tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post6718580029463802534..comments2024-03-25T15:17:04.488-07:00Comments on Captain Capitalism: Just a Mustard Seed of DoubtCaptain Capitalismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05620212946121617985noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-37471219318257199002015-08-16T18:22:06.264-07:002015-08-16T18:22:06.264-07:00Christianity is just a new label slapped on an old...Christianity is just a new label slapped on an old fear-insurance scam. Does the following sound familiar? (check out the date)<br /><br />[...] they perform their ritual, and <a href="http://biblehub.net/search.php?q=persuade" rel="nofollow">persuade</a> not only individuals, but whole cities, that <a href="http://biblehub.net/search.php?q=expiation" rel="nofollow">expiations</a> and <a href="http://biblehub.com/concordance/a/atonement.htm" rel="nofollow">atonements</a> for sin may be made by <a href="http://biblehub.com/concordance/s/sacrifice.htm" rel="nofollow">sacrifices</a> and amusements which fill a vacant hour, and are equally at the service of the <a href="http://biblehub.com/romans/14-9.htm" rel="nofollow">living and the dead</a>; the latter sort they call <a href="http://biblehub.com/concordance/m/mystery.htm" rel="nofollow">mysteries</a>, and they <a href="http://biblehub.com/topical/r/redemption.htm" rel="nofollow">redeem</a> us from the pains of <a href="http://biblehub.com/topical/h/hades.htm" rel="nofollow">hell</a>, but if we neglect them no one knows what awaits us.<br /><br />Plato (4th century BCE) <b>The Republic.</b> <i>Book II.</i><br />classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12141914748202909988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-12926839046882449312014-02-23T15:38:31.564-08:002014-02-23T15:38:31.564-08:00Cappy, you've started a theological discussion...Cappy, you've started a theological discussion. Did you do that on purpose? You naughty boy!Old Broadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-365101962775930572014-02-20T21:05:15.804-08:002014-02-20T21:05:15.804-08:00There is a world of difference between "I don...There is a world of difference between "I don't know if I really believe it" and "It's all bullshit."<br /><br />This post does not do you credit.Pax Empyreanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04889654524008462887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-83386384396975608342014-02-20T13:49:21.570-08:002014-02-20T13:49:21.570-08:00There are different forms of utility or value one ...There are different forms of utility or value one can derive from church affiliation.<br /><br />Like you, I am skeptical at the literal teachings and accounts from the Bible. I do not believe in the resurrection, afterlife, etc.<br /><br />But I derive great value being part of a larger "family", people who will be there in my time of need and those that I can help in turn when their need arises. <br /><br />For me, sitting in a pew during a service (probably ignoring the scripture or sermon) asking myself "have I been a good husband / father / coworker?". Self reflection is healthy and at least for me, church is where I reflect most deeply.<br /><br />So while I concur that much of religious "belief" asks one to suspend observable reality, there are other aspects of religion that provide comfort and value to many.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-86519411527403544872014-02-19T23:38:19.706-08:002014-02-19T23:38:19.706-08:00"What gets me is how this is a complete 180 o..."What gets me is how this is a complete 180 of what I experienced in church.<br /><br />I woudl get whipped, beating, and punished for expressing doubt."<br /><br />You uncle, according to you, understood that you were an outlier. Perhaps, much like Lauren Drain, you were raised in one too?Ghost of 503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-80319849674060334662014-02-19T19:34:40.048-08:002014-02-19T19:34:40.048-08:00Here's something about Friday's debate on ...Here's something about Friday's debate on cosmology:<br />http://winteryknight.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/upcoming-greer-heard-forum-on-cosmology-featuring-sean-carroll-and-william-lane-craig/<br /><br />The event will be live-streamed.<br /><br />Sorry about your Uncle. I hope this gives you something to look into if you are ever curious about the evidence for both sides. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-13006834818284397912014-02-19T19:31:15.373-08:002014-02-19T19:31:15.373-08:00Hey Captain, I am (I think) one of the authentic C...Hey Captain, I am (I think) one of the authentic Christians who focuses his time on the defense of the faith. I think the best response to your desire for "empirical" proof would be to take two hours and watch a good debate with both sides. Maybe one on God's existence, and the other on the resurrection of Jesus, which is the most testable miracle claim in the NT.<br /><br />If you want an entertaining debate, you can see William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KBx4vvlbZ8<br /><br />If you want a close debate, the best one I have seen recently (it is an advanced level debate) was the William Lane Craig vs Peter Millican debate:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JVRy7bR7zI<br /><br />A good debate on the historicity of the resurrection is the William Lane Craig vs James Crossley debate:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJpeJJlCK-U<br /><br />These are all about 2 hours each.