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What constitutes the highest form of living matter? Are we correct in assuming Homo sapiens, rational man, is supreme? Further, is there actually such an ultimate supreme state, and by what value is it so determined?
Supremacy of life forms is judged by man with respect to certain phenomena, the natural functions, which they exhibit. We are all aware that certain animals have a keener sense of perception than man; they are stronger and swifter, and their senses of hearing, sight, and smell exceed those of humans.
Therefore, how do we evaluate the acclaimed supremacy of man? Man's outstanding quality is said to be his intelligence and the traditional supernatural element of soul, which he is likewise said to possess.
Why is one animal fleeter than another, or his hearing and scent more acute? Were such faculties arbitrarily conferred upon him? Would it not be discriminatory to give a preferred advantage to one species and not to another?
The answer to this depends upon which of two concepts one assumes for the existence of life forms. In other words, are all living things the result of spontaneous generation, a coming into existence at one time by a supernatural fiat, an arbitrary order?
Or are the myriad living things and the variations of their functions the result of an evolutionary process? The first of the two concepts cited is primarily supported by religious doctrines which are proclaimed as sacrosanct literature. However, such claims are eristic; they provoke argument as to the authenticity of their source.
In other words, is such literature actually the utterance of a divine decree regarding creation? Or is this literature actually a human interpretation of person revelation and subsequently theological concord?
The opposite concept, evolution, proclaims that life forms have come into existence over eons of time. The myriad variations, the effects of mutations or changes imposed on the life forms, are principally the necessity of each species adaptation to a particular environment. Thus, teeth, hair, claws, wings, the size and form of limbs and body by nature's persistence of life, thereby developing the characteristics best suited for the species survival.
What is the primary cause of the differences between these two concepts –the religious and the evolutionary? Such is a polemic subject. From a distinctly objective point of view, science presents the more rational viewpoint in its support of the concept of evolution.
It begins its approach inductively and empirically in presenting evidence for its postulations. Such postulations are not as yet conclusive as to the origin of the first living cell, though genetic engineering and molecular biology reveal what transition can occur from alterations of the cell. Further, the results from cattle and poultry breeding, for example, indicate evolutionary changes in the functions of a living organism.
Suppose that evolution is found to be irrefutable? Does that then detract from the majesty of nature? The foundation of science is natural law; there is, in other words, an innate order that prevails throughout the cosmos, the universe as a whole.
Philosophically, one may theorize that such order is not absolute in the universe; in other words, regardless of the uniformity of certain phenomena observed in galaxies millions of light-years from earth, this so-called order may not exist in infinite time as it is now perceived by man.
But since man as yet cannot refute this basic idea of cosmic order, he must accept it as being a universal absolute. Order implies intelligence, a conscious persistence of its kind. If such a phenomena underlies the evolutionary process, is not such an initial cause, then, a concept approximating the religious idea of a cosmic mind or being behind all reality?
The important distinction is that science bases its conclusions on the manifestations of that cosmic cause, the observation of its phenomena rather than the resort to mythology and the vicissitudes of human revelation which have been historically noticeably diverse.
The superiority man ascribes to himself lies in his intelligence. What are the most obvious characteristics of this intelligence? What is the nature of the phenomenon? This intelligence can distinguish externality as apart from the self. The self realizes its own existence, that it is and that other things are as well. To an extent, this first characteristic is also exhibited by other living things.
For example, mammals, birds, and reptiles are attracted to external objects, the result of their natural senses and appetites for which they are instinctively conditioned. They will seek out and recognize water and that which produces food and shelter. However, is this really an example of intelligence? A more exact explanation of intelligence would be the adaptation to things and conditions newly experienced, rather than a mere response to a conditioned stimulus.
The second characteristic of intelligence is the rationalization of experience, that is, to find the cause, the meaning of what is perceived. It is to know, to acquire an understanding. It is also to inquire within, to resort to introspection, to explore the self, and to find for that self a purpose. Simply, I am, but why am I?
We may consider the above-mentioned characteristics as the aptitudes of an intelligent being such as the Homo sapiens –man. But is it quite probable that this "superior" intelligence of man was a necessary evolutionary attribute, rather than a special power conferred upon him?
Has man survived as the result of the gradual development of his brain and nervous systems so as to confront the rigors of his existence? More specifically, is intelligence a defensive characteristic which man has developed, much as other living organisms have developed their specific defensive structures?
Man's intelligence provides him with a greater versatility than other known living things. He can direct its use to a greater extent than other organisms. Conversely, however, he can destroy more of nature and his environment than can other animate forms.
Whereas other organic beings may use nature exclusively for the essentials, the basic gratification of their physical desires, man has the faculty of mentally conceiving ends for personal satisfaction that are destructive not only to himself but to others as well. This is evident in the aggressive motivation he has for fame, power, and conquest.
Man has exaggerated two of his instincts to point of perversion far exceeding their display in any other species. One of these is CUPIDITY, that is, love of possessions; and the other is AGGRANDIZEMENT of the self.
For example, rodents, birds, and certain other animals will collect a food supply for storage. This is an instinctive drive impelled by hunger and a habitual adaptation to the need of acquiring food in seasons when it is available.
What the animals acquire may exceed the necessary amount; however, an inborn impulse compels the continuation of gathering as long as the food is available. The animal does not have the reason for determining when the quantity is sufficient for its needs.
Humans often find pleasure just in possession itself. In other words, the realization that what they gather may far exceed what others need and have attained, is gratifying to the ego. Possession is an extension of the self. Simply, the self is given eminence –superiority is conferred upon it by the enlargement of its acquisitions.
This extreme exaltation of the ego often compels man to acquire possessions by using whatever method he can, without regard for the legal or moral rights of others. The individual, then, often attempts to justify his motivation by resorting to a false claim of his "right" to do so. On a larger scale, nations may say that they engaged in hostile actions by the necessity of "defending the homeland."
The other frequently perverted instinct of man is personal esteem, self-aggrandizement. The self is a collective consciousness of the whole being, the physical aspect and all personal attributes of which it is aware.
Therefore, the wholeness of being must have its gratification as well as the organic desires. If the ego does not assert itself, individuality is suppressed. To such an intelligent being as man, the physical and mental desires are subordinate to whatever concept or ideal the self has of itself. There is, therefore, the impulse to emphasize, to display those characteristics which the individual particularly distinguishes as the self.
Some of the higher animals, such as dogs, birds, and primates, for example, particularly express some aspect of their being, which is an example of a rudimentary self. Man, however, is commonly known to pervert this self-esteem by striving for fame at the forfeiture of recognized virtues and without regard for the welfare of others. This destructive excess of self-esteem is not found among the animals.
The superiority ascribed to man is particularly emphasized with regard to his possession of soul. This element is generally defined by religion and moral philosophy, metaphysics, and mysticism as an innate, immaterial quality of a supernatural source. It is generally expounded that man is the sole recipient of the ethereal entity of soul.
This conclusion is arrived at by categorizing certain sentiments, emotional feelings, stimuli, and ideation which man cannot directly relate to his organic or physical self; for example, the sense of rectitude and what he defines as conscience, the evaluation of right and wrong behavior, and compassion.
There is also the awareness of self, a consciousness which seems to be set apart from any sensual experience. Simply, this "I Am" and its judgment, in moral terms of its behavior, is considered to be the expression of the soul. The empathy of self, which experiences a sympathy for others similar to that had for itself, is considered a non-physical motivation, a function of this inner, immaterial substance called soul.
These qualities attributed to soul are so unlike the demands, desires, and drives of the body, and so often produce such a state of euphoria and ecstasy that they are given a divine status. These experiences appear exalted because of their contrast to the physical nature of man. It is difficult, then, to make a simple analytical distinction between those qualities we relate to the whole self, to the "I Am," on the one hand, and the nature of soul on the other hand.
In most religious doctrines, man has considered the soul in a substantive sense, that is, as having a particular, unique substance. Such a substance is said to be divinely implanted in man. It is further contended that the soul is a special endowment of man. This conclusion is reached by the fact that man has no knowledge of any other being possessing the same qualities which he designates as the human soul.
However, the phenomenon known as soul can be explained otherwise without diminishing its status as "divine." If we presume that order underlies all cosmic phenomena and that order is conscious in its constancy of manifestations, then it would be reasonable to assume that the primary energy which infuses nature and generates life is likewise an innate intelligence, a consciousness. Such would have the same divine quality that all reality has, if we accept the concept of a divine causation behind all existence.
This cosmic, divine energy, with its consciousness, uses the physical organism, the body, for the expression of sensations, that awareness which is termed soul. It has not a separate existence in the primary cosmic essence, but does have individual expression in the consciousness of man. This universal cosmic essence imbuing all life forms is metaphorically known as "the soul of the universe." Metaphorically, we can liken the physical body of man unto a harp, which, being played upon by the universal consciousness of the cosmic, produces the melody which man realizes as soul.
However, this cosmic conscious energy accompanying life is not confined to man alone. It pervades all animate and inanimate things in the orderly phenomena of the laws of the material world. All living things have the same instrument, that is the same capability of producing that state of consciousness of self and its counterpart, the soul, as does man.
The difference is that man has the highest known expression of that phenomenon of consciousness and of those virtues which he attributes to it. This, however, is not indicative that man alone possesses such potentialities, or that he has attained the pinnacle of such development.


