September 2008 SCrewballs

[TolkienFan]

Or Monk.

[Bill the Cat]

Or mythbusters (most of the time)

[Chaotic Void]

TV sucks.

I agree... I much prefer video games. They're more entertaining and seem to have better plots than most TV shows these days...

Though I must admit that there's often good stuff on Teletoon Retro... Stuff like The Flintstones and The Raccoons.

I just wish I could get my hands on a channel that has Get Smart or The Three Stooges.

[And yes, this was just a filler post so I could subscribe. I'm dry on Screwballs lately... ]

[jpholding]

Though I must admit that there's often good stuff on Teletoon Retro... Stuff like The Flintstones and The Raccoons.

I never did get to see the series -- just the Christmas specials. Shame, too, those were a minor influence on my drawing style.

[spirit5er]

Ya know Spirit5er, every time I read one of your posts I am completely ASTOUNDED by your lack of knowledge regarding the church, Christianity, and history. The most astounding part is that you seem to think you are an expert.

It's mind boggling. You are the absolute dictionary definition of the Dunning Kruger effect.

Hmmm, you are so sure that I'm an idiot with zero knowledge of church history...but then again, you decline my direct challenge to debate. So if we grant that you are not stupid, but like most people, would only prefer to debate somebody you are sure you can win against, then we find that your comments above are without substance.

Or maybe you don't wish to debate me, because you are afraid of winning? Oh gee, that must be it, eh? A pretentious fundamentalist like you, scared of defeating your unbelieving opponent? There's probably a better hypothesis for why you refuse to debate me formally, but continue to yell about my ignorance. The truth is you know I'd mop the floor with you in a debate, but Christianity never gave you enough humilty to honestly admit your true intentions. Hence, you are stuck in a laughable self-imposed contradiction.

Sorry genius, but you cannot avoid looking dumber than the guy challenging you, when you turn down his direct challenge to debate formally, but continue to hurl insults from the sidelines anyway. You are a loudmouth, and nothing more. You are like the child that screams names fearlessly at another kid....from behind mommy's skirt, of course.

Why is your self-esteem so low that you go around looking for ways to make people laugh at you?

[jpholding]

Or maybe you don't wish to debate me, because you are afraid of winning? Oh gee, that must be it, eh? A pretentious fundamentalist like you, scared of defeating your unbelieving opponent? There's probably a better hypothesis for why you refuse to debate me formally, but continue to yell about my ignorance. The truth is you know I'd mop the floor with you in a debate, but Christianity never gave you enough humilty to honestly admit your true intentions. Hence, you are stuck in a laughable self-imposed contradiction.

Why is your self-esteem so low that you go around looking for ways to make people laugh at you?

Wow. Your new name is Dunningus Maximus.

Are you hiring yourself out as a paperweight any time soon? You'd do a good job.

[ApologiaPhoenix]

I only watch a few select shows and shame on you all for none of you mentioning Smallville! (Which JPH has seen an episode of! I made sure to take care of that!)

I also do video games though. I can often listen to MP3s on apologetics and such while I play.

And for all you know, sometimes while I'm slamming an atheist on the forum here, at the same time, I'm playing a game.

[Chaotic Void]

I never did get to see the series -- just the Christmas specials.

That's all? I feel sorry for you.

Shame, too, those were a minor influence on my drawing style.

Cool. I never realized that!

[Chaotic Void]

I also do video games though. I can often listen to MP3s on apologetics and such while I play.

And for all you know, sometimes while I'm slamming an atheist on the forum here, at the same time, I'm playing a game.

You do that too?! Thank goodness I'm not the only one...

[Mountain Man]

technomage again. He claimed that JP spoke out of both sides of his mouth, claiming that the ancient world had both a low literacy rate and a high literacy rate, depending on how it suited his arguments. I asked for evidence, of course, and after much stalling and misdirection, he finally offered this:

First you object because you want evidence. When offered the evidence--though it does require a bit of work on your part--you complain because you don't want to do the work. Then you complain because it's "argument by weblink." Do you ever stop complaining?

[Just an aside here, when I first asked for evidence, he gave me a link to a Google search for "literacy site:tektonics.org" and essentially said, "Knock yourself out." When I asked for something more specific, well, that produced the little rant above.]

The removal of names and the telescoping of lists is known in other oral cultures -- and it is also known that certain numerical patterns were preferred. R. R. Wilson [ibid., 196n] notes the example of the Luapula people of Rhodesia, who kept a royal genealogy of nine generations; but the genealogies of common people for the same space were telescoped to between four and seven generations. Elsewhere [Genealogy and History in the Biblical World, 33n] he cites the examples of the Bemba, Tallensi, Tiv, Yoruba, and Cyrenician Bedouin. All of these cultures used telescoped genealogies. And in an oral culture, why not? If Uncle Joe wasn't much to behold, and just sat around in his La-Z-Boy eating chips and burping, why keep him once his kid was secure in the line? Why make us remember more? An oral culture had to make such listings as easy as possible to remember. The royal line required more detail; the common lines less.

