2. Guy Kawasaki on How to write a five-sentence email:
Whether UR young or old, the point is that the optimal length of an email message is five sentences. All you should do is explain who you are, what you want, why you should get it, and when you need it by.
(HT: 43 Folders)
3. The Richard Dawkins Mutation Challenge (HT: Uncommon Descent)
4. A tablet found in the British Museum may be the most important find in Biblical archaeology for 100 years:
Searching for Babylonian financial accounts among the tablets, Prof Jursa suddenly came across a name he half remembered - Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, described there in a hand 2,500 years old, as "the chief eunuch" of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon. Prof Jursa, an Assyriologist, checked the Old Testament and there in chapter 39 of the Book of Jeremiah, he found, spelled differently, the same name - Nebo-Sarsekim.
Nebo-Sarsekim, according to Jeremiah, was Nebuchadnezzar II's "chief officer" and was with him at the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, when the Babylonians overran the city.
[...]
"This is a fantastic discovery, a world-class find," Dr Finkel said yesterday. "If Nebo-Sarsekim existed, which other lesser figures in the Old Testament existed? A throwaway detail in the Old Testament turns out to be accurate and true. I think that it means that the whole of the narrative [of Jeremiah] takes on a new kind of power."
5. Iranians arrest 14 squirrels for spying
Iranian intelligence operatives recently detained over a dozen squirrels found within the nation's borders, claiming the rodents were serving as spies for Western powers determined to undermine the Islamic Republic.
"In recent weeks, intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders," state-sponsored news agency IRNA reported. "The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services."
(HT: Neatorama)
6. The Top 30 Wealthiest Americans Ever (Bill Gates only ranks #5 and Warran Buffet comes in at #16)
7. At a Women's Peace Conference in Dallas, Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams:
"Right now, I could kill George Bush," she said at the Adam's Mark Hotel and Conference Center in Dallas. "No, I don't mean that. How could you nonviolently kill somebody? I would love to be able to do that."
Williams later apologized to Bush for wishing his "non-violent murder" (HT: Cruchy Con)
8. 1,997 different ways to use WD-40 around the house (HT: Lifehacker)
9. 5 Cars That Became Metaphors
10. The development of literacy was owed to the increased use of medieval underwear, Dr. Marco Mostert, a historian at the Centre for Medieval Studies, Utrecht University:
"The development of literacy was certainly helped by the introduction of paper, which was made from rags," says Dr Marco Mostert, a historian at the Centre for Medieval Studies, Utrecht University and one of the organizers of this year's International Medieval Congress (IMC) at the University of Leeds (UK).
"These rags came from discarded clothes, which cost much less than the very expensive parchment which was previously used for books. In the 13th century, so it is thought, as more people moved into urban centres, the use of underwear increased - which caused an increase in the number of rags available for paper-making."
11. Hug Thy Neighbor: A backyard DC dinner party was crashed by a would-be armed robber. When one nervous guest offered the man a glass of wine, he tucked away his gun, joined them for some wine and cheese, asked for and got a hug from the guests, and left. He even deposited his empty crystal wine glass in a nearby alley, unbroken. (HT: The Point)
12. Tyler Cowen on the economics of cats:
My views are simple: we have too few cats in the world, relative to dogs. Dogs, for reasons of temperament, can in essence precommit to being our slaves. (As long as they are not Irish Setters.) That makes us more willing to create or support an additional dog. The quantity of dogs is nearly Pareto optimal, although their emotional slavery to us raises ethical questions about the distribution of power in the relationship.
13. Russ Moore discusses Blood, Gore, and Global Warming:
I am a conservative and a conservationist. I may be to the left of most of my fellow Southern Baptists on environmental issues. I believe government has a role in restraining corporate America from poisoning our eco-system, just as government has a role in restraining corporate America from poisoning our culture. I believe in wetlands protection, in the national parks system, and in most of the environmental laws passed since the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in the 1970s. I am horrified to see woodlands and forests mown down to put up another Home Depot, and believe there ought to be common-sense zoning laws to keep Outback Steakhouse and Wal-Mart from taking over the countryside like so much kudzu. And yet, I am disturbed by the ideology behind much of the religious rhetoric behind the global warming debate.