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I have written a script to reset an admin account password so that admin access can be managed from a single file.
In this single file say File A I have only one admin account which I use for login and I have 5 files with 5 admin accounts of which I am trying to reset password.
The script is as follows:
set variable $a = get value(get(Script parameter);1). .....This is login name.
set variable $b = get value(get(Script parameter);2) .....This is password.
reset account password [Account Name: $a; Password: $b]
This script is run with full access privilege.
Also one more thing to notice is that if I debug this script at that time it resets the password but not if I run it without debugging.
Can anyone help?
Thank you in advance.

subset: commoncrawl


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Brand New Music's Park Woojin (19 years old)
Choon Ent.'s Kim Yongguk (22 years old)
Brand New Music's Im Young MIn (23 years old)
-Youngmin is mine..
-Yongguk is mine..
-Two of them are from Brand New Music!
-Three of them are in my fixed pick lists..ㅋㅋㅋ Along with Sungwoon!
-I hope all the boys from Brand New Music gets to debut..
-I agree.. Three of them are the most popular trainees these days..
-I love you, Youngmin..
-Yongguk, you have to debut, okay? I'll make a new different bank account just for you..
-Yongguk is getting more popular!!
-Kitten-like-guy, Yongguk..ㅠㅠㅠ My baby..ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Woojin.. I've had my eyes on him ever since the first episode..
-Youngmin-ah.. Yongguk-ah.. My sweethearts..
-I want the three of them to debut..ㅠㅠ


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Company - With more than 50 years of experience. Expormim is a company with great tradition in the production of furniture. With more than 50 years of experience, the company has consolidated in the market thanks to the ongoing process of modernization with special emphasis on the improved manufacturing processes, the selection of raw materials and a careful design of their products. Currently, EXPORMIM is present in more than 40 countries around the world. Over time, Expormim, constantly at the forefront, developed various product lines, adapting well to the tastes and trends of the markets, covering fully the needs of both homes (indoor) and gardens (outdoor) as well as the major hospitality facilities.
Our best secret - The hands of expert craftsmen. The wish to expand horizons and open new markets, as the company name implies, is still one of the main hallmarks of Expormim, which currently exports to over 40 countries on the five continents. Another main identity trait is the handcrafted work and the skilful weaving coming from expert hands. This is now part of its precious know-how and is present in pieces made of rattan as well as in the most sophisticated and cosmopolitan designs made of synthetic fibers. A particular skill in hand-weaving based on intuition and experience that gives expressiveness and emotional value to all of its collections.
Quality nº ES09/7447 - All EXPORMIM products meet strict quality and safety standards. EXPORMIM has a QUALITY SYSTEM according to rule ISO 9001:2008. A standard that aims to obtain customer satisfaction.


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May 22, 2017 - May 22, 2017
P A College of engineering celebrated its 17th Annual Day on 22 May 2017. Dr. G. Shreekumar Menon, Registrar, Yenepoya University was the chief guest of the program. In his address, Dr. Menon congratulated students for choosing engineering profession and said more importance must be given to research only then our country will prosper. He said there are plenty of avenues to improvise and innovate, we just require ourselves to be more creative and persistent towards achieving it.
Dr. Menon, distributed gold coins to all the department Best Outgoing students, academic toppers of the previous semesters VTU examination from various branches and MBA. More than 150 students where felicitated for their achievements in co curricular, extra-curricular, sports, association and club activities during the academic year 2016-17.
Dr. Abdul Sharief, Principal presented the annual report for the year 2016-17 and Mr. Abdulla Ibrahim , Executive Director of PAET congratulated students for their achievements . Dr. A J Antony, Dean Student Affairs, introduced the guest to the gathering, Prof. Surfraz Hasim J, Director Academics, welcomed and Dr. Ramis M K, Vice Principal, delivered the vote of thanks.
Mr. K M Haneef, Director Administration; Dr. Zahid Ansari,Dean Research; Dr. Beeran Moidin, Director MBA; and Head of various departments were present during the program.
Prof. Nabeel Ahemad, Co-curricular Activities Coordinator, read out the list of prize winners, Mr. Adil from final year Mechanical branch invoked the blessings of the almighty by Qirath, Mr. Abdul Ahad Shaikh from final year Mechanical dept and Ms. Akshatha from Pre final year Computer Science dept compeered the program.


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No question that Government gave Apple tax deal - Noonan
There is simply no question that the Irish authorities sought to give Apple any kind of special tax deal.
That is according to Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan who has stated that "detailed and comprehensive responses have been provided to the EU Commission demonstrating that the appropriate amount of Irish tax was charged in accordance with the relevant legislation, that no selective advantage was given and that there was no State aid".
Making his comments in a written Dáil response to Fianna Fáil's Michael McGrath, Minister Noonan said: "This a priority matter and Ireland has co-operated fully with the process to date and will continue to do so.
"I remain of the view that there was no breach of State aid rules in this case and that the legislative provisions were correctly applied," he said.
"In the event that the Commission forms the view that there was State aid, Ireland is entitled to challenge this decision in the European courts.
"As the Government have already indicated, we will take that course of action, if necessary, to continue to vigorously defend the Irish position."
In his written reply, Minister Noonan told Deputy McGrath that he would like to emphasise that the Commission has not made a final determination in the matter and there is no formal timeline for when the final decision will be made in the case.
Indo Business


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CLIENT: Sarah Luna, SATYA Transformational Coaching
Weight: 134 - 127 = 7 lb loss
Personal Discoveries:
- TURKEY: Impacts Weight
- GLUTEN: Increases Bloating, Decreases Skin Clarity
- SUGAR: Decrease Energy and Mental Clarity
- EGGS: Possibly Increase Irritability
"My experience with the Love Cleanse has been remarkable. Kim's support, guidance, and encouragement are offered with compassion, and laser like insight. Kim is clearly passionate about this process and it is contagious! Kim's consciously integrated process has transformed my relationship with food and has enhanced the experience of my physical, mental and emotional body.
I now have a clear sense of which foods works well for me and which ones have a negative impact on my well being. Additionally, I have learnt and adopted strategies for overcoming and managing cravings. In the second week of the cleanse, my energy soared to levels that I did not even know were possible – my habitual mid-afternoon slump disappeared and I found myself sleeping more deeply and feeling more rested when waking. I am now able to get up earlier in the morning and get going without needing a caffeine kick.
Along with energy surging, lowered weight and improved digestion, I have also gained insight into how food impacts my emotional and mental state. My emotional state has become more centered, mood swings are minimal and I experience lower levels of anxiety, and irritability. My mental focus and short term memory have sharpened dramatically due to my brain receiving appropriate and consistent nourishment.
The inherent and undeniable link between what we eat and who we are is compellingly clear to me thanks to this masterfully guided process. If you are ready to become more conscious with food, enjoy increased energy, mental alertness, balanced emotions and improve your overall experience of living in your body, I highly recommend working with Kim!"


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|Gannen Harst
| Vancha March (brother)
his two twin kids that are the children of Evanna
|Background Information
|Book Universe
|The Saga of Darren Shan
|First Book Appearance
|Hunters of the Dusk
Gannen Harst is Vancha's brother. Remained a Vampaneze when his brother was re-blooded and became a Vampire. Gannen becomes Steve Leonard's personal protector, encourages Steve to try the coffin of fire to see if he is the destined lord of the vampaneze and possibly even the one who blooded Steve. Gannen is by Steve's side wherever he goes. Gannen in the end grows tired of his insane Lord but still fights for him, even wounding his brother Vancha. After Steve's death he, along with Vancha, impregnates Evanna.
Vancha is no longer sure which of them (he and Gannen) is the older brother, but judging by Gannen's looks and complexion, it is likely that Gannen is the younger brother.
Appearance Edit
Gannen is said to have long hair that reaches down his back. Like most Vampaneze, he has purple skin, red eyes, hair, lips, and nails. However, it might be noted that in the Manga version, his hair seems to be shown to be a lot darker than the other Vampaneze like Murlough.
He has been said to have a rough, never faulting face. A poker face, if you dare say. He never smiles (unlike his brother) and always seems to have a calm expression. He is noticably buffer than his two allies - Morgan James, and Steve Leopard but still slimmer than the buff Vancha March.


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|Villa Sales
|Villa Rentals
|Media Centre
|Latest News
|Contact Us
|Partner Directory
Samui Beach Villa
Koh Samui is now Thailand's premiere location for beachside villas. The island attracts large amounts of global interest and thanks to its appealing coastal geography can also offer an impressive choice of exclusive beachside properties. Beach villas on Samui range from modest two bedroom bungalows to high-end residences catering to an elite international clientele in search of absolute privacy, luxury and bespoke services. The size and scope of some Samui beach villas means they also appeal to corporate clients for events and this is certainly an expanding market, with focus shifting from destinations such as Phuket or Pattaya.
Personalised services often include a full time private chef, as well as an onsite villa manager to deal with specific requests and recommend tours and activities. Most beach villas also boast a seafront infinity pool with fabulous views across azure seas to offshore islands. Many properties on Koh Samui combine traditional designs with cutting edge technology, offering guests the best of both worlds in an environment of exuberant natural luxury.
Award winning developer such as Dhevatara Properties have built high quality beach residences on Koh Samui, within gated communities. The villas within these developments benefit from added facilities such as a communal club house, 24-hour security and private parking for guests and visitors. The addition of such appealing, well managed properties means Koh Samui has the edge when it comes to secluded locations and personalised services. With so many properties available either on or close the beach, the island's reputation as the ultimate private beach retreat is growing year on year.
Dhevatara 101
Koh Samui Rental Villa | Koh Samui Pool Villas | Luxury Villas Thailand | Luxury Villas Koh Samui | Beach Villas Thailand
Samui Beach Villa | Koh Samui Villas | Koh Samui Rentals | Koh Samui Real Estate | Koh Samui Property | Koh Samui Real Estate Advice


