[ReaperMan]

Thats a nice looking rink, where is that at?

[Lunick]

LkMax, on 05 June 2013 - 06:21 AM, said:

Fuck Eidos Montreal and their shitty teasing. I'll never get hyped again for those fuckers. And I thought I've learned my lesson about hypes...
/vent

Psh, these last few days have been pretty disappointing:
-Plants vs. Zombies 2 for iOS only and is F2P with In-App Purchases
-Halo: Spartan Assault for Windows 8 only (and Windows phone I think)
-Deus Ex: The Fall for mobiles/tablets

What else can go wrong?

[Master Fibbles]

Hank, on 04 June 2013 - 03:22 PM, said:

Good man! He prolly did not even get it, most JWs are, well, blind followers and memorize what ever the Watchtower Society writes, sad really, but then again, if you are happy with it

That didn't get rid of him though. It might be too early to call it, but I think I managed to anger him when I used the example of calling someone named Ivan John as being the same as calling Yahweh Jehovah. He said that Ivan and John aren't the same, but I corrected him (Ivan, Evan, Owen, Sean, Hans, Joan, Yvonne, etc). No responses since this morning.

[Hank]

Mr.Flibble, on 05 June 2013 - 04:51 PM, said:

That didn't get rid of him though. It might be too early to call it, but I think I managed to anger him when I used the example of calling someone named Ivan John as being the same as calling Yahweh Jehovah. He said that Ivan and John aren't the same, but I corrected him (Ivan, Evan, Owen, Sean, Hans, Joan, Yvonne, etc). No responses since this morning.

Oh boy, one basic believe of the Jehovah's Witnesses is that Jehovah is the correct name for god.
So if he can't even defend that with a solid argument (it would be flawed), he does not even know his own faith?

Bottom line, have fun

[Lunick]

[Kathy]

Hank, on 05 June 2013 - 05:19 PM, said:

So if he can't even defend that with a solid argument (it would be flawed), he does not even know his own faith?

Many other christians also don't know shit about their religion. Although if he's preaching he should know.

[LkMax]

Cathy, on 05 June 2013 - 10:17 AM, said:

What are they teasing?

There was speculation all over the internet (well, more or less) about a new Deus Ex game called "The Fall" (presumably for PC and consoles). Eidos was teasing on twitter with short hints and yesterday (2013/06/04) they released a teaser informing that the next day (2013/06/05) they would show their new game Deus Ex: The Fall. What it turned out to be? a dumbed-down stand-alone expansion exclusive to IOS... seriously, all this tease for that...

Lunick, on 05 June 2013 - 03:46 PM, said:

What else can go wrong?

Shadow Warrior turns out to be a re-skinned Painkiller exclusive to IOS and Rise of The Triad is bought by Gearbox, re-done from scratch and outsourced to 30 different studios.

edit: grammar.

[Lunick]

LkMax, on 05 June 2013 - 07:12 PM, said:

There was speculation all over the internet (well, more or less) about a new Deus Ex game called "The Fall" (presumably for PC and consoles). Eidos was teasing on twitter with short hints and yesterday (2013/06/04) they released a teaser informing that the next day (2013/06/05) they would show their new game Deus Ex: The Fall. What it turned out to be? a dumbed-down stand-alone expansion exclusive to IOS... seriously, all this tease for that...

People also think that the game will be done in an episodic format which is why the price is only $7

LkMax, on 05 June 2013 - 07:12 PM, said:

Shadow Warrior turns out to be a re-skinned Painkiller exclusive to IOS and Rise of The Triad is bought by Gearbox, re-done from scratch and outsourced to 30 different studios.

Hah, we have already got the platform details about Shadow Warrior though I also don;t think Interceptor would go anywhere near Gearbox again after "things".

Maybe a new game by id Software will come out but it will me Mac only

[Master Fibbles]

Hank, on 05 June 2013 - 05:19 PM, said:

Oh boy, one basic believe of the Jehovah's Witnesses is that Jehovah is the correct name for god.So if he can't even defend that with a solid argument (it would be flawed), he does not even know his own faith?Bottom line, have fun

I spoke too soon, but I think I'm tired of his wasted arguments. It is actually not possible to really defend the use of the name "Jehovah" since even arguing the use of modern version of names (Jesus rather than Yoshua) you can't get Jehovah from Yahweh; The name Jehovah is from the 11th century. I tried explaining this but like most JWs he is unmoved and wants to convince me that he is right without listening to my arguments or thinking. That is the problem...JWs don't think, they let The Watchtower think for them.

Cathy, on 05 June 2013 - 07:05 PM, said:

Many other christians also don't know shit about their religion. Although if he's preaching he should know.

