nimble

that is enough to to say that God does not exist. End of argument.

david, I enjoyed reading your argument. Would you mind telling me how omnipotence is an intrinsically contradictory term? I just would like you to clarify that, so I might be able to show that argument to a theist friend of mine.

concepts arent comparable to the god situation we are having. You are saying that I cant state "god doesnt exist." If he "exists" beyond the natural realm, he therefore doesnt exist. All things that are exist in the natural realm. And I would like to know a few of examples of things that lack physical properties that we think exist? What did you mean by that statement?

God is by definition supernatural. Meaning that god does not pertain to the natural realm in which we live. This means we cant see, hear, taste, touch, or smell god. This is the only way in which facts can be proven. Things which exist must have a physical identity that pertains to the natural realm. If god cannot by definition exist in the natural realm, then he is outside of reality. Anything outside of reality is by definition unreal. Which means he cannot exist. Its that simple to prove god doesnt exist. Plus there is no reason to believe in god since no proof has been put forth. The burden of proof is on those who make the claim.

He has an enormous power that is still limited. He can only do so much. His job becomes increasingly more difficult with each bill that expands the national budget. This causes a bigger deficit. Other countries are raising the price of their currency. This hurts international trade. Soon it will damage our economy beyond what he can prevent. Inflation is related to deficit spending. And he will have to raise interest rates alot higher soon. To keep the inflation money out of the markets. The only solution that would bring back the gold standard is privatizing banks once again. And i dont see that happening any time soon. And we could use a nice amendment that prevents the government from deficit spending. I dont know who had the bright idea one day and said "hey! if we are short on money lets just print more. Tax payers will make up for it later, and no one will know the difference."

okay i will be wary then.

Most of Rand's arguments begin with definitions. Do you consider Rand a rationalist? I think it is rather good to always define your terms. Because many arguments often arise that will never be solved because people are arguing over different definitions of a word. For instance, if someone were to think that egoist was the same as egotist (as Rand once got those confused) then an argument could arise from that confusion.

see going to an expensive restaurant does seem more like a celebration to me. because that is at least out of the ordinary.

yea i guess i agree that one should celebrate. I just dont consider going to a movie celebration, or being with friends, or wine ( i cant drink im not 21), and i hate parties. I can do any of those activities any or every day. Why is that so much of a celebration? In college, i am with friends every day. I can go to the movies every night. If i were 21 I could drink whenever. I thought celebrations were supposed to be something above the norm.

I must celebrate every day. Because i drink coke often. But as for the celebrating thing. I think that celebrating in the normal sense is overrated. I dont like parties. I dont consider eating or drinking celebrating so basically i dont celebrate.

yea ive done that before too. Tried to make something work that you know won't. But if it will never be a relationship, it doesnt mean that you should end the friendship. She can still become a good friend. It just might not be more than that.

okay well then maybe there isnt a solution i can give you. If she is as irrational as you make her sound then it might be hard to have a relationship. If her actions dont bother you, then go for it. If they do bother you, then dont. I cant make it any simpler.

well, you may come off a little weird. If you guys arent even dating yet, and you give her lectures, that might be WHY YOU ARENT DATING YET. I hate getting lectured. You might want to try getting to know her better before discussing your most deepest convictions and beliefs.

maybe i will do that from now on. I thought no one would think that jackie chan could be john galt. So i joked. If it offended or upset anyone i am sorry. I will mark all jokes with this from now on

It was a joke. Im not sure about you, but most people have a sense of humor.

I just usually hate action films. I can truly say I havent seen a good one in ages. I dont like martial arts. It seems very unrealistic, that someone fights a group of people with their arms and legs while they have guns. And most action films are cliche if you have seen one then you have seen them all. I prefer to watch independent films because they arent concerned with attracting the big crowds and they are usually more creative. If its not independent films then i watch old (classics if you will) movies. because if youre going to watch a movie make it the original not all the trash copies of it made today.

