Tpoppa

Ebay

This ride is on. It will be cold in the AM, but it'll warm up once the sun is up. Dress accordingly. Route: Millersburg>83>78>Mconnelsville>377>550>7>Marietta>26>800>Woodsfield>800>home. I'd be up for a longer route but I have to be on a plane tomorrow evening.

I happen to have a huge problem with this. I don't think you should teach kids about religion until they are old enough to posses the critical thinking skills to process what they are being told. Religion is taught to kids like it's math. They are told what to believe before they old enough to be able to form their own opinions. That is FUCKING BULLSHIT. I love my kids too much to try to prevent them from making their own informed decisions. "Religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind - that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking." - Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956)

200 miles, pffft

I think if I was going to get anything High Vis it would be a Helmet.

I always thought tire changing during a motorcycle race was sort of wierd.

This is the opposite of what my church taught. Only those that believe is Christ would be saved. The rest...well sorry about your luck. That seems to be the most accepted interpretation. I think the bigger point is that the Bible makes no account for the scenario of civilizations that wouldn't hear the word of Christ (American Indians, Chinese, Inca, Australian aborigines, etc, etc). These cultures existed for thousands of years before Christianity ever reached them. The reason that the Bible doesn't account for that scenario is that Bronze Age man in Europe or the Middle East had no idea they existed. Bronze Age men weren't explorers because the technology needed to travel great distances had not yet been developed. Why would the "Word of God" be limited by the current understanding of man?

This surprises me, and I mean that in a good way. I've not met many that share this point of view.

This is a great perspective. I'd say the same thing if your search did result a particular religion that worked for you. My path is somewhat similar. It's taken me 30 years to arrive at the beleifs I have today (for the first 12 years I believed what I was told).

I can quote dozens of bible verses that refer to God as just, fair, or impartial. There is no basis for "slack" in Christianity.

What happens to them after they die? Most would disagree with that comment.

Conversion is not a frequent occurrence. However, that is something I can respect because it takes conviction and can be quite difficult in some scenarios. My point is this. Let's say Christianity is the one true religion, but I happened to be born in India for example. There is literally less than a 3% chance I will believe in any form of Christianity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_India I've done nothing wrong, but there is very little chance of me having any meaningful exposure to Christianity. I may even have had a life altering experience that led me to search for spiritual answers, but all the local answers pointed me toward becoming a Hindu or perhaps a Muslim. Did the Christian God doom me with 97% certainty by allowing me to be born in India? Why was I not given the same chance to find the truth as someone born in a Christian country? I've never heard an answer to this that was consistent with Christian beliefs. (btw, not picking on Christians specifically, this is the same with most major religions).

Can someone, anyone who considers them self to be a believer give me a counter point on this one? I've honestly never heard a good response to this line of thinking. I'd be an exception. There are many others

So, should the basis of belief be a reward instead of a penalty?

The starting point of the schism you describe is the creation vs. evolution debate. Historically, there has been little if any middle ground in that discussion. You either believed on or the other. This is ground zero for science vs. theology. Recently I've heard some Christians soften their stance on this argument, saying perhaps God allowed evolution to happen. Not coincidentally, this "softening" seems to be occurring as overwhelming evidence for evolution is mounting. It's worth pointing out that nothing in the bible would seem to indicate that the word of God was hinting at evolution.

I was also raised in a very Christian setting. I've read the bible cover to cover. I've studied multiple religions (out of curiousity not as a member). They're all alot more similar than most believers are willing to admit. The reasons they exist are mainly sociological. Their development all follow pretty much the exact same path in regard to how advanced the culture was that gave rise to each set of beliefs. I find the whole concept to be quite fascinating, but nothing has led me to believe in a higher power. The reason you are Christian is geography. You were born in a mainly Christian country. If you were born in India you'd be a Hindu. If you were born in Iran you'd be a Muslim. If you were born in Ireland you'd be drunk right now. If there were a higher power it would be alot less random than that.

"No atheists in a foxhole" is a nice saying but it's not what I'd call a accurate statement.

Is that code for banging a bunch of Spanish dudes out of the country so their friends and family don't find out?

God, gods, and the super natural were Bronze Age Man's best attempt to explain the unexplainable. Man could explain VERY little during the Bronze Age, due to limited/nonexistent knowledge of medicine, the human body, the universe, germs, weather...pretty much everything that affected living and dying. It was not a particularly enlightened period in the development in mankind. As knowledge, science, & technology evolve...we are less dependent on trying to explain the world around us via the super natural. http://carm.org/hawking_universe_god

Is "God" a valid choice for a provider on HealthCare.gov?

I think it would be most excellent if there was a supreme being that could make order from chaos, bring meaning to the meaningless, and intervene divinely. However, my lifetime of experience from observing the world around me...seeing good people die untimely deaths, while the less deserving carry on simply does not bear this out. This is where some say, "God works in mysterious ways."

Here is my most honest, trying not to be an a-hole response: The whole notion of God choosing who to heal and who not to heal is counter-intuitive to many teachings in the bible about God being merciful, loving, just, etc. I think after people of faith go round and round on this topic they inevitably give up and say something like "God works in mysterious ways," which is the equivelent of saying this cannot be explained in the context of Christianity <or insert other religion here>. In a large enough control group where all received equal medical care and half pray for healing and half do not, the differences would be "statistically insignificant." I think prayer can make some difference, but I would call that difference a "Placebo Effect." Again, I have much faith...in science.

Scruit, are you a deeply religious fellow? Some of the responses you get may offend.

I have much faith...in science.