Actually, Jehovah's Witnesses preach no matter what. They "know" their beliefs to the extent that they know the same tired arguments they heard growing up. Their door-to-door preaching doesn't actually convert anyone, it is just meant to brainwash strengthen the faith of the ones evangelizing.


I think I'm going to have to settle for a final statement of scorn and scoff. If he replies I'm ignoring it because I don't have time to put up with this.

[Hank]

Mr.Flibble, on 06 June 2013 - 02:41 AM, said:

I spoke too soon, but I think I'm tired of his wasted arguments. It is actually not possible to really defend the use of the name "Jehovah" since even arguing the use of modern version of names (Jesus rather than Yoshua) you can't get Jehovah from Yahweh; The name Jehovah is from the 11th century. I tried explaining this but like most JWs he is unmoved and wants to convince me that he is right without listening to my arguments or thinking. That is the problem...JWs don't think, they let The Watchtower think for them.


Actually, Jehovah's Witnesses preach no matter what. They "know" their beliefs to the extent that they know the same tired arguments they heard growing up. Their door-to-door preaching doesn't actually convert anyone, it is just meant to brainwash strengthen the faith of the ones evangelizing.


I think I'm going to have to settle for a final statement of scorn and scoff. If he replies I'm ignoring it because I don't have time to put up with this.

I have no idea if it is possible to actually defend the name; I did this since age 6, you simply refer to the Hebrew יְהֹוָה and say this was spoken as Jehovah a long time ago. Most buy it, because as Cathy wrote, most know little about their faith.

@ Cathy - a Jehovah Witness, has at least three different study lectures per week to attend to, for life, it's unlike any other faith I now of. For example, before you are permitted to get baptised you need to be able to answer a set of questions to satisfy the elders, otherwise you need to study more before they'll even let you become a JW. If you are good at public speaking, you need to study even more ....

[Kathy]

Hank, on 06 June 2013 - 03:47 AM, said:

For example, before you are permitted to get baptised you need to be able to answer a set of questions to satisfy the elders, otherwise you need to study more before they'll even let you become a JW.

That's not such a bad idea actually.

[Jeff]

First time out to the golf course this year. I went to the driving range to hit some golf balls. Started off kind of rough, but by the end of the first bucket I was hitting between 160-180 yards with a driver. Keep in mind, this is with a pair of rental clubs. I do not have a set of clubs, but I was looking at getting some. Although I'm sure if I did have my own set, I could definitely hit the ball further. As most custom clubs usually have a giant sweet spot, so it's hard not to hit the ball at least 200 yards. They are also made of a different material, which tends to hit the ball further. Some clubs even have lighter shafts (graphite as opposed to steel) and more flex for better distance as well. Can't really get that with rental clubs.

The irons weren't too bad. I had one 7 iron, and I managed to hit that between 120-140 yards (good distance for that type of club). Very straight shots with lots of loft.

Overall, a good day at the range. Most importantly, I had a lot of fun.

[Master Fibbles]

Hank, on 06 June 2013 - 03:47 AM, said:

I have no idea if it is possible to actually defend the name; I did this since age 6, you simply refer to the Hebrew יְהֹוָה and say this was spoken as Jehovah a long time ago. Most buy it, because as Cathy wrote, most know little about their faith.

Spoiler

I should make a more scholarly version of this video but that is not the point of these little videos.

It is not possible.


Adult converts to Catholicism go through a process of education, but children raised in most Christian faiths receive little proper education in religion outside of the home. There are youth education programs and summer bible camps but these are optional (at least after grade school). It is unfortunate; there should be more proper education in faith and sermons should be more than Happy-Cappy Christianity or Fire and Brimstone Apocalypticism.

[Radar]

How about these so-called Christians simply pick-up a Bible and read it? Bible camps or education programs are great for the active Christian, but someone's primary source of faith education should be from actually reading their own book during their personal time. That way, they're learning what the Bible says for itself, not what some nutcase or insane religious sect interprets it to say.

[Master Fibbles]

Yes, bible study would be great. But, I know from experience that a person picking up a bible and reading it does not always end well. There are a lot of ways to understand certain stories and passages. Look at the Phelps (Westboro Baptist Church), all they do is pick up the bible and read it; they are bat shit insane and you'd be hard pressed to find many Christians who agree with them. Just picking up the bible and reading is not formal training in faith and is, honestly, dangerous. I actually discourage reading the bible cover to cover (AND I HAVE A MASTERS DEGREE IN BIBLE!). I know people who have done it and most of them have turned out alright. However, there are better ways to go through the bible for religious study or meditation than just reading from Genesis to Revelation.

