Recent posts

#61

Off the Record / Re: What does a BIDEN Presiden...

Last post by Crazy_Ivan80 - April 23, 2024, 01:51:45 PM

Wait until Wolf sees that crazy Mel Gibson movie and realizes that Jesus was actually a native Aramaic speaker.

Better keep her away from Qurans then or we'll have a jihad on our hands... another one.

#62

Off the Record / Re: What does a BIDEN Presiden...

Last post by Crazy_Ivan80 - April 23, 2024, 01:50:13 PM

That is why the colloquial ones are better at getting people to actually read and understand the Bible, for the exact same reason translating it from the vulgate made sense back in the early 17th Century. Presuming people reading and understanding the Bible is something you want 

Given the fundies it appears that translating the Bible helped with the reading, but not the understanding...

#63

Off the Record / Re: What does a BIDEN Presiden...

Last post by Caliga - April 23, 2024, 01:24:28 PM

It's weirdly ironic. Translating the Bible into language people could understand (English, German etc.) without need for interlocutors in the form of pastors/priests was once a transgressive and groundbreaking move. Now, these centuries old translations have become more difficult to understand for contemporary Christians, but now you have again some conservatives pushing back on updating translations, sticking to the old ones.

My recollection is that this was exactly the point he was making... Luther wanted EVERYONE to be able to read the Bible for themselves.  If the language is too difficult for Joe Sixpack to understand, then you are going against the spirit of what the Reformation was all about.

#64

Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread

Last post by Syt - April 23, 2024, 01:23:22 PM

The King of Queens?

Finished 17 years ago (2007). Getting hard to consider it "contemporary"

#65

Off the Record / Re: Indian Elections 2024

Last post by grumbler - April 23, 2024, 01:20:59 PM

Indonesia was not conquered by Muslims.  China, Japan and Korea were not conquered by Buddhists.

But it is true that many Chinese classical Buddhist scholars argued that "Gautam Buddha" was Chinese, and there are still sporadic outbreaks of the claim in modern times.  Attempts to recast popular "foreign" religions as essentially domestic are numerous.

#66

Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread

Last post by Admiral Yi - April 23, 2024, 01:19:39 PM

The King of Queens?

#67

Off the Record / Re: What does a BIDEN Presiden...

Last post by Syt - April 23, 2024, 01:15:03 PM

My grandfather was a Lutheran pastor and served a term as a Bishop in the ELCA.  I remember him telling me that during his term he had argued in favor of endorsing some newer revision of the Bible because he wanted the Message to be as clear as possible to as many people as possible, but there were conservatives who disagreed and ultimately they made no change to their recommended translation of the Bible for congregations... or something along those lines (this was in the 1980s so my memory is a bit fuzzy on the specifics).

It's weirdly ironic. Translating the Bible into language people could understand (English, German etc.) without need for interlocutors in the form of pastors/priests was once a transgressive and groundbreaking move. Now, these centuries old translations have become more difficult to understand for contemporary Christians, but now you have again some conservatives pushing back on updating translations, sticking to the old ones.

#68

Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread

Last post by Josephus - April 23, 2024, 01:14:19 PM

The best working class sit com was probably On the Buses

My parents really liked that one.

#69

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by grumbler - April 23, 2024, 01:10:27 PM

To deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps, I am announcing that all classes will be held virtually on Monday. Faculty and staff who can work remotely should do so; essential personnel should report to work according to university policy. Our preference is that students who do not live on campus will not come to campus.

During the coming days, a working group of Deans, university administrators and faculty members will try to bring this crisis to a resolution. That includes continuing discussions with the student protestors and identifying actions we can take as a community to enable us to peacefully complete the term and return to respectful engagement with each other. I know that there is much debate about whether or not we should use the police on campus, and I am happy to engage in those discussions. But I do know that better adherence to our rules and effective enforcement mechanisms would obviate the need for relying on anyone else to keep our community safe. We should be able to do this ourselves.

Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus. Antisemitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken. We urge those affected to report these incidents through university channels. We also want to remind everyone of the support available for anyone adversely affected by current events.

There are different ways to interpret this statement, but it certainly seems like anti-semitic harassment was an important motivating factor in the closure.

I think that, if you read it closely, it explicitly talks about "antisemitic language" as the specific example of the "many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus," so I don't agree that this could reasonably be interpreted otherwise.

#70

Off the Record / Re: Indian Elections 2024

Last post by Admiral Yi - April 23, 2024, 01:10:01 PM

The BJP are much more tolerant of Sikhism and Buddhism because both originate from within India, whereas Islam comes from outside and is seen more negatively.

I've always thought that Islam being the religion of the conquerors has something to do with it.

Isn't that saying the same thing?

Indonesia was not conquered by Muslims.  China, Japan and Korea were not conquered by Buddhists.