tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post2499978586877978282..comments2024-03-18T17:28:44.693-07:00Comments on Rondam Ramblings: [Crickets chirping]Ronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11752242624438232184noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-47193494643005411502019-09-02T10:51:44.555-07:002019-09-02T10:51:44.555-07:00Yes, Luke, you have it right. "Why you shoul...Yes, Luke, you have it right. "Why you should be a Christian" was Publius's idea, not mine.Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11752242624438232184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-89031455619292840962019-09-02T10:24:48.088-07:002019-09-02T10:24:48.088-07:00Hold on a second; "Why you should be a Christ...Hold on a second; <a href="https://blog.rongarret.info/2019/04/crickets-chirping.html?showComment=1567444344092#c1086139951159784775" rel="nofollow">"Why you should be a Christian"</a> ≠ "Why I am a Christian". You realize those are very, <i>very</i> different claims, right? A blog post you pointed to as an exemplar for my own guest blog post was <a href="http://Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18395549142176242491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-10861399511597847752019-09-02T10:12:24.092-07:002019-09-02T10:12:24.092-07:00So I took another look at the link you sent and yo...So I took another look at the link you sent and you got it backwards. The site does not recommend that the adversaries switch sides and advocate for the position they disagree with. And that makes sense. I doubt I could write "Why you should be a Christian" without being snarky.<br /><br />But since you've been commenting here for so long I'll make you the same offer I'veRonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11752242624438232184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-9135411688435254282019-09-02T03:18:28.282-07:002019-09-02T03:18:28.282-07:00I would be willing to write that.
We should have...I would be willing to write that. <br /><br />We should have an editor who would read both pieces and provide us feedback before the articles are published. I’m thinking Luke, or Luke and Don. Publiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00647613579979908182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-67871787295568097912019-09-01T08:13:45.532-07:002019-09-01T08:13:45.532-07:00@Publius: collaboration, whether adversarial or no...@Publius: collaboration, whether adversarial or not, requires someone to collaborate with. Who would write the corresponding "Why you should be an atheist?"<br />Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11752242624438232184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-31147259873751413222019-09-01T01:13:23.486-07:002019-09-01T01:13:23.486-07:00In the spirit of the Adversarial Collaboration Con...In the spirit of the <a href="https://t.ly/BYDj7" rel="nofollow">Adversarial Collaboration Contest</a>, it might be interesting if you wrote a post on "Why You Should Be A Christian". Publiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00647613579979908182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-42253519931576511382019-08-22T22:13:32.387-07:002019-08-22T22:13:32.387-07:00Publius, I am new to reading this blog, but I am e...Publius, I am new to reading this blog, but I am enjoying the blog post itself and finding the discussion enlightening as well. Thanks for your comments, especially about truth. My sense is that truth and meaning are complementary properties (such as physicist Neil’s Bohr described them), where the greater detail you have about one, the less you can rely on your knowledge about the other being Sonia Elkeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07089770890701223570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-40434133014785045992019-05-03T10:20:29.312-07:002019-05-03T10:20:29.312-07:00@Ron:
Ok, thanks. Writing up a full "Why I b...@Ron:<br /><br />Ok, thanks. Writing up a full "Why I believe?" is quite a daunting task; this has been rendered exceedingly difficult by the fact that presenting incomplete subsets of "Why I believe?" often meets with substantial misunderstanding by almost all atheists I've tried it with. Compact presentations of the whole yield accusations of vagueness. I'm making Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18395549142176242491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-67410359726198036382019-05-03T04:54:30.547-07:002019-05-03T04:54:30.547-07:00@Luke:
P.S.: I once invited you to write a guest ...@Luke:<br /><br />P.S.: I once invited you to write a guest post for this blog. That invitation is still open.<br />Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11752242624438232184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-32685872187466358562019-05-02T11:14:24.916-07:002019-05-02T11:14:24.916-07:00> Do you even want me to comment on your blog p...> Do you even want me to comment on your blog posts anymore?<br /><br />Yes, of course. Why would you doubt it? I have always welcomed dissenting views, and always will. Even Publius, tiresome as he can sometimes be, is welcome here.<br /><br />The only rule I have ever had is that you have to be civil. But that's never really been a problem.<br /><br />> I do have some things to Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11752242624438232184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-2134546390584145992019-05-02T06:47:16.922-07:002019-05-02T06:47:16.922-07:00Ron, we've had our issues in the past and I ha...Ron, we've had our issues in the past and I have no idea if and how the passage of time has changed anything. Do you even want me to comment on your blog posts anymore? Having been a YEC and having been argued to ID and then evolution via online discussion, I do have some things to say. I just don't want to waste your time. I'm happy to wipe the past clean such that we are careful Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18395549142176242491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-81622638482405724002019-04-08T08:34:20.494-07:002019-04-08T08:34:20.494-07:00@ubragg:
Thank you very much for those kind words...@ubragg:<br /><br />Thank you very much for those kind words. That's the sort of thing that keeps me going.<br />Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11752242624438232184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-89595840795917284202019-04-08T08:10:05.064-07:002019-04-08T08:10:05.064-07:00> you will not be finding any DNA within a bles...> you will not be finding any DNA within a blessed communion host<br /><br />What a surprise.<br />Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11752242624438232184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-9042680276989720222019-04-08T01:43:34.437-07:002019-04-08T01:43:34.437-07:00The Bible is Not a Physics Textbook
@Ron:
>Yes...<b>The Bible is Not a Physics Textbook</b><br /><br />@Ron:<br /><i>>Yes, that's possible. But the problem with that theory is that to adhere to it you have to give up on the idea that your beliefs have any relationship with actual truth. You might be able to choose your beliefs (though I doubt even that) but you can't choose the truth. The truth is what it is.</i><br /><br />You placePubliushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00647613579979908182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-29102385069237412202019-04-07T18:06:03.130-07:002019-04-07T18:06:03.130-07:00Hi Ron,
I don't think we've met, but we h...Hi Ron,<br /><br />I don't think we've met, but we have a former employer in common (and a related mailing was how I learned about your blog in the first place), and I've been reading and enjoying your blog regularly for several years now. Until this post, I had never realized those buttons you mentioned even existed because I read everything in Feedly and they apparently don't ubragghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08590767494227185459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-67022651041189457672019-04-07T17:20:43.360-07:002019-04-07T17:20:43.360-07:00Hi Ron!
