coComments related to MInTheGap

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2009-09-29T04:20:33.191+02:00

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2009-09-27T19:44:09.369+02:00

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The church should have simply

2009-01-05T01:12:34.125+01:00

The church should have simply stoned her, as is allowed by the bible and other world religions. that would have quickly cleaned up this dirty little mess.

All people in this world will

2009-01-03T10:34:35.688+01:00

All people in this world will die in some day...

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2009-09-29T04:20:33.191+02:00

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2009-09-27T19:44:09.369+02:00

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The church should have simply

2009-01-05T01:12:34.125+01:00

The church should have simply stoned her, as is allowed by the bible and other world religions. that would have quickly cleaned up this dirty little mess.

All people in this world will

2009-01-03T10:34:35.688+01:00

All people in this world will die in some day...

The argument that "this no lon

2009-11-20T22:22:41.366+01:00

The argument that "this no longer reflects who we are" is a strong one. However, I could make the equally strong argument that a society that forgets where it came from and its identity will soon lose that identity and repeat the mistakes of the past. George Washington said that a culture or society that does not have a moral foundation to it will soon fall apart-- and he referenced Christianity as the moral fabric of the nation. I can illustrate this with your comment.

I do not believe that religion has any business influencing public life...

Aside from the argument about whether secular humanism is a religion, which I'll put aside for the time being, why should the government be prejudiced against a person choosing to vote or do something in a specific way as guided by religion. The First Amendment prevents Congress from prohibiting the free exercise of religion, and the Constitution prohibits a religious test. You are biased against religion, and prefer your worldview over those that have religion, and you wish to usurp your belief over those with a belief in a deity. This is the beginnings of the very same religious persecution that our Founding Fathers left England over-- the fact that they were not welcomed in discourse because of their faith.

Rex and Debbie, It's not a zer

2009-11-20T15:12:52.021+01:00

Rex and Debbie, It's not a zero-sum game. Removing "God" from all these locations would indicate no deference to God at all-- which flies in the face of this country's history. It could actually be seen as supporting atheism or secularism. Debbie, historically there were Quakers, Christians and Deists. However, all paid recognition to God in the law and their meetings. Franklin stated that he thought the first thing the Constitutional Convention should do would be to pray-- and even though they did not at that point, they did appoint a salaried position for a chaplain. If you really researched what the government did in early days-- from Thanksgiving Proclamations to rules subsidizing the evangelization of the American Indian, you'd see a very different picture than you're trying to paint.

I'm unsure about the comment a

2009-11-20T14:35:51.174+01:00

I'm unsure about the comment about the iPod during takeoff. Maybe I'm missing the rest of the context, but what was the part about deception? What was the dilemma?

I think I have to take her at

2009-11-18T20:33:10.477+01:00

I think I have to take her at her word when it comes to why she resigned, otherwise I'm in the position of judging her. She states that she left because of the accumulating legal bills and her "celebrity" status, if you will, were hampering her ability to govern-- which was low given her lame duck status. You compare it to other lame ducks, and I'd like to know what big bills were accomplished by people in the last half of their last year in office. I actually have much less respect for those that spend their entire time in elected office campaigning for a different one-- every election year, Senators, Representatives, etc. neglect their duty for the entire year to go out on the stump campaigning for another job. To be consistent, you'd have to say that these people are as prone to be absent as well. I totally am with you about choosing celebrity over doing something important. I would prefer that she had stayed in office. Wasn't one of the things that she was knocked about on during the campaign was that she went speaking elsewhere on the state's dime? To me, it was, in a weird way, honorable to spare the state the drama as well as her family the fact that they were swimming in debt for her to step down and get out of that office. I don't believe that this disqualifies her as President any more than a person leaving one job for a more lucrative job means that they shouldn't eventually become a manager.