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The ideal candidate will be a highly organized, efficient and autonomous individual with the capacity to navigate between various departments internally and externally. A problem solver with expertise in developing and maintaining relations with Government agencies and offices. He should be able to liaison with various departments and offices across UAE and build strong relationships. Person will help Jumbo in facilitation with various authorities that we engage with - the municipal authorities, economic department, police as well as other key federal and Dubai govt entities where Jumbo may pitch for business opportunity.
You will have responsibility for new initiatives and partnerships, while helping the organization to ensure that there is continuing improvement in how we operate. Through a mixture of internal expertise and external service providers, you will assist in providing the platform of processes and systems to produce our best performance, including:


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Admitted: Why you should disclose your mental illness in an unrelated emergencyCathy J. Rubel, PMHNP-BCCertified Nurse Practitioner
Mental illness causes more disability in developed countries than any other group of illnesses. In 2004, almost 25% of Americans reported having some type of mental illness (Reeves et al., 2011). Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, has a high rate of co-morbidity with other problems including, but not limited to, thyroid malfunction, migraines, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, substance abuse, and other mental illnesses (NIHM, 09-3679). Meaning you have a significant risk of being in the hospital for other reasons. While your nurses do very well with those illnesses, they probably haven't had much training in psychiatric nursing.
So, what do your nurses need to know to take the best care of you? Bipolar Disorder (BPD) is a medical illness, just as diabetes is. BPD is a recurrent mood disorder featuring episodes of mania or hypomania and depression and sometimes both polarities at the same time, called mixed episode (Antai-Otong, 2008). Between episodes, most people have relatively normal moods and activity. These periods may last years (NAMI, 2009). Disruptive behaviors are common in the manic phase of BPD and must be managed quickly and appropriately with a predictable plan for both the patient and the staff. As you know, when you are stressed, your mood may shift rapidly between elation and anger. Aggressive behaviors can quickly escalate. Few situations are more stressful than being in the hospital. Your aggressive behaviors can be directed toward yourself or toward others (Antai-Otong, 2008). Your nurses want, above all, to keep you safe.
Teach your nurses what to look for to help prevent you from becoming manic. Some common symptoms are an elated happy mood or irritable angry mood, increased energy and activity, racing thoughts, increased talkativeness and "pressured" speech, grandiose ideas, poor judgment, decreased sleep or need for sleep, and increased sexual interest and activity (NAMI, 2007). What are your particular symptoms? Tell your nurses what best helps you to reduce your anxiety and stress.
Let your nurses and doctors know what medications you use to control your illness. These medications can affect and be affected by the medications you are prescribed for your current illness, as well as by the illness itself. Some medications, such as lithium, can affect your thyroid function, which can enhance mood changes. Thyroid levels should therefore be monitored (Antai-Otong, 2008). Kidney function, liver function, fluid intake, and sodium balance can affect certain of your medications as well, so levels need to be monitored. (NAMI, 2007). These levels can also be affected by your current medical need.
Make sure your nurses know what time you usually take your medications. If your medication makes you very sleepy and you need to take it at night, make sure your nurse knows that. Most medications for bipolar disorder do not have withdrawal symptoms, but stopping them suddenly can increase the risk for mood relapse, particularly of mania, in the next few months, so this should be avoided (Huyse et al., 2006). Many of the medications used in the treatment of Bipolar Disorder don't have forms that can be given by a shot. If you are not allowed to eat or drink, ask first if your normal medications can still be allowed with a sip of water. If they cannot be given, make sure your nurse/doctor consults with your Psychiatrist or Psych/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and with the hospital pharmacist for alternatives. Remember that your nurse is likely not as familiar as you are with the special concerns of the medications you take to manage your Bipolar Disorder.
Medications given for breathing problems, such as steroids, can raise your feelings of anxiety and give you the "shakes" so that you feel your usual medications are not working properly. Other medications can make your usual medications less effective for you.
So let's pull it all together. Part of the admission assessment is asking if the patient has ever been diagnosed with a mental illness. Please be honest. They can't help you if they don't know. Tell your nurse how you manage it at home. You are always the best person to ask. Let your nurses know what they can do to help when you feel you are losing control. Help them work with you. Make sure they know not just what medications you take, but when and how, so that they can try to maintain your normal schedule. Make sure they have the correct information for your Psychiatrist or Psych/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. And sign a release of information so they can be contacted.
Your nurses are not trying to cause you a problem, they are usually just not familiar with your disorder. Remind them, you are a person first. You have Bipolar Disorder. You are not Bipolar Disorder, any more than the other patient is cancer. And both of you need to keep in mind:
"Anger comes from having an episode and being unable to control it. It is physiological, not emotional."---Cory Dobbelaere
"In any crisis, never respond to the symptom, respond to the heart---they are scared!" -Cory Dobbelaere, author, speaker, and person with Bipolar Disorder.
Reeves, W.C., Strine, T.W., Pratt, L.A., Thompson, W., Ahluwalia, I.,…Safran, M.A. (2011) Mental illness surveillance among adults in the United States. Morbidity and mortality weekly report. 60(03); 1-32. Atlanta, GA 30333: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Stang, P., Frank, C., Yood, M.U., Wells, K., and Burch, S. (2007). Impact of bipolar disorder: results from a screening study. Primary Care Companion Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2007; 9(1): 42-47.
Bipolar Disorder (Publication No. 09-03679) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute of Mental Health, 2009.
Antai-Otong, D. (2008). Psychiatric nursing: Biological and behavioral concepts. Clifton Park, NY: Thompson Delmar.
Understanding bipolar disorder: what you need to know about this medical illness. (2007) National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI): Arlington, VA.
Visit Harbor's YouTube channel to find out more about Harbor's services!
Summer Fun for SeniorsCarrie Dowling, OCPC, LCDCIII, CTTSAssistant Manager, Prevention Education


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I've liked to ebay auctions before. This is a nice little boat. The owner calls it a ship but it is really a 12 foot rowable sailboat with a sprit for the jib (that's the pole sticking out the front for the leading sail for landlubbers). I'd be interested myself if I didn't already have a bigger boat.
Monday, June 1, 2009
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Plasma Cutting Machine For Dual Purpose
Machine Features Programmable cutting arbitrary shape parts of line and arc . Dynamic and static graphic display ,easy to learn . Can convert CAD file in computer ,through USB flash drive transmits to machine to realize cutting all kinds' graphs and also can program and operate directly on the machine . Track and movement organizations adopt unique design , ensuring the working precision of machine . Can use flame cutting (gas cutting ) and plasma cutting . Interfaces in English or Chinese can be converted freely . Economical , Portable and easy to operate . Great working stability , Effective shield plasma high frequency interferenceChat Now
Product Details
" class="lightbox" title="Plasma Cutting Machine For Dual Purpose">Portable numerical control flame/plasma cutting machines can be programmed to cut any plane shape parts composed of beeline and arc ,which are same as large gantry cutting machines . It is equipped with a 5.7 inch LED with dynamic and static graphical display .It is directly perceived and very easy to learn .It can be programmed to cutting parts directly , and also can be operated in computer translating instructions into a program file by CAD program , and then deducing it via U hardware .The standard positioning of this machine is flame cutting ,external hanging plasma cutter is also workable
" style="max-width:730px;" alt="Plasma Cutting Machine For Dual Purpose" />Welcome to buy and wholesale customized and low price plasma cutting machine for dual purpose in stock from us, which is one of the best Portable CNC Cutting Machine manufacturers in China and also equipped with a productive factory.


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Q&A: Buying a new car? Don't take out personal loan to pay off card
Hard inquiries and new credit will ding your credit score, at least temporarily
Ask a question.
Dear Credit Guy,
I have excellent credit, I owe about $11,000 in credit card debt, and I want to buy a new car. I want to pay off my credit card debt, I think with a personal loan. Is it better to get the personal loan to pay off my credit card debt before or after I purchase a new car? Thank you! – Celeste
Dear Celeste,
Congratulations on your excellent credit score. Knowing what might affect your score is probably one of the reasons you have achieved that mark, so you also deserve extra kudos for being proactive when it comes to actions that affect that score.
One of those actions that can, at least temporarily, bring your score down is taking on a new loan. Even though what you are doing is basically trading one debt for another by getting a personal loan to pay off your credit card debt, your credit score will be slower to recognize that. Instead, your score will take a hit for both a hard inquiry and a new account.
Even though your plan is to immediately pay off that credit card debt as soon as you receive the funds from the personal loan, those actions will take longer than taking on the new loan to show up in your reports and on your subsequent score.
It is true that in the long run these actions will probably cancel each other out, and your score will likely revert to where it was. In fact, once you have used the loan to pay off your credit card debt, you might find your score has increased a bit. But this takes time, probably several months at least.
The real question is how soon you are planning to buy a new car. It sounds as if this is something you want to do in the near future. If that is the case, you should hold off on the personal loan until you have secured your financing for the new car.
Keep paid-off credit cards open
One word of caution regarding those credit card accounts: Once the accounts are paid off, you should not close the accounts, unless they have prohibitive annual fees. Closing accounts will negatively affect your score for several reasons.
- You have an excellent credit score, which implies that you have been responsible with your credit card accounts by paying them on time and keeping them well below your credit limits.
- In addition to your payment history, the actual age of your accounts is important in the credit scoring model. You will lose those pieces if you close the accounts.
I would suggest you continue to use the credit cards in a way that will benefit you. Use your cards to pay for expenses that you already planned for, and which you can pay for in full each month. Groceries and gas are two expenses that work well with this tactic.
Using your cards in this way will keep your accounts active, and you will never pay another cent in interest because you will pay off the accounts each month. Both are good for your credit score and for your overall financial health.
Take care of your credit!
See related: Using personal loans to pay off credit cards, The hard and fast rules of hard inquiries
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Trump threatens tax on countries that exploit US trade
Washington – President Donald Trump says he's planning to announce a "reciprocal tax" on countries that take advantage of the United States on trade, with more details to be released later this week.
Trump is noting his plans for the so-called tax in a meeting with state and local leaders. He says they'll be hearing about it during the week and the coming months.
Trump is also addressing the ongoing negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement and says he's hopeful it will be successful.
The president is complaining that Canada doesn't treat the U.S. well.
Trump says the U.S. can no longer continue to be taken advantage by foreign countries. Trump is blaming "laziness" for trade deals he thinks are bad for America.
© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text: Fifteen years ago the company launched its Colorations® brand of arts and crafts products with just a handful of SKUs and today that initial offering has climbed to over 2000 products. All Colorations® products meet or exceed all U.S. ASTM safety standards and many meet or exceed European EN71 safety standards. Colorations® products have become widely recognized in the U.S. educational and consumer market as the "Brand Teacher's Choose." Many of these products include teacher activity guides to help guide teachers to get the best use out of the products.