I don't deny that there has been climate change. I don't deny that human beings are a factor in this climate change. What we don't know with any level of certainty is how much human beings have caused so-called global warming and what it would take to reverse the effects. Because that's the case, Christians can, and do, disagree about what are the most prudent measures to balance competing interests in the common good.
(HT: Challies.com)
14. Uzodinma Iweala says the West should Stop Trying To 'Save' Africa
Idealistic college students, celebrities such as Bob Geldof and politicians such as Tony Blair have all made bringing light to the dark continent their mission. They fly in for internships and fact-finding missions or to pick out children to adopt in much the same way my friends and I in New York take the subway to the pound to adopt stray dogs.
This is the West's new image of itself: a sexy, politically active generation whose preferred means of spreading the word are magazine spreads with celebrities pictured in the foreground, forlorn Africans in the back. Never mind that the stars sent to bring succor to the natives often are, willingly, as emaciated as those they want to help.
15. An online Draft Al Gore for President petition has over 100,000 signatures. I signed it. We could use another Gore loss in '08.
16. Mike Huckabee on Michael Moore:
Frankly, Michael Moore is an example of why the health care system costs so much in this country. He clearly is one of the reasons that we have a very expensive system. I know that from my own personal experience," said Huckabee, who lost more than 110 pounds and became an avid runner after he was diagnosed with diabetes.
(HT: Maverick Philosopher)
17. God's Top 5 Practical Jokes on Women (HT: blogs4God)
18. Dying: a different perspective
19. Play an online version of ABC's 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' (HT: The Presurfer)
20. Alaska Robotics a cute short film on how Alaskan citizens can regain control of their state government:
Since the the base salary for an Alaskan legislator is around $24,000 a year. Per diem, expense accounts, and other forms of income bring the average pay to about $75,000. This apparently isn't enough to get by since law makers have to rely on consulting jobs and outright bribes to make it through the year.
Our proposal? Buy back the legislature and put them to work for the citizens of Alaska.
(HT: BoingBoing)
21. Well, for some people homosexuality is a choice:
Ms Wilkinson, Professor of Feminist and Health Studies at Loughborough University, said: "I was never unsure about my sexuality throughout my teens or 20s. I was a happy heterosexual and had no doubts. Then I changed, through political activity and feminism, spending time with women's organizations. It opened my mind to the possibility of a lesbian identity."
22. Science's 10 Most Beautiful Physics Experiments
23. Polytheist Prayer #1 -- Hindu Chaplain Rajan Zed recently made history by being the first Hindu to open the prayer in the Senate:
24. Polytheist Prayer #2 -- Scott Hill of Fide-O has the best response by a Christian I've read to Zed's prayer and the protest that ensued:
After I watched the video my initial gut reaction was one of "go get em, take one for the team. What's that pagan doing 'praying' in our Senate", but as I sat for several minutes trying to decide how I really should feel about this incident I wonder if my initial reaction was correct. I am familiar enough with political Christian activist to understand their reasoning. They were trying to protect America from this pagan, and one part of me emphasizes with their plight. But does America need protecting from Hindu's or Mormons or JW's or Muslims etc? What I believe about false religions is all over this blog, so it goes without saying that I disagree with this man. However, doesn't our constitution give him as much right to pray to his false godsssssssssssss' as I have to pray to the real one? Honestly I am surprised this is the first time a Hindu has opened the Senate in prayer. These political Christian organizations (which may be an oxymoron, I am still working on that) shout from the rooftops that we have freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion. Ultimately, whatever legislation is going to protect us from Hindus is also going to protect them from Christianity. As much as I disagree with Rajan Zed he has a right to pray in spite of the fact that doing so violates the 1st commandment. As well the 3 people arrested have the right to stand on the floor of the Senate and protest. That is what makes our country great. I don't know if what they did was biblical, but I do know it was illegal, and honestly I know if what they did falls under legitimate civil disobedience.
25. 100 Best Reviewed Sci-Fi Movies
26. Reduce Global Warming by Making Cows Burp Less:
Using modern plant-breeding methods to find new diets for cows that make them belch less is a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists reported this week.
He noted the average dairy cow belches out about 100 to 200 litres of methane each day, making diet changes a key potential factor in reducing this greenhouse gas.
"There is a common misperception about how methane gets into the atmosphere," he said. "It is actually through belching rather than the other end."