I'm not sure I follow your arg

2009-11-17T21:10:44.123+01:00

I'm not sure I follow your argument here. Do you believe that a legislator is qualified to be an executive? Would an executive in a private company that was successful be a good choice for President or not? I'm not sure why leaving a governorship as a lame duck having mounting legal fees filed against the state (thereby relieving the state of the drama and keeping things relatively status quo because of her lame duck status and setting up a successor) is that big of a negative. I'm sure that we can all find things that we do or do not like about every person or candidate-- no matter how petty they are. If any person has the policy views I have, and they have experience leading people, why would I not vote for them? What in this post should convince me not to vote for her-- not saying I would, but do you really think that "leaving her Alaska Governorship" is enough to disqualify her for the Presidency?

Make sure that whatever you're

2009-11-16T21:45:58.262+01:00

Make sure that whatever you're using to listen to the sounds can handle the range. I tried my headphones at work, and could not hear below my age. I tried the laptop at home, and had my kids in the room, and they couldn't hear below what I could hear. I finally tried my good speakers on my main computer and I heard all of them-- and I'm 33. I think this would definitely be true for people that have listened to loud music or have a loud work environment, but I think that you should do better than you think!

I have a binary watch-- they'r

2009-05-04T22:05:42.277+02:00

I have a binary watch-- they're kinda neat, and they take a while to master!

These are some great pictures,

2009-04-10T05:15:45.333+02:00

These are some great pictures, Miriam. I don't know why they're rejects! God's really blessed you, congratulations on being a senior!

Happy belated birthday!

2009-03-03T17:57:59.887+01:00

Happy belated birthday!

The problem with class warfare

2009-03-02T20:18:00.128+01:00

The problem with class warfare is that it is always one sided. The rich can't win trying to make their point because the poor generate sympathy. It's all about how we picture people. We picture all poor people like Little Orphan Annie and all rich people like Oliver Warbucks. The truth is that there are loafers on welfare and good people that are making a lot of money, but we choose to use our own views for them.

I've put one on our site,
2009-01-09T19:40:55.187+01:00
I've put one on our site, Is This Modest?! Thanks for celebrating modesty!

I'm glad someone remembers tha

2008-12-18T18:07:27.755+01:00

I'm glad someone remembers that White Christmas is a great Christmas movie! I also found it interesting the celebration of Christmas in the Philippines. Good T13!

It is a good story indeed, and

2008-11-12T22:37:21.368+01:00

It is a good story indeed, and the undercurrent is even better. We should be wanting attention drawn to Him, not ourselves! Thanks for the reminder.

Hi, I'm an admin for a group c

2008-10-13T21:01:01.246+02:00

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Is This Modest?, and we'd love to have this added to the group! -- Seen in the group"Model Potential" (?)

Technically, you haven't lost

2008-10-13T15:29:52.118+02:00

Technically, you haven't lost any money-- the numbers on your 401k aren't money, but a guess at what the paper you hold would be worth if you sold it today. Like most investments, it's all about what someone will pay for what you have at any given point in time. That being said, you're right-- we should hold our savings put and wait for the storm to blow over. Investing more? Now there's something that's definitely debatable.

Diversification seems like a g

2008-10-09T19:44:20.175+02:00

Diversification seems like a good idea, but I'm not sure about investing. Seems like this is an even more riskier time than normal. I'll definitely be socking more into the Emergency Fund, though.

@Berlzebub: He never claimed t

2008-09-26T17:16:42.876+02:00

@Berlzebub: He never claimed to be the author of this blog. He did layout out ground rules for discussion on this blog and on this thread, however:

However if you feel like you would like to discuss this post further, perhaps you could answer 4 questions for me before we continue.

This sentence states this: "If you'd like to discuss this post further, then answer these four questions." The contrapositive would be "If you do not want to answer these questions, then you should not discuss this post further." Hence my implication that he believes that he has the authority to regulate the debate. And I'll ignore the folly of "well, he's not going to talk to you" at the same time he's talking to me... and that was the main point. It really doesn't matter what he says regarding ground rules, etc. If he chooses to ignore valid or strong criticism, he can go join his buddy Obama who has to have a teleprompter in order to sound coherent. Tech insinuated that I was welcome into the discussion only if I answered his questions. Again:

However if you feel like you would like to discuss this post further, perhaps you could answer 4 questions for me before we continue.