Lot's of Christians read the bible for personal study and meditation; but I'm talking about formal religious education - education in doctrine and history as well as bible. There is a Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults which involves formal education in doctrine and some other theology. However, that is only for adults converting. Adult converts tend to be far better equipped for evangelization and apologetics than those who were raised in a faith without any formal education in the area of theology. Religious primary schools try and sometimes do succeed in actually instilling not only knowledge but also a desire to learn more about the topic (filling a bucket vs lighting a fire). Religious high schools and colleges have slightly better luck but they also don't have a good track record with retention.

For everything I have against Jehovah's Witnesses, I'll give them that they have retention. They have few conversions, but they have retention. Mormons also have few conversions and pretty good retention, but I have more respect for them since they are open to dialogue and other ideas (You can give a Mormon who knocks on your door a book written by anyone; you can't give a JW anything because they can only read Watchtower).

[Kathy]

I always wanted to ask. Is "Old Testament" the same book for Judaism, Christianity and Islam?

[Forge]

they're close in correspondence, but not exactly the same.

Flib could probably tell you the exact differences between old testament, Qur'an, and Tanakh (Masoretic Text)

stuff like in the Qur'an Adam is know as the First Prophet

[X-Vector]

Mr.Flibble, on 06 June 2013 - 05:38 PM, said:

For everything I have against Jehovah's Witnesses, I'll give them that they have retention.

So does the Mob.

[Master Fibbles]

Cathy, on 06 June 2013 - 07:18 PM, said:

I always wanted to ask. Is "Old Testament" the same book for Judaism, Christianity and Islam?

Forge, on 06 June 2013 - 07:34 PM, said:

they're close in correspondence, but not exactly the same.

Actually, they kind of are the same, to the extent that all three recognize the same books (the Tanakh) as a sacred text. Muslims don't revere the Hebrew Bible (*) anywhere near how they revere the Qur'an, but they recognize what agrees with the Qur'an in it (a fair amount). Catholic and Orthodox bibles have more than the Tanakh since they recognize some Greek texts that were used as Jewish scripture at some point but are not extant in Hebrew (and some were never in Hebrew).

I haven't spent enough time studying Islam to really answer this, but I would like to have a lengthy discussion with an educated Muslim about our respective sacred texts.

(*)I'm still not sure what is the PC way to refer to this. Hebrew Bible, Jewish Bible, Jewish Scriptures, Tanakh, Old Testament....


Sacred texts interest me in and of themselves, but my real interest lies in language so I'm taking time off school to work in the "real world" (which sucks) and consider my options in the future. If I go back to school for a PhD, it will be in Classics or Linguistics. Because I'm working in a business now, I'm also considering getting an MBA part time so I can better understand some of the aspects of business (but, really, I can probably figure it out n my own).

[Radar]

C:\WINDOWS\Media\onestop.mid

[Jimmy]

ITT: JIDF JIDF JIDF JIDF

Why are these stupid sand-religions still relevant?

[Hank]

^ because they are armed?

[Inspector Lagomorf]

Only Captain Awesome would have the audacity to basically call the Middle East a bunch of sand dunes.

[Forge]

you don't want to know what i think of the camel jockeys and their enormous cat box

[Lunick]

http://www.glaielgames.com/comic/

[Fox]

Jimmy, on 07 June 2013 - 02:06 PM, said:

Why are these stupid sand-religions still relevant?

Why are the other stupid religions still relevant?

[Radar]

Hank, on 07 June 2013 - 03:23 PM, said:

^ because they are armed?

Atheists can be armed too

[Master Fibbles]

Fox, on 07 June 2013 - 11:57 PM, said:

Why are the other stupid religions still relevant?

Because humans, as a sentient species, are aware of both their own mortality (our own finitude) and the concept of infinity. In order to deal with this, humans latch onto the promise of immortality by something larger than themselves (religion, science, memory/fame, political ideas/sports). We either seek immortality through out own means (the people in Silicon Valley talking about cyborgs come to mind) or we seek it through other means (eternal life in a paradise).

There are, of course, those who reject these entirely, but that is fucking depressing.

[Kathy]

Mr.Flibble, on 08 June 2013 - 06:15 AM, said:

There are, of course, those who reject these entirely, but that is fucking depressing.

Indeed.

[Forge]

there's no scientific reason for there to be god(s). existence can be explained with the laws of physics.
there's no scientific reason for there not to be god(s). the same laws allow for the existence of an older and, from our perspective, "superior" being that has either planted us here, or came across us and started meddling in our affairs.
we're made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (among other things)
this "supreme" being could be hydrogen and helium based. the two elements that have been around pretty much since the beginning of the universe before stars formed, collapsed, and created the heavier elements.

if this being exists and planted us here then maybe there's something to having a "soul"
if this being exists and stumbled across us, then we're just smart monkeys

pick your poison

as far as religion. it's fine for the most part in of itself. they primarily practice peace and harmony. it's the fanatical zealots that warp their beliefs and promote aggressive dominance that need to be thrown down a well.