(HT: Neatorama)
27. The Greatest Cult Classic Ever Turns 20 Years Old (HT: Outside the Beltway)
28. Golf courses are known as centers for human recreation, but if managed properly, they also could be important wildlife sanctuaries, a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher has found. "There are more than 17,000 golf courses in the United States, and approximately 70 percent of that land is not used for playing," said Ray Semlitsch, Curators Professor of Biology in the MU College of Arts and Science. "These managed green spaces aren't surrogates for protected land and ecosystems, but they can include suitable habitat for species native to the area. Golf courses could act as nature sanctuaries if managed properly."
29. Threats to hope -- Desperation affects reasoning about product information: When our hopes are threatened, we often turn to the marketplace for help. Can't fit into the gorgeous outfit you bought for your high school reunion" Trying to get pregnant" Want a bigger house but afraid you can't afford it" A new study by researchers from University of Southern California argues that in situations like these, consumers are susceptible to "motivated reasoning." We believe what we want to believe about products that promise to help -- even if the arguments don't come from credible sources.
30. 'Shoulda, woulda, coulda ...': If you're like most people, you've probably experienced a shoulda-woulda-coulda moment; a time when we lament our missteps, saying that we should have invested in a certain stock, should have become a doctor instead of a lawyer and so on. Psychologists refer to this process, in which we evaluate how we would do things differently, as "counterfactual thinking" and while it can have a positive spin, more often than not it is a psychological mechanism that causes us to harbor feelings of disappointment and regret.
31. Friendships that lend themselves to ruminating about problems may actually contribute to emotional difficulties in girls, according to new research. A study in the July issue of the journal Developmental Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association, finds that girls are more likely than boys of the same age group to develop anxiety and depression as a result of extensive conversations with friends about their problems.
32. Ted Nugent on the 40th anniversary of the so-called Summer of Love:
Forty years ago hordes of stoned, dirty, stinky hippies converged on San Francisco to "turn on, tune in, and drop out," which was the calling card of LSD proponent Timothy Leary. Turned off by the work ethic and productive American Dream values of their parents, hippies instead opted for a cowardly, irresponsible lifestyle of random sex, life-destroying drugs and mostly soulless rock music that flourished in San Francisco.
33. Alfred Hitchock's Trailer for The Birds
(HT: Wired)
"In recent weeks, intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders," state-sponsored news agency IRNA reported. "The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services."
But Moose got away!
As well the 3 people arrested have the right to stand on the floor of the Senate and protest.
Well actually they don't have a right to stand on the floor of the Senate to protest. Hence they were arrested.
From the site Joe cited:
's His battle. I am glad to live in a country where I am free to worship the One True God. If that means I have to put up with a Hindu prayer occasionally so be it. If it comes down to a show down between Jehovah and Humbaba with the 17 arms (and it will) I know who will win.
Yes, well, those of us in reality land knew about this whole idea of freedom for quite some time now. Welcome to the club. Tomorrow our friend might discover that they found a way to put music onto shiny silver looking discs called CDs!
But Moose got away!
Heh.
Yes, well, those of us in reality land knew about this whole idea of freedom for quite some time now.
Now, now, Boonton and you wonder why people can't stand atheists. A guy takes a nice enlightened step and all he gets from you is snark; which, quite frankly would be a lot easier to take if your side wasn't filing a lawsuit every time somebody tries to open a school commencement or Homecoming football game with a prayer.
"...if your side wasn't filing a lawsuit every time somebody tries to open a school commencement or Homecoming football game with a prayer."
Which, of course, would be unnecessary if your side didn't seek to impose your religion where it doesn't belong. I go to a football game to see a football game, not to watch the Christians pray. I don't commandeer the public address system to broadcast my pre-game rituals, I conduct them privately. You could easily pray individually or in small groups before a game, but your right to pray really isn't the issue, is it? What you really want is to use popular venues to propagate your religion.
There is a way to get your message across without imposing, and it also contributes to the economy: advertising. Buy wall space in the stadium. Buy commercial time on televised events. Make it so that people can go for popcorn during your prayer without being seen as rude.