<br /><br />On Friday, Dr. Craig will be debating Dr. Sean Carroll, a Caltech physicist, on whether cosmology is more compatible with theism or atheism. <br /><br />Hope that helps! I'm taking a chance of being yelled at here, I realize, because you seemed really upset, but I'm just replying with what I think would be useful to you - hearing both sides in formal fixed-length-speeches debates in academic settings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-70126831217761633492014-02-19T16:43:24.932-08:002014-02-19T16:43:24.932-08:00Want to change a few Christians to hold a bit of d...Want to change a few Christians to hold a bit of doubt. Publish the bible with all it's revision authors and dates.<br />As far as the sins of hedonism and it being a leftist Progressive agenda... I think not.<br />Progressives are intolerant and convince those who don't practice the recycle ritual will cause the apocalypse. Old religions pray over food and new religions pray over garbage... whatever its all the same.<br />I'm not going to punish myself and force myself to feel guilty over something that isn't harming anyone.<br />I'm not going to hate Neo-Cons and Progressives because they believe I should and hate anyone who disagrees with them.<br />AND... I'm definitely not going to argue with a group of people that says "we don't need to try to follow the teachings of the teacher... just believe the teacher really existed. Because his lesson of 'Don't be an asshole' is just waaaay too hard to follow."<br />Go buy your sacrifices (or tithe as you call it now days) and go listen to your Pharisees.<br />John 8:44-45 IE: Kiss my ass!BadOPCodehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07081350646608411204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-29054767607738415742014-02-19T12:49:54.101-08:002014-02-19T12:49:54.101-08:00Hans,
What gets me is how this is a complete 180 ...Hans,<br /><br />What gets me is how this is a complete 180 of what I experienced in church. <br /><br />I woudl get whipped, beating, and punished for expressing doubt.<br /><br />Now, everybody is scrambling to claim "doubt is good and normal" and HALF are saying, "well yeah, we really don't know" and the remaining 40% is defaulting to "there is a god, maybe not Christian, but there is a god."<br /><br />REALLY!!!!!?????<br /><br />So EVERYBODY ADMITS THERE'S NO PROOF, but let's STILL INDOCTRINATE KIDS????<br /><br />Why, because kids don't know any better and you are physically stronger than them.<br /><br />It disgusts me as to how it can be on such weak grounds, but then within the church make it sound like LAW and ostracize/punish you if you have questions.<br /><br />Certainly some of the nicer religious folk are making kind arguments, but it's those bastards in the church that DARE to punish/abuse kids threatening them with demons and hell for not believing in some guy in a robe.<br /><br />Captain Capitalismhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05620212946121617985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-87832552412741820262014-02-19T12:21:07.153-08:002014-02-19T12:21:07.153-08:00I see that half the comments section is busy tryin...I see that half the comments section is busy trying to convert you. That sure aint gonna happen.<br /><br />Don't worry too much though Captain, if you're right then you're in the clear. If you're wrong, then Jesus loves you all the same, you miserable sinner :P<br /><br />Religion is fundamentally about creating something beyond this world - it might be called an air-castle or it might be called something great, worthy and uplifting.<br /><br />The fact that we will never be able to prove that what we come up with in our minds conforms to some sort of supra-natural existence is what makes it faith and not science.<br /><br />Clearly, not for everyone. You're a down-to-earth guy. So was I, but I guess I'm not anymore. I am fully aware that I might just be delusional - but I'll take my chances. <br /><br />Faith cannot be proven. It can, perhaps, be experienced - even if I'll agree that I think most people are simply faking it.<br /><br />Real faith takes something away from you at the same time that it gives something back. Most people can't stand the "taking away" part, so they'll just pretend that they were given something.Hanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14935613031753433107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-4565475199536107782014-02-19T08:46:39.958-08:002014-02-19T08:46:39.958-08:00Just a reminder for those of you using physics and...Just a reminder for those of you using physics and astronomy...<i>science can't prove anything</i>. Science can only <i>disprove</i>. The current crop of accepted scientific theories (like general relativity) are simply those ideas that (a) describe what we see and (b) that no one has yet shown to be false. Be very, very careful with terms like "scientific proof." My recommendation is to not say that at all, ever.<br /><br />Disclaimer, or whatever: Southern Man is a born-again fundamentalist Christian with a PhD in nuclear physics who makes his living teaching science and spends his life seeking God.Southern Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13915391021447107219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-46458515810451901032014-02-19T05:38:02.901-08:002014-02-19T05:38:02.901-08:00Some of us believe simply because we've seen t...Some of us believe simply because we've seen the improvements in our life from following.