And what logical arguments did I put forth? #63:

First, the logical one: Simply because person X states that they need A in their life to make them a good person does not mean that person Y needs that thing in their life. It’s a logical fallacy that you’re defending.

#61:

You’re implying, Amanda, that one statement equals the other, but that’s simply a fallacy. That a -> b does not mean that ~a -> ~b. It’s simple logic. And he further clarifies it by not saying “I wouldn’t be a good person” but by saying “I won’t be AS faithful, AS honest, or AS civil.” Not that these things would be missing altogether, but that they would not be present in the degrees that he has now.

Regardless that Rev. Graves claims in #64 that Amanda is right...

Since we’re talking about me and what I said about me, here are my two cents: Amanda is right.

He doesn't have grounds to make that claim, since he's not an arbiter of logic. He can say what he meant by his statement (i.e. That he meant to say that all people cannot be good without God in their life.), but Amanda read that into what he said, and logically my analysis is correct. And back to the primary topic of all of this, and the only reason I got involved, Rev. Graves' primary point is that people in this debate are rejected out of hand simply because of who they are are what they claim to believe. They're not accepted at the table. Their opinions (as illustrated by the book that tech wrote) are treated as uncritical thinking, and poor arguments are made but not acknowledged. For example, the whole argument tech has here about taking PZ, et al and saying they've never been in jail, and comparing that to pedophiles that happened to be pastors is ludicrous. First, it wholly misses the whole "ideology vs. adherents" problem, but second, it takes the best of one class and compares it to the worst of the other class and tries to make conclusions off of them. I noticed tech didn't take Chairmen Mao and his mass killings, or take a look at any other atheist that's eradicated Christians simply because of their beliefs. Nor did he, on his discussion of tolerance from Atheism toward Christianity, talk about why PZ decided that he had to desecrate other people's beliefs openly. I mean, with so much garbage passing for "critical thinking" you wonder why we can never have good discussion.

@Tech: You seem to be under th

2008-09-26T14:53:32.998+02:00

@Tech: You seem to be under the impression that you are the author of this blog, or you're deluded into thinking that I'm somehow ignorant of who said what when. Either that, or your greatly mislead about how comments sections on blogs work. If you want a private room to discuss topics between two people, there's always private e-mail. When you enter a public forum to discuss matters, you waive the right to simply talk with another person about the topics, and allow for anyone else to get in on the discussion. Again, I don't have to answer your questions to participate in this discussion. This is not your comment thread, this is not your blog, and I don't have to abide by your rules. Second, thanks for demonstrating two of the "rules of winning a comment discussion without necessarily having winning ideas. That being, I'm going to write an over 1000 essay so that there are too many open fronts to actually have a discussion on any one point and half of my comment is simply repeating your comment. Good tactics both of them. Lastly, when you actually address my logical arguments in my previous comment, then I'll take the time to answer your questions. Until then, I don't see them as germane to the conversation as a whole.

Good advice, and good order.

2008-09-25T17:09:02.843+02:00

Good advice, and good order. I would add, make sure you take the time to bring up your child right while they're young. Include them in conversations when they're younger, and they'll come back to you when they're older. The older they get, the harder it is to correct problems that you see.

Shalet-- That's definitely spo

2008-09-24T22:36:37.185+02:00

Shalet-- That's definitely spot on. Seriously, though, we need to recognize and celebrate our differences, and in doing so we need to look to how we can help each other meet expectations.

Well, there are two trains goi

2008-09-24T22:08:50.083+02:00

Well, there are two trains going on here at the same time. First, the logical one: Simply because person X states that they need A in their life to make them a good person does not mean that person Y needs that thing in their life. It's a logical fallacy that you're defending. Second, the spiritual: How you treat people says nothing about a decision about character. Even the "bad" person can choose to do good things-- that doesn't make them good. Regardless of how much good you try to do, you can never be perfect. It's impossible. Christianity's core states that, a relationship with Him will result in us becoming like Him in the end-- achieving holiness through His Son. We don't have to be bogged down in sin. We don't have to lose the the flesh.