I occasionally take my father to University of Tennessee football games. My father is a very old, conservative man. I love him, so I avoid provoking him by being overtly atheist. At the same time, I must be true to myself; I will not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer, or any other public expression of religion. My poor old man would have a heart attack if I remained seated at such a time, thus diminishing greatly his enjoyment of the game and my company. To get around this, I go to the restroom when the prayer is imminent and return when it's over. Dad probably thinks I have an enlarged prostate. I learned this avoidance trick after being harassed by neighboring fans for remaining in my seat some years ago.
As for Scott Hill's "enlightened step", it is nothing but pragmatism. He is willing to put up with a Hindu prayer every 200 years or so to preserve the dominance of Christian expression in places where religion belongs only in the minds of those so inclined.
Come to think of it, I wonder if the 14 squirrels was maybe just a mistranslation...who knows?
which, quite frankly would be a lot easier to take if your side wasn't filing a lawsuit every time somebody tries to open a school commencement or Homecoming football game with a prayer.
Whose Ox is being gored here? I remember watching the O'Reilly report have a Christianist type who filed a lawsuit because a college required students to read a book on the history of Islam. He decided that since the book wasn't critical enough of the religion it was actually violating his religion to require him to read it.
The rules aren't really that hard to follow. If you have an 'open mic' you are free to have religious speeches but you have to be open about it. If you have a 'closed mic' then you have to be neutral with respect to religion. The trick is to ask what would happen if it was the other guy's religion being pushed. The football coach at a public school who had his players doing a Wiccan ritual or preying towards Mecca before the game wouldn't last very long and it wouldn't be the 700 Club that would speak up for him. Why is a Christian prayer or even a less specific 'Judeo-Christian' prayer any different?
Now, now, Boonton and you wonder why people can't stand atheists. A guy takes a nice enlightened step
Well I have to give him credit for being enlightened and letting other people besides Christians have religious freedom. Then again the Founders kind of stumbled upon that over 200 years ago so how much credit should someone get today for discovering light bulbs make light?
Boontoon,
After you're finished laughing at one Christian's "enlightement," you might want to ask yourself how we arrived at religious freedom. I'll go ahead and discount two possibilities for you: Atheism and Hinduism. In fact, Christians argued for the right of religious freedom, even for devil worshippers. Quite a radical concept of religious liberty at the time, don't you think?
Indeed, so what happened to you guys?
My father-in-law had an amusing story. He liked ribbing the fellows he worked with. One guy was direct from Italy....one day he says to him something like "Isn't it true we had running water two thousand years ago?", "Yea", "Flushing toilets? Public lighting?" "Yea we had all of that". "So what happened to you guys!?"
It was revulsion at the bloodbath that ensued in the wake of the so-called "Protestant Reformation."
Hardly seems like a virtue to me.
Which, of course, would be unnecessary if your side didn't seek to impose your religion where it doesn't belong. I go to a football game to see a football game, not to watch the Christians pray.
There are lots of things that go on at a football game that are extraneous to the game itself. Things like half-time shows, cheerleaders, beer & hot dog vendors, and Sausage Races. I don't see why a 30 second prayer at the beginning of a football game is any more of an imposition than listening to some "has-been" rock band perform for 15 minutes during half-time.
The football coach at a public school who had his players doing a Wiccan ritual or preying towards Mecca before the game wouldn't last very long and it wouldn't be the 700 Club that would speak up for him.
I wasn't aware that the 700 Club was an advocate for football coaches forcing their players to perform religious rituals, Christian or otherwise. Also, I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect that Pat Robertson would be very much in favor of "preying towards Mecca";).
Indeed but we aren't talking about rocket science here. There are times when you have an 'open mic' and there are times when you are given 'the mic' for a specific purpose.
Being selected a football coach does indeed limit you. You should not use that position to lead Christian rallies, Wiccian rituals or pestering the kids to get their parents to buy your wifes Amway products.
If you're just a kid on the team or a fan in the bleachers you have freedom to do all those things. But then you don't have the freedom to run the locker room right before and after the game. That's the coach's job.
You get upset by a little 30 second prayer but the principle remains. Swap out that "May Christ watch over us" with a prayer to Allah, Buddha or your favorite Hindu diety and just watch how tolerant the "ACLU hates religious freedom" crowd really is.
So yea if you have the mic for a purpose it's fair to expect you to stick to that purpose. If you have an open mic then that's fine too but don't get upset that other people get to use the open mic for their own thing too.
