en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/665232 Comments by Vlad http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/the-value-of-dynasties/#IDComment44074332 I like it when they throw the ball and the other guy catches it and runs really fast. When they do that really well and a lot, then you know it's a great team. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:24:30 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/the-value-of-dynasties/#IDComment44074332 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/nothing-means-what-you-think-it-does/#IDComment43656738 Plus the arbitrary spelling. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:21:26 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/nothing-means-what-you-think-it-does/#IDComment43656738 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/loquacious-lemmings/#IDComment43469082 There's something to be said for mass appeal, but surely there's a limit. I can't say I know where to draw the line, or that I would always be able to draw it consistently if I did, but I loathe sensationalism. And as for going after TV, that's not CA editorial; that's just me! Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:42:01 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/loquacious-lemmings/#IDComment43469082 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/loquacious-lemmings/#IDComment43451865 Not sure I follow, Ezra. Are you saying we should take the high road or the low road? Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:05:48 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/loquacious-lemmings/#IDComment43451865 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/loquacious-lemmings/#IDComment43129969 Perhaps you should have been informed, but it took a while to figure out what was going on. Some may not have even read your actual title when they got to the article. Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:06:35 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/loquacious-lemmings/#IDComment43129969 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/the-industrial-revolution-and-the-death-of-craftsmanship/#IDComment42953017 Ok, Jeff, but without particle board I wouldn't have any furniture! My family's hand-made stuff would have to be shipped from Romania, and includes wood-burning stoves. Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:23:16 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/the-industrial-revolution-and-the-death-of-craftsmanship/#IDComment42953017 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/the-industrial-revolution-and-the-death-of-craftsmanship/#IDComment42965972 That was great. Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:54:20 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/the-industrial-revolution-and-the-death-of-craftsmanship/#IDComment42965972 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/a-self-indulgent-musing-on-jazz/#IDComment42683488 Coffee and wine are good analogues. You have to develop your palate, and it actually helps to taste something really bad to appreciate the distinction of the good. On the other hand, I have a hard time not loving Cold Play, though their work is as homogeneous and predictable as it gets. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:32:38 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/a-self-indulgent-musing-on-jazz/#IDComment42683488 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/bibles-and-bullets-the-ugly-legacy-of-christian-missionaries/#IDComment42612090 I don't see why he's not entitled to a different starting point to the conversation. Why is it not admissible to say, 'Given this current state of affairs and perseption (real or imagined), where can the church go from here?' You can always argue that someone missed a step because there's always an antecedent condition, but you have to start somewhere. Get me? Mon, 9 Nov 2009 22:03:32 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/bibles-and-bullets-the-ugly-legacy-of-christian-missionaries/#IDComment42612090 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/remembering-gods-mercy/#IDComment41532188 I find those most comfortable with condemning others are quite sure of their salvation, due to their own religious experience. I think this is what emboldens them to judge others who don't belong to the same sub-culture, don't use the same religious jargon, or express the same experiences of salvation. Mon, 2 Nov 2009 17:04:32 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/11/remembering-gods-mercy/#IDComment41532188 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/evaluating-intelligent-design/#IDComment41121157 Abiogenesis is the toughest one and someone's always working on it, likely funded by tax dollars and university endowments. Doubt any of the ID people would be interested in helping them out. As to the kind of evolution you point out, an organism's beneficial genetic mutation passed to succeeding generations, that happens all the time (depending on how you parse "mutation"), which is why you need a different flu shot every year. As to "proving" the broader theory of common decent, you should read the previous post on Problematic Words. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:48:44 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/evaluating-intelligent-design/#IDComment41121157 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/a-response-to-invocation-provocation/#IDComment41086617 Anything less than Gregorian chant followed by self-flagellation is impiousness. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:39:45 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/a-response-to-invocation-provocation/#IDComment41086617 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment41086393 Yes, the 'circle of the earth' thing doesn't really tell us anything. I don't know what word would have been used, or appropriated, for a spherical earth, but I wouldn't expect to see that anymore than I would expect the Hebrew Bible to describe the structure of the atom. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:36:04 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment41086393 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment41036269 By saying "the language clearly shows that" you are begging the question. 1 Enoch is apocalyptic, and has little bearing on the point, even if it were canonical. In any case, if you would be the least bit interested in communication rather than tired and well-worn apologetic, you would see that the issue I raised was a broad one of metaphor in the Bible, not flat-earth geocenticism in particular. You have done nothing to address the linguistic question of metaphor. Thanks for the obviousness of your points, but we're far passed the article, which, incidentally, you would be well-advised to consider. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:51:29 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment41036269 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/a-response-to-invocation-provocation/#IDComment40964151 I did not hear a "marginalization" in the original post, but there clearly is a doctrinal or theological difference at the root of this. What is appropriate for prayer? Does anything go since God is all-knowing anyway? In that case, and if the prayer is only ostensibly about talking to God, then why not stir the audience without invoking prayer at all? It seems to me there is ample opportunity to draw upon all the rhetoric at one's disposal, and prayer that is given in the Christian tradition should follow in the Christian tradition of piety and address to God, rather than the approval of the crowd. I'll refrain from drawing upon a dominical parable. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:55:38 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/a-response-to-invocation-provocation/#IDComment40964151 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment40962369 First, how do you know how much evidence would survive of this culture? Summon some intellectual integrity and don't tip the scales in your favor at each opportunity. My point was that even today we use metaphors that "contradict" science. Again, if you wish to dismiss these 'non-metaphors,' it must be by recourse to the original languages and culture, not your vehement insistence on my emotions and foolishness. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:27:47 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment40962369 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment40915974 Are you seriously claiming that I said that we do believe the sun revolves around the earth? I think something got lost in translation. Thanks for not making me look foolish, though. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:12:48 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment40915974 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment40896465 Please read more carefully. I won't bother going back over terrain I already covered. And I think you have an emotional attachment to your belief system, too. Wow, what a great argument I just made. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:58:59 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment40896465 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/problematic-words-facts-theories-and-proof/#IDComment40492890 "Ascribing the word "fact" to something shuts down creative thought". Bingo. The history of advancement can be traced out by plotting the geniuses who picked through standard assumptions and took nothing for granted. It's that last bit of abstraction that's beyond most of us. Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:04:06 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/problematic-words-facts-theories-and-proof/#IDComment40492890 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment40491975 If you want to claim that certain phrases in the Bible were not in fact metaphors you need to demonstrate that by recourse to the language and culture, not your intuition about what was and was not metaphor. In any case, even today we talk about sunrise, even though we know full well it is apparent motion only. By your logic, people investigating our culture 1000 years from now would think we had a geocentric view of the universe. Believers may well assume too much, but so do you. Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:55:37 +0000 http://concreteacademic.com/2009/10/more-atheist-bashing/#IDComment40491975