Re: Old River Sherbourne by Caducus	Stephen Robins 213.146.148.199	12-Apr-06/5:56 AM
Bluebells flower in Spring you dick.
Re: Maybe I Wasn’t Born on a Fool’s Day by Dovina	Stephen Robins 213.146.148.199	12-Apr-06/5:45 AM
-10-
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	zodiac 209.193.18.37	12-Apr-06/12:12 AM
Whatever. This is insane. It's insane to still be reading this. To anyone who has been "converted" to atheism by anything I've said here: I'm horrified, and truly sorry. To AlChemy: Whatever. If you're reduced to calling opposing viewpoints "unprovoked attacks" you've only got yourself to answer to now. Hey, and here's another "attack": -=Dark_Angel=- had you pegged from day one. Your problem isn't that you believe in God (who in his right mind could care whether you did or not?) It's that you believe in something you couldn't pick out of a lineup. You cannot name one identifying, particular characteristic of the God you believe in. Does someone want to call that my 'nonbeliever's idiotic need for definitions'? Fine. I won't be here to hear it.
Re: a time of dynamics by Dental Panic	Dovina 70.38.78.229	11-Apr-06/6:02 PM
Since you are using punctuation, it's best to use it throughout. Comma after chrome, for one example. It sounds like quite a trip, beginning with the needle of light or the poison berries - hard to say which.
Re: Genesis by Dovina	Dovina 70.38.78.229	11-Apr-06/5:55 PM
Imagine it in the form of an old King James Bible – lines justified, serif font, huge “I” at the beginning – and read by a cantor in sanctimonious voice.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	Dovina 70.38.78.229	11-Apr-06/4:55 PM
May the whole thing rest in peace. Dust to dust. Amen.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	ALChemy 24.74.100.11	11-Apr-06/4:38 PM
I have and had no expectations for the outcome of this whole discussion about God. I'm just tired of everyone trying to change each others minds about it. My only purpose for getting involved was to point out that trying to change our minds on this is a waste of time and to continue to do it is down right badgering. If I've ever while unprovoked, badgered one of them directly about their decision to be atheists my sincerest appologies are offered.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	Dovina 70.38.78.229	11-Apr-06/4:02 PM
I get the impression that you are not thrilled with the outcome of this whole discussion about God. It has seen repeatition of the same ideas over and over with little in the way of resolution. I can say in its favor that the parties are still on speaking terms, and maybe each has clarified in his/her mind the ideas that he/she came with. That makes it more productive than most arguments about the existence of God. Usually, it ends in blood and/or tears, and everybody goes away hating each other. The logicians may call me silly if they want. I believe my position is as logical as theirs. They did come down heavy handedly in this discussion, and did so with what seemed to me as mostly rewordings of the same arguments. But I think that ecargo, at least, shows a little more openness. So, no flood today.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	ALChemy 24.74.100.11	11-Apr-06/3:45 PM
You may want to attach a disclaimer to avoid some logicians calling you silly.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	Dovina 70.38.78.229	11-Apr-06/3:38 PM
I am god of a vast universe of comments, you say. It is my property because I created the cell from which it all evolved. I can look upon my creation as God did in the time of Noah, carry off what I think is good, and bring a flood to destroy the rest. Or I can let it ride, as God appears to have done for the last few thousand years. But, like God, I began this menagerie for my pleasure, and I still have faith in that possibility. In spite of the nonsense and backbiting here in my little kingdom, I still choose to let it ride. Funny, you should mention it in this way. This evening, when the clock sounds, I plan to post something along these very lines.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	ALChemy 24.74.100.11	11-Apr-06/3:19 PM
Say what ever you want. It's your poem and all that's written beneath it is your property. You can delete it or keep it, it's at your mercy.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	ALChemy 24.74.100.11	11-Apr-06/3:14 PM
An unprovoked statement against someone's belief directed at them is an attack on their beliefs. No one originally directed any statements to you until you directed statements to them. To say the ghost pirate thing is considered a joke is to say you consider God a joke as you were comparing the two and by doing so calling me and Dovina's beliefs a joke. Whether that was your intention or not that's what you did and that is a statement against our beliefs. Admit it, you think me and Dovina are being silly for believing in God. Go ahead, I don't mind. What I do mind is coming to someone unprovoked and calling them silly. This started as a "gift" to me from Zodiac. I chose to defend my point of view as this "gift" was intended as an argument against my and Dovina's beliefs. I have that right. I was prevoked. To "joke" with someone about their belief system is just as rude as joking about someone's ancestry whether you intended it or not. I am fine with God being unessential to you. I'm even fine with people thinking God doesn't exist or even if they think God's a joke so long as they don't feel the need to go pissing on my parade. It's like your going up to a gay person saying I understand you want to be gay and that gayness can exist but gayness is silly because sex is intended for reproduction and gay sex can't do that so it's totally illogical to be gay. Then you show them by comparing them to a dog fucking a stuffed animal. If you read the actual things I've said you'd see that my views aren't that far off from yours.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	ecargo 167.219.88.140	11-Apr-06/2:40 PM
Once again, out the door (gorgeous here and a beach run is calling), but before I go--yeah, I should have taken it in context. Humor is sometimes hard to convey in these little boxes and this awful font. ;) So, pax. Seriously. And I apologize for calling you smug--that was insulting. This discussion--the scope of my part in it--is deceptive. I only place so much "faith" in logic, though I do think our progress in science is amazing. FWIW, I do believe in the importance of a spiritual life, God or no God, and I don't think that's an area that can be comprehended entirely on a logical basis. But that's a discussion for another day. ;) Have a good evening.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	Dovina 70.38.78.229	11-Apr-06/2:27 PM
Oh, that's what you meant. You left off the kicker line of my comment to Alchemy: "Raise a glass to God. Tell me if I’m getting carried away." Well, I was getting carried away! I would not have said that directly to you. It was a kind of barroom cheer for the home team. Sorry that it came accross smug. It is admittedly exaggerated. Your arguments have not been condescending or smug, which I appreciate. I think you place too much faith in human logic, but that's an acedemic proposition, not a criticism.