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Bread for a hungry lawyer is a good thing. Bread for everybody is better. Can't do without bread especially crackling bread (crackl'n bread) and corn bread both culinary staples of the 'Deep South' (the South). I hanker for cornbread just like I do frozen Margaritas! Nobody makes frozen Margaritas in Australia like they do in the South in America.
I don't miss the iced tea though and, yes, I tried them all. Tea with ice, lots of it, a little of it, in big cups and little cups, tall glasses, short glasses, sweetened and unsweetened, sweet mint julep tea, citrus sweet, tea with squeezed lemons. You name it I tried it!
As you see above Southern cornbread is generally done in a cast iron skillet. That's how I cooked it in the USA all those years. I always got the crusty edge that way.
I still prefer using cast iron pots and pans for cooking. I gotta say my cornbread-making became a fine art. I knew exactly how much oil to add to the pan and exactly how hot to get it in the skillet before pouring in the savoury cornmeal batter to get the crusty crust on the cooked bread just right. Yum, yum! Gotta have that crust! I sometimes added chili for a spicy cornbread or bacon pieces for crackling cornbread. I also fancy plain cornbread when cold and spread with butter. The hot cornbread is often eaten with pinto beans and fried okra and was a staple where I was. Yummy too.
My mother-in-law, a true Southerner raised in Alabama on down-home Southern food not unlike that depicted in Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (Mockingbird), made pinto beans like nobody's business not to mention pecan pie. Oh, god, that pecan pie!
Indeed my mother-in-law "tawked suthern". A woman of substance with a true Southern drawl, drawing out vowels often making one syllable words into two. Like melody to my ears without words 'cos I couldn't understand a word she was saying when I first arrived in the South. I needed a translater (usually my partner). After a while I got used to her drawl – to a point.
"Shoot" she'd say, "Aah've bin wait'n for ya'll. Aah don't know nuth'n an ah caint tolk lak ya'll but aah sure as can cook a mean pot o' them ol' beans, frar up some okra in bree-ad crumbs 'n make a dang ol' pot of bre-ad. Git over here ya'll and trah some!"
It was like a foreign language speaking to some folk in the South. For a while, the uttering of words and phrases in Southern meant having to suddenly re-program my listening skills to figure out what was being said. Ultimately, I got used to the Southern accents and had no problems with communication, all except the back country twangs.
There is something restful and relaxing about the slow and friendly Southern drawl. But, hey, it wasn't only the accent of the South. I was dealing with Southern colloqialisms, terms, sayings and jokes!
And don't get me started on other habits like chew'n baccy and spitt'n it! Best I save my experiences of truck driv'n tobacco chewin rednecks for another day.
All I say is that when you are a fresh faced Aussie girl just arrived in the deep South and you are confronted by a redneck dressed in, say, camouflage or camo, with a Confederate flag in his truck, a gun rack of guns in his truck, a sticker that says "pussy" on his truck and is look'n down at you as he spits tobacco at your feet, you freeze as you try not to cry while figuring out what to do next! But, wait, these interesting facts and stories I save for another day. I see I've digressed.
But never mind the spoken word. My mother in law's pinto beans were the best. Souped up at first, thickened later and often cooked with bacon pieces. Delicious. And she loved fried chicken! I first touched on my experiences with Southern cuisine here.
And so, on the topic of food and writing I thought I might take a light hearted culinary journey of sorts, you know, take a peek at food depicted in certain writings on law and literature. It could be law in literature and/or law as literature. It maybe be in fiction. It maybe in fact, in historiography. It maybe the food of the time the book or document was written.
So I'm looking at the gastronomy depicted in the American classic 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a novel we all know, set in Alabama. Trust me, it is not hard to find Recipes for Food in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Here are some Recipes inspired by To Kill a Mockingbird and here and here.
Why start with this book? As some of you know by now, in the early 80s I fell in love with a Southern American gentleman, a true blue native of Hunstville, Alabama, born and bred there. I relocated from Australia to the USA. Yep, packed my bags and there I was, an Aussie ex-pat in the deep, deep heart of the old South.
I immersed myself in that distinct Southern culture with all the love and enthusiasm I could muster. There I was living and working in the heart of Civil War country, Confederate country, mainly Cherokee country around there. My mother in law (RIP) was Cherokee.
The South is the home of confederate gastronomy and the food it spawned, where antebellum plantation life, built on slavery, once thrived and a place that spawned the birth of the modern Civil Rights movement. Loved every minute of it! I first spoke about my experience with Southern gastronomy here (same link as above).
I completed my Australian Law degree at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. This was the College campus at the centre of the Civil Rights movement starting in 1963 when Governor George Wallace (a lawyer and circuit judge before he became Alabama Governor) stood in the school house door to block the entry of 2 black sudents following the US Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v Board of Education that segregation was unconstitutional.
At his 1963 inaugural address Wallace, an ardent segregationaist, boasted about his anti desegregation stance, "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever"
Trust me, becoming acculturated to the South was never dull! While some of the funniest moments were the frequent mishaps and misunderstandings that occurred when the Southern drawl met my Australian accent, my journey through the culinary delights of the South, the Southern cuisine, was never dull, always interesting, fun and sometimes challenging.
We all know that Atticus Finch was a lawyer representing a black man charged with raping a white woman before an all white jury. The novel is set during the unrest of the Great Depression when poverty and unemployment were widespread.
While Mockingbird is a serious book about law and social justice and the ethics of the criminal defence lawyer representing the unpopular client, its insight into the food of the time can't be ignored. Food played a big part. It is truly a book about time, place and people.
All home cooked meals in Mockingbird. No restaurant food. It was the Depression. The setting of the book helps explain:
… For parts of the deep South like Maycomb County, the Depression meant only that the bad times that had been going on for decades got a little bit worse. These rural areas had long been poor and undeveloped….
Scout's family, the Finches, belong to the elite of local society. Atticus Finch is an educated man who goes to work in a clean shirt. The family owns a nice house and can afford to hire a black housekeeper. Still, the Finches are well-off only in comparison with the farm families who live in the same county. They, too, have little money.
…. none of the characters in this story takes much interest in the world beyond Maycomb County…..
And they almost never eat a meal in a restaurant, even a cheap restaurant. When Dill eats in a diner, this is enough to make him a minor celebrity in Scout's eyes.
Anyway, I'm not going to re-invent the wheel on the topic of food in Mockingbird as it has been well covered, a few links I share here just to get you started.
Saluting the Culinary insight of To Kill a Mockingbirdo Kill a Mockingbird
Here is 'The Recipe link' for a List of Foods mentioned in To Kill A Mockingbird
Squirrel (!)
Chocolate malted mice
Bread and butter with sugar
Hickory nuts
Turnip greens
Crackling bread
Chewing gum
Ice cream
Cocoa / hot chocolate
Lane cake
Three kinds of meat (at one meal)
Summer vegetables
Peach pickles
Hot biscuit and butter
Pork and beans
Lemon drops
Cherry wine
Biscuit and syrup
Cold chicken
Cold fried pork chops
Potato salad
How about some Lane Cake, the cake written about by Harper Lee and that made Maycomb famous.
"Soon as I can get my hands clean and when Stephanie Crawford's not looking, I'll make him a Lane Cake. That Stephanie's been after my recipe for thirty years, and if she thinks I'll give it to her just because I'm staying with her she's got another think coming."
Miss Maudie in Mockingbird
Miss Maudie's Recipe for Lane Cake
"Miss Maudie Atkinson baked a Lane cake so loaded with shinny it made me tight."
Scout Finch
Lane Cake is allegdly a symbol of the South. While a boozy, old-school cake is now Alabama's official state dessert I can't say I had had heard that. The booze, by the way, the "shinny" (per Scout) is whisky (Bourbon).
What about Southern Tea Cakes, Lemonade, Biscuit and Butter (the Southern biscuit is like our scones), Charlotte Ruse, Fried Chicken, Ambrosia salad, Collard greens, Iced tea, Chitlins, Pinto Beans, Black beans, Field Peas …
To Kill a Mockingbird: Southern Food Feast
What about Dinner and a Movie – To Kill a Mockingbird?
Our videographer Elena Parker — a serious food and film buff — is really good at throwing movie-themed dinner parties. She and her friends cook together, serve up, and eat while they watch.
We've asked her to share the menus for her favorite films with us — here's the latest installment: American classic To Kill a Mockingbird.
Super Simple Glazed Ham by Kayb
Himalayan Blackberry Pie by lapadia
So what about it? Should I become Calpurnia and conjure up a dinner party here using down home Southern food as depicted in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'? Yes, I say. Things like potato salad and ham? The open-faced sandwich of bread and butter and sugar? Crackle bread? Fried Chicken and Rolls? Pinto Beans? Fried Okra and Cornbread? Blackberry Pie? Lane Cake? The list goes on …. and don't forget the white lightning (moonshine)!