<br /><br />Every time I take a step to follow God, my life improves, or my outlook on life improves.<br /><br />That's all. Not tricks, no magic, just my own subjective evidence. That's my #1 reason. Jay Dee - SexWithinMarriage.comhttp://sexwithinmarriage.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-43614386208215609882014-02-19T04:46:57.627-08:002014-02-19T04:46:57.627-08:00Dude, where did this post come from? Did some JW&#...Dude, where did this post come from? Did some JW's harass you at your door this weekend?<br /><br />You pulled some serious liberal-style argumentation here, Cap. Starting by placing "serious Christians" and "intrepid, intellectually honest" people in mutually-exclusive categories makes me wonder if someone hacked your account. It's weak.<br /><br /><i>1. I will immediately follow a religion with all of my might when EMPIRICAL PROOF is laid out before me (and do not say, "it's in the bible") </i><br /><br />And yet the bulk of your post is an anecdotal tale of your uncle's "testimony of doubt"...<br /><br /><i>Because I know, I KNOW FOR A FACT<br /><br />EVERY<br />SINGLE<br />ONE<br />OF <br />YOU<br /><br />have that doubt in your heart.</i><br /><br />And I am sure you have "EMPRICAL PROOF" of this "FACT."<br /><br /><i>2. I am reminded of my younger years where the pastors/teachers had a non-answer to every question when people say, "doubt is part of faith."</i><br /><br />Doubt and faith are not part of each other, but they are co-mingled to certain degrees in every Christian. We see Jesus talking to such a man in Mark 9:24.<br /><br />The fact that your uncle did not have absolute assurance that he was 100% empirically correct does not invalidate his Christianity, any more than your ranting against it makes it untrue.<br /><br />I'd be interested in a post on why you rejected Christianity, other than some smug declarations about how you started "thinking for yourself." Why is your father an EX-pastor? Why do you constantly refer to the Wisconsin Synod as representative of historic, biblical Christianity, when the Missouri Synod is far closer to the religion of Martin Luther and that of Scripture? (Note: I am not a Lutheran myself.) Attacking a liberal branch of Christendom as being hypocritical isn't going to get any arguments from me.<br /><br />All your posturing here is just that. There have been (and still are) far more brilliant men than either of us on both sides of this debate. At the heart of this is more than mere intellectualism.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-20859535095540874122014-02-19T04:46:29.707-08:002014-02-19T04:46:29.707-08:00Sorry for being late to this party, but work has b...Sorry for being late to this party, but work has been a monster this week. I felt i had to comment as a faithful reader here and someone who has written a book on God but someone who leans hard on God but also has doubts. I have no doubt that if my last days are in some hospital i will have doubts also; but that's normal. We all have doubts about anything you can't meadure like relationships, work projects, etc.<br /><br />But you can't fault God for not giving you evidence by your measure. There is evuidence, there are multiple accounts of Christ apperaing after his death, you can choose to believe that or not; but you might consider that God set the christain belief up on a leap of faith and you might consider he wanted people to keep the faith for salvation or whatever reason you want to put for folling the christian God.<br /><br />You might consider a few things like if the moon's orbit was just a little off, complex life forms would have never formed on earth or that the earth has been hit by earth altering meteors before but while man has walked around, that huge asteriod belt hasn't gotten one asteriod knocked off its path to end life on earth as we know it. I dont think you're giving enough credit for a God who makes the universe work so well for most people to live a life on earth while there's chaos going on throughout the universe daily.<br /><br />I think of things like cancer part of the deal man got with having free will. things like cancer, war, enslavement are all a part of that imo.<br /><br />you might look up norma jean hornsberger. she was a salvation army director who died at 40 of breast cancer after losng hger husband earlier to cancer. a freaking salvation army director and she died prematurely.<br /><br />and there's also plenty of evidence on people who died and came back, you can choose to believe those stories or not.<br /><br />there's all sorts of books you can read on evidence, but the problem you seem to be having is a lack of fairness by God and thats not what God is about. He's about you worshipping and fearing him and one last thing you might consider is by not making it easy to nail God down on a lot of things like cancer hitting people early is one of his methods to instill fear; it we all lived healthy to 100; there'd be no point in needing him before then.<br /><br />i'd suggest watching the 700 club and seeing the missions it does and the personal stories of how God has cured people today with diseases that the doctors said to them had to be a miracler.