You can't get ice in a lot of place in Italy, either. They believe it's bad for you. Seriously. We had a lecture about it from a cultural representative before our ship changed its home port to Gaeta. You were in the Navy in Italy? Ha! Me too. In the 80's. Vivevo la per due anni in Sardegna. Ice wa...

Fr Thomas Hopko has put up a podcast about Lewis's book "The Abolition of Man". ancientfaith.com/podcasts/hopko/the_abolition_of_man It's a short book: www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/lewis/abolition1.htm with 2 more parts following if you can grasp the first part, but I think Fr Tom's ...

Hey rus, got any ice? Never heard of this before. Heh Well, it's true that there is no tradition of putting ice in drinks, and climate has a lot to do with it. Most of the year our (enclosed) balcony serves as a refrigerator; and for a couple of months we have to remove stuff that we don't want fla...

What's this? Round 1,342 in our exchanges? Indeed. And you still won't tell us what it is you believe! But something in me has now changed, and I won't argue. And I'm trying very hard to find a way to get you to post in non-combative ways. There's no need to argue. We can talk about what we believe...

dw, I think Fist's point is that rus, personally, cannot choose not to believe. I almost made the same point in a response earlier today, but bailed out of it. I think some people have an innate need to believe that there's Something Out There. Whether it's hardwired by nature or nurture (a point t...

Holy cow! I think this is the full Chariots of Fire on youtube! www.youtube.com/watch?v=evj7aYqCUCQ&feature=fvsr And it happens to contain a quote that goes along with one of the very few things you and I agree on, rus: My time in the 'Tank' was the most wasted, and even then it was "If I ...

Interesting. So, is this a commonly adopted approach to the OC faith? i.e., does the typical OC lay person cite the entire history, alongside with GKC and Lewis for good measure, or have you become a bit of a scholar-specialist? This touches on something that I've been wondering about for awhile......

And yeah, people like me are the 'nerds of the faith' for thinking about those things. We're definitely in the minority. Well, at least you admit to it. ;) But seriously, I think I understand the angle that you are coming from. I'm just having difficulty finding a practical application of this unde...

Interesting. So, is this a commonly adopted approach to the OC faith? i.e., does the typical OC lay person cite the entire history, alongside with GKC and Lewis for good measure, or have you become a bit of a scholar-specialist? I'm not asking to be a jerk -- just trying to generate some perspectiv...

You continue to focus on strict definitions, rus, and don't care about what the words define. Here's a thought... What would be the problem with everybody in the world believing The One, Absolute Truth, but not naming it ? Would it matter if it was not named? And what is the problem with telling us...

From my readings of historical documents, the 'Christian' organization has generally always been made up of several competing sects. Paul v. Peter, Philidelphia v. Ephesus, and so forth. According to Eusebius, they didn't even agree on what constituted holy scripture. Eusebius even espouses a view ...

You make a good point on it not mattering so much to outsiders what exactly a christian is in strict terms...though there are times distinctions between the sects matter even to outsiders. But on the rest: though the relative importance of the issue is greater, it's a bit like people who produce pa...

rus, the point is that you want this so you can point out who is wrong about their beliefs. You figure, if all the wrong belief is put into a list for you, you can more easily instruct each person in the specific way they need. Putting aside that you are trying to set yourself up as the Watch's Rel...

*This is why I have said merely asking for a religious composition of self-identification in our own time (2011) is not nearly sufficient. Unless you clarify connection with belief of the past (from x BC to 1999 AD, for example) of people who identified as Christian, Muslim, etc, you have establish...

However, credit card companies used to only offer cards to people with stellar credit -- then found out they made more money from people with mediocre (not bad) credit. They want you to carry a balance, because that makes them more money. So, as in so many things, the desperate and/or foolish are t...

Back to this: He was one of the two main characters in one of the best movies ever: Chariots of Fire . A movie that I would very much like to see, if anyone has a link to a free viewing... (I am still unable to pay for stuff online) Shoot! I see what you mean. Tried it here: bobthemovieman.com/watc...

Well... Heh. Not exactly. It's true that the word "Orthodoxy" makes me think "You're wrong.", "You have unhealthy mental thinking.", "Chesterton Chesterton Chesterton!", and gives me a generally unpleasant feeling. But the fact is I don't "reject" i...

Odd. It didn't require a credit card for me. And you sure pick odd things to lecture about. Yeah, of course, that's how credit cards work. The interest is their salary. That's how they get paid for the service they provide. Fortunately, owning or using credit cards is not required. It may seem odd ...

WHAT?!? I didn't know you've never seen it. I'll send you the dvd, if dvd players there can play the same dvds. Edit: It looks like you can watch it here: www.novamov.com/video/4a8c10f18031f There's only a few popups. They don't reopen after you close them. (That was a link on www1.zmovie.tv/movies...

The basic principle is: I suck. These are great men, whose shoes I am not worthy to clean, and who I would point to to learn from. (So taking me as a reason to reject Orthodoxy sucks) Well... Heh. Not exactly. It's true that the word "Orthodoxy" makes me think "You're wrong.", &...