steveorino

The Mayans could always sacrifice a few more virgins. steveOrino

Yes, you do - as you said "Christians have every right to lobby against what they deem as an immoral act." This basically means that if you consider some act of anyone being immoral according to Christian faith, you'll lobby against it - and this is trying to force others to act according to your RELIGIOUS moral! This will end up that everybody will be forced to study Bible and go to church every Sunday, as not studying Bible and not going to church is immoral act. Most every law enacted by man was motivated by someone's sense of justice or morality. steveOrino

Two seagulls Gertrude & Heathcliff ... Sorry you gotta be an old fart to get it. steveOrino

Mine is my unit patch. steveOrino

I’m a firm believer that the biblical writers write to their own generation using their words and idioms. I believe they also write what they believe to be the inspired word of God, but I do not believe God “dictated” it verbatim. The Pentateuch was attributed to Moses and while I doubt he actually penned the words there is liittle doubt it came from an oral tradition that included him as the originator of the words. I believe much of what we know as the OT was put to pen during the period of Babylonian captivity, which is one reason you see influence from that culture in Hebrew writings. Much of the prophets would have been written after their return to Jerusalem, but not so with the historical books and accounts of the kings. This led to a little 20/20 hindsight. As Israel came into the promise land they conquered the cities that resided there. Most of the tribes that gave them trouble were tribes that were somewhat related, such as the Edomites were descendants of Esau who sold his birth rite. The Moabites were descendants of Lot, the nephew of Abraham who Abraham should have never let join him in his journey for many reasons.(IMHO) The Canaanites were far more troublesome. Supposedly descendants of Ham, son of Noah, they continually were a thorn in Israel’s flesh. How could a scribe write this without downplaying the power of Yahweh? Simple say the Israelites should have committed genocide in the first place. Since Israel did not commit genocide, as they were commanded, they remained perplexed by the Canaanites. That would make sense to the early Hebrews. Why did they cast out their foreign wives (& children) when they returned from exile? They needed a excuse for their apostasy. Were their foreign wives the sole reason they turned to idols? I doubt it, but it makes good sense if you are preaching a divine race. Now this may sound like I do not believe the OT was divinely written. That is partially true. I believe the OT points to Christ in 100s of passages and for that I see divine inspiration. Along with that I see an ancient people telling their story from their viewpoint that included their limited understanding of God. Were they accurate in their portrayal of history? Perhaps not as true historians, but none the less they laid a foundation for Christ and his ultimate teachings. steveOrino

I'm not sure if you are being obtuse on purpose or I'm that bad in my effort to exegete scripture for you. The point on MLK was not about who was followers or not, but that three groups of people heard/read what he said and found different interpretations in his words. The same applies to ANY teacher, whether that be JC, or Ghandi, or Lincoln. Much of how we interpret what some says is viewed through the lens of our own worldview. If you are Constatine and your worldview is conquest or the Pope from the middle ages and your worldview is power, you read JCs word differently than William Wilburforce who fought to end slavery. Same words. Different world views to begin with. As for the CS Lewis comment, I thought it was funny, but perhaps it should have been directed at JackC who insinuated the Oxford fellow & tutor was merely a children's book writer. Same with the star trek joke. I forget some people are far more thin skinned than I am. Maybe I have a little thicker skin from being a Texan living on the west coast with all the "where's your horse?" jokes. I'm sorry to offend your sensitivities. As far as JC & OT that will take more explaining. I may write something before I leave for the DZ, but it could be a while before I reply. steveOrino

MLK Said he dreamed of every man being judged by his character and not the color of his skin. Some African Americans heard or read that and felt inspired. They were not the second class citizen so many wanted them to believe they were. Some white men heard that and they felt inspired to activism. They volunteered in the civil rights movement and lobbied to have laws changed. Other men heard/read MLK's statement and lit crosses and wore hoods. They turned dogs and fire hoses on the marchers. They bombed churches. Amazing! They all heard the same message but chose to react differently. I guess MLK wasn't that good of a communicator. steveOrino

Because: - I do not force everybody (in any way) to be in accordance with my beliefs by doing or not doing something; Are you implying I am doing that? Or is Paj forcing his belief? Meh, it is hard to spread a lack of belief. I suppose if you had good news you'd just keep ito yourself. This is were you and I differ. I have no doubts about what I believe. steveOrino

JC & his disciple were watching a rich man who put his faith in his wealth. Christ pointed out his wealth was "his" stumbling block, as it was valued more than anything else, including a relationship with God. JC pointed out the obvious, those who see no need in their life seldom see a need for God. steveOrino

Yeah, the first bit is always easy. Now come the hard part. But after a little heart surgery, I'm motivated.

