Member: jmcgarve

I've been reading "Why atheists laugh at the faithful." I just wanted to say that, while I appreciate your effort at maintaining a civil discussion and doing a lot better job than I could, I think it might be the right time to give up on our friend WesleyRoyII. The man is obviously convinced he's omniscient or something, and refuses to listen to reason. You can talk to him until you're red in the face and the world is ending. He's still going to say you're wrong and science is based on Faith.

posted by DeusExLibrus at 11:05 pm (EST) on Dec 26, 2008

Did you find any evidence of hopeless liberalism?

The Inquisition suspects you of heterodox tendencies. Watch your back!

Lem's good. I don't read nearly as much SF as I used to, but the stuff I've read and liked recently includes Singularity Sky. For a classic from the 1950s try The Stars My Destination (a.k.a. Tiger! Tiger!).

posted by Carnophile at 4:08 pm (EST) on Dec 16, 2008

Hi there. Pretty impressive performance in Hangman ;-) I see you're right down the road (I'm in Durham). I noticed your hiking tag--are you a hiker? I'm not but my wife has been section hiking the AT for the last few summers.

posted by Jim53 at 12:50 pm (EST) on Dec 15, 2008

Just got here by playing with the "random profile" thing. What are the odds?!

posted by Carnophile at 10:27 am (EST) on Dec 14, 2008

Your breakdown on the robotic back-and-forth style in The New Atheists was dead on. Hysterical! In a way, it's almost depressing, because it makes you sit back and think, "Are these exchanges really worth ANYthing?" I mean, when someone makes a really good point and the other guy comes back with, "Well, in Genesis 4;19 it says..." you think, are we listening here? Or are we just waiting for our turn to talk?

Maybe that's why we do this...we think the silence that we hear while typing is really the sound of others listening to us.

posted by jasonseidner at 12:05 pm (EST) on Nov 25, 2008

Thank you for joining Pro and Con (Religion). I hope this is a place where the comfortable are afflicted and the afflicted are comforted. Let’s go it with all seriousness, but I hope we can have great fun at the same time. If I were God, I would part the waters of distance, and instantly transport us all to this great pub I used to frequent in Germany with a group of other Auslanders, but alas, I am but a lowly mortal, and so we have to do this via the internet.

All I ask is that every one remain respectful, even if there are times when you are spewing your coffee over the screen.

posted by Arctic-Stranger at 2:53 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2008

And a nice post on the "What book...?" thread - thanks for holding up the side.

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 9:29 pm (EST) on Jul 22, 2008

Hullo ~ nice post over in the Obama thread.

posted by NativeRoses at 9:30 am (EST) on Mar 17, 2008

Nice selection of books so far - not a clinker in the bunch that I can see. I notice that you have quite a bit of Stegner. I haven't gotten into him much, beyond Wolf Willow, which I enjoyed.

Good contribution to Pro/Con, by the way. New voices/perspectives are essential.

posted by Makifat at 6:35 pm (EST) on Mar 8, 2008