You're implying, Amanda, that

2008-09-24T21:03:04.944+02:00

You're implying, Amanda, that one statement equals the other, but that's simply a fallacy. That a -> b does not mean that ~a -> ~b. It's simple logic. And he further clarifies it by not saying "I wouldn't be a good person" but by saying "I won't be AS faithful, AS honest, or AS civil." Not that these things would be missing altogether, but that they would not be present in the degrees that he has now. And lastly, he backs up his conclusion with a personal comparison, which you can't refute. It really was a good comment on his part. I don't think any Christian here is saying "you can't do good without Christ", but that any good you did would amount to nothing compared to the holiness of God.

The problem, tech, is that tho

2008-09-24T19:44:57.992+02:00

The problem, tech, is that though you state sane ideas, the implementation of those ideas in real life are the opposite of your stated goals. - Atheists push for blind faith in the realm of evolution to be taught as the only truth in schools, without a said level playing field. - Atheists advocate removing prayer or the mention of God from high school graduations (in violation of free speech, in my opinion), which implicitly favors no religion over the presence of religion. - Regardless of whether different municipalities could choose to reverence whom they wish, Atheists attempt to say that it's wrong for free expression, unless free expression is inclusive, knowing full well that no one can be that inclusive and the net result is removal of all. As for critical thinking-- it's often wrong, and often insufficient. - What does critical thinking do when presented with the problem of the poor? Practicality would say that since the poor are a drain on society, they should be rounded up and slaughtered. - What does critical thinking do when presented with the problem of health? Since sick people can last years on medicare, best to eradicate them. - What does critical thinking do when presented with crime? Best to remove them from society rather than burdening the public. Some of these you hold to, and some you hold differently because of your personal belief of justice and morality-- which are not critical thinking skills, but emotional reactions either placed in you by a Creator, or evolved over time for whatever purpose you believe. Lastly, the problem with basing decisions purely on data and measurements is that there is not data for the character of a person. How would you measure how likely Hussein or Ahmadinejad to try to attack us? Would those measurements indicate that Russia may? How about if the death penalty proved to be effective? Euthanasia lowered the price of medicare? How would you place a value on a life? Moral questions, by their very nature, require us to make decisions that cannot be made by scientists. As for the rest of your questions: - I will keep spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and watching lives change. - No, I won't bow 5 times a day. - No, a purely secular government would not be the best government because it's impossible. Every time it's been tried it's proven to simply persecute and outlaw Christianity. They cannot exist together because of their root worldviews. For someone who doesn't care what I believe, you sure spend a lot of time combating it. If you truly didn't care, you wouldn't have even commented on a post that's almost a year old.

"Obey" is still in wedding vow

2008-09-23T17:38:11.315+02:00

"Obey" is still in wedding vows? I don't remember if it was in ours when I got married, but I am pretty sure that it wasn't. However, I can definitely go along with the respected part. It's hard to lead if you have someone that doesn't respect your leadership.

There's a lot of wisdom when P

2008-09-23T16:32:53.243+02:00

There's a lot of wisdom when Peter admonishes that those of us who think we stand to take heed lest we fall. Right about the time we think we have things under control is the time that we should realize that it's not us, it's grace, and we should be careful comparing ourselves to others. Thanks for the reminder.

Only you guys. Seriously, is

2008-09-11T15:33:49.504+02:00

Only you guys. Seriously, is he just trying to distract himself or what? I mean, I don't like the pain my wife went through or the blood and stuff (I didn't even cut the cord the first time), but I didn't act like it was an inconvenience to be there!

Very hot-- good photo! --

2008-09-03T21:37:29.642+02:00
Very hot-- good photo! -- Seen on a rss aggregator. (?)

@JackStart: If we started doin

2008-08-27T17:53:31.272+02:00
@JackStart: If we started doing that, there'd be a run on certain types of bills. And all sorts of weird situations when you went to get change!

We sat down the other night to

2008-08-27T17:46:16.971+02:00
We sat down the other night to come up with goals, etc. It was a good exercise. Right now, I think we're too close to the trees to see the forest, considering we start next Tuesday.

This is what usually happens t

2008-08-27T16:47:38.454+02:00
This is what usually happens to these discussions. They start devolving into all sorts of tangents because the discussions are multifaceted. They almost need their own threads in order to support such a complex set beliefs or worldview.

