TexasCHLforum.com

Javier730 wrote:

parabelum wrote:

Javier730 wrote:

parabelum wrote:

cyphur wrote:

parabelum wrote:

LucasMcCain wrote: Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Amen Brother.

All of these "subjective truth" arguments presented here are nothing but reductio ad absurdum arguments, for the truth to be truly subjective, it would have to be a lie.

All the double speak, and all the Freudian pretzel twisting cannot change the fact that you are what God made you to be.

I know...it is a bummer for some to accept but that's the way that it is. Truthfully.

I think what most people fail to acknowledge is that faith is belief in the absence of empirical or a posteriori evidence. As such, faith is a belief in something that cannot be proven beyond all doubt. This is not conjecture, a reductio ad absurdum argument, or anything of the sort. I've known several people who have devout faith who can acknowledge their faith for exactly what it is. Truth out of faith is effectively a truth dependency on something without empirically proven basis. Your truth originating out of your faith is not a lie - in your eyes, but to project your faith on others is just plain rude.

I have a lot of respect for people who have been gifted with faith, I'm just not among them.

"Does evil exist?

The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything? The professor asked.

"Yes sir", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil". The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down. "

*****Anonymous author**** - some say Einstein but it has never been confirmed.

Nice but you can replace a few characters in that story to fit the area of the world you are in.

Go ahead, I'm curious

Also explain the benefits of this gender perversion for our military and our Nation. You know, in laymen's terms that we can understand.

Well first you can change God to any deity and change the supposed author from Einstein to any scholar, scientist, philosopher, or any other person who is considered brilliant. The purpose of that would be so the story appeals to the majority of the people in that area.

Also what in your opinion do you believe is the gender perversion you would like me to explain? Transgendered people being catered to or transgendered people in general?

No, I cannot change God to "any deity". Just like I cannot change the fact that cold does not exist. I live by faith and not by sight. But alas...


My question about the gender perversion I thought was not nebulous. Please explain the benefits of this gender perversion for our military and our Nation, in the context that you feel is relevant to this topic.

parabelum wrote:

Javier730 wrote:

parabelum wrote:

Javier730 wrote:

parabelum wrote:

cyphur wrote:

parabelum wrote:

LucasMcCain wrote: Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Amen Brother.

All of these "subjective truth" arguments presented here are nothing but reductio ad absurdum arguments, for the truth to be truly subjective, it would have to be a lie.

All the double speak, and all the Freudian pretzel twisting cannot change the fact that you are what God made you to be.

I know...it is a bummer for some to accept but that's the way that it is. Truthfully.

I think what most people fail to acknowledge is that faith is belief in the absence of empirical or a posteriori evidence. As such, faith is a belief in something that cannot be proven beyond all doubt. This is not conjecture, a reductio ad absurdum argument, or anything of the sort. I've known several people who have devout faith who can acknowledge their faith for exactly what it is. Truth out of faith is effectively a truth dependency on something without empirically proven basis. Your truth originating out of your faith is not a lie - in your eyes, but to project your faith on others is just plain rude.

I have a lot of respect for people who have been gifted with faith, I'm just not among them.

"Does evil exist?

The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything? The professor asked.

"Yes sir", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil". The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down. "

*****Anonymous author**** - some say Einstein but it has never been confirmed.

Nice but you can replace a few characters in that story to fit the area of the world you are in.

Go ahead, I'm curious

Also explain the benefits of this gender perversion for our military and our Nation. You know, in laymen's terms that we can understand.

Well first you can change God to any deity and change the supposed author from Einstein to any scholar, scientist, philosopher, or any other person who is considered brilliant. The purpose of that would be so the story appeals to the majority of the people in that area.

Also what in your opinion do you believe is the gender perversion you would like me to explain? Transgendered people being catered to or transgendered people in general?

No, I cannot change God to "any deity". Just like I cannot change the fact that cold does not exist. I live by faith and not by sight. But alas...


My question about the gender perversion I thought was not nebulous. Please explain the benefits of this gender perversion for our military and our Nation, in the context that you feel is relevant to this topic.

Benefits of transgendered people in the military? Well more people in our military for one, like the guy transgendered man in the video I posted. Surely they are being more productive than people who are out advocating for the deaths of police officers, so more productive members of society. Not that they wouldn't already be productive. Making relatable role models for young people with the same disorder. Letting people enjoy their freedoms. If one wants to feel like a man, so what? Why are you worried about it? Sure I don't believe our government should pay for the gender reassignment surgery but if they have had it done why does anyone serving or not care or worrying about it.

Ah, what's the benefit of copying all the previous posts?

Abraham wrote:Ah, what's the benefit of copying all the previous posts?

No benefit at all. My mistake. Oops, I just did it again

I'll take my meds now.

parabelum,

All this copying is a waste of bandwidth.

Apparently, those (and there are many) who feel the need (ad infinitum) to copy previous posts, must think the reader just can't keep up with the thread without it being copied.