I read every post on your blog and I click...Hi Ron!<br />I read every post on your blog and I click the little checkboxes but I have tested them and after I click and reload the page the count returns to zero.<br />I read the whole reddit thread between you and Jimmy and I found it really interesting.<br />I have also spent a lot of time reading the discussions in the comments section you have with the regular cast of commenters. <br />I Danstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09407727136490964205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-88191372596787562092019-04-06T18:14:09.392-07:002019-04-06T18:14:09.392-07:00The statement "the communion bread and wine i...<i>The statement "the communion bread and wine is the body and blood of Christ", combined with the usual claims about Christ being "fully human" actually has testable consequences. For example, if this were actually true, we could extract Jesus's DNA from communion bread.</i><br /><br />Hm, yes, good point. Although it's easy enough to just alter the claim when the DNAPeter Donishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09122769947782402203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-35514869362726113602019-04-06T11:37:33.607-07:002019-04-06T11:37:33.607-07:00> If the beliefs are about things that can'...> If the beliefs are about things that can't be tested, then they don't have to have any relationship with truth.<br /><br />Oh, sure. You can, for example, choose to believe that Batman could beat Superman. (You'd be wrong, but you could choose to believe it ;-)<br /><br />But religious beliefs are usually not like that. The statement "the communion bread and wine is the Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11752242624438232184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-63246371700909332252019-04-06T11:16:34.951-07:002019-04-06T11:16:34.951-07:00the problem with that theory is that to adhere to ...<i>the problem with that theory is that to adhere to it you have to give up on the idea that your beliefs have any relationship with actual truth</i><br /><br />If the beliefs are about things that can't be tested, then they don't have to have any relationship with truth.<br /><br />A "belief" that, say, the communion bread and wine is the body and blood of Christ doesn't Peter Donishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09122769947782402203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-47469445938960111252019-04-06T09:26:11.568-07:002019-04-06T09:26:11.568-07:00> It could be as simple as they choose to belie...> It could be as simple as they choose to believe.<br /><br />Yes, that's possible. But the problem with that theory is that to adhere to it you have to give up on the idea that your beliefs have any relationship with actual truth. You might be able to choose your beliefs (though I doubt even that) but you can't choose the truth. The truth is what it is.<br />Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11752242624438232184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-73176635286488860292019-04-06T02:29:06.790-07:002019-04-06T02:29:06.790-07:00Not so mysterious
@Ron
>One of the things that...<b>Not so mysterious</b><br /><br />@Ron<br /><i>>One of the things that atheists often ask about religious people, and particularly about YEC's is, "How can they possibly believe that crazy shit?" </i><br /><br />It could be as simple as they <b>choose</b> to believe.<br /><br />Publiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00647613579979908182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-43040085305450440932019-04-05T16:57:30.643-07:002019-04-05T16:57:30.643-07:00I just looked again after reading @Don Geddis'...I just looked again after reading @Don Geddis' last post, and I see 1 thought-provoking and 1 read it for the "common ground" post, and one thought-provoking and zero read it for the "walk into a bar" post. So I think there is indeed some technical problem with those boxes.Peter Donishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09122769947782402203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-53151929247502803802019-04-05T16:33:31.518-07:002019-04-05T16:33:31.518-07:00I wonder if there is a technical problem with thos...I wonder if there is a technical problem with those boxes. I generally read all of your posts, and always at least click the "read it" box. But right this moment, the two YEC posts appear (to me) to show four zeros across all boxes -- even though other posts have numbers on those boxes.<br /><br />I suspect the numbers being reported are not accurate.<br /><br />(FWIW: I just went andDon Geddishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04214642122689048677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-83969327025952993402019-04-05T16:14:53.557-07:002019-04-05T16:14:53.557-07:00the last two entries I posted, the ones about my a...<i>the last two entries I posted, the ones about my adventures in YEC-land, have gotten zero reactions</i><br /><br />I see one check beside "Thought-provoking" on the second one, which I assume is me since I'm pretty sure I checked it.<br /><br />I just checked the same box on the first one (the introductory post) as well.<br /><br />I have not actually commented on either one Peter Donishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09122769947782402203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592542.post-61277070123686035402019-04-05T14:53:48.493-07:002019-04-05T14:53:48.493-07:00Hah, well I'm glad to hear that news personall...Hah, well I'm glad to hear that news personally. :)Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01159933996551047247noreply@blogger.com