Recent content by JSRG

You are completely correct that the whole "Easter comes from Astarte" thing is nonsense, and the word used for Easter in most languages bears no resemblance at all to Easter. However, while the claim that the word Easter comes from Eostre isn't as absurd, it still has some difficulties. The...

This appears to be a false quote. Or at best, a highly paraphrased one. Lincoln in 1838 did make a similar statement (decades before becoming President) where he said: "At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It...

I didn't comment on this originally because I don't know the history enough to really opine on how much Rome "agreed" with it. While the papal legates sent there accepted it, there is some dispute as to how much the pope agreed with Constantinople IV after they returned. There are various...

This is a popular claim, but is largely lacking support. The first real evidence of any winter solstice celebration among the Romans, as far as I can tell, only comes after we know Christians were celebrating Christmas. The Jewish holiday Passover is based on the lunar cycle, as it's supposed...

I looked this up. Let's read this in more context (this is from volume 4 of Encyclopaedia Biblica, by the way). Note that the quotation differs a little from what's actually said; the "i.e. Creation Sabbath" is not in the article, and it also changes "corresponding with changes in the moon's...

I looked into this. There is a letter attributed to Pope John VIII to Photius which has often been interpreted as being a statement that the filioque is heretical. However, this is disputed on two grounds. The first is the question of whether it actually condemns the filioque heretical at all...

In regards to the poll, one should note that the actual percentage of people who votes independent or third party is always quite lower than those who claim they will half a year before the election. Don't expect that high of a percentage in the actual election. It's not likely at all. Neither...

What you describe is not unique to Spanish, and is actually the case for all of the major Romance languages (I think possibly all the Romance languages period). Here's the major Romance languages and their names for Saturday and Sunday respectively: Spanish: Sábado, Domingo Italian: Sabato...

The video claims that the rosary came to St. Dominic through a miraculous vision of Mary. But while this account is popularly told, the evidence is strongly against it. The first mention of any such experience by St. Dominic--or any particular connection he had to the Rosary--comes more than...

This is apparently in reference to Desk trauma, comana, and Hans Blaster. All of them are atheists. I'm not sure exactly why you are expecting them to be Christian? If your complaint is there being a bunch of atheists, if someone wants posts only by Christians, there's plenty of subforums that...

Richard Dawkins is 83 years old. While a "Britainistan" could happen eventually with current trends, it'd take a decent amount of time to happen (even if things accelerate), and he'd be dead before any such thing happens. He personally has nothing to worry about. Dawkins honestly has more to...

I thought it was obvious I meant "traditionalist" in a Catholic sense, given that was the context of how it was being used. Obviously, non-Catholics are going to have different ideas on what are the the actual traditions and probably regard those who rejected Vatican I was the "real"...

I need to issue a correction here: Old Catholics aren't traditionalist, and aren't even Roman Catholic. They're a group that broke away from the Roman Catholic church in the 19th century after the First Vatican Council precisely because they disagreed with its declarations regarding the power...

Firstly, even if this does count as an "agreement or compact" under Article I Section 10, all it would mean is that congress has to agree to it. An extra step, but not an impossible one. However, it is not far from clear whether this indeed count as an "agreement or compact" under what the...

The context is that someone was claiming that a particular group believed in the Saturday Sabbath, and as an attempt at evidence they cited a commentary said group wrote on the Ten Commandments. I pointed out that the text rather indicates they viewed Sunday as being the Sabbath, especially if...