cuchulain

your or my inability to prove the reality of truth does not mean i should accept or reject any claim. that would be poor logic.

historically, the earth was considered flat. did the truth change?

truth is not a popularity contest, or the earth would be flat and the sun revolve around us. it is what it is, though, regardless of opinion.

Truth shouldn't be a popularity contest.

Also, the villains rarely view themselves as villains. Perception.

we claim it as a highly prized character trait for selfish reasons at times. honest information usually leads to better informed decisions, so we want others to be truthful with us. but being very egocentric creatures we think we know the best information to disiminate for others. and at times when we dont know, we feel a need to show we do, so we fill in the blanks.

Hel in Norse mythology is the Goddess of the Dead and the underworld, and also the name of the underworld. I don't think it was considered anywhere near the same as the Christianized version, though.

i am incapable of being anything but a sinner seems good excuse to cave to temptation. i dont believe in sin and think i am accountable for my actions, which for me is good reason to refrain from bad action as best i can.

im as prone to error as any priest or psychologist, so maybe i would guess my limits incorrectly just like they occasionally do. since i dont offer services in those areas, it saves me malpractice suits.

That's true enough. Or it could also suggest an escape clause of sorts for those who want to do things differently, but aren't supposed to. They can always claim to have been imperfect in that moment, even though fully cognizant of what they were doing and the impact Involved.

I have frequently debated with a person on another site who claims to be a Christian yet vehemently advocates for the complete eradication of all Muslims. That is one person I would consider a monster in reality, who even provided me a link to a video of him protesting a Muslim float at a parade and claiming that the audience fell silent in awe...his perception of reality didn't match the video at all by the way, as attested to him being hauled off by the police to the cheers of the crowd on hand. But he is the rare exception in extremity in my experience.

The basic sentiment is true. You shall judge by their fruits. They may say do unto others, but clearly some do not. So is that really a Christian doctrine, or are they not truly Christian?

People with deep emotional issues, or psychological issues, can have major susceptibility issues as well. These are the people that say the tv show made them do it, or the book, or the comic book, or God...at least that is my opinion.

I remember when I was a kid we used to get together at my Aunt's house every Christmas. We had a secret Santa thing that we pulled names for on Thanksgiving, which my Aunt also hosted, and man did she put on a huge dinner spread to perfection(in my mind at least). One year in particular, I pulled my Uncle's name, her husband at the time. Now, he owned an excavation company and they lived sort of in the middle of no where three or four miles away from Bald Knob cross in Alto Pass, Illinois. I stayed with them summers at a time, they had a large farm with lots of neat excavation equipment and two cousins close to my age, three and four wheelers, fireworks usually, you know...about perfect for the ten year old kid. But so far as what my Uncle liked, I had not a clue. The man worked from sun up to down, left everything house related to my Aunt to do, and stayed in their bedroom during the time they were awake. I just didn't know at the time how unusual that sounded, but I wanted to impress with the gift I gave. My mom took me out and about, looking all over. I knew he wore flannel shirts, but no clue as to the size. So I picked up what I thought was a fairly universal gift, something that pretty much anybody could use. Flashlights. I got a decent set of flashlights for him, wrapped it up. I don't quite know why that particular Christmas gift seemed so important to me, I really don't. We sat on Christmas, opening gifts, and I was more anxious to see him open it and be happy than anything. He opened it, said "I don't need flashlights, here, you want em?" and immediately passed them off to the next person. Looking back on it, I realize it wasn't that big a deal except in the build up of my own ten year old mind. But since that happened, and since I felt pretty lousy about the outcome, I have never regifted anything. I have always at the least pretended to like what I received. I have received regifted items, and it never bothers me in the least that someone gives me something they didn't want. I know, it's sort of contradictory. That's human, I guess. I don't even mind receiving used gifts when they are obviously used. As a child, I always took to heart the adults in my life saying, it's the thought that counts. And I truly believe that now. If my wife took the time to think about what I like, really thought about me as a person, and came to the wrong conclusion, I would be happier than if she had just hurried up and picked out something that turned out to be just what I wanted by mistake.

