Khana S

There's this book, written by Robert Sawyer, called Calculating God... it's a really good read.

The author is trying to make a scientific basis for how a God might exist. While it doesn't do squat to validate any actual religions, it is a really interesting read, and he makes a ton of fantastic points, favoring God's existence. Obviously, it didn't turn me into a believer, but it really got me thinking about the possibility.

I'm curious about your experiences, reading books that offer an excellent view of an opposing stance, that made you really think about your position.

And for all atheists/agnostics out there specifically, and really for anyone, I'd recommend reading that book.

Thanks, all, for your answers :)

This is a much less serious question than my main one here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200907...

Just to pass the time, those who think atheism is a religion, do you also think agnosticism is a religion? Atheists Have a belief... that there's nothing to believe in... but agnostics don't believe in anything. They only assert that they don't know.

I personally think calling atheism a religion is wrong, so I'm curious, if those who think that way also think the same of agnosticism.

Thanks for your answers :)

Hello, all. I'm a pagan who is trying to give Christianity as much of a chance as possible. My family is all Christian, and I want to respect them and their beliefs as much as I can. I have had difficulty with that because of all the contradictions and problems with Christianity that I've run into. If you want some examples, see www.skepticsannotatedbible.com for a variety of issues.

It's fairly recently been suggested to me that an intellectual's approach might be to focus almost exclusively on the words of Jesus himself.

So, I sat down, and started reading the book of Matthew with as positive a light as I could. However, when I reached this passage, I could not find any favorable way to interpret it. It seems wholly biased against the woman, and wrong on several levels.

The passage is as follows:

"But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery."

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthe... has multiple translations, to view the passage from different angles.

For example, if a man beats his wife, and she manages to get away, and remarries, then both she and her new husband are adulterers, according to Jesus. To me, that is wrong.

Christians, please help me to understand your faith in regards this passage.

Non Christians: I'm fully aware of the issues with both Christianity and this passage in particular. If you don't have a comment that may help me better understand Christianity in a positive way, then please refrain from comment.

Thank you all for your help in this matter.

An idiot decided (and advised me self righteously) that yellow means slam on the gas, everyone knows that *grr* And so now I have some car damage. I'm hoping someone will give me an idea how much it will be to fix it.

It's just bent in in the right rear door. There's no damage at all (not even a scratch) on the front passenger door, nor behind the back door. As far as I can tell, the damage is exclusively on the door itself. It's low enough that there's no window damage, and it seems the internal stuff is fine... the auto locks still work, for instance. Plus, it seems there was no paint damage (oddly enough). Like someone took a rubber hammer and slammed the door about halfway down.

There's also no damage on the inside where the door is. So yeah, just a REALLY big dent. Maybe a foot across, about 2-3 inches deep.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Is an '05 Honda Civic Sedan DX-G SE with 53,500 KM (33K miles) worth $13,888 Canadian?

See, what happened was, we got this '04 Honda Civic Sedan DX for $10,527, but the dealership kind of messed us up. Apparently, it's an uncommon thing (though, at this point, how well do we trust them?) It's a 5 star Honda Dealership, and they have a 7 day exchange policy. They didn't change the battery, so it died, the engine is really rusty, and there's minor windshield damage they didn't mention (the car was dirty when we test drove it, it looked like dirt).

So, we go to exchange it, and there's a new (used) Civic that was just traded in, half the mileage, and a year younger, with some extra features (like power locks). But, it's going to be $3,817 more with tax and the paperwork fees.

Before we go through with it, I wondered as to your opinions, being as I'm wary of making a mistake again. Cut our losses with a vehicle we know is messed up (they did replace the battery free of charge, so really just the rust now), or take a chance on a newer vehicle for $4K more?

Thanks for your help.

Brain failure. What's the name of the commonly known psychological problem that is frequently associated with extreme aggression?

My brain is saying, it starts with "S" but won't give me any more than that. *pokes it* Grr.

Thanks for your help.

I was wanting to know because my '97 Honda Oddessy has really nice tires, but we're getting a '04 Honda Civic to use as our primary car instead, and I wanted to know if I could switch the tires between them.

If you could answer that, that'd be awesome, but even just a site or something so I could figure it out myself, that works, too. I just have no idea where to begin.

I vaguely remember this scene where Clark Kent sticks a note in Lois Lane's purse or somesuch in the Daily Planet, for her interview. And they have the interview on the top of some building. I remember this one part where they were standing on opposite sides of this decorative barrier thing, and she asked him about her panties, and he said the barrier was lead, so he couldn't see.

I can't remember where it's from, though. Was it Lois and Clark: The new adventures of Superman? Was it a movie?

Thanks :)

Would it be possible to have our car basically sitting away someplace, never driven, without having to pay car insurance for it?

