Being offended.

Scary! I want to be understood.Tangle does keep telling me that atheists don't even think about the things I obsess about. Kinda the same as I don't obsess about Loki. I don't even give Loki a second thought.I suppose it's polite to pretend that I care much about studying Geology, or Butterflies or Biological Evolution. I have learned a few things by making myself read the other topics here at EvC apart from religion and politics. So maybe there is hope.

Just a note to you,Tangle--I personally have never offended you and I will say that you rarely offend me, though occasionally your argument that its all made up is a bit strong. I notice, however, that you seem barely able to conceal astonishment and outrage over the posts of ICANT. Why does he annoy you so much? Should you not expect a conservative Baptist Pastor from a small town raised his whole life around religion to be somewhat different from the crowd we have here at EVC?

I agree with you guys. I believe in God, and I believe that there is some way that He edifies my inner spirit and conscience with His Spirit, though of course cannot prove it. I won't go as far as jar did and predict that most of the Christians will be goats, though I do believe that the atheists, secular humanists, and non-religious Bible students on this forum have something to say. It is sheer arrogance to think that believers alone have the only possible consensus on what God will and will not do. Ringo claims that doing the message is tantamount to knowing the messenger. I will keep EvC Forum in my prayers, as I believe that God is using non-believers to impact a changing world.

Actually, I do agree with this. What I don't agree with is this whole demonizing of the political Left. The fact remains that human nature---in all its fallen glory--is not unique to any political ideology or party. And if the values of conservative Christianity were held to the light, what we would see is a belief that Jesus wanted us to be free and prosperous and that the Left was threatening to tear this down. Well, I have news for all of us. Jesus may well be allowing it to be torn down. Let's see how Christian we are when we have nothing! The political Right is holding on to an ideology and mistaking it for being God-given.

, True, but it is built into human nature and Christians are human too. What most American conservative Christians fail to realize is that true Christians are called to suffer rather than protecting what they have. To be fair, the political left fails to realize is that there is an authority in life higher than anything they can vote in. Both sides will eventually answer to reality. Every knee will bow.

I think I can see his point. His point is that the political correctness crowd is making it a crime, to be blunt and bigoted. He may claim that free speech should be preserved even if it offends someone. The other side is attempting to legislate morality and create a leader that fills these expectations. Or something like that.

hope you get your computer fixed soon.

Of course one could argue that if we keep our birthrate low and encourage incentive and opportunity to improve, the rest of the nations will simply feel as if they have a right to share in that pie that WE baked. That's one thing that causes wars, among others. The poor you will always have with you. Its part of the Original Struggle. Only in utopia can everyone get fed and become happy. The free enterprise system would never work globally. There always has to be the poor. And that is why we will never make it without Gods help.

Try telling that to the world. They would resent mandatory birth control. They would resent a lot of things. Think of the seeds of global conflict, for that is one way to prevent it---to see it coming and to act on it. Trump's wall is symbolic and at best a temporary bandaid for a much bigger problem.

And don't forget Faith...both you and I need our social security. We need workers to pay into that system.

Yep.

In this crazy world, we all have to respect other people's "feelings" even to the point of acknowledging feelings as fact. I could care less what you self-identify as. Archaeologists will confirm that someday regardless of how one "feels".

Do you want to know what your counterpart fables are to our "Bronze Age Myths? Try Star Wars. Try Star Trek. Many Nerds worship that stuff! Though the technological part is plausible if not likely, the human element is the wishful part. You all naively hope and expect that humans will ditch old time mythos and adopt brand new godless and hopeful mythos. Only you dont see it as mythos...you see it as sanity.I didn't just decide to make up what I believe, though it could be argued that I adjust and interpret the original dogma as I go.Critics say that our mythos is cruel and unloving. Harmful in fact. You for one hate it with an antitheistic passion! And yet when I have talked with you you are such a nice reasonable guy! ( I even expect jar to chime in and try and dismantle my argument...he is good at that you know)My argument is that for all realistic purposes, the new "mythos" is no better than the old "mythos".Meet the new Boss. Same as the old Boss. ~~The WHO, We Won't Get Fooled Again.

I really like astronomy! Its hard to argue with the data. As I said to AZ, the technological hopes for the future are inevitable, barring financial concerns and shortage of essential materials.
I respect and appreciate your optimism. My problem is that I'm not as optimistic about human nature as you guys are. Perhaps it is unfounded fear, but deep down I sense a major crises before we get a major breakthrough.

Are True Nerds the same counterpart to True Christians? FYI I used to watch all of the Star Treks! Im less familiar with Star Wars, though their weird spiritual interpretations of the Force or forces guiding the universe are predictable. And to be honest, without Star Trek, it is doubtful todays nerds would have had the inspiration to make JWST, Hubble, The Mars Global Surveyor, and a plethora of technological benefits that science has given us. My argument centers on human nature.