I suppose if pushed, I would have to say time itself. At the end(operatively speaking) of the year, so many people ask "what's your resolution this year?" or, "What did you accomplish this year" or some variable...that it seems almost inevitable that I begin thinking about time itself. Days gone by revisit for pleasant dreams, or nightmares. Days of now hold a sense of stability, a place in time where I can stop and say to myself that I need to take a breath and think things through. Times to come offer unknown quantities of adventure, whether for good or ill, and eventual surcease altogether from the pains of life as well as the pleasures.

I concur fully about the forum. Exactly as you said, there are just some things that don't go over well discussion wise with the family. I am grateful for the roof over my head. Owning a home can be lots of things, but it's always a home to go to, refuge from the storm so to speak(although I haven't noticed very many storms here in GA as compared to the near weekly events of Illinois).

maybe scribal error has indeed shaped faith through an erroneously translated prayer...i wonder about the rest of the book too.

i find it interesting for people to feel reverence on the arbitrary day the calendar changes...its not ingrained enough for me i guess.

one mans trash... or disorder, is anothers treasure.

I think really this boils down to expenditure of effort and feasibility, for me. Is it worth expending effort to make someone else happy? Will it actually make that other person happy? What will it cost me to make that person happy? In the case of the street preacher, there is simply more effort involved in arguing and debating with someone that I am fairly reasonably sure will not change their mind in any way and will probably be upset with me for not changing my mind. Should I simply roll over and change my mind to make the other individual happy with their ability to express themselves? That's kind of like what's being advocated, to me. Why should I change my principles? Because someone else thinks I should? Someone who in all likelihood will be offended if I don't, but won't even consider changing their position? No. I am my own individual. If someone wants me to change, and they want to present their evidence, and I am willing at the time(or able), it might be I will at least give it a listen. But for them to expect me to change is unreasonable, just as unreasonable as me expecting them to change. I have lived my life, I am the one who put in the effort to get where I am, I am the one who has taken the time to investigate what seemed important to me, and I am the one responsible for my conclusions. If I put out something that offends someone else, that's on them. They haven't taken the time to consider why they are upset. Or if they have, they are following a fallacious path. To be offended at someone else's decorations, where does it end? Yes, it sounds a bit like the slippery slope fallacy. But it isn't. It isn't unreasonable to assume someone might be offended that I paint my house blue. There are places where there have been lawsuits over such a thing. It isn't unreasonable to assume someone will be offended that I don't keep my grass less than an inch high, it has happened to me here. I do not feel a need to bow down to opinion of something so trivial. Now, get into something that actually has impact, and maybe I will consider. I won't, for example only, be offended if my neighbor comes to my house and asks me to move my twenty seven garbage cans full of old stinking soda cans from next to their yard. I would fully understand that my actions(hypothetical though they are) would have an actual impact on them, not an imaginary one. I would realize the risk for insects such as roaches being enormously higher, and the smell in general being very unpleasant and hard to ignore. But for something like a Christmas decoration? Nope. That isn't harmful. Even if they feel like they have been harmed, they haven't really. They are just throwing a grade school level tantrum.

Removal of a dead cat isn't that big a problem. Removal of a preacher on my door step is likewise not that big a problem. I simply tell them I am not interested and close the door, and they go away.

Yes, I can. I do not say I agree with their message, but I can view them spewing forth their truths just the same as I can a stray cat on my porch eating the left over chicken I left out for it.

the kkk and nazis have and continue to have a tradition of violence, and attempting to usurp others rights, so i agree.

i did not realize the slippery slope was a fallacy, though in researching it, it does seem fairly obvious, so thanks for pointing that out...although research suggests its only fallacious if the chain of events is improbable(which mine was).

no. i think people should be nice to eah other insofar as it doesn't take away anothers freedom to express themselves in a non violent manner. i think a person is responsible for how they respond to external stimuli.