you off, you don't understand what secularism is....
While it's nice that you're looking to scientific explanations for what occurred in the bible, you're still missing the point: the Exodus story DID NOT HAPPEN. The archaeological evidence is absolutely in on that one, making looking for the causes of the plagues described within that story a moot endeavor.
"Nintendo is just doing what any other company would do back in the Shareware days...ask you to buy it."
Right, and nothing says progress like doing what was done fifteen years ago. Look, if these demos were in such demand that they needed to be limited, they'd be pirated. I'm even afraid to look, but there CAN'T be all that many pirated versions of DEMOS around, can there?
For the record Hitler was not an atheist. He was likely a pagan and the Nazi uniform belts had a buckle claiming God's favor. Hell in mein Kampf Hitler says he's doing God's will...
"Ultimately though, all of this discussion ignores the fact that there's a human being in the center of all of this, one that may be willing to make concessions in order to return to his homeland, or go the other way and refuse similar deals on principle."
What single incentive does Snowden have to return here, even if granted immunity? Based on what he's said he believes about this country, why would he want to return here to a life of constantly looking over his shoulder and being nervous every time he starts his car or orders fast food?
I mean, I'm guessing the Russians are going to treat him like a king....
Interestingly, running "penis" through the search bar only turns up a couple of my articles, though that's heavily swayed by comments results and stories about penis pills and email spam....
"The good news is that Tim is smarter and nobler than everybody (individually and collectively) in the television/entertainment industry. The solution is actually perfectly simple: the only concern is customers and what they want. The rest of the situation - e.g., all the other parties involved in actually doing that - is not real and can be safely ignored; it is not part of the "reality party.""
Yes! You FINALLY got the point of all these articles I write. It's a banner day for you, sir, now that you know all of this actually just says "I'm smarter than fucking everyone, and I have a big dong too!"
Kudos to you sir. You've reached the second level of Geignerology. To get to level three, however, requires a $1000 donation for some educational material and an auditing of your go fuck yourself....
"So Dark Helmut, and every other Atheist here on these threads, let me assure you I respect your decisions and beliefs."
This is going to sound waaaay more cruel than I intend, but I put it like this to my faithful friends: I may not respect your beliefs, but I definitely respect your right to believe them.
It's a subtle difference, but an important one, because too often people of faith are shown respect simply for the fact that they have faith, which I think is a silly reason to assign respect to anyone. But I'll fight to the death people's rights to their own religion, even if I think that religion does more harm than good and that some religions in particular are indeed a threat to mankind....
"Do you think that we definitely would have not gone to war if an atheist had happened to be President at that time?"
Not only agreed, but I'd go you one better: an atheist president would have been more likely to have recognized the Kurds as an ally and would have finished Saddam off in the 90's instead of letting him fester like a cancer for another decade. The eye would have been on the true enemy: Islamic facism, chiefly in the govt. of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan....
I'm thinking perhaps he meant that the majority of common Christians (excluding the Westboro Baptist ilk) realize that much of the DOGMA is nonsense. While Catholic leadership is extremely conservative and anti gay marriage, for instance, you'll find most Catholic parishioners are either in favor of it or don't care one way or the other.
Most Christians don't keep holy every sabbath day. Most Christians ARE selective in which parts of the bible they follow. This is, by the way, the same of every other religion as well, because deep down people are skeptical enough to know at least some small parts of any book claiming to be holy is going to be bullshit.
None of that refutes the existence of God, of course, or even the primary Christian claims, but anyone laying claims to a "perfect" book is pissing into the wind....
"There are no contemporaneous accounts of the existence of Jesus. The evidence that Jesus existed is identical to the evidence that Thor, Ganesha and Batman existed: someone who never met those characters talked about them in a book."
That isn't strictly true. There is some good evidence that a heretical rabbi by the name of Jesus did indeed exist around the time the bible describes. However, nothing described in the bible is a first hand account of this person and all first-hand evidence suggests he was just a radical preacher, not The Christ.
"Regarding your last fallacy (lie/distortion) I believe you haven't cited any specific piece of "lots of evidence" for the exodus is because there is none."
That is correct. In fact, the overwhelming archaeological evidence is that it absolutely did NOT happen. And that's REALLY important for Jews and Christians alike, since it sets the stage for the primary claims of each religion. The Jews claim to Israel and Christian's beliefs in Christ, his "fulfilled prophecies", and his claim to be God's son. Christ referred to the myth, which was a lie. That's a massive problem for Christ's believers....
And you might want to tone down the anger a bit, friend. Nobody is going to be convinced of the truth if they're too pissed off to listen....
"some of which did in fact happen and you'd be a fool to deny that Moses, Joshua, and Daniel existed."
Wally, and I say this as a friend, you want to be careful with what you say, because it doesn't make one foolish to deny that Moses existed. More to the point, it doesn't make one foolish to deny that the entire Exodus didn't happen, since that's been pretty well debunked by Israeli archeologists.
And...I mean, if Exodus didn't happen, that's kind of a big hole in the whole bible story, including Jesus' stories too. And it DIDN'T happen. You sound like the sort of Christian I typically enjoy friendships with (hell, I'm marrying a Catholic), but come on....
On the post: More Copyright Censorship: 'Straight Pride' Group Uses DMCA To Take Down Their Own Responses To Reporter
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On the post: More Copyright Censorship: 'Straight Pride' Group Uses DMCA To Take Down Their Own Responses To Reporter
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
That actually kind of works both ways. You could argue this, but if they had attempted to make Obamacare universal, including with religious hospitals, the religions would have screamed bloody murder that the law violated the 1A since it forced them to do something.