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DESMI has joined forces with leading players and developed a superior in all aspects Ballast Water Treatment System: DESMI Ocean Guard.
Ships have various demands for ballast operation. Therefore, DESMI Ocean Guard has developed two solutions:
A typical way of filling the ballast water tanks is to open the various valves and let the sea water flow into the tanks (gravity filling). When the ballast tanks are almost filled, the ballast pumps are put into operation until ballast water flows from the valves on the air-head pipes on open deck. This means that the tanks are filled and that there are no free-moving surfaces that can affect the stability of the vessel.
Gravity filling is possible with DESMI Ocean Guard when using a non-pressurized filter. As such a non pressurized filter takes up more space than a pressurized filter. This solution is mainly intended to be used in new-buildings.


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BEACH CLEAN: The Tide Mills Community Beach Clean is fro 10am to noon on Sunday.
Meet at the beach end of Mill Drove (off the A259).
Come along, grab a bag and litter picker, and help clean up this important area for visitors and the local wildlife.
THANK YOU: The Parish Hall Committee would like to thank everyone for their hard work on Saturday, May 5 and helping to make the May Fair such a successful event.
The total raised so far (with some monies still to come) is a record-breaking £3,022.17.
RECYCLING: If you have any old and unwanted cards left, please bring them to St Andrew's Church.
They will then be passed on to somebody who recycles them into new ones.
FREE HORSE MANURE: Is available on west (Newhaven) side of Bishopstone Road between Bishopstone Estate and Bishopstone Pond.
Help yourself, but please return or replace the bags.


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Hunting for letters is perfect for acquiring and reinforcing early literacy skills; the rapidly-growing minds of toddlers, preschoolers, and even kindergarten-aged children can all benefit from it.
I designed the activity, Hide and Seek Letters, for children ages 2-5.
This activity combines the goal of learning both uppercase and lowercase letter identification with the fun of playing Hide and Seek.
It takes a bit of preparation but much of that can be done alongside your child if you wish. My son just turned three and he absolutely loves playing this game.
1 piece of large paper (11×17 works well)
1 piece colored paper
Glue stick
A marker
Magazines for cutting
Masking tape
1. Pick a letter to use throughout the activity. (The first letter of your child's name is a good place to start. I let my son choose and he picked the letter T because it starts the word 'truck'.)
2. Go through magazines and cut out 5-10 uppercase letters and similar number of lowercase of the same letter. If you are short on old magazines or time, you can simply write the letters and cut them out. The benefit to using magazines allows your child to get acquainted with many different kinds of font, which they will encounter when reading.
3. Use the glue stick to attach the letters to the colored paper and cut around them. This makes them more sturdy and visible.
4. Divide your piece of large paper into two sections. Label one side with the uppercase letter and label the other side with the lowercase letter. Draw boxes around each of the letters corresponding to the number of each letter that you cut earlier. It's important to draw these boxes so that during the hunt for the letters, your child will know how many they have found and how many they still need to look for. Attaching the letters to the boxes will also give them a sense of accomplishment while reinforcing the concept of distinguishing between uppercase and lowercase letters.
5. Attach a loop of masking tape to the backside of each letter.
The Activity
6. While your child waits (and perhaps counts), go around your house "hiding" the letters by sticking them to objects and walls. If your child is too young or impatient, it might be a good idea to make this step part of your preparation and start involving them with step 6.
7. The fun part- finding the letters! Once all the letters have been hidden, walk with your child around the house looking for the missing letters. When your child finds a letter, they remove it from the wall and stick it to the appropriate side of the large paper in one of the boxes. The completed activity can be displayed, or you can reuse the materials to play Hide and Seek Letters all over again!


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Lori Gobillot has over 25 years of leadership experience in the aviation and real estate industries. Her diverse business and legal career includes significant accomplishments related to mergers and acquisitions, complex project management, corporate governance, executive compensation design and disclosure, enterprise risk management, and real estate planning and operations.
Prior to founding InVista Advisors, Lori served as Vice President, Integration Management at United Airlines where she led the company's merger integration planning and implementation efforts following the Continental - United merger. Previously, Lori was Assistant General Counsel at Continental Airlines. In this role, she managed the operations of the Legal Department and took a lead role in numerous capital market transactions. Prior to joining Continental Airlines, she had roles as an attorney with Vinson & Elkins LLP and in real estate with Trammell Crow Company and Senterra Development.
Lori currently serves on the Board of Directors of Bristow Group, Magellan Midstream Partners, Republic Airways and nonprofit Agape Development.
Jennifer Vogel is a highly successful corporate executive with over 25 years of leadership experience in the airline and energy industries and board service. Jennifer served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer of Continental Airlines, Inc., the 5th largest airline in the world and a Fortune 200 company. Jennifer served on Continental's Management Committee and its Diversity Council and chaired its Ethics and Compliance Committee.
Jennifer was named worldwide "General Counsel of the Year" at the 2010 global counsel awards. She is the first woman to ever receive this honor. She was recognized in 2010 and 2008 as one of the "Most Powerful and Influential Women in Texas" by the Texas Diversity Council and Texas Diversity Magazine, and honored with a 2010 Transformative Leadership Award by Inside Counsel magazine.
Jennifer serves on the board of AAR Corp., including its Executive, Compensation, and Corporate Governance committees, and St. John's School in Houston, Texas. She formerly served on the boards of Virgin America, Clearwire Corporation, and American Science & Engineering, Inc.
Carson Trapnell Seeligson is a seasoned legal specialist with extensive experience in tort and commercial litigation and risk management. Carson also has broad experience working with federal regulators in response to regulatory investigations and litigation.
She began her career at Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP where she had an active trial practice. She then joined Continental Airlines, Inc. where she managed the company's passenger based claims, litigation and regulatory matters, domestically and internationally, for over ten years. Carson is recognized for developing successful and industry leading claims and litigation management programs and processes, resulting in material reductions in claims and active litigation.
Since becoming an independent consultant, Carson has handled matters such as the defense of Continental Airlines in the highly politicized and publicized trial in French criminal court over the crash of the Concorde aircraft, culminating in an acquittal on appeal. She has been a guest speaker in industry forums and appeared on Dateline NBC in connection with the Concorde case.
Carson serves on numerous community and charitable boards in Houston, Texas.
InVista enhances its own expertise and skills through our relationship with The Claro Group, a financial advisory and management consulting firm. Together, we offer access to Claro's strengths,
in data analytics, risk management and technology to offer seamless cross-functional litigation and claims management solutions.


