Raf

cough young obi wan cough

Ooga chaka, ooga ooga.

Good question, Twinky. I'll look it up. Here's some attempts at an explanation. I don't find them persuasive, but not concerned enough to argue the point. http://biblehub.com/commentaries/exodus/19-22.htm

It is not and has never been my intention to "complete" any look at any particular book of the Bible. Topics are popping up as I encounter them, and I'll cite them as the opportunities to cite them arise. Today my attention was drawn to Exodus 19: 21-22. ... ... ... ... ... ... What priests? There was no priesthood yet.

Still waiting for that report, Allan. If you think I'm abusing my authority as a moderator on this thread, surely you have evidence of this and are not just making an irrelevant connection between my duties as a moderator and my participation in this thread. Perhaps a copy of the rules might help you sort out which one I've broken, make reporting me a bit easier? Anything I can do to help.

If you don't want your views discussed, don't put them on a message board. It's not difficult.

What are you babbling about? Was there a coherent point in there? Report me if you think I violated a rule, allan.

Goodfellas "You ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?"

Saudi Arabia beheads gay people. The civilized world shrugs. Juxtapose that with Christians seemingly concerned about the sanctity of marriage who do nothing to ban divorce but lose their minds over where men who don't share their religion put their penises. Hypocrisy much? If you don’t agree with me about Christians being hypocrites regarding the sanctity of marriage, you must be in favor of beheading gay people. I can do this all day.

The soundtrack is better known as "Awesome Mix, Vol. I"

Nope. More recent. 2014 movie.

Nope.

Of course

I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

"Did you do anything fun Saturday night?" Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, no, not really. You know, if you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she'd probably say yes. That's why I don't ask. Too shy, or too scared? Too busy!

The soundtrack album for this movie reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was the first film soundtrack to reach number one without containing a single original song.

But since he's busy... The stars are all my friends Till the night time ends So I know I'm not alone When I'm here on my own Isn't that a wonder? When you're alone You're not alone Not really alone

"This echoes of TWI." You know what echoes of TWI? Bogus comparisons that seem to illustrate a principle but actually mask another agenda. You know, like Eve's first mistake was questioning, and that masked the agenda of getting us to not question TWI. If he wants to talk about Ferguson, bring it. But to imply (which he did) that protesting Ferguson was hypocritical because it was wrong, and mask it as a matter of priorities... it's wrong to protest against a cop who did something right while staying silent about beheaded children... that's despicable. It's despicable because of its false dichotomy: one cause is a true injustice; the other is not. One cause should elicit our sympathy; the other should not. One cause is a true outrage; the other is not. Anyone who wants to support the police in Ferguson, go right ahead. I'm not going to argue with you. But to take for granted that you're right, to dismiss the validity of the concerns of black America as illustrated by what happened there, and to do so using the heads of innocent children as props...? Here's the argument of the opening post, rephrased, in a nutshell: If you don't believe Darren Wilson was innocent and that Michael Brown deserved to be shot and killed AND, acting on your failure to believe in Wilson's innocence, you find the shooting of Michael Brown an injustice worth protesting, BUT you have not done something to protest [unconfirmed reports of] the beheading of Christian children by ISIL, then you are a hypocrite. What the bloody hell? One has nothing to do with the other. The "hypocrisy" label is misapplied and grossly unfair. And pointing that out somehow makes me like Martindale or Geer (both of whom would have backed Officer Wilson, I guarandamntee it)? Vile and disgusting. That Skyrider doesn't see it, surprises me. That Allan doesn't see it... doesn't surprise me at all. I KNOW I'm on the right side of an issue when he opposes me.

You must not care about beheaded kids in Iraq, Rocky. Wait, sorry, beheaded CHRISTIAN kids. Because that's relevant.

would It have made a difference if the victims were Christian women? And if so, why?

ISIL just executed 150 Muslim women as the world shrugs. juxtaposed with Christians in America who are in a full-scale panic over whether gay people will be allowed to get married

Another set of definitions: This is a tough one to grapple with, and it depends a great deal on what is meant by "beliefs." I believe that the Earth travels around the sun, but is that a "belief"? No, it's a reality that I recognize. I'm wearing a maroon shirt right now. That's not a belief. It's a reality I recognize. I have a lot of realities I recognize about the cause, nature and purpose of the universe, along with some gaps, but the facts that I recognize (the Big Bang, the cooling, the age of the sun and earth, etc. are not properly "beliefs" in this context. On the complicated subject of "First Cause," I have no belief. Literally. I don't know what it was. Does that leave room for God? Only insofar as EVERY gap in knowledge leaves room for God, until the gap is filled and the question is answered. I have a belief that when we determine what the first cause was, it will be discovered to be natural and in keeping with the laws of physics, etc. Is that a religious belief? I'd argue no: it's a reasonable extrapolation based on what is known now. It could be proven wrong, but I would be surprised. Does a reasonable extrapolation require a religious "leap of faith"? I think not. But that's my opinion. In any event, the second half of this definition CLEARLY does not apply to atheism. Atheism is not a religion. There are no beliefs or practices that are agreed upon. There is one answer to one question: Do you believe there is a God? In other words, do you accept or reject the affirmative claim "There is a God"? If your answer is yes, you are a theist. If no, you are an atheist. This is not a KNOWLEDGE claim. It is a belief claim. You can have a high degree of confidence in your position, but most people would agree that they don't have irrefutable proof of their position. So, no, under this definition, it would be VERY difficult to call atheism a religion. You could have religions that are atheistic in content. But it's the OTHER ELEMENTS that make it a religion, not the atheism. Lots of Buddhists are atheists. They don't believe in a God, but they believe in things most other atheists would argue are irrational. Now there's a definition sufficiently vague to include atheism. Maybe not the "practices" part, but the belief that "there is no God" actually comprises a host of more individual beliefs (there is insufficient evidence for God A, God B, God C, God ABC, God AB, God D... ad infinitum). So it can be a collection of beliefs if you hold it up at a certain angle. Again, it's not the atheism that's a religion here. It's the accompanying beliefs (humanism, for example).

Atheism is not a religion. Atheism is not a religion. Atheism is not a religion. Atheism is not a religion. Atheism CAN be a religion by this definition, but it's still questionable. Atheists are fond of saying things like "NOT collecting stamps is not a hobby," and "bald is not a hair color." That may be true. But baldness CAN be a hairstyle. If, for example, it requires maintenance (head shaving), etc. I think atheism is a religion SOLELY in the legal, constitutional sense. That is, you are not allowed to discriminate against someone based on his religion. If atheism doesn't count as a religion, then you can discriminate? No. For that legal purpose, having no religion has to be treated AS a religion. Can we put a monument that says "There Is No God" in a courthouse? No. It endorses a religion -- atheism. In most ways that matter, atheism is not a religion. There can be religions that are atheistic (humanism, etc), but in those cases, OTHER ELEMENTS make it religious, not the atheism. Thoughts?

It's all in how you define your terms. The real issue at hand is "what do you mean by 'religion'?" The answer to THAT question determines the answer to the larger question.

Of course it is. Of course it's not.