Hi all. It's a beautiful day outside! :-)

TL wrote: "Wow, how could someone MANAGE something that was supposed to happen accidently." I'm not an economist, but I still think what I said is correct: "Soros is not *calling* for a decline in the dollar. He is saying that that is his opinion, given various international dynamics." I'm pretty clear that he's saying the dollar is *going* to decline because of various international dynamic...more

TL wrote: "Wow, how could someone MANAGE something that was supposed to happen accidently."

I'm not an economist, but I still think what I said is correct: "Soros is not *calling* for a decline in the dollar. He is saying that that is his opinion, given various international dynamics."

I'm pretty clear that he's saying the dollar is *going* to decline because of various international dynamics. He is saying it is better for the US as well as everybody else that this inevitable decline be "managed" and "orderly." I understand him to be saying that the alternative is to spend money and effort trying to put off the decline artificially, only to have it drop catastrophically when the "free market" eventually recognizes that it can't be held up any more.

For all economic policy I defer not to George Soros but to Paul Krugman. They probably agree on a lot of things, but Krugman is much sexier! :-)

Click on the highlighted text above (on my screen it is purple) to see Krugman's blog.

PS - a href works here! I did not know that until now. Maybe it's because of the new system?less

When Jesus talked about "the end of the age" He meant drastic changes in the way things worked. He said those things would happen within the lifetime of the people standing there. Those drastic changes did in fact come. The temple was destroyed in AD 70, and all Jews were exiled from Jerusalem for centuries. The world as they knew it *did* end. Anyone who counted on their wealth and inve...more

When Jesus talked about "the end of the age" He meant drastic changes in the way things worked. He said those things would happen within the lifetime of the people standing there.

Those drastic changes did in fact come. The temple was destroyed in AD 70, and all Jews were exiled from Jerusalem for centuries.

The world as they knew it *did* end.

Anyone who counted on their wealth and investment in Jerusalem of the time lost everything.

Jesus, Paul, and Revelation were all very clear: the catastrophe they were talking about was coming *soon*. It did indeed come. It has already come and gone now, almost two thousand years ago.

It was the end of their entire world. Yet most people today who are obsessed with their predictions about what was to happen BACK THEN don't even know that it already happened, just as they said.

More catastrophes will continue to come and go. Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, economic meltdowns, and most diabolically of all, war can wipe out people's lives or livelihoods.

But it is psychologically unhealthy to just quit everything because something bad could happen. The rational response to our vulnerability is to try to minimize those risks, and when they do strike, those who aren't directly hurt by them need to help those who are.less

Thanks for the concern TL. A couple of points - Soros is not *calling* for a decline in the dollar. He is saying that that is his opinion, given various international dynamics. Second, many of us are fully aware of the apocalyptic worldview and even the specific strain that you are talking about. People have been saying that the end of the world is right around the corner for thousands o...more

Thanks for the concern TL.

A couple of points - Soros is not *calling* for a decline in the dollar. He is saying that that is his opinion, given various international dynamics.

Second, many of us are fully aware of the apocalyptic worldview and even the specific strain that you are talking about.

People have been saying that the end of the world is right around the corner for thousands of years. They have *always* been wrong.

Paul advised Christians not to get married until the return of Jesus.

If you think they might be right this time, then follow though: Quit your job, sell your house and everything you own and give the money to the poor.

If you are wrong, then you hurt yourself, but that is your choice.

But you need to be reminded of the harmful consequences of your actions on *other* people.

You are asking for the prerogative to ruin *our* lives in order to support your - let's face it - false teaching.less

"you have no valid biblical support or prooof to show God created some men to be sexually attracted to other men" The Bible does not describe photosynthesis either. Or radio, or North and South America, or the planet Neptune. That is not what the Bible is for.

"boys wanting to wear skirts and men being sexually attracted to other men are not necessarily the same thing" Of course! I agree Believer. :-)

"boys should be boys." You bet. Some boys are boys who want to wear skirts, because that is how God made them. Some men are sexually attracted to men, because that is how God made them. We all have our roles to play (and sometimes our roles to break out of!). Let people be who they are and love them for who they are. If they hurt somebody else, then we need to love them and try to help th...more

"boys should be boys."

You bet.
Some boys are boys who want to wear skirts, because that is how God made them.
Some men are sexually attracted to men, because that is how God made them.
We all have our roles to play (and sometimes our roles to break out of!). Let people be who they are and love them for who they are.
If they hurt somebody else, then we need to love them and try to help them find a way not to hurt people.
A boy wearing a skirt is not hurting anybody else. Educate him just like any other young person to help him be the best person he can be, and find other places to direct your efforts.less

"Pro 14:12 There is a way {which seems} right to a man, But its end is the way of death." Your way seems right to you Daniel, but its end is the way of death. :-\

"6 days = 6000 years if "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day"...." Biblical literalism = insanity. 6 days=6000 years, and then those 6000 years = 6000*365.25*1000 = 2.2 billion years The correct answer is understood to be 4.5 billion years, so you're off by only a factor of 2. That's not *all* that bad.