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Wednesday, December 23, 2015
In Defense of "Christian" Civilization
But I would like to answer some of Andy's points on the relationship between Christianity and the western record. This begins by delving into politics, on which of course Christians have different opinions: as a conservative, I'll freely share my own. Then we get more specifically into the Christian record in reform.
On that same site for politics, I have an article called "Extreme Political Or Religious Views Create Dysfunctional Societies". Since the early 2000s, I've researched the social effects of various philosophies and religions and found that the data generally revealed more and more problems as the perspectives pushed further away from moderation. . . .In dozens of studies that I looked at over the years from academia and government sources, I discovered repeatedly that among Western nations and individual states within the U.S., those which are the most conservative and religious are the most violent and plagued with far greater social problems in categories like overall crime, infant mortality, environmental abuse, teen pregnancy, incarceration, economic mobility, life expectancy, poor educational systems, murder, paid vacation and holiday pay, healthcare efficiency, average worker to CEO pay ratio, guaranteed paid maternity leave, obesity, income inequality and minimal worker's benefits. For example, on the Quality of Life Index for 2010, the United States - the most religious and conservative country in the developed world - ranked 33rd overall, 39th in health, 24th in education, 17th in wealth, 15th in democracy, 77th in peace, 38th in environment.
I would have to look at these stats for myself to know what to make of them. For instance, having lived in several Asian countries, including wealthy Japan and Taiwan, I would say that America is an environmental paradise compared to most of Asia. (Or even Europe.) So I would have to see by exactly what metric the US ranks so low.
Nor am I sure what the word "conservative" means here. The US now has among the western world's most "liberal" abortion laws. The state gobbles up an enormous percent of the GNP, taxes are high, debt is extremely high, government is extremely proactive and bossy.
What about "far greater social problems" in the US compared to, say, Sweden? I answer that question here. I show that such comparisons are generally based on very simplistic models, and fail to take into account dozens of important factors.
One of those factors is the relationship of cause and effect. Jesus himself predicted that when life becomes easy, "the rich" (who find it so hard to enter the Kingdom of God) will slack off spiritually, lose their faith, defect from God. That hypothesis explains the data quite well, I think. When societies prosper, often because of Christian influence (as I have argued in many places), when there is little danger and good social well-being, then faith begins to slacken.
The negative impact of that slackening of faith may not occur instantaneously, as you seem to anticipate -- but more on that later.
Also, what does "77th in peace" mean? As the most powerful country in the world, the US has been responsible for keeping the peace for the past century, more than any other nation. Which means America had to help defeat Germany in World War I, the Nazis and Japanese in World War II, the Communists in Korea (unfortunately we failed in Southeast Asia, but kept Thailand free), and resist Soviet aggression, then the aggression of Iran, Iraq, the Taliban, and other expansionist Islamic powers.
I'd say America's many contributions in those areas, not to mention the Marshall Plan, aiding the recovery and pacification of Japan, the freedom of South Korea and Taiwan, and so on, make the US far and away Number One in "Peace" over the past century. And I would say that Christian sentiment has been important in all those beneficial campaigns. As well as, yes, "conservative" sentiment. Give us a serious Christian president, for instance, and I don't think you'll see the US government knuckling under to the theocrats and homicidal despots of Iran so readily.
I believe that extreme liberal viewpoints would develop equally disturbing problems in other forms. But America is far from liberal when compared to the history of economics, political science and the international community today. In fact, though far-left groups were very influential in the 20th century, their attraction has largely shrunk.
I disagree there. Government has continued to grow in power. That power, I believe, and the Founding Fathers thought so too, represents a profound danger to American freedom. The more power unelected officials have, the less power ordinary citizens retain. And government power is inherently identified with the Left and with "socialism," however the term is defined. Conservatives have opposed this trend, though not very successfully yet. I see that as a noble enterprise, even if government tyranny continues to grow despite it. (And I use the word "tyranny" here advisedly, having witnessed how it affects people in their daily lives.)
As I note on my post:
"Several generations of mainstream Americans have considered socialism inherently destined to fail in any context, yet today every nation in the world maintains in widely varying degrees an economic system of integrated socialism and capitalism.
This is true. But conservatives do not generally believe that all government power is wrong, just excessive government power.
This includes the five remaining communist countries originally and deeply influenced by Russia, a society that has made many adjustments in recent decades so capitalism might continue to grow: Vietnam, China, Laos, Cuba and North Korea. The fact that America and Britain (often the most conservative and religious European country) rank so poorly regarding social ills ought to inspire self-reflection in the face of the empty American proverbs proclaiming that socialism and secularism are automatic and regular destroyers of human quality of life."
Britain is not really that religious. I remember hearing from a girl at a Bible study in Oxford who said she didn't know a single fellow Christian in an office of 60 or 70 in London. That reflects the reality. Whatever is ailing Britain, it isn't the remains of Christianity there.
But I don't say secularism is an "automatic and regular destroyer of human quality of life," anyway. See my debate with Phil Zuckerman on this site. I see the relationship as more nuanced. And even Zuckerman appeared to sort of admit that (a) Christianity built up in Scandinavia what "secularism" is often credited for. (As his secular informants in Denmark and Sweden often spontaneously pointed out.) (b) Secular failure to have children does endanger Scandinavia's future. In addition, I have heard that Scandinavia has backed away from some of its more statist policies in recent years. One might add that leftist failure to appreciate the uniqueness of western culture, inspired by Christianity, is one of the dangers for Western Europe today -- a million mostly Muslim outsiders immigrated to Western Europe just this past year. Surely most people recognize the danger of that by now?
But read my article on "Does God Up the Murder Rate?" linked a dozen paragraphs or so up. It will put much of this into context for you, I think.
My point here is that extreme conservatism is more of a threat in Western, if not global, society today. I think that a dynamic combination of capitalism and socialism is the best way to go.
I don't know what you mean by "extreme conservatism," so I can't comment on that usefully.
I said in one of my earlier posts that I don't challenge the many reforms of Christian history that David Bentley Hart describes in his book. I'm arguing that those reforms were small in comparison to the monumental changes that began to occur in the 1700s.
I don't know which book you're thinking of: I've written a few of my own on related topics, including How Jesus Passes the Outsider Test, and would prefer to defend my own positions, which do not derive from Hart. I'm an historian: Hart is, I believe, a philosopher.
Stark argues that almost all of the great founders of science before and shortly after the 1700s were pious Christians. They brought about "monumental changes," for sure.
Conservative Christians, to a large degree, opposed these reforms. You can point to exceptions like Wilberforce, a voice of a minority viewpoint (that gradually became more mainstream), but he was extremely resisted.
He was resisted by people with a stake in the slave trade. He was supported by evangelical Christians in huge numbers. That, I think, is generally accepted by historians. Stark tells this story in For the Glory of God, but I've also heard it at a seminar with dozens of historians in Merton College in Oxford, for example. No one denied what for them seemed to be an evident and generally-accepted fact: that evangelical Christianity was the core of the anti-slave movement, and that huge numbers of Christians were involved.
You remarked that it "was the Enlightenment that borrowed from Christianity" and I don't disagree, except that I would add the Greco-Roman traditions as influences. Any new movement has to draw on its own culture for material, whether outside sources are included or not, because one cannot invent a system out of nothing.
Fair enough.
The issue is whether humanism took society further in a better direction than Christianity was able to. Did the Enlightenment ideas push forward an improved quality of life for more people? I think that the factually based answer is yes. If you look at the charts from Pinker's book and elsewhere that are on my blog post about declining violence, it's clear to see that the change in humanitarian behavior and values is radical, beginning about 300 years ago.
No, it began much sooner. According to this graph, for instance, from the late 15th Century to the early 16th Century, murder in Stockholm more than halved. And the Enlightenment hadn't really begun 300 years ago, in any case, not the one with Voltaire & Rouseau & Hume & Co. You can't credit the influence of Hobbes for all that, surely.
Christianity didn't pull off anything close to that. Christianity borrowed from it's ancestors and neighbors and progressed. Humanism and secularism have done the same but much faster and more comprehensively.
But you can't credit that to "humanism," if you mean secular humanism. First, you have to go back to the Vikings, who pillaged, raped, burned, and murdered at whim. Then they "Christianized" in a political sense, which stopped some of that. But still most people were illiterate, and as Stark shows in "Secularization, RIP," few Europeans even went to church. in the Middle Ages. Then the Reformation reformed them some more. (Look at the graph!) Now people were beginning to read the Bible. Then pietism took over, and reformers like Hans Hague in Norway. By the mid-19th Century we find murder rates lower than they are even today -- this is while biblical influence was probably near its height in Scandinavia. You can't credit "humanism" for that.
Neither would I be so simple as to credit Christianity entirely. No doubt the causes were complex. But biblical teachings were certainly part of the mix -- as even Zuckerman quotes even Scandinavian atheists as insisting. (And the historians who wrote the Cambridge History of Scandinavia also point out.)
In our country, many, if not most, conservative Christians have been on the wrong side of history many times. Here are some of them, as provided by Amanda Marcotte, writing for Salon: women's sufferage, evolution, pain relief for childbirth, segregation, animosity toward Roman Catholics, prohibition, slavery, mandating school prayer and contraception. To that I'll add - sex education.
And I thought Roman Catholics were Christians. Nowadays the people most hostile towards them seem to be atheists like Richard Dawkins.
I don't deny, however, that Christians have squabbled far, far too much throughout history - as has just about every other group. I think one of the root causes of that squabbling was a concept of political monopoly that derived from the Roman Empire, as adopted too uncritically into the Christian template in the 4th and 5th Centuries. Maybe we agree about that.
Some of these issues I know nothing about. Who exactly opposed pain relief for childbirth? I've certainly never met anyone who held that view. I have met numerous Christian doctors who worked fervently to reduce unnecessary suffering.
I have suggested on this site that Christianity was the driving force behind the amelioration and ultimately abolition of slavery. From which it would not follow that all Christians agreed. Slavery was profitable, and profit is a thing that attracts ideological justifications like a lamp attracts moths.
This is a whole bag of assertions, in other words, that would require definitions, sociological data, survey data, study of effects, on each one, to risk any sort of generalization and credit or blame to the Christian church.
But no one denies that with billions of followers over two millennia, there have been many fools, cads, and scoundrels within the Church, often within leadership positions. And even the saints all, each and every one, had blind spots. Again, I think the New Testament teaches us to expect that: Peter denied the Lord, the disciples wanted to napalm a Palestinian village, Judas was a traitor. And those are the twelve disciples Jesus personally picked out. So how would a similar phenomena in later Christian history show that the biblical view is unrealistic?