C.S. Lewis: the bloke famous for writing kids books. Oh the irony... Oh, there is irony here ... He was a Fellow and Tutor in English literature at Oxford University until 1954 when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. steveOrino

My hero. I weighed 242 and I'm going for 199. I'm at 230 after 19 days steveOrino

I'll let C.S. Lewis reply to your statement. "... if they cannot understand books written for grown-ups, they should not talk about them." - from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis steveOrino

I'm convinced the majority of those who did harm in the name of the Christian faith were motivated by things other than following the teachings of Christ. Their motivation was greed and power. Christianity, or at least the cloak of Christianity, provided a good cover. A cursory look at the actual teachings of Christ would lead people to lead live's of service and peace, not power and conquest. JC said it best, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" Matthew 7: 21-23 steveOrino

On some he was expanding the original teaching of Moses, on some he was correcting. Example of expanding the original teaching: Don't commit adultry expands to don't lust Example of correcting the original teaching: love your neighbor and hate your enemy corrected to love everyone. (too bad most Christians do not follow this teaching) steveOrino

If you look on the literature which supposed to teach us how to live by setting the rules like "what can and what cannot be done" - yes, this literature is awful boring stuff. Just look on U.S.C. or your state laws. But if you are talking about the literature which was created to entertain or amuse you - yes, I'd agree that this is the only thing the Bible is useful for. While some taught with the style of Socrates, JC often taught with stories and parables. While it was not unique to him he was obviusly very good at it. Your discussing what he said two thousand years later. steveOrino

I think he is curious why you use the phrase "I believe" when it looks more apparent there is nothing you "believe" that is not concrete or requires an amount of faith. steveOrino

Most likely most people do not divulge. I know of an IAD student who passed out under canopy and survived with no major injuries (lucky dude) His wife stated he had high blood pressure, but even though that medical concern was on the check list on the waiver it was not marked. I remember a lady asking me if she thought it was okay for her to do a tandem with me as she had a kidney problem. I asked her what her Dr. said about it. She said he said don't do it. She was surprised when I refused to take her on a tandem without a written note from her doctor clearing her of that condition enough to jump. steveOrino

As you can see, ask 10 vidiots and you will get 10 different responses. I was one of those who hated linear editing because I could edit on my computer so much better. After I learned how to shoot only what I needed I found the only thing linear editing lacked was the ability to put high resolution stills in the video. A captured still just doesn't measure up to a still from a XTi. Then my fellow vidiot Brian introduced me to a gadget that converts images off a computer to a video input on a linear mixing board. Now I had the speed of linear and the high quality stills of non-linear editing. That is why I prefer a good linear board over a Mac or PC steveOrino

I've defined it quite rationally for me and about 90% of the population. I said I doubt I'd find an explanation YOU would accept as you want to measure everything in scientific terms. Some things cannot be measured that way. Spirituality is one of them. As I previously said. "You don't believe, nor do you seek. Fine, that is your choice to make." The funny thing is you probably think I'm a religious nut w/o the ability to reason logically. I see myself as one who is very happy with my insight. I have questioned everything I was taught about Christianity and my faith is far different than my parents. On a pragmatic scale, theirs seem to work for them, but it didn't for me. Years of serious study and asking questions that made some of my professors uneasy has brought me to a point in my life where I'm very satisfied with my path. I love to discuss theology with those who differ from me from fellow pastors & Christians to Buddhist & atheists. However, I have grown very weary of the debate continually being tossed back to scientific reason just as I would grow weary of the KJV only people's debates. No offense to you personally, but I'm "brushing the dust off and moving on" from your replies. I wish you peace! steveOrino

Since this a relatively new situation (the ability for science to keep the body alive w/o brain function) there hasn't been much theological writings on this, so my ideas would be merely a guess. I haven't read, studied or for that matter, thought much about this phenom. I "guess" the soul may depart either to be with God or apart from God. steveOrino

Have I been impatient with you? Perhaps. But eventually one is to wipe the dust off and move on. I'm not sure how my belief that Trekkies are nerds is being impatient though. Maybe you can explain that. BTW, I wouldn't call BillVon or Kallend nerds. They just do a lot more no nonsense logical thinking than me. The others you mention; I don't remember anything they have posted. steveOrino

buy a linear board and self edit as you shoot. You can buy a device that allows stills from your computer to be used as stills in the vide. It will take you about 15 minutes to make a 10-12 minute video. More than long enough. I purchased a used Panosonic linear editing board for $200 and the still converter for about $40--50 steveOrino

For example, when Spock's brain was stolen and installed into the Amazon Planet's Controller computer, leaving his otherwise live body aside, where did his soul reside? The computer? His body? Elsewhere? This theological question has lingered for at least 40 years. What's your take on it? Sorry, I think Trekkies are nerds. I never watched even one show. I can see you now with Phil and your spock ears at a Star Trek convention. Which one is Capt. Kirk? steveOrino

No, I doubt I'll satisfy you with any "definitions" I can think up. It is the part of us that defies a simple concrete definition. Crudely I'd define it as the basic, real, and invariable nature of a human. steveOrino