Just curious, but why is keeping people from editing so important? I find the feature useful. If someone changes something that they said, so what? Is it worth taking the freedom of choosing the edit function away? Give me a break. None of these arguments are so ungodly important to need to completely remove the edit function. I think sometimes people just like to complain, which is exactly what I am doing now that I realize it. So maybe that makes my hypothesis stronger.

did someone say jackie chan is in it. Well Im not seeing it then. I should pray (pardon the expression) that jackie chan doesnt get casted as John Galt in Atlas Shrugged. Or Owen Wilson for that matter.

well, I think this may be a psychological thing. Did you admirer her from afar for a long period of time? Often when you have a crush and dont pursue it for a while, you tend to imagine what that person will be like. Eventually, you make that person mean more to you than they rationally should, and you often build them up better than they could ever possibly be. And i think this is that case. I think you need to evaluate what you value. Then rank where she places in those values. Do you value physical beauty? How much? Do you value her company? How much? Do you value rationality? How much? Do you value intelligence? How much? Does her religious preference matter? Things like that need to be re evaluated and you need to decide whether you will ever love her. And whether the relationship is ever going to grow. You may need more time, and to really have a good conversation with her. Tell her what bothers you, and talk about how the relationship could be strengthened by whatever it is that you need. Being open and respecting the person you are with leads to the best relationships.

im sorry i must have misread your post. I dont think you need to be upset about it. I assumed if you were questioning free will, that you were questioning the existence of free will. I guess i assumed wrong. SORRY.

im not sure i am scientifically qualified to answer some of these questions, but i do have a hypothesis on the free will aspect. If you can grasp how humans came into existence through evolution, then free will is part of that act of SURVIVING to pass on its genetics. Chemicals and all other non-living matter has now will. It cannot act. It is dead. Life in contrast, is that which does act. It must constantly act, it is inherent in its nature that it is constantly faced with the alternative life or death. the idea of free will should be self evident to any living being. Do you choose to open doors? How do you think you are typing on this computer? Was it nature's will forced upon you, which allowed a man to invent, produce and distribute these computers? If you dont believe in God, what makes you think that nature would force you to do what you do? I started out thinking that this question was difficult to answer, but as i began typing i realized that the question isnt that logical. i cant understand what makes you think we dont have free will?

I by no means thought of it as "trivializing virtues." In fact that segment of the show was so small I dont think it can really even be examined in that depth. Simpsons is meant to make a lot of characatures. It portrays everyone in a bad light. It demonizes greedy men in Mr. Burns. It portrays lazy oafs like Homer in a bad way. It pokes fun at democrats, republicans, green party candidates, hippies, beatniks, 80s hair bands, corporate "heartless" women, obsessive compulsive cleaners like marge, little girls who dont make time to "just be kids" like lisa, little brats like bart, and yes it even pokes fun at Ayn Rand in the breifest of segments. I think you may be taking it too seriously. Can you think of any one in the show that isnt being made fun of? South Park and Futurama both made fun of Ayn Rand as well, but i still love those too. I can overlook that and realize that ITS JUST A CARTOON. I dont base my life and philosophy around cartoons. so i dont take them that seriously.

to tell you the truth. the simpsons makes fun of EVERYTHING. They dont have any particular ideology that is shoved down your throat or anything. They make fun of anything that can be laughed at. And yes, even Objectivists need to laugh at ourselves once in a while. I wouldnt take the Simpsons too seriously.

yea im going to drink 25 gallons of orange juice each day. I will get an ungodly amount of canker sores, and probably die from some vitamin overdoses to prove how horrible orange juice is and to make the government ration orange juice out so people wont overdose like i did.

i am a very "oral" person as well. Except i am oral in the way that i like to have clean teeth. HAHAHA. I am very obsessive about the color of my teeth. I value nice teeth. I use crest white strips. I dont drink any dark drinks. I try to stay away from all unusually sweet drinks. I dont smoke for sure. And i brush after every meal. But thats just me. I just must ask this question of everyone. Do you kiss you lovers with those dirty mouths? haha