narcimund

If you really thought you were replying to the things I said, you're being more confrontationally delusional than usual. First Class Citizen Twice Over

What a thoughtful question! Of course I'd love to participate now that a polite person has posed a question to me. Here's my mind wandering over some of the issues: I don't know enough about the original data to conclude anything. A couple of the early posts in this thread posed excellent questions (like sundevil's "What is meant by "certain" enthusiasms?") I don't know if the subjects were average, church-going, bake-sale-holding christians or raving schizophrenics imagining mystical voices. But let's stipulate that it's the former -- just to be contentious. If researchers happened to actually discover that there was some significant correlation between a relatively low blood level of some vitamin (say vitamin L) and people who attended church, that would be interesting. Does it qualify as "disease"? Probably not unless other disease factors were identified. One could easily turn it around and proclaim that relatively high levels of vitamin L caused atheism. If either high or low levels of vitamin L were also correlated with early death or crippling pain, then we would know objectively if lower or higher levels were more desirable. Wouldn't it be interesting (in a purely hypothetical way) if this were the case? Either direction would be fascinating. Think of it as a science fiction story if you like: A vitamin/potion/treatment is discovered that will triple your body's lifespan, increase vigor, erase wrinkles, restore peak sexual function, and make your breath fresh ... but the side effect is it turns worshippers' religious convictions OFF. (Or just as interesting, imagine it turns atheists' religious convictions ON.) And here's my mind wandering over your actual questions: Can you accept that from my position, christianity (and the other religions) are really no different than any other superstition? So let's switch it over to those so we can see it the same way for a second. If there were a group of people who believed vigorously in the Tooth Fairy, cited Tooth Fairy morals, and caused mayhem to people who didn't also believe, and in extreme cases even murdered and waged wars over over the Tooth Fairy, but a vitamin pill would pull them back to reality and get them to stop fighting, it would be nice to know about it, wouldn't it? Yes, that is a stretch. But one could imagine identifying blood chemistry changes correlated with all sorts of non-disease conditions, some of which have been mentioned by less civil people than you, Michele. They'd all be equally interesting to note. Does identifying a blood chemistry change identify a disease or establish a desirable state all by itself? Hardly. People have different blood types but nobody argues that Type A+ people should be cured to be Type O people. But it would be academically productive to find a correlation between blood types and other qualities even if they weren't diseases. I think it's fascinating for all the reasons I stated above. First Class Citizen Twice Over

That's funny. I suspect MOST democrats and republicans are neither but they've been trained to believe in a false dichotomy. What hardly any americans realize is that those two parties encompass about 1% of the possible arrangements. In fact, they're practically the SAME 1%. Are americans too stupid to realize the error? Well, yes. Stupidity plays a large part. But other smart people go to great effort to keep them from making any other choices so I suppose it's only partially their own fault. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Since you're generally level headed and don't have a long history of smashing me at every turn for my homosexuality I'll say it politely ONE MORE TIME. I'm not bent out of shape about people who have theories about the origins of homosexuality. I've NEVER argued against them. Study my posting history if you like. Read my published works. Ask my friends! I'm not going to dance with the obsessive people who can't see a post by "Narcimund" without bashing me and turning everything to my sexual orientation. When I post about my dinner, they turn it into "Gay Dinner!" And by the way, thanks for your concern, but I didn't actually lose my keys. That was just a figure of speech. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Nobody said I'm unwilling to discuss it (except you.) What I am unwilling to do is participate in hijacking my own thread. You (and others) are obsessed with redirecting the discussion of religiosity and vitamin deficiency to homosexuality. One might wonder why. Maybe I'll look at your posting history to see if you redirect other topics to homosexuality. Maybe that's an interesting clue in itself.... hmm.... First Class Citizen Twice Over

This complete ignorance of the forces of economics is probably so widespread as to explain just about everything. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I won't participate in this hijack. The topic is religiosity and vitamin deficiencies, not your interpretations of my personal life. If you want to discuss different topics, start a new thread. You sure do like to interpret my intentions and announce your opinion as revealed truth. You KNOW why I moved. You KNOW why I do or don't respond. You probably KNOW what I want for dinner too, right? And now you KNOW why I started the thread. My god! Do you KNOW what I like to read, eat, and do in bed? Do you KNOW where I left my keys? First Class Citizen Twice Over

Apparently you don't look at any local news media. I congratulate you for your good sense. However, this IS exactly the way it happens. I've seen it happen many times. Slow news day -- private individual gets in the public eye accidently -- local news suddenly thinks they own the guy's entire life. It appears that Canada media is more civil. But that fits a wider pattern. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Mexico: The land of the Free. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Old books about skydiving. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I find it funny that you're so hung up on these two things but neither of them happened: * Nobody in this thread has "grabbed on to this as 'proof'" of anything. I simply said a doctor passed on a summary of some research that hints at a possibility. * Nobody in this thread has cried when their situation or group has been put into the exact same situation. You're obviously talking about me but you have NEVER heard me say anything like you're going on about. You make up fantasies of other people's misbehaviors, convince yourself they happened, then hold others accountable for them. My god man! Are you aware of how ridiculous that is? Stop working yourself up over fictions. Or are you so starved for drama that you have to make it up to satiate yourself? First Class Citizen Twice Over

