Honest questions?

[MoonLancer]

I confess -- I don't even know who Adam Savage is; so his 'famous quote' must not be so famous;

a text book fallacy.

 

[Naraoia]

I confess -- I don't even know who Adam Savage is...

One of the guys from Mythbusters.

 

[AV1611VET]

One of the guys from Mythbusters.

Oh -- -- of course!

I never paid attention to their names --

 

[Belk]

For calling it a joke, you seem to put a lot of stock into it.

Your peanut-gallery remarks, which are very low in information content, but high in ridicule, seems to belie the fact that you are indeed becoming a reflection of your own tagline.

I'll go take a look at it and get right back to you.

Yes, we have all seen how fruitful it is to provide you with information.

 

[Nathan Poe]

For calling it a joke, you seem to put a lot of stock into it.

Your peanut-gallery remarks, which are very low in information content, but high in ridicule, seems to belie the fact that you are indeed becoming a reflection of your own tagline.

Only in your insignificant opinion, AV.

 

[Nathan Poe]

Yes -- but don't expect me to believe you if you say I was the one who whitewashed your fence for you.

Which I would never say -- that was my childhood friend, Tom, who ran that scheme.

Meanwhile, my father would have something to say about how eager you are to believe other people's stories -- alas, I left him back on Krypton.

(Do let me know when this starts getting too incredulous for even you, AV -- it'll be the first sign of you getting the point)

 

[AV1611VET]

(Do let me know when this starts getting too incredulous for even you, AV -- it'll be the first sign of you getting the point)

If you're trying to equate yourself with God's chosen amanuenses via Mark Twain, it's not going to work.

The first time a Roman showed up to arrest you for telling that story, you'd kick and scream all the way to the execution chamber that you were just trying to Poe someone.

And they would let you off the hook, probably just because of the way you groveled.

 

[Skaloop]

If you're trying to equate yourself with God's chosen amanuenses via Mark Twain, it's not going to work.

The first time a Roman showed up to arrest you for telling that story, you'd kick and scream all the way to the execution chamber that you were just trying to Poe someone.

And they would let you off the hook, probably just because of the way you groveled.

Honest question; if Roman soldiers showed up and arrested you for your Christian faith, threatened you with torture and execution, would you tell them that you renounce your faith? I'm not saying you have to actually renounce it, but you just have to say "I renounce my faith in God and reject Jesus as my saviour" and they will let you go, and once out of sight, you are free to carry on as you were before.

Or say a bunch of scientists showed up with their clipboards and scalpels and microscopes and threatened to vivisect you unless you proclaimed your complete acceptance of all of evolutionary theory, including that you are a Homo sapiens. Would you refuse to do that, hold strictly to your faith, and get cut to bits, or would you say what they wanted and get released?

 

[AV1611VET]

Honest question; if Roman soldiers showed up and arrested you for your Christian faith, threatened you with torture and execution, would you tell them that you renounce your faith? I'm not saying you have to actually renounce it, but you just have to say "I renounce my faith in God and reject Jesus as my saviour" and they will let you go, and once out of sight, you are free to carry on as you were before.

Or say a bunch of scientists showed up with their clipboards and scalpels and microscopes and threatened to vivisect you unless you proclaimed your complete acceptance of all of evolutionary theory, including that you are a Homo sapiens. Would you refuse to do that, hold strictly to your faith, and get cut to bits, or would you say what they wanted and get released?

I would hope that when the time comes, God would give me the strength and courage to stand (or fall) for the Truth.

 

[Skaloop]

I would hope that when the time comes, God would give me the strength and courage to stand (or fall) for the Truth.

But you don't have to actually change or alter your beliefs one bit. You just have to say that you do. Would you really choose death over merely saying "The theory of evolution is absolutely correct, and I, along with every other member of the species Homo sapiens, share a common ancestor with all life on Earth"? You don't even have to say it with conviction. Just say it, and you go home.