I don't know how you can have such a positive view of orthodox Christianity regarding slavery. To say that Christians opposed slavery when it's overwhelmingly clear that a lot, if not most, of American (Northern and Southern) and British Christians did support slavery in the 1600s to late 1700s or early 1800s and when both positions can be easily argued from the Bible - this doesn't clarify things.
In the ancient world, slavery wasn't even an issue. Polybius blames the Gauls or Thracians for attacking Byzantine in an unkind manner: the city, he notes, was a leading market for slaves from the Black Sea, such a nice little community it was. It doesn't even strike his mind, for all the moralizing that he engages in, that there was something unnice about that particular trade.
So again, I don't contend that all Christians opposed slavery. I contend that Christian theology does seem to have stopped it, and more than once.
Theologian Thomas Aquinas tried to defend certain forms of slavery while the Catholic Church as a whole has a long history of supporting this tradition and even owning slaves.
Like I discussed before, Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield owned slaves, the latter being very instrumental in relegalizing slavery in Georgia during the early 1700s.
I see that you are correct about Whitefield: he preached treating slaves kindly, which of course did not always happen, and advocated slavery to encourage development of Georgia and to fund an orphanage. Horrid ideas.
John Wesley and Charles Finney, two equally-powerful preachers, were instrumental in ending it.
But the question should be, why was this an issue?
Why, for instance, did slavery even need to be "relegalized" in Georgia, if Christian tradition was as accepting of it as you imply?
It is hard for me to understand how anyone can read the New Testament, with all it says about loving neighbors, forgiving enemies, and turning the other cheek, and justify the forcible confinement of innocent men, women, and children by the threat of violence, to do your work for you. I think ultimately Christianity did ameliorate and then end slavery. That the process was often so tortuous, shows us how self-indulgent and self-deluded people can be, when it comes to preserving self-interest. That's a good but difficult lesson to learn.
But I am not sure "slavery" per se need, in every situation, be an absolute evil.
Consider, for example, prisoners. They are kept locked up, sometimes in solitary confinement. If they were made to work for a period of years, maybe even earning a trade, even for zero pay, wouldn't that in many cases be more humane and useful to them, than to stew away in prison?
In the ancient world, when you fought a war and took thousands of captives, your options were limited. You couldn't lock them all up and feed them. You might kill them, which often happened. You might release them, then they might return to the battlefield in a few weeks and pillage your society. You might maim them. Or you could put them to work -- which was probably the most common solution, except when peace treaties were signed stipulating repatriation.
The abolition of slavery only became a moral imperative, one might argue, when society gained enough wealth, and peace, so that captives could be safely repatriated, or kept confined and fed without starving the local population to do so. What Christianity did in the early centuries, therefore, was to forbid enslaving and trading in slaves -- as Mohammed himself would do -- and to ameliorate the conditions of slaves. But slavery was, as I show, almost completely ended in large parts of Europe already in the early Middle Ages -- until the lust for gold overpowered moral restraints after the Voyages of Discovery.
12 comments:
- Stephen Parrish said...
There has long been the accusation that Christians originally opposed giving anesthesia to women in childbirth because it supposedly contradicts Genesis 3:16. For a rebuttal, see Philip J. Sampson's "6 Modern Myths," p. 116.
- January 3, 2016 at 3:23 PM
Hi David,
I looked back over our conversation from more than a year ago. There are many things to say in response and here are five for now on slavery:
1. The disappearance of slavery in Europe by the late Middle Ages was a great change. But, the moral progress this might represent is undercut by the prevalence of serfdom, an inhumane practice that could be described as "slavery-lite".
2. Your comments about the economic necessity of slavery doesn't explain why the Bible and Church history offer almost no fundamental moral outrage over the practice. Plus, it's hard to imagine that God and Christians couldn't come with an economic system without slavery, even if that meant less leisure for the privileged classes.
3. Slavery was illegal in Georgia in the early 1770s because of legal technicality, not because of any humanitarian impulse. Given that owning people is one of the worst possible sins, it's very hard to defend Western Christianity of the early modern period. There was no anti-slavery movement before 1776. Some Quakers expressed disdain about slavery before the time of the American Revolution, but they were a minority and often could be described as liberal or humanistic Christians. The overwhelming majority of Christendom was unbothered by slavery and could easily justify from the Bible.
4. The book of Exodus included instructions from God explaining that permanent slavery of non-Jews was approved, while Jewish indentured servants could be released after seven years. (See this site for reference: http://bit.ly/2i0Ds2Q)
- April 13, 2017 at 10:53 PM
5. Your claim that the Enlightenment borrowed from Christianity is partly true. American conservatives tend to credit the early documents of our nation to two sources: colonial leaders and Christianity. Those are major elements in the emergence of our ideals and core legal writings. However, without a hearty recognition of the other large points of origin for this historical transformation in political philosophy and government, we are left with a very truncated version of history. Additional primary influences were ancient Greece and Rome; political, scientific and philosophical developments in medieval and Renaissance Europe; the 17th century Age of Reason; and the 18th century Enlightenment. The constant refrain from conservatives that the Founders were Christians becomes much less significant when we keep in mind that almost all citizens at that time identified as believers.
The narrative among traditionalists is frequently so lofty that it seems as if they might believe (bit.ly/2nV31Sl) God himself gave the Constitution and Declaration of Independence to early American leaders and therefore the 'original intent' (bit.ly/2orkupl) of these writings is especially vital. This is in direct contradiction to the Enlightenment principles that birthed (bit.ly/2pipBW5) the documents and more humanistic American and European mindsets (bit.ly/2fnFcjm) developing in that time period. The thinkers in the Age of Reason and Enlightenment, while taking new intellectual and cultural risks that were audacious and many times dangerous, sifted (amzn.to/2nYfiGf) through the ideas and histories of Europe in addition to the teachings of Judeo-Christianity. Then they innovated. In that same general spirit, the Founders possessed a considerable flexibility in approach to political arrangements. Most of them thought that the divine right of kings should be abandoned, but its replacement had to be invented. During the century and a half before the American Revolution, philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke and Voltaire had forged paths of inquiry and ethics that generally depended on humanism and empirical analysis to determine which of the Old World viewpoints to keep, adapt, evolve or discard. They worked through the previous teachings and musings by individuals like Aristotle, Cicero, Jesus, Plato and Moses. For example, about one hundred years before the Apostle Paul wrote his first New Testament letter, Roman philosopher Cicero articulated (bit.ly/2on7fWr) sophisticated perspectives toward natural law, human equality, property rights and state political power based on consent of the governed. Issues of natural rights and a social contract were of central concern around the time of the American Revolution. The colonists were adamant that the British crown had repeatedly violated these basic parts of human dignity and civic life. Thus, revolt was morally imperative.
- April 13, 2017 at 10:56 PM
Though respected leaders like Franklin and Jefferson acknowledged the inhumanity of owning other people, they did not make great strides to end the practice. Very few Americans of that era sought to do things like give women the right to vote, eliminate judicial torture or provide anything the most basic protection for workers that we expect today. A common theory over the generations has been that more drastic punishments necessarily reduce criminal behavior, but modern life has proven the opposite (bit.ly/2lOvc5Y) is true. It was a much more brutal time in human history. Consider that in 18th century England more than 200 crimes merited (dailym.ai/1zl2V6u) the death penalty as the official legal punishment. Included among these offenses were stealing from a rabbit warren, being in the company of gypsies for a month and strong evidence of malice in children seven to 14 years old. In the rare case that political and religious leaders of this time were challenged regarding the harshness of their judicial system, biblical precedents were often appealed to. These are some of the reasons why we ought to resist a glorification of colonial leaders and the Bible.
Here are some of my other related comments on slavery from before:
Consider Wikipedia's note on the Patristic era and slavery as an example of quite diverse interpretations on a basically obvious moral question (but not so obvious because the Bible is not clear on the subject):
"Several prominent early church fathers advocated slavery, either directly or indirectly. Augustine of Hippo, who renounced his former Manicheanism, argued that slavery was part of the mechanism to preserve the natural order of things. John Chrysostom, while he described slavery as the fruit of covetousness, of extravagance, of insatiable greediness in his Epist. ad Ephes, also argued that slaves should be resigned to their fate, as by obeying his master he is obeying God. Saint Patrick (415-493), himself a former slave, argued for the abolition of slavery, as had Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-394), and Acacius of Amida (400-425). Origen (c. 185-254) favored the Jewish practice of freeing slaves after six years. Saint Eligius (588-650) used his vast wealth to purchase British and Saxon slaves in groups of 50 and 100 in order to set them free."
Other than the college textbook that I mentioned that claimed that half of pro-slavery tracts before the Civil War were written by clergy members, consider these quotes from "Proslavery: A History of the Defense of Slavery in America, 1701-1840" by Larry E. Tise, history professor at East Carolina University:
"The antebellum period was the golden age of the religious press, when the nation was flooded with tracts, books, and newspapers issued from clergymen's pens. In the lead of those who used and perfected the religious press to dispense new, editorial opinion, and social philosophy stood proslavery clergymen." (page 166)
"Proslavery clergymen were also widely published authors. About 74 percent of them published books, tracts, or pamphlets other than or in addition to one piece of proslavery literature...Those clergymen who were the most prolific writer doubled as the most fruitful authors of formal defenses, writers of eight items or more produced 39 percent of all formal defenses [they wrote other forms of literature]...major theological, religious and biblical...legal and political topics...Those clergymen who defended slavery possessed the prejudices and aspiration of most other Americans. An overwhelming number of the ministers were slaveholders and plantation owners with aspirations to expand their agricultural interests and income." (page 170)
Google Books has a fairly in-depth preview of the book with many pages available to read.
- April 13, 2017 at 10:57 PM
In a chart on page 172, the author provides info from "U.S Census manuscript slaveholding schedules and other biographical data". It shows that among 78 formal defense of slavery tracts composed by clergy, 20 came from the South, 33 from the outside the South and 25 were from unknown locations. For 119 proslavery writings, 26 were composed by Southerners, 55 from outside the South and 38 were from unknown locations. Regarding 158 proslavery and war sermons, 41 came from the South, 58 from outside the South and 59 were from unknown locations.
The fact that the majority of the writings mentioned above were not found to have come from the South helps to demonstrate the widespread proslavery sentiment among clergy and the general populace in the 1700-1800s. The official description of this book makes this a central point:
