Uncle Joe

The changes at this site make it no longer appeal to me,

and I plan to stop participating.

The last straw for me was the deletion today of an answer from over a year ago,

with the standard drivelous non-specific explanation after I appealed.

My question now is about how to stop all the e-mail notices I get that tell me one of my contacts has asked a new question. I don't want to to be bothered with the notices from Yahoo while I am elsewhere donating my free writing time and attention.

How do we stop the e-mail notices?

When I answer questions here on Yahoo, in "Religion and Spirituality"

I sign my answers by saying, "I am Roman Catholic".

Does this seem incorrect to you, and should I quit it?

I know of at least one Lutheran pastor who identifies

the Lutheran Church as "The REAL Catholic Church",

and I know of the Polish National Catholic Church,

and some folks who belong to "The OLD Catholic Church",

and I know of the MARONITE RITE Catholics,

and The COPTIC RITE Catholics,

and a bunch of BYZANTINE RITE Catholics.

When I write here, I specify "Roman Catholic" to be clear what I mean.

I have tried saying "Latin Rite Catholic",

but a few Latin Rite Catholics are unsure what that means.

They think I mean that I am a "Pre-Vatican II Catholic",

someone who rejects the Second Vatican Council,

which I am not and which I do not.

The Coptics, Maronites and Byzantines, and some I didn't mention,

all are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, with The Catholic Church.

Lots of Catholics in full communion with us Latin Rite Catholics live near me.

(By "near me", I mean within 75 miles, near enough to know each other.)

Should I stop saying I am "Roman Catholic", and just say "Catholic"?

Peace be with you.

You don't need to look at these links to understand the question,

but here are a few of the dioceses in the United States that

identify themselves as "Roman Catholic".

http://www.vermontcatholic.org/

http://www.rcda.org/

http://www.diocesephoenix.org/

http://www.catholicidaho.org/en/Pages/RCDBhome.asp...

http://diocesetucson.org/

http://www.colsdioc.org/

I have been able to avoid the new Yahoo Answers format by signing on to another country, but that appears to be a disappearing option.

For users who are not willing to use the new Yahoo format,

what other websites do you think are better?

According to Yahoo,

the "whole world" will soon get to "enjoy" Yahoo's new design.

http://yahooanswers.tumblr.com/

Apparently Yahoo will no longer burden us with the horrible option of remaining loyal Yahoo participants while using the system we prefer, the green system on which we have proven ourselves to be loyal donors of our attention and efforts.

The choice soon will cease to exist.

http://yahooanswers.tumblr.com/

Who has a more user-friendly website than Purple Yahoo?

I have been signing on to the Yahoo Answers Canada system since Yahoo changed to this horrible new system. Now even the Canadian system appears to be ruined. Do you know any countries that still use the old green Yahoo Answers? This new system is just plain lousy in my opinion, by far the worst change to an existing internet site I have ever seen.

I can't even find a list of my own posts anymore.

DO you know how to get on to the old system still?

Bonus question:

What other similar sites do you know of that are actually user-friendly, unlike the new Yahoo Answers?

Is there a reliable online source of the Torah,

preferably one that includes both Hebrew and English translations?

I would prefer a source that is produced by Jewish scholars,

and/or sponsored by a Jewish organization.

I am Catholic,

and I have translations produced by Catholic and other Christian scholars,

but I would like also to be able to refer to specifically Jewish texts.

Thank you,

and Peace be with you.

When I look at large open water all the way to the horizon,

the "edge" looks curved to me.

It's only apparent when the water is calm, with no heavy waves to obscure the view.

This is true no matter where I am - which makes it seem to me that the planet is round.

I've often wondered if ancient humans ever really thought this planet was flat.

Granted, it seems flat when I look short distances, or walk across the road,

but when I look great distances, and look at any horizon,

Planet Earth LOOKS round to me.

It appears that way to me on grassy plains, flat deserts, and on open calm water.

Is there any serious record,

outside of perhaps some poetry, artwork or allegorical writing,

that suggests human beings ever seriously thought we live on a flat planet?

Does it look round to me merely because I already know it's round?

I posted this in Religion & Spirituality AND Astronomy,

since both categories seem to have people who ponder such things.

Peace be with you.

When I look at large open water all the way to the horizon,

the "edge" looks curved to me.

It's only apparent when the water is calm, with no heavy waves to obscure the view.

This is true no matter where I am - which makes it seem to me that the planet is round.

I've often wondered if ancient humans ever really thought this planet was flat.

Granted, it seems flat when I look short distances, or walk across the road,

but when I look great distances, and look at any horizon,

Planet Earth LOOKS round to me.

It appears that way to me on grassy plains, flat deserts, and on open calm water.

Is there any serious record,

outside of perhaps some poetry, artwork or allegorical writing,

that suggests human beings ever seriously thought we live on a flat planet?

Does it look round to me merely because I already know it's round?

I posted this in Religion & Spirituality AND Astronomy,

since both categories seem to have people who ponder such things.

Peace be with you.

The Gospel of Luke 9:2-4 (NAB)

2 and he (Jesus) sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal [the sick].

3 He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic.

4 Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there

I wonder if it was to help identify loving and charitable people in new towns.

Perhaps Jesus knew that when the Apostles arrived as strangers,

in need of food and shelter,

the friendliest people in the town, out of a sense of charity,

likely would greet the Apostles with a robust welcome and try to help the Apostles.