Thanks

I started with a history, in the dream. I was running, trying to get away from some people who were trying to kill me. I had done so before, it seemed numerous times, and had failed and died eventually in all, but could only really remember the most recent time. I was, in one sense, the exact same as they were, we were all human, and I didn’t have any special power or ability. But, they also regarded me as though I were some foul beast that had to be killed on principle.

I just wanted to Live… to live, in my own way, I sought freedom. But before freedom came survival, and the fight for my life was painful, difficult, and seemingly never ending. I had failed so many times, dying, always painful and difficult, and here I was running again. The dream didn’t address how I came back from dying… it was as though it were some normal thing, and the people, farmers (or, some normal, physical type of job, not farming specifically) they didn’t realize that I was the same one they’d killed before. Maybe it wasn’t really the same people, but it seemed like it.

An important aspect of the dream was the feeling of sameness, yet difference between us. On one hand, I was the exact same as they… but on the other, they hunted me down, trying to kill me for being different. I didn’t understand it.

A fair portion of the dream was me running and hiding. I didn’t want to run any more… I just wanted to live in peace, in freedom. But each time I stopped to breathe, my pursuers were near once again. We were in essence the same, why would they not leave me be, to live? Just to live…

I remembered running before, and so my heart was weary. I ran, and my legs ached with pain. I gasped, and my lungs burned. I could not sleep, I could not find rest. Exhausted from running, they captured me. I was bound to a board or log, completely and totally bound, unable to move anything. They were taking me someplace to kill me painfully. It didn’t feel (in the dream sense) like they were trying to be intentionally cruel… more like, killing me in that way, at that time, was the way it was supposed to be.

I looked up at the face of the man who had been my bane in all these attempts at freedom. Though I guess they were “lives,” since I’d died in between, it didn’t Feel that way, it simply felt like multiple attempts, and each death was a failure.

So this man, this bane, this one who had killed me some undefined number of times past… I looked at his face, and begged him for mercy. Not for life… I knew that couldn’t be granted, it wasn’t his way. I begged him for a merciful death.

He considered, and gave me this… broth like substance. It was grainy with some small chunks, warm and foul to the taste. He filled my mouth with it and I started to choke. As I did, I caught a flash of insight, that I had died this way before, by suffocation while bound, since I couldn’t move my head.

But this time, I was at a different angle, and able (barely) to swallow this substance and gasp for air. It pained me at a deep level, because here I was, trying to hasten the inevitable, make it palatable, spare myself unnecessary anguish, and for all my yearning for release, I could not stay my survival instinct. I could not suffocate if there was some way to breathe.

My anguish at this emotional, mental, physical failure that would only lead me to this incomprehensible, yet remembered, agony caused tears to start in my eyes. He looked at me in some confusion, wondering why this broth hadn’t killed me, since he had killed me (what he thought was another?) before in that way, and gave me this flower.

I don’t know if it’s significant at all, but I remember this flower in exquisite detail. It was like the cross of a daisy and a sunflower, with the ugliest aspects of each. It had tiny thorns, not enough to pierce deeply, it was yellow, but the color reminded me more of iodine on rotting flesh (called to image the memory of the diabetic with his leg rotting off, and the nurse changing his bandaging and reapplying salves) than the sun. The green of the stem and leaves, too, looked more the color of rotting spinach.

I knew, by the look of it, that it was in complete, perfect health, and this was a fine specimen of this foul species of plant. Its very health spoke of destruction to me. A moment of discontinuity; I have the impression that, although the farmer and I were somehow the same, this flower was harmless to him and deadly poison to me. It was somehow both a completely ordinary weed-flower, and an omen of complete demise.

He shoved the flower cruelly into my mouth, his fingernails cutting lightly against the soft flesh. I waited till his withdrew his hand, and chomped down on the flower. Pain wracked my mouth as the acidic sap burned me, as the thorns cut new holes into which this sap poured. My body tried to cough, to spit, to vomit, to remove this presence from me. But my will prevailed. I suppressed my instinct with all my streng

I had a dream that's really bothering me. I've had some people I know speculate on it, and I've had it spinning in my mind for a while now.

I dunno, is there any format for a mostly friendless (IE, not livejournal/myspace/etc) and almost entirely money-less person such as myself to maybe have people look at my dream, maybe give me some insight?

Hey, I can hope, right? This dream is really bugging me...

It's kind of long to post in here....

It is my understanding that presently, only courts are actually Required by law to marry someone. I've seen a church refuse to marry someone for living together before getting married (thus breaking Biblical rule on the subject, in the pastor's eyes, making them ineligible for marriage). I've seen cases like that before. That IS legal, right?

I certainly hope it's legal! My understanding on the gay marriage issue is they're just wanting equal legal treatment, not that they're trying to force the Christian churches themselves into Biblically accepting their unions. Since my understanding is that churches aren't legally required to marry anyone anyway, that makes that accusation moot.

Thanks so much for your help ^-^

This is from several years ago, and bugs me to this day.

I had a dream... a really long, involved dream. It included a journey for me to take, to an island. I'd assumed the island didn't actually exist (it was just a dream after all)I told my now husband all about it, all the details of the island, creatures that inhabited it, etc.

In following with telling him about my dream, I decided to take a world map and plot my journey. And... just where I was about to mark my final destination... I found the island. A tiny speck I could barely see even knowing exactly where it was. Exactly as I'd dreamed it. In a country I knew nothing about, an area I knew nothing about, but it was exactly where I dreamed. The size, shape, creature life, everything was identical. It's also an area with only 1 island. I could not have known about this island beforehand, not even in passing. And it has a very... unusual history, odd local mythology. Odd wildlife, too, which I also saw in my dream.

Looking for a nice place to eat for my birthday, and can't seem to find a restaurant locator with reviews. Any tips?

Thanks.

Hello.

I just need to make 6 small leather bags, very simple, medeval style would be cool. Preferably a simple drawstring bag. All I seemed to see on Google was making full handbags, purses and stuff.

Anyone know where I might find how to make a very simple bag? We're just wanting to make dice bags.

Thanks.

I just read this article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/03/poll.black....

And I found this line particularly fascinating:

"The poll also indicates more whites than blacks think the country is ready for a black president. Of the white Americans surveyed, 78 percent said the country is ready, as opposed to 69 percent of African-Americans polled. Both numbers are up substantially from December 2006."

I have my own thoughts on why this is, but I'm curious to see what you all think. Why would blacks be more likely to think that the US is not ready for a black president? Are they more aware of race issues? Perhaps they think the white population is more racist than it actually is?

I hope I haven't offended anyone. Sadly, questions regarding race often do... I really am just curious.

Thank you all for answering.

I guess this is a silly question, but... I'm hurting and lonely, and I go on R&S a lot, so I kind of view you all as friends.

I have a genetic condition called Ehler Danlos syndrome. It's a connective tissue disorder. Short version: my bones/joints aren't held together properly.

Reached over to answer the phone, and my lower back went out. Again. So once again, I'm bed ridden, barely able to move my legs. Won't be able to get a drink, get food, go to the bathroom, nothing, until my husband gets home in a few hours and can carry me to the bathroom, and bring me stuff. I'll be like this for a few days.

I'm just... really lonely. Sad, depressed, angry at my body for its perpetual failures... normally I'm fairly happy, but it's hard to be when I'm like this. Like my body is a prison.

Maybe this is silly, and inappropriate... but... I was hoping for someone to reach out to.

*hugs*

Recently, someone accused Wicca of being a cult, and as I personally find it otherwise, I went to find the definition to confirm. I found that its definition is... vague. Wikipedia is a better source than the dictionary version, since the word is complex and has various meanings, in various circumstances.

To me, I've always understood the word by the psychological definition (not surprising, as I'm studying psychology), which is:

1. People are put in physically or emotionally distressing situations;

2. Their problems are reduced to one simple explanation, which is repeatedly emphasized;

3. They receive unconditional love, acceptance, and attention from the leader, so long as they stay within the group's confines;

4. They get a new identity based on the group;

5. They are subject to entrapment and their access to information is severely controlled.

By that definition, Wicca is most certainly not a cult. :P

What does "cult" mean to you?

I was going through the book of Leviticus because I'm clearly masochistic... heh

Anyway. As far as I can tell, the first 9 chapters are a rather brutal description of precisely how animal sacrifices are to be done. Rather brutal, imo, and includes God killing Aaron’s two sons for “offering strange fire unto the LORD.” Then goes on to chat about what you can’t eat, with a few things wrong. Like, it specifies insects with 4 legs, but insects have 6 legs. And that hares chew the cud, but they don’t. Then on to say that women are unclean after childbirth, doubly so if they bear a female. Then to talk about leprosy, more about unclean menstruating women, and well… it goes on. But doesn’t get better. Worse, maybe, but not better

So my question is: do Christians of today actually regard the book of Leviticus to be worth anything, really? I mean, do you listen to pretty much anything it says? It has a few scattered good things in it, but mostly just… bleh! What do you think of the book?

I saw a question about free will, then asked a question myself about time travel and free will, and find myself still musing on the subject. What, really, is free will?

As a lover of psychology, going to school for a degree in psychiatry, I'm finding the subject rather interesting.

I mean, in a certain respect, all of our actions are predetermined. We have preset "routines" as it were, in our minds, priorities, preferences, thoughts, etc. I've established that I love steak, I enjoy every aspect of the experience, especially when it's very rare. In one sense, if I eat rare steak put before me, it's free will, since I chose to eat it... but in another sense, I'm being compelled to eat the steak by my own preset ideas.

Every decision, every stance, every thought, everything has a Reason. Every action has a cause. That's part of how psychology works... trying to unravel the complex weave of a persons psyche, to pinpoint certain aspects of it.

*continued*