I hadn't heard of Betty Williams before this. Wikipedia tells me that she lived in the USA between 1982 and 2004.
It was revulsion at the bloodbath that ensued in the wake of the so-called "Protestant Reformation."
Perhaps you prefer how Buddhists deal with religious minorities? Like the recent "Tragedy at Tak Bai" (www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=8,82,0,0,1,0) or the Buddhist mob attacks of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Kind of funny how you have to go back nearly 500 years to find example of a good Christian bloodbath, but I only have to go back 3 years to find an example of a Buddhist one.
Joe - I just wanted to let you know how much I love your "33 Things" posts. I pretty much read every single thing every single time. Keep it up!
Perhaps you prefer how Buddhists deal with religious minorities?
Buddhists in general treat don't really get all that violent. I'll grant you there's always exceptions, though.
Like the recent "Tragedy at Tak Bai" (www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=8,82,0,0,1,0) or the Buddhist mob attacks of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
I will say that I think Buddhism is probably less suspectable to political abuse than other religions BUT it is probably more suspectable to cults.
The article you linked too wasn't about Buddhists but about Thai authorities who were brutal in putting down a protest of about 2,000 Muslims. True Thailand is mostsly Buddhist but then we can just pluck out any bad thing that happened in a country with mostly Christians (England and Ireland in the 1980's might be a fun place to start) and play tit-for-tat all day long.
True Thailand is mostsly Buddhist but then we can just pluck out any bad thing that happened in a country with mostly Christians (England and Ireland in the 1980's might be a fun place to start) and play tit-for-tat all day long.
And that was my point. Every religion, and even atheism has things in its past that current practitioners are ashamed, or should be, of. Some people like to fancy that it is something unique to Christianity; it isn't.
ucfengr:
I don't have to go back 500 years; I can think of those exponents of religious freedom who murdered Ann Lee and Joseph Smith.
I can think of Abu Ghraib (if you can fashion Tak Bai as a "Buddhist" religious oppression, than certainly that's exactly what Abu Ghraib was!).
I can think of the fact that the current Southern Baptist Convention second vice president Wiley Drake, as expressed his support for Christian terrorists in this country.
Buddhism's history hasn't been perfect, but it puts monotheistic traditions to shame.
Yeah, in self-aggrandizement. Of course, it can't hold a candle to athiesm in that regard.
I can think of Abu Ghraib (if you can fashion Tak Bai as a "Buddhist" religious oppression, than certainly that's exactly what Abu Ghraib was!).
Okay, let's look at Buddhist China's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. I mean if Christians get credit for Grassley and Englund, then Buddhists get credit for Mao. See, we can play the silly little game of "Who's Religion's Adherents Stray Farthest From its Teachings" forever.
And that was my point. Every religion, and even atheism has things in its past that current practitioners are ashamed, or should be, of. Some people like to fancy that it is something unique to Christianity; it isn't.
Errr, well this seems more like something Thailand shoudl be ashamed of. It's nice that Buddhists seek to take responsiblity for it and keep it from happening again but I wouldn't lay this at Buddhism's door. Likewise I wouldn't lay the terrorism of the IRA at the Catholic Church's door.
Okay, let's look at Buddhist China's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution.
that's nice. But you could also write "let's look at Confusist China's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution" or "let's look at Communist China's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution". So between the three, Buddhism, Confuscisousism(?) and Communism which is really responsible for the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution? To me it seems rather obvious that the credit (if you call it that) should go to communism.
Would Communism have played out differently in China if Buddhism was less influential or if there were more Christians? Impossible to say really. I know, for example, that Imperial Japan did a fantastic job co-opting Zen Buddhism
I mean if Christians get credit for Grassley and Englund
You mean Cheney and George Bush. But I agree with your overall point. Blaming a religion for the acts of some countries is as silly as blaming a skin color. I would say, though, that the same woudl apply to atheism. The defining element of Communist China and the Communist USSR is/was Communism. There were theists in those countries and there were and are religious people who either are also communists or share sympathy with communist ideas.
Today Russia seems to be flirting with authortianism and the local Church there seems quite happy to play along since Putin is happy to give them special treatment as the preferred religion of Russia.
"Yeah, in self-aggrandizement. Of course, it can't hold a candle to athiesm in that regard."