Did Jesus tell the Apostles to travel in a condition that looked needy, truly vulnerable,

purposely to help the Apostles identify those most open to the message of Jesus,

those who likely would notice the Apostles needs and offer to help the Apostles?

Why else might Jesus have given such hard instructions?

I just thanked someone for his best answer to a question.

I used quotation marks in my thank-you note,

and I wonder where the period belongs in the sentence.

Does it go INSIDE or OUTSIDE the quotation marks?

HERE WAS MY ENTIRE NOTE WITH THE RELEVANT SENTENCE:

Thank you very much for your help.

The link you gave me is very informative.

I am fluent only in English,

but ESL fascinates me.

I joke that I have studied GESL,

by which I mean "GOOD English as a Second Language".

Even we native speakers often have much to learn.

Thank you,

and Peace be with you!

Did I punctuate that correctly,

or does the period after "GOOD English as a Second Language"

belong INSIDE the quotation marks?

I put the period OUTSIDE the quotation marks because

that period does NOT apply ONLY to the expression set off by the quotation marks.

That period applies to the entire sentence,

of which the quotation marks are a part,

so I put the period outside the quotation marks.

This seems to me to be a matter of grammar that would NOT cause confusion even if I did it incorrectly, but still I would prefer to have it correct.

Thank you.

By "common writing", I mean writing that is not limited to any particular scholastic or professional style or format.

Simply to write the English language well,

and to use grammar reliably and effectively,

what published guide would be most helpful?

I still like Jan Venolia's "Write Right!",

but my copy is close to 20 years old.

Is the latest version any better?

By "common writing", I mean writing that is not limited to any particular scholastic or professional style or format.

Simply to write the English language well,

and to use grammar reliably and effectively,

what published guide would be most helpful?

I still like Jan Venolia's "Write Right!",

but my copy is close to 20 years old.

Is the latest version any better?

Of whom do you think when you pray the Lord's Prayer?

Here's a link in case you are not Christian and do not know this prayer:

http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/pater2.htm

I'm Catholic, and generally hear 3-4 scripture passages at each mass.

That includes one psalm, and usually Old Testament readings plus the Gospel.

I'd estimate that total reading time is about 10-20 minutes on Sundays,

and about 5-10 minutes on weekday masses.

Part of the reason it's longer on Sundays is because we SING the psalms then,

but usually only READ the psalms at weekday masses.

I've attended Jewish temple services with prayers in BOTH English and Hebrew,

but with scripture readings in ONLY Hebrew.

I don't understand Hebrew,

but I can tell the difference between the prayers and readings.

The readings have usually been about 10-20 minutes.

Is that about typical?

I know some Protestant Christians are at church for worship for 2-3 hours some days.

How much of that time is spent directly reading sacred scripture?

NOTE:

By "reading" I really mean "publicly reading" or "proclaiming",

not silent reading individually.

How much of the Bible do people need to read at one time

in order to make sense of the parts they read?

Do we need to read entire books in one sitting,

or is it reasonable to read single chapters, paragraphs or verses?

It seems that many verses of The Bible get mentioned out-of-context,

often with only one or two verses,

and that the meaning can appear VERY different if the whole paragraph is read.

What are some examples of this?

I am Catholic.

I realize we share the entire New Testament,

so if I get stuck, I'll just go to where we agree.

I wondered what other common texts are important to Lutherans - especially kids.

Some dear friends of mine have two sons.

Those sons also are my dear friends, and often call me "Uncle Joe."

Even though they give me the title in love and charity,

I like to earn it when I get a chance.

(There's a pretty funny Catholic/Lutheran joke in that last sentence.)

The boys are getting old enough that they might happen to ask me things about Christianity and Theology that will call for good answers. Since I am Catholic, and not Lutheran like the boys, I want to be sure that I do not tell the boys anything that gives rise to confusion. When they are 25, we can discuss the differences (few) and agreements (many) between Lutheran faith and Catholic faith.

What reading assignments should be given to a good Catholic uncle of Lutheran kids?

It seems that we do have such a word, but I can not recall it.

I also want to know if we have a single English word that means,

"SOME and MAYBE all".

In common English, when we say "some",

we usually mean to suggest "not all", but that's not really what the word means, is it?

Do we have a single word to mean "some but not all"?

Do we have another single word that means "some and maybe all"?

If we do not have single words for these meanings,

what phrase do think would be most simple and clear?

I wonder especially if a woman who becomes depressed following an abortion

could successfully sue the abortion provider for malpractice?

Of course such women would need to establish, among other things,

that the depressive symptoms were caused by the abortions they underwent,

perhaps such proof being their own self-report and the opinion of their psychiatrists.

Would it matter whether an abortion provider evaluated patients in consideration of potential mental health problems following an abortion?

If a condom fails to prevent the transmission of body fluids

can the condom maker be sued for financial damages that result?

Does it matter if the transmission of fluids is due to breakage,

or due to the condom sliding off?

By "financial damages",

I mean, among other things,

disease and related treatments,

and the costs related to pregnancy and child-rearing.

I've counted nearly 20 in the list called "The Ten Commandments."

I can also fit the "ten" into a list of about eight without deleting any commands.

How many do you count?

Does your priest, pastor or rabbi ever discuss the number of these?

Does it MATTER how many we list, so long as we recognize all the commands?

Here are links to the commandments in Exodus from two common translations:

King James Version: http://biblehub.com/kjv/exodus/20.htm

Douay-Rheims: http://biblehub.com/drb/exodus/20.htm

Does your religious organization prefer Exodus,

or another list from the Old Testament or Torah?