I'm not sure. Wouldn't it be

2008-08-22T17:54:43.777+02:00
I'm not sure. Wouldn't it be better not to lie about who we are? Israel of old claimed that they were God's people, but they worshiped all sorts of other gods. It just invited God's destruction on them. One could logically conclude that it would be better to be labeled what we are then encouraging the wrath of God on a people that claim to be His. But you're not asking theoretically, you're asking me directly. I'm unsure. Historically it's a valid thing to be there, but I'm not sure it means anything more than that now. It's more style over substance, so I really don't care whether it is there or not. I'm much more concerned about whether God is in the heart of the nation than on its currency. I mean, God's on 100% of the currency, but none of that is going to Heaven.

@ChristianPF - Yes, probably m

2008-08-22T17:49:33.643+02:00
@ChristianPF - Yes, probably much better than a Hummer. And yet, if I could downgrade to a car I'd probably do it. Car-seats and all, you know?

I think #2 is more important t

2008-08-22T16:58:06.848+02:00
I think #2 is more important than it seems-- simply because we tend to think that those that accumulate money spend it frivolously as well. The truth of the matter is, these people tend to understand the value of money (unless they're sport stars or get crazy sums of money quickly-- and then all bets are off) and know what they can spend and where to get good deals.

Really good job! --
2008-08-22T14:08:18.114+02:00
Really good job! -- Seen on popurls.com (?)

Is it misrepresentation, thoug

2008-08-20T21:08:16.931+02:00
Is it misrepresentation, though? Personally I'm not sure. I mean, historically we're a nation founded on a Judeo-Christian worldview, and that still permeates our society. I'm just wondering if it's possible that we're truly a secular humanist nation (since that's what we're preaching in our schools) and that we're simply paying lipservice to God. How many times does an elected leader actually go to the Bible, or even a judge, when they want to look for truth?

Lots of changes coming your wa

2008-08-19T20:51:55.932+02:00
Lots of changes coming your way... You get to vote in the coming election! -- Seen on a rss aggregator. (?)

Sounds like you have some good

2008-08-19T17:56:49.035+02:00
Sounds like you have some good goals! Way to go!

How romantic! Terrific! -- <

2008-08-19T14:23:27.069+02:00
How romantic! Terrific! -- Seen on popurls.com (?)

What's been interesting is tha

2008-08-18T17:37:28.036+02:00
What's been interesting is that now that I'm on a budget, I rarely have the money on hand to fill the tank (I do those $50 gift cards at the Optima/WalMart gas stations to save 0.03 per gallon). So I really haven't been able to do the calculations, but I know they aren't good on a 1997 Grand Caravan SE.

haha-- show off the shoes, not

2008-08-15T21:20:51.137+02:00
haha-- show off the shoes, not the guy. :) -- Seen on a rss aggregator. (?)

Great colors-- you like the up

2008-08-13T19:07:58.286+02:00
Great colors-- you like the upside down look. -- Seen on your photo stream. (?)

Cool photo! -- Seen on your photo stream. (?)

Beautiful hair! --
2008-08-12T20:34:52.970+02:00
Beautiful hair! -- Seen on a rss aggregator. (?)

Dana, you do a good job defend

2008-08-09T22:22:18.412+02:00
Dana, you do a good job defending you position, I commend you. The problem at the root of this discussion was tangentially mentioned in one of the comments-- the idea that all religions should be held to some ethical standard when it comes to child abuse. The theory behind that being that said ethical or social standard would be able to determine whether or not any activity were abuse or normal. In theory, this is works out fine because we apply it to what our concept of abuse is and we're happy. The problem is that without some kind of anchor, what is right at one point in time can become wrong and vice versa. So, at one time, slavery is fine, and now it's not. At one time homosexuality is a disorder, now it's preferable to some people. Hence the need for a single moral code, for which Christianity provides-- or provided-- that basis in this country. Those that differ from Christianity are the ones that are trying to "change everything", not vice versa.

This is a great photo. Intere

2008-08-08T19:55:01.975+02:00
This is a great photo. Interesting perspective and great eyes. -- Found in a search. (?)