2 Peter 3:8 says "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." This verse alone destroys any literalist claim that the world *has* to have been created in 6 days. Anyone who claims that the Bible insists that world is 6000 years old is thereby claiming that this verse is false. The Bible itself instr...more

2 Peter 3:8 says "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

This verse alone destroys any literalist claim that the world *has* to have been created in 6 days.

Anyone who claims that the Bible insists that world is 6000 years old is thereby claiming that this verse is false.

The Bible itself instructs you *not* to take every word in the Bible literally.less

The creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2 were a good start on describing where we came from as well as they could three to five thousand years ago. It is beautiful that they preserved these thoughts that presumably had roots from thousands of years earlier in the human psyche. Over thousands of years, our understanding has deepened and become more precise. They taught us fifty years ago that...more

The creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2 were a good start on describing where we came from as well as they could three to five thousand years ago. It is beautiful that they preserved these thoughts that presumably had roots from thousands of years earlier in the human psyche.

Over thousands of years, our understanding has deepened and become more precise.

They taught us fifty years ago that you don't have to look at it as truth versus falsehood; we're just filling in the details.less

TLC wrote: "I am on video 7; I have been watching when I have time--there are 12 videos." Great work TL; I commend you for being open-minded on this. I would like to encourage you by saying that my parents and their parents before them - born in the 1800s! - had no problem integrating their Christianity with evolution. I was raised in a Southern Baptist church where the scientific understand...more

TLC wrote: "I am on video 7; I have been watching when I have time--there are 12 videos."

Great work TL; I commend you for being open-minded on this. I would like to encourage you by saying that my parents and their parents before them - born in the 1800s! - had no problem integrating their Christianity with evolution.

I was raised in a Southern Baptist church where the scientific understanding of evolution was not considered a problem at all even fifty years ago.less

abhodim wrote: "You haven't yet cited one passage that shows the God supports the homosexual lifestyle" Mark 10: 21: Jesus looked on him and loved him... Sell everything you have, give it to the poor, and come and follow me. John 11:34 Jesus said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35Jesus wept. 36So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!"

Symptoms of codependence may include controlling behavior, distrust, perfectionism, avoidance of feelings, problems with intimacy, excessive caretaking, hypervigilance, or physical illness related to stress. Codependence is often accompanied by clinical depression, as the codependent person succumbs to feelings of frustration or sadness over their inability to improve their situation. - tendenc...more

Symptoms of codependence may include controlling behavior, distrust, perfectionism, avoidance of feelings, problems with intimacy, excessive caretaking, hypervigilance, or physical illness related to stress. Codependence is often accompanied by clinical depression, as the codependent person succumbs to feelings of frustration or sadness over their inability to improve their situation.

- tendency to place the needs and wants of others first and to the exclusion of acknowledging one's own
- continued investment of self-esteem in the ability to control both oneself and others
- anxiety and boundary distortions relating to intimacy and separation
- difficulty expressing feelings
- excessive worry how others may respond to one's feelings
- undue fear of being hurt and/or rejected by others
- self-esteem dependent on approval by others
- tendency to ignore own values and attempt to adhere to the values of others
- dating someone while in jail/prison and being satisfied with their need for you
- constantly relying on others opinions rather than trusting your own

http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/b/b8/Nou_pig.jpgless

Symptoms of codependence may include controlling behavior, distrust, perfectionism, avoidance of feelings, problems with intimacy, excessive caretaking, hypervigilance, or physical illness related to stress. Codependence is often accompanied by clinical depression, as the codependent person succumbs to feelings of frustration or sadness over their inability to improve their situation. - tendenc...more

Symptoms of codependence may include controlling behavior, distrust, perfectionism, avoidance of feelings, problems with intimacy, excessive caretaking, hypervigilance, or physical illness related to stress. Codependence is often accompanied by clinical depression, as the codependent person succumbs to feelings of frustration or sadness over their inability to improve their situation.

- tendency to place the needs and wants of others first and to the exclusion of acknowledging one's own
- continued investment of self-esteem in the ability to control both oneself and others
- anxiety and boundary distortions relating to intimacy and separation
- difficulty expressing feelings
- excessive worry how others may respond to one's feelings
- undue fear of being hurt and/or rejected by others
- self-esteem dependent on approval by others
- tendency to ignore own values and attempt to adhere to the values of others
- dating someone while in jail/prison and being satisfied with their need for you
- constantly relying on others opinions rather than trusting your ownless

DP wrote: "The Bible does conflict with codependency." Hmm. Let's both think about that then.

Compassion is more important than anything else. If the Bible conflicts with compassion, then the Bible is wrong.

"you know it is only your opinion that Christ in any way was homosexual" It is my impression. I don't insist that anybody has to agree with me. On the other hand, you *insist* that people must agree with your personal opinions, which have nowhere near as much support from the Bible as my impression from the Bible that Jesus was probably gay.

Similarly Believer, you know that what you call "God's truths as clearly found in the Bible" are only your opinions projected onto what you read. You will claim that the Bible justifies whatever you want to believe. Stop forcing it on other people.

"You're still allowed to post aren't you?" Daniel you've got people here calling for mass murder. And you have been personally abusive toward me. You are still allowed to post.