Re: The Peccadillary by -=Dark_Angel=-, P.I.	ho_hum 86.140.106.218	11-Apr-06/2:04 PM
I can only imagine that in your claim that "To pretend to have had an affair with Shane Warne" refers to tabloid claims by a young lady that she misbehaved with him following day two of the Old Trafford test in the 2005 ashes series. I can assure you that this was no pretence, and while I have no proof that he slept with her, leaving the bar "Saltwater" in central Nottingham with said young lady in tow is circumstantial evidence enough. I know this because I was there, and I saw it with mine own two eyes. Watching the aforementioned Warne depart first ball the next day to a viscous Simon Jones lifter almost made me cry with laughter. 10. Dear Americans, I almost began to explain this comment but I'm not even going to try. xxx.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	ecargo 167.219.88.140	11-Apr-06/1:59 PM
"Yeah, it's the science-touting, logic-claiming atheists who shoot their own feet. You'd think they'd have learned from a thousand years of science that some of the most preposterous-sounding propositions turn true. Raise a glass to the ones who don’t throw out the impossible, who go where no one has gone."
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	ecargo 167.219.88.140	11-Apr-06/1:59 PM
Wow. Look, I think we are really talking at cross purposes. In no way did I attack anyone's beliefs. Should I accuse you of attacking my beliefs for insisting on the possibility of God? Of course not. I don't think I ever said categorically "there is no God." I may have said that I don't believe in God, but so? That's an attack on your belief? My participation in this discussion was limited--or so I thought--to a fairly academic discussion of the concept of God *as it relates to* (1) the scientific method (which is how I got into this in the first place--well, it started, as things will, with an apple) and (2) Occam's Razor. That's it. I don't think logic is the only way to consider/think about/"experience" (if you like) God. People approach it many different ways. This was the way *I* was approaching it. At almost every step, I tried to stress that *I* don't need to add God to *my* world view and that *for me, personally* it was unessential, but I understood that, for you, it was not. Comparing belief in God to belief in pirate ghosts and unicorns was a reflection of *my* thought processes, not yours, since I find them to be possible but not, in *MY* worldview, particularly probable (and, also, I though ghost pirates were kind of funny). It was a response to a statement you made somewhere about things existing in other dimensions or whatever. If I misinterpreted what you said about God being beyond comprehension to mean that God was "that which is unknowable" it was because I misunderstood what you meant--it was not intended to "twist your words and spit them back at you." None of it meant as a slam, and I'm at a loss as to why you would take it that way. If I were to compare belief in God to belief in aliens, would you have taken that as a slam? Just because I don't believe in aliens, particularly, doesn't mean I'm insulting everyone that does. Nor does the mere discussion of belief and disbelief--or I didn't think it did, anyway. I never claimed any insider knowledge. I don't think I was malicious or insulting or patronizing, and if I came off that way, well, sorry about that. If you read what I actually said, I don't think there's much basis for your accusations--but whatever. I don't know how I can make it clearer that my statements were narrow in scope (the concept of God vis a vis logic/Occam's Razor) and that I wasn't claiming any superior knowledge, just having what I thought was a friendly discussion about God and logic. I guess I was wrong. No hard feelings.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	Dovina 70.38.78.229	11-Apr-06/1:25 PM
You're calmbering bearded on some other clambake.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	ALChemy 24.74.100.11	11-Apr-06/1:19 PM
A woman should never talk of having a beard, unless the word "clam" is included.
Re: a comment on The Battle of Fort Bragg by Dovina	Dovina 70.38.78.229	11-Apr-06/1:11 PM
At this moment I have a beard I have no idea what that should mean It's invisible except in a magnifying mirror Fuzzy insipient fur Useful as male nipples To an atheist - ignored