<br />leeholsennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-63457231222100650032014-02-19T03:30:03.535-08:002014-02-19T03:30:03.535-08:00Hey Cap. I too would put myself in the Agnostic br...Hey Cap. I too would put myself in the Agnostic bracket. To be honest I find the whole atheist, Richard Dawkins, etc. bunch a bit loud for my liking. I was brought up Catholic. I was adopted by two great parents when just a week old. They have given me a great life and I thank the church for them.<br />That said I am no apologist for the awful abuses committed in the name of Catholicism. Even though I wouldn't be a regular practising Catholic I always ask people do they really believe that if the Catholic church didn't exist in the morning there would be no child abuse?<br />I am also reminded of a story an English comedian told. He went around to a self confessed atheist friends house one day. As they sat down he offered the comedian a cup of tea. They were having a conversation about the meaning of life etc. The atheist was convinced the universe just happened, big bang theory,etc.<br />A little while later the atheist said, "oh I forgot about the tea, it won't make itself." The comedian responded," why not?"<br />Enjoying Batchelor Pad.....Marshallawnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-71577282925923880692014-02-19T01:40:49.796-08:002014-02-19T01:40:49.796-08:00belief is a choice. people who live their lives wi...belief is a choice. people who live their lives with ideas that there is "truth" and "one way" allow beliefs to dictate their lives. people who understand that it is choice can dictate their own lives.<br /><br />i disagree with you that they dont believe it. but they dont believe it because they see it, or because they compared it with something, or because they explored it objectively. they believe it because they just do.<br /><br />what they fail to see is that it is not objectively true, but a choice that affects their lives. and not to mention that most people believe it only in their minds, but act however they choose without realizing that that is all belief is.<br /><br />if you ask me the idea that faith is a choice is much stronger than the threat that a lot of people live under, but its also a less profitable one.<br /><br />sure they doubt. anybody that tells you they dont is a liar. everybody doubts their lives from time to time.<br /><br />i personally dont believe any of it. its hulaballoo. but i find those that do tend to be more well rounded likeable and pleasant people. atheism is going through its militant change the world phase, and i want no part in that. they do believe it though, about as much as anybody can believe anything.monster221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-50680725295690693632014-02-18T20:37:29.639-08:002014-02-18T20:37:29.639-08:00Cap'n, I'll just leave you with one link. ...Cap'n, I'll just leave you with <a href="http://coldcasechristianity.com/" rel="nofollow">one link</a>. Peruse at your leisure.<br /><br />Wraithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02791730539181731523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-44917231633916107002014-02-18T19:58:11.984-08:002014-02-18T19:58:11.984-08:00Some time when you get to Madison, WI I'll buy...Some time when you get to Madison, WI I'll buy you a beer and a steak BUT then you will have to listen to my story about my motorcycle accident and visiting heaven during my hospital stay.<br /><br />SteveAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-30454998238805812202014-02-18T19:03:29.278-08:002014-02-18T19:03:29.278-08:00@Anon 6:17PM
What's your view then? Is materi...@Anon 6:17PM<br /><br />What's your view then? Is materialism all that the universe if composed of?<br /><br />http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/social-brain-social-mind/201203/free-will-weighing-truth-and-experience<br /><br /><br />Are miracles a violation of natural laws? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-71347822505238132222014-02-18T18:17:50.029-08:002014-02-18T18:17:50.029-08:00It seems that a lot of your lieutenants have bough...It seems that a lot of your lieutenants have bought into the Christian creation myths hook, line and sinker. No worries though, Cap'n. I know plenty of strong manosphere types that recognize Christianity, and all of it's equally sad contemporaries, for what they are. <br /><br />You're right to doubt. It's all hokum. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-44499200860112579312014-02-18T17:23:06.031-08:002014-02-18T17:23:06.031-08:00This is what I was referring to earlier