"Probing at the very core of the American political consciousness from the colonial period through the early republic, this thorough and unprecedented study by Larry E. Tise suggests that American proslavery thought, far from being an invention of the slave-holding South, had its origins in the crucible of conservative New England. Proslavery rhetoric, Tise shows, came late to the South, where the heritage of Jefferson's ideals was strongest and where, as late as the 1830s, most slaveowners would have agreed that slavery was an evil to be removed as soon as possible. When the rhetoric did come, it was often in the portmanteau of ministers who moved south from New England, and it arrived as part of a full-blown ideology. When the South finally did embrace proslavery, the region was placed not at the periphery of American thought but in its mainstream."
Tise says that there were very few proslavery tracts printed until shortly before the American Revolution. Up until then, virtually everyone accepted slavery as normative:
"Thus, the paucity of early American proslavery literature resulted neither from the absence of proslavery notions nor from any indisposition toward upholding slavery. What was missing was the need to defend an institution that nearly everyone took for granted....Lacking any widespread opposition to slavery, its defense was usually sporadic and local. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, published defenses almost always appeared in direct response to specific antislavery tracts and for all practical purposes ended the debate. Not until the decade before the American Revolution did anything like an extended intercolonial and international debate on slavery get under way." (page 16)
"The forces that gave rise to nascent antislavery did not become apparent until the last third of the eighteenth century when events and ideas associated with the American Revolution began to challenge the future of slavery on a massive scale." (page 15)
And there we have it. Ideas of the American Revolution. Ones that drew from Christianity to be sure, but possibly even more so from Enlightenment values and concepts. Why did post-Columbus slavery not get a resistance of any substantial size before the peak of the Enlightenment?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.
Andy Rhodes
- April 13, 2017 at 10:58 PM
- David B Marshall said...
Andy: Good to hear from you again.
I have a post on this site with a long list of pre-1800 Christian reforms of or attacks on slavery. So I beg to differ on that.
As for defending slavery, consider this. In ancient times (Polybius makes this clear) the choice in war was to kill your enemies, or to enslave them. If you let them go (there were no POW camps) they could come after you again. Since you hold them and they have to eat, they'll need to work, too. From this perspective, slavery is not the greatest evil, it is an inevitable consequence of perpetual war, and can be actually relatively merciful.
I don't have time to defend comments by other conservatives or Christians besides myself.
Yes, England could be harsh. We shouldn't project our values and expectations on the past. Life is cushy these days, but that is the product of centuries of innovation. Read the NT with an open mind, and I think it's pretty obvious where the force for much of that innovation came from. I just finished Uncle Tom's Cabin for the first time. It's an illustrated sermon, in essence. It is the product of deeply Christian conscience, built into western civ over many centuries. Words like "renaissance" and "enlightenment" tend I think to disguise the true source of that reform.
Wikipedia overlooks, for example, the fact that Augustine recognized slavery as fundamentally wrong, and that he celebrates how his church took in victims of the slave trade.
- April 13, 2017 at 11:18 PM
- David B Marshall said...
That there was a long developing opposition to slavery, which during the Middle Ages partly resulted in vast areas of western Europe essentially free of slaves, can I think hardly be disputed. A strong abolitionist movement also began quite some time before the revolution in America. But all such movements hatch like seeds from small beginnings. Stark tells quite a bit of the story in For the Glory of God. The Enlightenment is emphatically not the place to start that story -- try ancient Rome.
But no doubt I have a lot to learn on this subject, too. If I have the chance, some day I'd like to tackle this story at length, and deal with Avalos and Tise and all these people. Have a few books to write before then, though - beginning with on the liberation of women. (See my post today.)
- April 13, 2017 at 11:29 PM
The central problem with your position, in my opinion, is its lack of biblical support. The Bible very clearly endorses permanent slavery in Exodus and then reiterates the normative character of this practice in many places in both the Old and New Testaments.
To your points about slavery being a necessary part of the ancient world because there were no POW camps, I just don't see the moral and logical foundation for this. The Torah and New Testament are full of very difficult commands for Ancient Near Eastern people to adapt to, a whole lot of these edicts properly belonging far from the kind of ethical importance necessarily brought on by the category of slavery. God surely could have directed the Israelites to establish POW camps. The biblical revelation cannot be considered ultimately wise and benevolent if the all-knowing and all-loving God that provided it is not able to communicate the most basic guidance on how to construct a society without slavery. If the ancient world economic and social systems were not ready for the abolition of slavery, then God should have explained how to change this and as quickly as possible (he certainly expected the other laws and teachings to be followed immediately or else dire consequences through divine justice would follow). Instead, God clearly endorsed permanent slavery for non-Jews and temporary slavery for Jews. The abolitionist tendencies and sympathies in some leaders in Church history are based on cherry picking of the Scriptures and applying principles of gracious manumission that are both subtly hinted at and overtly contradicted in the texts.
During Church history up through the Middle Ages, slavery had support and detractors among a variety (bbc.in/2ocHt4j) of leading theologians (bit.ly/2pBOYCa). Many defenders of the faith say that Old World forms of slavery were eradicated in Western Europe during the second half of the Middle Ages. However, as I said above, the serfdom that arose then can be adequately described as "slavery-lite". The Encyclopedia of European Social History notes that: "with the disintegration of the Roman Empire and the disappearance of steady supplies of slaves, a homegrown version was devised that took some though not all the elements of slavery by evolving new ways of tying labor to the land....Christian theology made its peace with the physical bondage of slavery and serfdom by stressing the freedom of the soul....servitude was treated as the consequence of sin." (bit.ly/2pFbVrw)
Famous Evangelical Christian abolitionist William Wilberforce had to fight vigorously for 40 years against leading Christians in clergy and government and dominant public opinion before slavery was abolished across the British Empire in 1833. He learned that arguments from Scriptures were far less effective than basing his appeal on universal and natural rights of all human beings.
- May 8, 2017 at 9:59 PM
- David B Marshall said...
Andy: My argument is historical, not theological. For my claim that Christianity has been at the root of the liberation of slaves, one need only find a plausible inspiration for such a movement within Christianity, and then historical evidence that that cause created that effect. And such evidence is vast. Even if you merely read Uncle Tom's Cabin with an open mind, you can see this. Indeed, the wonder is that anyone could even think they could reconcile the brutality and selfishness which slavery necessarily implies, with the radical love-based ethic of the NT. Harriet Beecher Stowe clearly wondered that herself. The contrast is too stark, and only lust, power, and greed can explain such self delusion. This is not "cherry-picking" at all. It is the overwhelming force of New Testament teaching, like a great river in flood.
Stark addresses your "slavery lite" allegation effectively, IMO. The simple answer is, "No it wasn't." A more complex answer might cite Edmund Burke's concept of a "quanta" of power in every society, and the fact that even today, when technology makes freedom from drudgery possible, every social institution, even those established with the most kindly ideals, is infected with exploitation.
Wilberforce was supported primarily by Bible-thumping believers. Considering how badly misleading I've found Hector Avalos' citations in the past, I simply will not believe his claim about "what Wilberforce learned" (I recognize him as the probable source of your claim) until I've looked at the original sources myself. I KNOW that is not true of Stowe -- her arguments were solidly based on the spirit and face meaning of the New Testament. And her impact was enormous.
- May 15, 2017 at 12:46 PM
A major reason for the large number of Bible-based theologians, clergy and lay people holding pro-slavery views is that the Bible
clearly endorses it.
Other believers interpreted a less brutal form of bondage as being okay.
Another set of Christians pursued abolition.
Why the great variation? It's not just because humans make different decisions. It's largely due to the very mixed and confusing message in the Scriptures. On one hand, the text very clearly advocates for slavery. Then, there are many passages speaking of love and freedom. The problem is that the Bible doesn't explicitly say that humans should not own other humans. It says the opposite.
The context of "love" in the Old and New Testaments is constrained by the brutal context of the natural world, the Torah and rough inhumane treatment throughout much of the rest of the Bible. An eternal hell for a finite lifetime is not loving. The death penalty for an unruly teenager is not loving. Permanent slavery based on race is not loving. Blaming human beings for the inherent suffering of nature is not loving. Expecting perfection from people, which they are incapable of, and then demeaning them because they can't achieve it is not loving. There are dozens of other major examples like this.
- May 21, 2017 at 8:48 PM
As a reference for how I don't think Jesus is morally impressive when the wider lens of history and the natural world is taken into account, consider my article titled, "Christ's Numerous Moral Failings" (bit.ly/2hLqgf3):
When examining the ethics of the biblical God, we must not arbitrarily separate the actions and teachings of Jesus in the gospels from the character of God illustrated throughout the Bible. A vast percentage of believers and nonbelievers mistakenly think of him only related to his earthly ministry and onward and yet everything that God did in all 66 books of Scripture was in unison with the whole Trinity: Father, Son and Spirit. This includes the creation, management and sustenance of the universe. Christian doctrine has said this since the beginning. For example, see Colossians 1 and the Nicene Creed, two primary sources for the theology of every Christian denomination, including Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox and the thousands of Protestant groups:
Colossians 1:15-17 – "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Nicene Creed – Jesus is described here as "the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, By whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth]" (bit.ly/1PZraBo).
God in Jesus Christ ("on his own" during his human incarnation, at least apparently, or by means of his interdependent harmony with the Father and Holy Spirit), throughout the Old and New Testaments to varying degrees, commanded or supported these terrible things directly or indirectly (mostly directly): eternal hell based on a short earthly life, genocide, misogyny, slavery, polygamy, seasonal and colonial warfare, theocracy, capital punishments for moderate sins (such as a female lying about her virginity — which modern science has shown to be impossible to prove medically, or cursing one's parents, or working on the Sabbath, or not keeping a known dangerous bull locked up if the bull later kills a person — but if a slave is killed the owner only has to pay a fine, or being the victim of rape if one is an engaged woman and the rape occurs in a city), animal sacrifice, excessive judgment on the vast majority of humans who did not have biblical revelation until the last few hundred years, and many other things.
These are things that Jesus never challenged because, as the New Testament and history of orthodox theology repeatedly states, he was the God of the Old Testament. Even if a believer takes a more liberal viewpoint and downplays or denies the divinity of Jesus, the same basic argument remains in tact. This teacher from ancient Galilee supports in full the God and writings of the Old Testament. He innovates on the earlier scriptures, but doesn't contradict them. In fact, he says that he has come to fulfill the law, not abolish it....
- May 21, 2017 at 8:51 PM
....See Matthew 5:17-19:
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
These kinds of primitive values must be cast aside or humanity will forever be lost in a method of problem-solving that far too readily chooses violence instead of the harder road of intelligent and compassionate understanding and the construction of better, more effective cultural values and social structures.
For references of these scriptural precedents, see here: bit.ly/2ibNfBf, bit.ly/1nAT7nu and bit.ly/2iozXRk.
- May 21, 2017 at 8:52 PM