If you want a better example of the government violating the first amendment, go with the fact that there are religious leaders on the military payroll. And if THAT doesn't piss you off, you don't understand what secularism is....
On the post: Pat Robertson: Murder Committed In Video Games Is No Different Than Real Life Murder
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On the post: More Copyright Censorship: 'Straight Pride' Group Uses DMCA To Take Down Their Own Responses To Reporter
Re: Re:
On the post: More Copyright Censorship: 'Straight Pride' Group Uses DMCA To Take Down Their Own Responses To Reporter
Question:
On the post: Nintendo Restricts The Number Of Times You Can Play A Game Demo For Some Reason
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Right, and nothing says progress like doing what was done fifteen years ago. Look, if these demos were in such demand that they needed to be limited, they'd be pirated. I'm even afraid to look, but there CAN'T be all that many pirated versions of DEMOS around, can there?
On the post: Federal Judge: NYC Stop And Frisk Violates The 4th Amendment
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Apology not accepted. You'll be the first to be rounded up upon my ascendancy to Kingship Overlord Of The American People's Republik....
On the post: Pat Robertson: Murder Committed In Video Games Is No Different Than Real Life Murder
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "sins" Schooled in Style...
On the post: Why It Might Be In The US's Best Interests To Grant Ed Snowden Full Immunity From Prosecution
Forget the principals
What single incentive does Snowden have to return here, even if granted immunity? Based on what he's said he believes about this country, why would he want to return here to a life of constantly looking over his shoulder and being nervous every time he starts his car or orders fast food?
I mean, I'm guessing the Russians are going to treat him like a king....
On the post: Barack Obama: We Don't Have A Domestic Spy Program
Re: Oh, shoot! Thread already hijacked by trolls debating whether Obama is Vulcan or Romulan!
On the post: PTC Demands An End To Late-Night Fox Cartoons, Forgets What That 'P' In Their Acronym Means
Re: Re: Re: Thank you
On the post: Pace Of Cord Cutting Continues To Quicken
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Um, you can totally get that stuff, you know. It won't be in HD, but it would be watchable....I hear....
On the post: PTC Demands An End To Late-Night Fox Cartoons, Forgets What That 'P' In Their Acronym Means
Re:
On the post: Pace Of Cord Cutting Continues To Quicken
Re:
Yes! You FINALLY got the point of all these articles I write. It's a banner day for you, sir, now that you know all of this actually just says "I'm smarter than fucking everyone, and I have a big dong too!"
Kudos to you sir. You've reached the second level of Geignerology. To get to level three, however, requires a $1000 donation for some educational material and an auditing of your go fuck yourself....
On the post: Pat Robertson: Murder Committed In Video Games Is No Different Than Real Life Murder
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "sins" Schooled in Style...
This is going to sound waaaay more cruel than I intend, but I put it like this to my faithful friends: I may not respect your beliefs, but I definitely respect your right to believe them.
It's a subtle difference, but an important one, because too often people of faith are shown respect simply for the fact that they have faith, which I think is a silly reason to assign respect to anyone. But I'll fight to the death people's rights to their own religion, even if I think that religion does more harm than good and that some religions in particular are indeed a threat to mankind....
On the post: Pat Robertson: Murder Committed In Video Games Is No Different Than Real Life Murder
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Not only agreed, but I'd go you one better: an atheist president would have been more likely to have recognized the Kurds as an ally and would have finished Saddam off in the 90's instead of letting him fester like a cancer for another decade. The eye would have been on the true enemy: Islamic facism, chiefly in the govt. of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan....
On the post: Pat Robertson: Murder Committed In Video Games Is No Different Than Real Life Murder
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "sins"
Most Christians don't keep holy every sabbath day. Most Christians ARE selective in which parts of the bible they follow. This is, by the way, the same of every other religion as well, because deep down people are skeptical enough to know at least some small parts of any book claiming to be holy is going to be bullshit.
None of that refutes the existence of God, of course, or even the primary Christian claims, but anyone laying claims to a "perfect" book is pissing into the wind....
On the post: Pat Robertson: Murder Committed In Video Games Is No Different Than Real Life Murder
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
That isn't strictly true. There is some good evidence that a heretical rabbi by the name of Jesus did indeed exist around the time the bible describes. However, nothing described in the bible is a first hand account of this person and all first-hand evidence suggests he was just a radical preacher, not The Christ.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus
"Regarding your last fallacy (lie/distortion) I believe you haven't cited any specific piece of "lots of evidence" for the exodus is because there is none."
That is correct. In fact, the overwhelming archaeological evidence is that it absolutely did NOT happen. And that's REALLY important for Jews and Christians alike, since it sets the stage for the primary claims of each religion. The Jews claim to Israel and Christian's beliefs in Christ, his "fulfilled prophecies", and his claim to be God's son. Christ referred to the myth, which was a lie. That's a massive problem for Christ's believers....
And you might want to tone down the anger a bit, friend. Nobody is going to be convinced of the truth if they're too pissed off to listen....
On the post: Pat Robertson: Murder Committed In Video Games Is No Different Than Real Life Murder
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Evidence_for_the_Exodus#cite_note-2
On the post: Pat Robertson: Murder Committed In Video Games Is No Different Than Real Life Murder
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Wally, and I say this as a friend, you want to be careful with what you say, because it doesn't make one foolish to deny that Moses existed. More to the point, it doesn't make one foolish to deny that the entire Exodus didn't happen, since that's been pretty well debunked by Israeli archeologists.
And...I mean, if Exodus didn't happen, that's kind of a big hole in the whole bible story, including Jesus' stories too. And it DIDN'T happen. You sound like the sort of Christian I typically enjoy friendships with (hell, I'm marrying a Catholic), but come on....
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