Terrific photo. Good job. --

2008-08-08T19:38:34.540+02:00
Terrific photo. Good job. -- Found in a search. (?)

@Dana, you're right. Christia

2008-08-08T17:21:30.888+02:00
@Dana, you're right. Christianity is a forgiving host because it at its core it does not force you to believe in it. Just look at Islam or Atheism-- both of which either verbally or physically force you to say that they are right and everything else is wrong. @Laurie, because atheists have the "real truth", didn't you know that? Since it's the Christians that are "wrong," there's no reason for the atheists to think that they should protect their beliefs at home. Seriously, without the public school system (colleges included here), secular humanism/atheism would have no where to get their message out, and no one would believe them.

It's one of the hidden truths

2008-08-08T16:44:00.219+02:00
It's one of the hidden truths of secularism that's attempting to take over our country. It starts with "we respect your right to believe whatever you want" and ends with "teaching them things that are 'false' is equivalent to abuse."

As a family who is just starti

2008-08-07T15:56:45.096+02:00
As a family who is just starting out homeschooling, it's hard to boil down just what to spend our time on, what good curriculum is and how to meet the law's requirements. So many new things thrown at you at once. It is better to be caught up in the excitement of it, and learn from it than getting caught up in the comparison. God works uniquely in us and in our children, and gives us grace to accomplish what He wants. In the end, that's more important than the uniqueness and number of projects we've completed.

Quite the passionate look. Go

2008-08-05T15:27:51.092+02:00
Quite the passionate look. Good job! -- Seen on a rss aggregator. (?)

coComments related to MInTheGap

Name: (Required) E-mail: (Requ

Name: (Required) E-mail: (Requ

The church should have simply

All people in this world will

Name: (Required) E-mail: (Requ

Name: (Required) E-mail: (Requ

The church should have simply

All people in this world will

The argument that "this no lon

Rex and Debbie, It's not a zer

I'm unsure about the comment a

I think I have to take her at

I'm not sure I follow your arg

Make sure that whatever you're

I have a binary watch-- they'r

These are some great pictures,

Happy belated birthday!

The problem with class warfare

I've put one on our site, 2009-01-09T19:40:55.187+01:00 I've put one on our site, Is This Modest?! Thanks for celebrating modesty!

I'm glad someone remembers tha

It is a good story indeed, and

Hi, I'm an admin for a group c

Technically, you haven't lost

Diversification seems like a g

@Berlzebub: He never claimed t

@Tech: You seem to be under th

Good advice, and good order.

Shalet-- That's definitely spo

Well, there are two trains goi

You're implying, Amanda, that

The problem, tech, is that tho

"Obey" is still in wedding vow

There's a lot of wisdom when P

Only you guys. Seriously, is

Very hot-- good photo! --

@JackStart: If we started doin

We sat down the other night to

This is what usually happens t

I'm not sure. Wouldn't it be

@ChristianPF - Yes, probably m

I think #2 is more important t

Really good job! -- 2008-08-22T14:08:18.114+02:00 Really good job! -- Seen on popurls.com (?)

Is it misrepresentation, thoug

Lots of changes coming your wa

Sounds like you have some good

How romantic! Terrific! -- <

What's been interesting is tha

haha-- show off the shoes, not

Great colors-- you like the up

Cool photo! -- Seen on your photo stream. (?)

Beautiful hair! -- 2008-08-12T20:34:52.970+02:00 Beautiful hair! -- Seen on a rss aggregator. (?)

Dana, you do a good job defend

This is a great photo. Intere

Terrific photo. Good job. --

@Dana, you're right. Christia

It's one of the hidden truths

As a family who is just starti

Quite the passionate look. Go

I've put one on our site,
2009-01-09T19:40:55.187+01:00
I've put one on our site, Is This Modest?! Thanks for celebrating modesty!

Really good job! --
2008-08-22T14:08:18.114+02:00
Really good job! -- Seen on popurls.com (?)

Beautiful hair! --
2008-08-12T20:34:52.970+02:00
Beautiful hair! -- Seen on a rss aggregator. (?)