I can see bonfire is just as hateful and nasty as speaker's corner though. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Not in the US or Canada. Call 911 and you'll be asked your name. Even if you refuse, they have your phone number. First Class Citizen Twice Over

If he's white then he's sure to be legal. I mean, come on! A white person doing something illegal? No way. Or on the off chance he's white AND illegal, we can at least be sure he's not doing any of those other bad things like sending money back to Sweden. No white person would ever send money to Sweden, right? None of that really matters so long as he sings patriotic songs in English ONLY. And that's safe because white people never sing in Swedish. First Class Citizen Twice Over

The joke's on who? How much did that degree cost them and how much money did they get for it? (Please include all the fees you paid directly, all the government support, bank loans, and endowment grants and donations pro-rated per student.) First Class Citizen Twice Over

That entirely depends on factors out of your control: * Slow or busy news day? * Is the person you're helping rich or famous? * Does something touching happen that makes the story sell more papers? Like I said, I'm one to get involved (and I have done so when I've seen a need) but I'm always prepared to get out of there without leaving my name. Not even a policeman is going to get my name unless he's willing to arrest me for it. I believe the BIGGEST reason people don't get involved is their very reasonable fear that they'll somehow be forced to pay for it later. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Fair enough, but spread the blame where it's due. The person who saves a pigeon just saves a pigeon then it's over. But the person who saves another person is written about and photographed in the newspaper. Their yard is soon full of edgy reporters eager exaggerate or even to find scandal. Their life is scrutinized. Indiscretions become headlines and strangers act like intimate friends -- or enemies. Your quiet, private life is gone, you're now public property, and you're treated ... well, basically you're now treated like that pigeon was. Free assistance is only free for the recipient. For the samaritan, it's WAY too expensive. I'm one to stop and help, but I'll be watching over my shoulder for the reporters and if anyone asks my name, I'm gone! My privacy is too important to me. I think a lot of people feel that way. First Class Citizen Twice Over

You give yourself a lot of credit, don't you? He probably is. It sure is nice here in Canada First Class Citizen Twice Over

Wow. That's a hilarious new example of the insatiable apostrophe. Do people's pinkies just hit the apostrophe automatically now? First Class Citizen Twice Over

Sure, you can demand to see his green card. You can also demand to see his penis. He'll either laugh at you or maybe punch you in the nose. I'll just laugh at you when I hear the story. First Class Citizen Twice Over

You're kidding, right? Well, here's what one looks like. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Not to mention: The Bible and Cell Phones The Scriptures, revealed to man through divine inspiration direct from God, but without any wired connections between God and man, anticipated the cellphone more than 4000 years before Nokia or ATT Wireless were founded. As well, the voice of God emanating from the burning bush is a clear precurser to the downloadable ringtone. The Bible and Aerodynamic Engineering Men such as Wilbur and Orville Wright took sinful pride in their accomplishments, but God himself inspired the technology of flight in Genesis 1:20 "And God said, 'Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.'" In fact, the proper reading of this passage is that the 'birds' referred to were in fact Cessna 182s full of skydivers. Of course this was 6000 years ago and freefly wasn't invented yet so we can be sure they were bellyflyers. The Scriptures and Wholesome Summer Family Sports As we all know, Jesus is said to have walked on water. This is just one of the many miracles by which we know his godliness. However, now we know that the true miracle was Jesus' invention of water skiing so now anyone can be God! The Bible and Laser Eye Surgery Acts, chapter 9 depicts the Conversion of Saul. On his way to Damascus he was blinded by a great light. Ananias, the first eye surgeon, waves his hands (which we should understand to be early computer-guided wavefront laser devices) and restores Saul's sight. It wasn't until 1992 when science finally correctly read the blueprints encoded in Scripture and began performing the same surgeries again. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Lots of people remember lots of things that never happened. And I won't participate in this hijacking of a perfectly good thread any more. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I've never posted anything even remotely what you're accusing me of saying (and doing). Your fantasy is telling. You're the one who brought up the non sequitur of homosexuality and oppression, not me. So no, I'm not going to follow your red herring. Sorry. The topic of this thread is religiousity and vitamin deficiency. First Class Citizen Twice Over

While I find it fascinating when people proclaim their highly confident theories about our lives, you can be sure you have no clue unless you've actually asked us. Have you? Since I have no idea who you are, I doubt it. When you talk in the familiar mode about my personal personal life it reveals a lot about you and nothing about me. First Class Citizen Twice Over