6.Literacy among the common populace was highly developed and wide-reaching, and had been so for centuries.

Excavations within the territory of biblical Israel have turned up a number of practice alphabet texts, as well as isolated letters, or letters apparently grouped by similarity of shape, and other materials indicative of elementary instruction. These finds, unearthed at Lachish, Arad, Kuntillat-Ajrud, and other sites, suggest the existence of some form of literacy training in these locations by the eighth century B.C.E. Certainly it is difficult to imagine that the seats of government and diplomacy and other centers were without a substantial literate elite even earlier, but these 'provincial' finds are perhaps more impressive because they indicate how widespread literacy training might have been by the eighth century. (EBI: 52-53)

In the first (that you cited), JP argues for an oral culture preserving details. In the second, he argues (via the selected source) that there was a substantial literate segment--not just in the big cities, but in the cow-towns, too.

The difference between oral cultures and literate cultures, of course, is not "binary"--a culture does not immediately lose all of the traits of an oral culture once a literate segment is introduced. JP tries to argue that the Hebrew culture is written one time, oral the next, because those particular arguments bolster the particular issue he is discussing. JP, however, is misusing the evidence, as he is selectively discarding or denigrating any and all evidence contrary to his opinion. He insults sources critical of traditional views of the Bible--sometimes with no more reason than because he can.

Now, it must be admitted that JP has also done some good: he has assembled a treasure trove of scholarship in Biblical studies. But such benefit must be tempered with the acknowledgment that his selection is biased.

The first quote is from JP's article on Old Testament genealogies. The second is from his article about the reliability of the New Testament record concerning Jesus, yet technomage presents these two quotes as if they are explicitly contradictory! I'm not sure if he's trying to pull a fast one or if he's genuinely confused.

[Sparko]

Hmmm, you are so sure that I'm an idiot with zero knowledge of church history...but then again, you decline my direct challenge to debate. So if we grant that you are not stupid, but like most people, would only prefer to debate somebody you are sure you can win against, then we find that your comments above are without substance.

Or maybe you don't wish to debate me, because you are afraid of winning? Oh gee, that must be it, eh? A pretentious fundamentalist like you, scared of defeating your unbelieving opponent? There's probably a better hypothesis for why you refuse to debate me formally, but continue to yell about my ignorance. The truth is you know I'd mop the floor with you in a debate, but Christianity never gave you enough humilty to honestly admit your true intentions. Hence, you are stuck in a laughable self-imposed contradiction.

Sorry genius, but you cannot avoid looking dumber than the guy challenging you, when you turn down his direct challenge to debate formally, but continue to hurl insults from the sidelines anyway. You are a loudmouth, and nothing more. You are like the child that screams names fearlessly at another kid....from behind mommy's skirt, of course.

Why is your self-esteem so low that you go around looking for ways to make people laugh at you?

um in case you haven't noticed.... it is you that is being laughed at.

I don't think you could get anyone to debate you because everyone can see how moronic your reasoning is. Why would anyone want to waste their time with you?

Do you really think that you can badger me with insults to debate you?

It just makes me less likely (if that were possible) to wish to.

Maybe you can talk JPH into a debate? you should try insulting him more

[Mr Minder]

I started on them via comic books. But I don't mean TV universally sucks, just in general. There are a few goods shows....like Dirty Jobs.

Youtube can be wonder sometime, in finding obscure shows (including The Raccoons...). Why don't you try out Spawn? Y'know, the cartoon based on Todd McFarlane's comic - having tons of blood, gore, foul language, nudity, demons, mercenary angels, God and Satan who are rivalling brothers, a Mother Goddess...

[jpholding]

t
The first quote is from JP's article on Old Testament genealogies. The second is from his article about the reliability of the New Testament record concerning Jesus, yet technomage presents these two quotes as if they are explicitly contradictory! I'm not sure if he's trying to pull a fast one or if he's genuinely confused.

He's an idiot. For one thing, the second quote is from Glenn Miller; I cited it just to show that writing existed at the time, contrary to what some Skeptics argue -- not to show that it was higher than Harris' estimates.

[TolkienFan]

In a thread about DJ's book, Sea (the thread starter) asked who else had read the book. DDW noted that DJ gave himself a glowing review on Amazon. In response, DJ said this:

What author would not do so? None that I know of.

And what does this have to do with any of my arguments?

Nothing that I know of, even if true.

Of course, you can ignore my arguments all you want to. Please do. It will not matter to me if you ignore them at all. Others are reading what I wrote. They are saying otherwise.

Cheers.

[Challenger Grim]

I just wish I could get my hands on a channel that has Get Smart or The Three Stooges.

That's why the good lord invented DVDs sir. (Get Smart just came out in fact)