Do you deserve to be loved? Who cares! (2004/07/29)
(There’s some discussion of this over on ChristianForums, in this thread.)
[read more...]Deus domesticus (2004/07/11)
I originally posted this at ChristianForums, but I like it enough that I’m keeping a copy in case some moderator with a chip on his shoulder deletes the thread. The original is/was posted here, as thread #720,474 on that site. (Thread number provided in case the URL style for threads changes in the future.)
[read more...]Go Virginia! (2004/06/14)
Someone on a Christian BBS I frequent posted a message titled “Go Virginia!”
[read more...]Giving up food for Lent. (2004/04/13)
I didn’t really give up food. I just fasted during the day. During Lent, except on Sundays, I didn’t eat food during daylight hours. (The picky reader will doubtless observe that this is more like Ramadan than Lent. I figure, they weren’t using it, so no harm done.) After some consideration, I drew the line at “things with calories” - I could drink iced tea, but not caramel latte.
[read more...]Religious holidays and history. (2004/04/01)
A recurring theme in apologetics debate is the cycle of claims that Holiday X, whatever X may be, was originally a pagan celebration, only recently coopted by Christians. We’re told that Easter was originally the Equinox Festival, or originally Oestre, and celebrated the rebirth of a goddess. We’re told that Christmas was a winter solstice festival. Saint Nicholas was originally some other godling. And so on, and so forth.
[read more...]Christian beliefs you'll never see on television. (2004/03/16)
Whenever you find someone frustrating or difficult, consider that the most perfect judge possible evaluated this person fully, and decided that this person was worth dying for.
[read more...]Why Christianity implies support for legal gay marriages (2004/03/08)
So, for some reason, everyone seems to think that Christians are required to be opposed to gay marriages. Not so; in fact, so far as I can tell, Christianity suggests strongly that we ought to be supportive of them. There are a number of reasons for this.
[read more...]Was Bingo the farmer or the dog? (2004/01/27)
Seen in this thread, we have the key question: Was Bingo the farmer or the dog?
[read more...]Please enter in a spirit of worship. (2004/01/07)
There are double doors leading into the meeting hall at the Quaker meeting house I go to. Before a meeting starts, they are propped open. On each door there is a little sign:
[read more...]The guy with the crutches. (2003/11/20)
When I was younger, I used to go hiking with my father. We liked mountains, especially. We could never pass up a hikable mountain. I’m not talking mountain climbing here; just friendly, walkable, paths. When we were in Lassen Volcanic National Park (my favorite of the national parks), one of the trails available was on Mount Lassen itself. Well, we couldn’t pass that up. So, up we went. We brought snacks and drinking water, because it was a longish hike. We took a few rest breaks. We struggled to cross the one place where a snowfield covered the trail; my father’s balance wasn’t all that good.
[read more...]