 

[AV1611VET]

But you don't have to actually change or alter your beliefs one bit. You just have to say that you do. Would you really choose death over merely saying "The theory of evolution is absolutely correct, and I, along with every other member of the species Homo sapiens, share a common ancestor with all life on Earth"? You don't even have to say it with conviction. Just say it, and you go home.

Let's put it this way -- I'm 56 years old, and pro... er ... blessed to be an American.

Should someone show up and tell me that all I have to do is admit that I'm 21, and they'll let me go; I hope I would have the courage and strength to tell them to kiss my birth certificate.

 

[CaliforniaSun]

Let's put it this way -- I'm 56 years old, and pro... er ... blessed to be an American.

Should someone show up and tell me that all I have to do is admit that I'm 21, and they'll let me go; I hope I would have the courage and strength to tell them to kiss my birth certificate.

False dichotomy. No one is asking to admit to a falsehood. ToE is the best theory we have, you have just made the decision not to accept it because it conlicts with your beliefs. In this case, your beliefs are irrespective to the facts.

 

[Skaloop]

Let's put it this way -- I'm 56 years old, and pro... er ... blessed to be an American.

Should someone show up and tell me that all I have to do is admit that I'm 21, and they'll let me go; I hope I would have the courage and strength to tell them to kiss my birth certificate.

What you call courage and strength, I call stupidity. Especially regarding something as unimportant as saying what your age is. If I were threatened with death, and offered complete freedom to say "X", you could make "X" anything at all, and I would say it. Honestly, anything. Tell me I can go free if I say that I hate my wife, and I'll say I hate my wife. Think up anything you like, I'd say it. Heck, think up anything you like right now and I'll say it right now; no threat of death even necessary.

That's why I don't get why this whole "Dying for beliefs" thing is considered so commendable. the captors, the people threatening you; they don't know your beliefs. They can't read your mind. They only know what you say your beliefs are. And what you say your beliefs are don't need to match up with what your beliefs actually are. A guy is going around asking people if they believe in God. They say yes, he shoots them. They say no, he lets them go. Now he's asking you. Is there something, anything better about saying yes and dying for your beliefs than there is for saying no and lying for your life?

 

[AV1611VET]

... you have just made the decision not to accept it because it conlicts with your beliefs.

Just now?

And you can use the word 'beliefs' if you want, but to get the whole picture and really understand it -- (miracles do occur) -- try using the word 'faith', instead.

 

[Nathan Poe]

If you're trying to equate yourself with God's chosen amanuenses via Mark Twain, it's not going to work.

Swing and a miss, AV -- the question is, why don't you believe my stories?

 

[Nathan Poe]

I would hope that when the time comes, God would give me the strength and courage to stand (or fall) for the Truth.

Sounds to me like God has already given you the means -- your ego and desire to be a martyr blinds you to them.

 

[Nathan Poe]

Just now?

No, "just," as in merely and insignificantly.

And you can use the word 'beliefs' if you want, but to get the whole picture and really understand it -- (miracles do occur) -- try using the word 'faith', instead.

What miracles?

 

[Skaloop]

Just now?

Oh, come on. That's over-the-top semantic evasion even for you.

Just as in merely, not just as in recently.

And I thought you were serious when you said you were going to try to be better around here.

 

[CaliforniaSun]

Just now?

And you can use the word 'beliefs' if you want, but to get the whole picture and really understand it -- (miracles do occur) -- try using the word 'faith', instead.

I do not consider faith to be a virture, and no matter how you slice it, at the end of the day, the way in which you interpret reality are your beliefs. There's nothing magical or miraculous about them.

Faith is a word that allows one to construct any number of beliefs or claims, and having faith in them somehow confers veracity. Logic and reason does not allow for belief/faith in claims that lack evidentiary support.

 

[Nathan Poe]

Let's put it this way -- I'm 56 years old, and pro... er ... blessed to be an American.

Should someone show up and tell me that all I have to do is admit that I'm 21, and they'll let me go; I hope I would have the courage and strength to tell them to kiss my birth certificate.

You hate life that much?