On Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 11:33:30 PM UTC-6, palsing wrote:

On Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 4:54:30 AM UTC-7, Gary Harnagel wrote:

On Monday, October 15, 2018 at 11:29:25 PM UTC-6, palsing wrote:

Sure, it's big, but it is the size of the original and after all, it
*is* all about the money, IMHO. Money trumps religion, just ask those
TV evangelists...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1xJAVZxXg

That's disgusting. See below.

Of course it's disgusting, it's about scumbag televangalists!

Who are scumbags because they make a lot of money huckstering according to
you. So what about those who claim some divine revelation but make no
money and, in fact, are persecuted for it and die ignominiously broke?
Should you not embrace their claims?

Yeah, when it comes to organized religions (all 4200 of them, as per
Wiki), I am *very* suspicious. What sane person wouldn't be suspicious?

I agree, but you should read the book or watch the movie "Heaven is for
Real" before you dismiss it. That $101 million box office receipts didn't
go to the Burpos, you know.

Not all of it did, but this family is beyond rich these days...

https://www.idolnetworth.com/todd-bu...t-worth-189111

... I would say that $42 million is certainly a nice return for a fantasy
yarn. As always, Gary... "Follow the Money"! By the way, here is a well-
thought-out expose about Burpo that you should read...

https://nathandickey.wordpress.com/2...n-is-for-real/

It's obvious that Dickey doesn't have an open mind. All of his "objections"
amount to speculation and parochial thinking. When you fold in the Akiane
story it gets MUCH more difficult to explain.

... you might even modify your thinking about all of this.

Actually, I've modified my thinking about YOU. Since you have previously
claimed to be an agnostic, it's refreshing to see that you have come out
of THAT closet.

I think that H.L. Mencken could kick Roger Williams' butt any day of the
week when it comes to quotes :)

"Why assume so glibly that the God who presumably created the universe is
still running it? It is certainly perfectly conceivable that He may have
finished it and then turned it over to lesser gods to operate. In the same
way many human institutions are turned over to grossly inferior men. This
is true, for example, of most universities, and of all great newspapers."
H.L. Mencken

Everyone comes to the God-table with his own set of prejudices and system
of beliefs. I have mine, you have yours and Mencken has his. Concepts of
God can be divided into several categories. For example:

1. There is no God and everything happens according to the laws of physics.

As far as I am concerned, you can stop right there. Bingo!

Yep. Refreshing that you finally admit it.

... So when you talk about God, you bring certain assumptions about who
He is to the table that aren't explicitly stated. This is true even for #1.

Well, here I disagree completely. I think your #1 is self-explanatory, and
it is pretty dang straightforward, to me.

I understand that your mileage may vary.

You've tried desperately to deny all the evidence about early civilizations,
so it's pretty dang clear that you fall close to this category:

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright

Rather than this one:

“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the
earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up
into the heavens and say there is no God.” – Abraham Lincoln

BTW, I read Ruppelt's "The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects" in
the fifties and came away allowing that there might well be some substance
to UFOs. A few years ago, I read a 2nd edition of it which had two extra
chapters, the last one pointing out that all instances where photos of
radarscopes were taken, the "unknowns" were explained. That caused me to
being a "nonbeliever." Then THIS happened:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/searc...f&action=click

So that refutes Ruppelt's claim. Maybe they ARE here after all :-)