http://en...This is what I was referring to earlier<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-tuned_Universe<br /><br />It is an interesting subject to delve into. Again, I don't give a crap about philosophy or theology or all this soft crap. I'm an engineer. When probabilities of this stuff happening randomly start getting so small (in the order one divided by 10 to the 128 power) to be equivalent to impossibility, then there should be an explanation other than randomness. Oh yeah, the "multiverse" thing. that makes a lot of sense, especially since it cannot be disproved (Can't be proved either, conveniently). <br /><br />SO believers only have faith (and overwhelming probability eliminating randomness), but atheist astrophysicists have a theory - multiverse. Unprovable, by its very nature. <br /><br />What is dogma?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-81600099840820412782014-02-18T16:56:57.440-08:002014-02-18T16:56:57.440-08:00I'm a good Christian even though I don't g...I'm a good Christian even though I don't go to church. I doubt. Heck, even Jesus was tempted in that desert (by that Obama look alike!)so the story goes. Doubt is good. Too much dogma leads to corruption like Islam. I also had a talk with my mother before she died of cancer.<br /><br />I am never going to try to convince you but here's my point of view. Church is boring. The Vatican is boring. And bad people in the Church exploited their power, blah blah blah. <br /><br /> I'm an engineer. Some very smart people believed in God because of what they saw around them. Einstein, Franklin, etc. They could not understand why people would doubt the existence of God given what's out there. The whole of creation, the way it fits together.<br /><br />Science can you the what, but not how or why.<br /><br />One of the things that blew my mind is just the probability this earth had of having the right condition for life. Just the right mass. Just the right place for liquid water. Just the right tilt, spin, precession. A moon. All without which life would not exist.<br /><br />There is also a branch of astrophysics looking at the probabilities that the universe ended up like this by examining universal constants. They came to the conclusion that "nature favours life" without naming God. A slight change in the charge of the electron (a universal constant) and stars would burn out too fast for life to have a chance to develop. A slight change the other way and nothing heavier than helium would form (no carbon). Even the way Carbon forms in a star is suspicious, the deck is stacked... SO said the guy who figured out how fusion within a star forms elements (right after WW2). Check it out on your free time. All these coincidences add up to such impossible odds that scientists are coming to the conclusion that the deck is stacked. <br /><br />Yeah, I know you think I'm some kind of religious whacko trying to "bring you to God". I'm not. But if you are curious about this stuff, it is an interesting set of facts to consider.<br /><br />SOme astrophysicists take the easy way out: There are a multitude of universes -the multiverse-- and we just happen to live in the one where all these constants align perfectly and life exist. Conveniently, since these other universes exist outside our universe, we cannot ever find them.<br /><br />---Now who's pulling what out of their asses?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-8747536909972265922014-02-18T16:16:12.440-08:002014-02-18T16:16:12.440-08:00What are you trying to convince yourself of, Clare...What are you trying to convince yourself of, Clarey? <br /><br />That deep down, everyone is as cynical and hopeless as you? <br /><br />Wrong. Church is messed up compared to what it should be--but Christianity is still good. <br /><br />And out of the billion of us or so that profess it--hundreds of millions of us truly do believe, in Christ, and the Scriptures. <br /><br />No, it can't be scientifically proven. That's part of why it's called faith. Like many things, we can't measure it, quantify it, test it. <br /><br />At the end of the day, science is just a philosophy of life. It can't explain life--science can't even explain with surety why we need to sleep.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-27252595643991323242014-02-18T15:17:59.047-08:002014-02-18T15:17:59.047-08:00Alright Cap you asked for it you will get it:
htt...Alright Cap you asked for it you will get it:<br /><br />http://www.reasonablefaith.org/scholarly-articles/the-existence-of-god<br /><br />http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-resurrection-of-jesus<br /><br /><br /><br />This is just the start.<br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-88488989675281577092014-02-18T15:04:20.929-08:002014-02-18T15:04:20.929-08:001. I will immediately follow a religion with all o...1. I will immediately follow a religion with all of my might when EMPIRICAL PROOF is laid out before me (and do not say, "it's in the bible")<br /><br />Ok consider that we have:<br />1: Schools that dumb down instead of educate<br />2: Media that misinforms us.<br />3: Doctors that are just pill pushers.<br />4: Churches that do not follow the Bible.<br />5: Politics that are not representative.<br />6: Food that is unnatural.<br />7: the list is endless and synergetic.<br /><br />and you will see that we are living in a matrix of subversion where everything is working opposite to how you would expect it to. Of course the usual explanation for this is that it is all about money and on one level that is true, but I think it is to over simplify to blame the state of the world solely on mans greed. For example, thanks to globalisation we are only 1 economic crash away from getting a World Government. Many people already think that that would be a good idea. That didn't happen by accident and is described in the Bible. <br /><br />So when we have a world that could accurately be described as Satanic (as in opposite to nature) and the prophesies in the Bible seem to be coming true, is it not rational to be a Christian?<br /><br />A mustard seed for you too?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com