Raf

To be a little more clear, I had a friend once who talked about how she survived a car accident in which two other people died (people she did not know) and she capped the story by saying, "God is good." God is good. Unless you're the other family. F'em. Now, that's not to say ANYTHING about my (now former) friend. Our reasons for no longer being friends have nothing to do with that incident. My criticism of "God is good" in that context is completely independent of my friend's character, just as criticism of "God spared candidate X and said f'em to the family of the fallen firefighter" has nothing to do with candidate X. Candidate X could have been comedian X or movie star X or pop singer X and the criticism of "God is good" in that context is the same. The fact is, praising God for sparing one person when other people in the same incident were not spared strikes me as insensitive at best, horrifyingly arrogant at worst. And if we're really talking about the goodness of God, then that's something that needs to be answered. I mean, if you're trying to convince me there is a God and he's really good. If you're not trying to convince me, that's another story. [Claimer/disclaimer for anyone reading along who doesn't already know: modcat5 and Raf are the same person].

In the interest of speeding things along: this appears to be correct

Thank you for the correction, Nathan. Charity, I have given that topic no thought at all other than to recognize the agreed upon conclusion. Wierwille doesn't belong in the same conversation as a legit scholar like Carrier. Even Ehrman, who firmly disagrees with Carrier, doesn't doubt his expertise or qualifications. Ehrman DOES doubt Carrier's conclusions, and vice versa

It is

Corrected the autofill. The word should have been HEAD, not HEADACHE

I did notice in Carrier's book "On the Historicity of Jesus" he did agree with VPW that Lazarus, not John, was the disciple Jesus loved.

I have not. My instinct is not to give it much credence. Paul appears to be a true believer in the completed work of Christ Jesus. He just doesn't seem to know anything about a Jesus who was physically present on earth. He never speaks of Christ's "return," for example, only of his "presence." He never calls it the "second coming." But that's my thought.

"I have a head for business and a bod for sin."

"What did you call it again?" "Bony ass."

Neither.

"Dress shabbily, they notice the dress. Dress impeccably, they notice the woman. Coco Chanel."

Can't sneak one past you guys

Yes.

Looking for the actor who played: Walter "Robby" Robinson Captain Gene Mauch Henry Hackett

I'm up on too many threads, but true story: I've had two, and I've never seen anyone else's.

The roles and cameos went to Donald Glover, Yvette Nicole Brown and Ken Jeong. The setting was a two-year college. The name of the show rhymes with Immunity.

Didn't get it until the very last clue. Ursula Andress.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Bonus: The Ten Commandments. I was tempted to make the next clue "Nothing is written." But that would not be an easy quote. I'll give you a couple of "easy" ones from the same movie: "There is the railway. And that is the desert. From here until we reach the other side, no water but what we carry with us. For the camels, no water at all. If the camels die, we die. And in twenty days they will start to die." "There's no time to waste, then, is there?" *** "I pray that I may never see the desert again. Hear me, God."

It wasn't. But THAT was. Stop it! (also, lol).

Having recently rewatched the movie in which Gus Polinski appears, this was a giveaway. This is John Candy. I guess Weird Wink Wilkinson and Harry Crumb were being saved for the giveaway clues?

God and Science This is a gish gallop of an article. So many ridiculous statements fired in rapid succession. Good for a laugh. Anyone want to discuss?

Atheist tennis player baptized his son. What's up with that? Both my sons are baptized, as is my daughter. I take no issue with it. It's a cultural rite of passage and in this case it's more for my wife than it is for the kids. I feel like some people think this is such a huge Gotcha! As if I want my kids baptized just in case I'm wrong about Yahweh. Let me assure you, if that were my concern I would spend a lot less time openly declaring my belief that he is an emotionally unstable sociopath with a raging case of insecurity and an unhealthy need for unceasing affirmation.

Ok, the "director" (s) were the Russo brothers.

Another interesting Ricky video Not exactly sure why it's not just popping up, but ok.

I really like this video because Stephen Colbert is in charge and could have steamrolled over Ricky Gervais but instead he chose the path of respect. This is not a formal debate, but I have always been impressed with RG as a lay spokesman for atheism.