Yes, we see glittering palaces devoted to the propagation of atheism all over the place. Prominent evangelical atheists drive luxury automobiles, wear expensive suits, and dwell in breathtaking mansions.
What a dumb, baseless remark. Atheism is merely the absence of theism; it imparts no dogma of its own. It must be coupled with a moral or ethical structure to qualify for your scorn, as in the case of secular humanism. There is very little unity or sense of community among atheists, let alone "self-aggrandizement". I challenge you to illustrate the slightest self-aggrandizement of atheism in general. Anything you come up with will pale in comparison, qualitatively and quantitatively, with monotheistic religion, particularly Christianity.
ucfengr:
Nice try at distraction, but the fact remains you can't claim the idea of religious tolerance is somehow a Christian notion.
It wasn't.
Exhibit A of self-aggrandizement:
It's all about you isn't it?
I'm unimpressed with smmtheory's post.
"Yes, we see glittering palaces devoted to the propagation of atheism all over the place."
I call them "Public Schools."
"Prominent evangelical atheists drive luxury automobiles, wear expensive suits, and dwell in breathtaking mansions. . ."
That would be the administrators.
Some evil things have been done by adherents to various religions - although I'd say they are loosely adherent, because I think they actively disobeyed the actual teachings of their religions -
but they pale in comparison to the atheist massacres.
Nice try at distraction, but the fact remains you can't claim the idea of religious tolerance is somehow a Christian notion.
Sure I can, and a much stronger historical case can be made for it than any other religion or philosophy.
I call them "Public Schools."...
but they pale in comparison to the atheist massacres.
That would be, like, not getting a date for the prom or perhaps unjustly getting detention? Perhaps we should toss out The Diary of Anne Frank and replace it with screenings of The Breakfast Club to teach about the horrors of intolerance.
Boonton, I was making two totally different points.
Point one: there are incredibly rich, shiny and ubiquotous palaces of atheism, with sleek, influential, and powerful leaders thereof (public schools and admins).
Point two: Atheism has been the faith of the biggest mass murderers of our recorded history.
That doesn't mean that "The Breakfast Club" need replace "The Diary of Anne Frank." Quite the opposite.
Have you ever been impressed by any comment other than your own, Boonton?
Point one: there are incredibly rich, shiny and ubiquotous palaces of atheism, with sleek, influential, and powerful leaders thereof (public schools and admins).
Pehaps you grew up in a swankier town than I did but I don't recall the public schools being so rich and shiny. Granted they weren't gulags but they were hardly the nicest buildings in town....at least the Churches had central air in the summer.
Ohhh, BTW, I don't recall them being ubiquotous places of atheism. In fact, if I went back I'd probably have to look pretty hard to find any atheism. If I was allowed to interrogate all the teachers and staff I'd probably not fine one out of a hundred an atheist. Nor would I find atheism anywhere else. I suppose the library might have had some books by atheists defending atheism, I'd be surprised, though, if they outnumbered books about various types of theism.
Boonton, I was making two totally different points.
Yes you were trying to make some type of joke to what you think is the 'in crowd' of right wing loons and at the same time tried to say something profound about humanity's sorry history of murder. You pulled off neither and instead came off silly and awkwad. Another feeling school taught me a lot about!
smm
Have you ever been impressed by any comment other than your own, Boonton?
The ones critical of you are usually pretty good.
The schools in my area are swanky, swanky, swanky. The admins make 100,000 - $200,000 a year. You can't pray, evolution is taught as a fact, you get homo indoctrination from grade 6, values "neutral" sex ed from 1st grade, pop psychology the only counseling, the heroes are socialists/commies, and moral relativism is the only permitted philosophy.
And atheists have killed more people than religious people. I know you don't like to hear it, but it's true.
Now there you go again... including yourself when I asked the question so as to invite you to specifically exclude yourself. That's exhibit B on self-aggrandizement.
The admins make 100,000 - $200,000 a year.
I'd love to see some evidence of these kinds of salaries, but even if it's true, that isn't evidence that the school has been taken over by atheists.
You can't pray,
I am quite certain that is a complete fabrication. Students can pray anytime they like, however the school can not force prayer on its students, there's a big difference.
evolution is taught as a fact
And only loons would think that this is evidence of an atheist takeover. You can find plenty of Christians that have no problem with evolution, and you know it. It is only your particular brand of it that has a problem with it.
you get homo indoctrination from grade 6, values "neutral" sex ed from 1st grade, pop psychology the only counseling
I don't even know what you're trying to get at here, sounds like a whole lot of ignorant fear mongering to me.
the heroes are socialists/commies
huh? Unless you consider the founding fathers of this country to be socialists and communists, it's obvious you've been living in a reality distortion field for a considerable length of time.
moral relativism is the only permitted philosophy
Philosophy!?!? Philosophy?!?! I have yet to see any public school teach any philosophy at all. The closest that I've ever seen was a comparative literature class that looked at literature from a variety of different cultures. Now granted, my knowledge of such things isn't exhaustive, but I have a pretty strong feeling that you really don't know what your are talking about.
And atheists have killed more people than religious people.
Repeating the same trash over and over again doesn't make it true.
I'm waiting for an example of atheist self-aggrandizement, smmtheory. Nothing in the comment you quoted claims greatness for or even praises atheism in the least. Perhaps you don't understand the term.
aggrandize: verb transitive--1. to make great or greater. 2. to make appear great or greater.
Am I missing something? Can you show me self-aggrandizement in my comment, or did you merely toss off a distortion to avoid my challenge?
phasespace: Thank you for dismantling Marie's pathetic, inaccurate, Archie Bunkeresque attempt to portray public schools as glittering palaces of atheism. My response would have been similar.
Marie, I don't know where you live, but everywhere I've been in this great country of ours, the public schools have been fairly modest, practical structures, not out of line with other government buildings, and certainly much less grand than the city or town hall. I can't say the same for churches, though. While most are modest, practical structures, many are indeed monuments to excess. Within two miles of my home in rural East Tennessee are two mega-churches that make the surrounding structures look like outhouses (of course, some actually are outhouses). In downtown Knoxville the churches are even more magnificent, especially the old ones. I don't have a problem with that. I didn't pay for these lovely buildings, and I like looking at them. I only bring them up by way of challenging smmtheory to support his contention that atheism is self-aggrandizing in comparison to monotheistic traditions. I don't think he can support that contention, and I doubt he will even try.
My school administrators would laugh at your comment, Marie. They make salaries in the 50 grand range and are devout Christians all. I may be the only atheist in the building.
The schools in my area are swanky, swanky, swanky. The admins make 100,000 - $200,000 a year.
Perhaps you live in some other country than America. It is hardly unusual to see a head of even a very small business making $100K per year. Educators are often paid based on senority. This means that yes the teacher who spent 20 years on the job may in fact be making in excess of $100K BUT she also spent many years working for less pay. On average teaching isn't exactly living in poverty but it is hardly a ticket to automatic riches. If you want that plastic surgery is probably more lucrative.
I can tell you some teachers and administrators make over $100K a year around me. Possibly there are some that break $200K but I'd be surprised if it was any more than a handful in top management. Then again I live in Morris County NJ which is an area with lots of wealth.
You can't pray,
Yes you can.
evolution is taught as a fact,
Well it is.
you get homo indoctrination from grade 6,
Really? What is that exactly?
values "neutral" sex ed from 1st grade,
'Values neutral' is another way of saying 'just the facts'. This is, of course, a necessity because there's no way to really come up with values that make everyone happy unless you're talking about the most basic of values like "don't go around killing everyone".
pop psychology the only counseling,
Most counseling wherever you go is pop psychology. Considering the history of 'professional psychology' it's kind of hard to say which is worse. Anyway what is 'pop psychology' but just popular advice on how to live your life. Human beigns spend most of their time giving each other friendly advice. This is 'pop psychology'. Best to get used to it because the real world is full of it.
the heroes are socialists/commies, and moral relativism is the only permitted philosophy.
I suspect you're the type that likes to throw temper tantrums whenever you don't get your way. You should try to grow up a bit. There's my pop psychology for you.
smmtheory
Now there you go again... including yourself when I asked the question so as to invite you to specifically exclude yourself. That's exhibit B on self-aggrandizement.
No I meant everyone else who criticizes you. Usually when I find you in a flame war with someone here I almost always find their posts more impressive than yours. Perhaps you've been damaged by 'values neutral' pop psychologists.