C'mon, if one can't keep up with the thread content without all this burdensome copying, then reading all the copying isn't going to help the minimally adequate reader.

Parabellum,

That is nothing more than a nice story, it compares apples to oranges to cars. It was not written by Eistein, he was agnostic. The attempt to attribute to Einstein is a classic "appeal to authority" fallacy. Einstein was brilliant, but simply because he was so, does not make his opinion any more or less relevant as it relates to the potential existence of a Christian God. Einstein spoke many times against organized religions especially when it comes to deities who are man-like or in the image of man.


If you cannot entertain concepts beyond the limits of your own faith, that is fine. Unfortunately that brings an end to this conversation for me, as far as I am concerned.

cyphur wrote:
I think what most people fail to acknowledge is that faith is belief in the absence of empirical or a posteriori evidence. As such, faith is a belief in something that cannot be proven beyond all doubt. This is not conjecture, a reductio ad absurdum argument, or anything of the sort. I've known several people who have devout faith who can acknowledge their faith for exactly what it is. Truth out of faith is effectively a truth dependency on something without empirically proven basis. Your truth originating out of your faith is not a lie - in your eyes, but to project your faith on others is just plain rude.

I have a lot of respect for people who have been gifted with faith, I'm just not among them.

True faith is based on fact and reason. Jesus Christ became man, lived among us, was crucified, died, and rose again. Fact. Historical fact.

To those with faith, no explanation is necessary. To those without faith, no explanation is possible.
St. Thomas Aquinas.

anygunanywhere wrote: True faith is based on fact and reason.

Paradox.

Javier730 wrote:

anygunanywhere wrote: True faith is based on fact and reason.

Paradox.

What's so remarkable about Christianity is that it is evidenced by history and fulfilled prophecy. It's awesome and unbelievably believable. The real paradox is the idea of everything I'm existence originated from nothing.

As far as the topic of the thread, we may be done. God didn't promise man would have it easy or could do whatever we wanted. How about you guys not be offended by my beliefs and I don't yours. Too many people now days are looking for opportunities. Where I think someone else may go when they did has no bearing or imlact on where they will actually go.

Well, this has certainly been an interesting thread, to say the least. The discussions have covered a lot of ground - I'm honestly surprised the moderators let it go this far!

I know some of the back and forth has been a little heated; I hope there are no hard feelings about what anyone has said. It was sincerely not my intent to "stir the pot" or start a feud with my original post. I've read the entire thread, and I personally believe everything that has been said comes from sincerely held beliefs on the part of all who said them. We obviously are a diverse group of people with many different ideas; sometimes we just have to agree to disagree.

My original post was entered with a note of frustration from my belief that our country as a whole is moving rapidly in the wrong direction. The two examples I used in the original post were just a couple of news items that I believe are good illustrations of my concerns.

The first example, regarding the capture of the sailors by the Iranians, was frustrating to me because of the mention of a lack of "warfighting toughness" on the sailors' part. Let me make clear here that I am NOT a veteran, but I DO have great respect for all those who currently are serving, and who have served in our armed services. (I am particularly proud of my son and daughter-in-law, who both served in the US Army in multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.) I make no claim that I would have done any better than those sailors did. Personally, I probably would have wet myself first thing! However, according to the reports, it did seem like there was a whole comedy of errors in that entire situation (comical if it had not been so serious). I know the situation was not entirely those sailors' fault (leadership, equipment maintenance, scape-goating, etc.), but it still comes down to personal responsibility, in my opinion, and this definitely was not a good outcome.

The second example I noted just coincidentally happened to involve the military as well, and just happened to involve transgendered people. I have no ill will toward transgendered people, and am, in fact, commanded by God to love ALL people. However, I believe an openly transgendered person in a fighting military unit would create more problems than any benefits gained. It seems to me that our nation's military's mission to be the best fighting force in the world was NOT the number one consideration in making this decision to allow open transgendered people to serve in the military - just my personal opinion.

These were simply two examples that caught my eye. The cited examples were NOT the primary focus of my post; the examples were simply illustrations to point to what I believe is a slow (but increasing) rate of decline of this nation - a decline, which I fear, will ultimately end our role as the world leader, and possibly end the nation itself (at least as we know it today).

As someone pointed out in a previous post, we have all heard these "the sky is falling" predictions of the demise of our nation many different times over the years. Personally, in my 60+ years on this earth, I've heard (and dismissed) that notion many times myself. But there are so many different events transpiring and different factors in play, that this time it just feels different. This time, it "feels" much more real. Again, just my opinion.

I don't like being wrong about something. But in this case, I sincerely hope that I am wrong. I suppose only time will tell. My great hope is that when I turn 100 years old, that someone on this forum will take the opportunity at my birthday celebration to say: "See, I told you that you were wrong about this!" I would be overjoyed to concede that yes indeed, I was wrong!