Posts by hmike

29

To all the other atheists/agnostics out there

by robhic in

after you got from behind the barrier that was keeping you from thinking logically and had removed the blinders that prevented you from processing information using common sense rather than the 2000+ year old superstitions of some nomadic goat-herders, did you start to find that religious-centric or god-related statements made you shake your head in incredulity?.

case in point: just yesterday as i watched the 5:00 news, a story came on about a young man who had moved from here to california.

while in california he died but the family was so poor they could not afford to have the body shipped back to new orleans.

hmike

I recently went to a 50th wedding anniversary in which the groom and bride renewed their vows in a church ceremony. Never once in the very conservative service did either person get credit for the enduring relationship. Rather the minister repeatedly asserted that the success of the marriage was because of the Lord's blessing it. It seemed sad to me to not give these two selfless people a little credit and praise.

Well, I'm not there yet--only about half way--but I don't mind giving God the credit for my enduring (even prospering) marriage. If it was all up to me, I know where it would be.

We insisted on making Him a big part of the wedding ceremony. My wife nixed the traditional wedding march in favor of a contemporary version of "On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand."

29

To all the other atheists/agnostics out there

by robhic in

after you got from behind the barrier that was keeping you from thinking logically and had removed the blinders that prevented you from processing information using common sense rather than the 2000+ year old superstitions of some nomadic goat-herders, did you start to find that religious-centric or god-related statements made you shake your head in incredulity?.

case in point: just yesterday as i watched the 5:00 news, a story came on about a young man who had moved from here to california.

while in california he died but the family was so poor they could not afford to have the body shipped back to new orleans.

hmike

Sorry about your N. O. Saints, and sorry that have a problem with the way God works.

9

Debunking the Bible skeptics and Liberal Theologians

by Rex in

recommended reading for christians who want to debunk the alleged 'facts' and claims of the naturalist element: .

archer, gleason l., enclyclopedia of bible difficulties, zondervan 1982 .

brauch, manfred t., the hard sayings of paul, intervarsity 1989 .

hmike

Well, the Bible does call the gospel "foolishness" (1 Cor. 1,2; Gk., moros, from which we get moron).

12

The Atheist's Book of Bible Stories - Ch. 22 - Biblical Apologists Toolkit

by RunningMan in

over the years, i have run into numerous persons who have attempted to defend the bibles literal accuracy.

these opponents have presented explanations that range in quality from truly inspired justifications to pitifully lame excuses.

for example, when one believer was confronted with the fact that the ancient temple was credited with containing enough raw materials for a building more than a thousand times its size, he replied, "well, maybe it had a basement.

hmike

Seeing lives changed for the better; seeing people find joy and purpose in life when they come into faith--that's the real proof. All the intellectual stuff just doesn't seem so important then.

10

Author excommunicated by Mormon church

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

friday, august 05, 2005

author excommunicated by mormon church

book outlines how existing dna data for american indians does not support mormon beliefs that continent's earliest inhabitants were descendants of israelite patriarch lehi.

hmike

If they get this from James 5:16, first of all, it doesn't require confession out in the open to everybody, and secondly, it doesn't differentiate between leaders and the general congregation. So whom do the leaders confess to?

10

Author excommunicated by Mormon church

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

friday, august 05, 2005

author excommunicated by mormon church

book outlines how existing dna data for american indians does not support mormon beliefs that continent's earliest inhabitants were descendants of israelite patriarch lehi.

hmike

Not to say at all this was the case with Danny, but so many whistle-blowers and people who buck the system make the mistake of giving their opponents ammunition to work with: incidents that would normally be overlooked or lightly dealt with that become the basis for counter-charges. In this kind of war, you can expect the other side to pull out all the stops.

17

Job Interview-Help with specific question

by Purza in

jw
friends

so, i have a job interview on monday for a city government job.

i have worked for a city before and i would really like to work for one again in order to complete my retirement requirement for benefits.

and i really want this job.. i have info about the job and i am studying specific information; however i don't interview all that well as i get extremely nervous.. one of the questions i always have a hard time with is:.

hmike

Some employment test/interview questions are designed to weed out the obvious undesirables, like if you said, "I'd bash his head in" or some other violent response. They don't want to hire someone who will obviously be trouble.

This is one of those standard questions, like "what are your stengths and weaknesses." There are good-sense answers you can give to this that will satisfy them, but in the real world, this can be a complicated issue where your actions are determined by all kinds of variables. I always confine my answer to work situations, which is what they are really interested in.

27

Helping others, is it an ego trip

by Satanus in

jw
friends

a lot of people have a good nature, and naturally respond by helping another in need.

others see themselves on a mission of helping.

can helping others sometimes be a way of having influence over others?

hmike

To be motivated by the prospect of receiving a return is natural and normal. Who would pay for a product or service with the expectation of getting nothing for it? And in the case of doing a charitable work, while there might not be a conscious expectation of a benefit, there still is some kind of internal gratification attached. We consider someone who deliberately does something self-destructive to be a masochist, but even a masochist receives some kind of reward--evidence that they are the worthless individuals they believe they are, and administration of the treatment they feel they deserve.

I’ve heard Christians who were "righteously" appalled by the thought of serving God and people with the expectation of some kind of return or benefit, but when you look through the Bible, God always calls people or appeals to them with the promise of some kind of reward. Never does the Father or Jesus say, "Follow me, but you’ll get nothing out of the deal." There’s always a blessing--be it material, emotional, or spiritual--temporal or eternal--attached to God’s call. So clearly, that’s an acceptable motivation. In fact, I’ll go one step further. The Bible’s teaching is that God EXPECTS us to call him on his offer. That’s part of what faith is about--expecting God to keep his promises. From a Biblical perspective, to tell God, "No thanks. I don’t need or expect anything from you" is false humility and insulting to God.

Somewhere, there is a line that is crossed when we are just using others for our benefit. That’s the real issue, isn’t it?

27

Helping others, is it an ego trip

by Satanus in

jw
friends

a lot of people have a good nature, and naturally respond by helping another in need.

others see themselves on a mission of helping.

can helping others sometimes be a way of having influence over others?

hmike

Don't we all need some sense of worth--some meaningfulness to our lives--some sense of significance? Helping others is one way that is accomplished. The real reward comes in having made a difference--seeing someone else benefit from our involvement. The worst is wanting to help--offering to help--knowing you can be of help--and not having anyone interested.

45

does "randomness" exist?

by googlemagoogle in

this is maybe largely parallel to the "free will" debate.

or if there is such thing like "chance".

many computer languages have a math function "random()".

hmike

Is this the same as the chaos Dr. Malcomb taked about in "Jurassic Park"?