Yes, but perhaps it is too subtle for you to comprehend. You keep skirting around it. It's the 'self-' part of 'self-aggrandizement'. Atheism places 'self' at the top of the pedestal. Granted with Buddhism, it is the meta-physical self, but with Atheism's denial of meta-physics, it boils down to just plain old 'self'. The focus is on 'self'. The object of enhancement and praise is 'self'. The emphasis is that nothing is greater than 'self'.
If that is what you meant, maybe you should have stated it more clearly. I think you should pay more attention to whom does the most criticizing of me though, because it is - by far - you. Which gets back to my original point.
Also, I don't participate in flame wars. I jest with people, I kid them, I even poke fun at them or maybe go as far as ridicule them a bit, but I never curse them.
It's the 'self-' part of 'self-aggrandizement'. Atheism places 'self' at the top of the pedestal.
And why would this be so? Because theists have a diety they can hold as greater than their selves? But theists run into the danger of aggrandizing their selves as being among their diety's 'choosen' or presuming they are the only ones who can properly speak for the diety.
Granted with Buddhism, it is the meta-physical self, but with Atheism's denial of meta-physics, it boils down to just plain old 'self'.
Actually Buddhism holds that the self is an illusion & the source of our trubles is from believing the 'self' is something that is real and has to be cared for.
That's a tough doctrine to believe and I think most Buddhists will tell you that many of them do act as if they had a self and truely understanding the doctrine is something that only comes with enlightenment. I'm sure they would also admit to you that self-aggrandizement is a danger for them that they need to avoid (as everyone should).
I think I see what you're trying to say regarding self-aggrandizement. While I'll accept there is a danger an atheist may start thinking of himself as the greatest thing under the sun I don't think this danger is particular to atheism. Ironically theists who want to go down a path of self-aggrandizement have, IMO, plenty of tools they can exploit ("I am orthodox!" "I understand the doctrine!" "God wants me to be the leader!" "I understand what God wants!" "I'm the one who obeys God's will, you're not!" etc).
"Atheism places 'self' at the top of the pedestal."
No, it doesn't (no wonder I missed it!). Atheism doesn't even have a pedestal; I had to come up with my own. And atheism has been similarly unhelpful in determining what to place at the top of it. I tried my cat, but she keeps jumping off.
I guess when you are up on that pedestal (at the same height as all the other atheists on their own pedestals), it's kind of easy to believe that there are no pedestals.
I remain unimpressed with smmtheory's posts. Basically everyone who disagrees with him is guilty of putting themselves on a pedestal...even worse they don't even realize they are doing it! Of course he doesn't put himself on a pedestal because he's a theist and theists can't put themselves on pedestals...I guess.
I, too, find smmtheory's rhetorical game quite weak. He seems unable to comprehend just how limited a concept atheism really is. It does not elevate the self. In fact, it does nothing at all; it is merely the absence of theism. If atheists have pedestals, they get them somewhere else. If atheists place themselves atop such pedestals, that is a personal choice not informed by atheism itself. I am sure some atheists, like some theists, subjugate themselves to what they consider a greater good. Just because that greater good is not tethered to an imaginary being hardly makes it less compelling.
Our evangelical friend, I suspect, simply finds it easier to demonize those who do not share his worldview when he mentally joins them under the banner of a negative quality like self-centeredness. Atheism is easier to attack when one attaches to it things that have nothing to do with it.
You keep saying that like somebody didn't believe you the first time. If you say it three times, you must really, really mean it, eh? Perhaps if you say it a fourth time everybody will really, really, really believe you. I'm having a substantially difficult time generating the requisite dismay.
Gentlemen:
Still sniping away on tangential matters after all this time?
I note on no 4 that while it is important, it hardly rates up there with the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Rylands fragments of John from a codex c. 125. The former show the fidelity of transmission of OT MSS over 1,000 years tot he otherwise earliest MSS we have, the latter fixes the C1 date of the NT with moral certainty -- especially when we cf. the citations and allusions in the first writing church fathers circa 95 - 110 AD. [But these have long since passed from the headlines. I discuss in my blog, for those who have any interest to follow up the likes of Yamauchi on Cuneiform documents linking to Biblical accounts.]
But then it's so much more fun to snipe on the fact that we are all finite, fallible and too often ill-willed, isn't it. [UCF, BTW is dead right.]
Grace, open our eyes
GEM of TKI
PS: B et al know just who that is.