Q & A: 'Joe the Plumber'

[Mr. T]

Give it a try, I realize that many men who have grown up in the catholic church feel the same way that you do.

But the catholics havesome of the coolest buildings, many are very gothic.

 

[calfoxwc]

A man lived in a fish?

 

Noah and the ark?

 

I really do envy those of faith that they can take these at face value ,cause brother let me tell you at the very least I just cant get past storys like this and is probably one of the biggest reasons I cannot accept organized religion as part of my life. Dan

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I believe the ark story. But living inside the whale? Nope.

 

In the original Hebrew and Greek, I believe that, in terms of J. Campbell's theory about the monomyth, that

 

some of the stories are analogies to represent concepts that were otherwise hard to explain.

 

For instance, one fundamental aspect of the monomyth is "being inside the belly of the whale".

 

btw, has anybody ever read his book "Hero of a Thousand Faces" ??? It's a brilliant, brilliant book.

[Guest Aloysius]

Ahhh the good ol' "Predestination vs Free Will" debate.

 

I don't think necessarily know the future means you control the future.

 

It's like when I leave a glass of soda on the table in my house. I know that if one my children come along they will drink that glass of soda. Does that mean I somehow "made" them drink it? No, but I know the outcome nonetheless.

But could you know with 100% certainty that one of your kids would drink the soda? Could you completely discount the possibility that one of your kids would drop the glass and spill the soda all over the floor? Or that your wife would walk in the door and drink it instead?

 

There's a difference between a general ability to guess what'll happen and an absolute certainty of the outcome. With the latter, there are no real options or alternatives, so there isn't an actual choice being made.

 

That's why philosophers and theologians dealing with the tension between divine omniscience and human free will usually end up putting limits on one of the two. My understanding is that it's popular right now to put some limits on the divine end of things, especially when dealing with issues of theodicy. But I'm not sure I can buy any of that.

[Pumpkin Eater]

What people seem to forget about is the fact that the constitution simply outlines the federal system of government practiced in the United States, and at the end guarantees the rights of its citizens, protecting them FROM that government. How exactly is that Christianity-based?

 

The Bill of Rights was created under the idea that man should never have certain rights infringed upon. Again, how is that Christian?

 

Those who argue that our legal system is based on the ten commandments are confusing state and federal codes with the constitution. The constitution offers no punishment for committing murder, but it does offer the accused a fair and speedy trial.

 

The Bill of Rights is about protecting citizens from government, not about setting up crime and punishment based on Christian values.

[Guest Aloysius]

Meghan McCain: "Joe the Plumber --You Can Quote Me -- is a Dumbass"

[Guest mz.]

Hey, a McCain I can get behind!

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Yaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnn.