ernokaikkonen

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Ah, unbelief! Have you ever seen a person grow limbs, a baby get eyes where formerly they had none? If you have not known every single person on earth, how can you say these things don't happen? I myself haven't witnessed these things, but I know others who have.

See my above post to SuperKat. Such events have never been reliably reported.

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Dude, you're not an amputee are you?(...) They go on with their life. Therefore, how do you know that they go around praying to re-grow their limbs?

No, I'm not. This example is just one of the easiest ones to use as an argument for "God doesn't answer your prayers".

A lot of people do get on with their lives after losing a limb or two. I am, however, sure that there are plenty of christians who have lost limbs and as a result go sulking around all day about it, and praying for God to heal them.

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All of a sudden you became an expert on my life. How do you know if any of my prayers didn't come true or not?

I have made no statements about your life or your prayers, only about prayers in general. I stand by what I said: The probability of your prayer being fulfilled is identical to the probability of the same thing happening without prayer. With a random distribution of events, there will be people whose prayers get answered at the usual rate. There will also be people whose prayers get answered less often than the usual rate(they are the ones God is testing, I suppose). And then there are the people whose prayers get answered very often or all of the time(by chance, of course). I suppose you are one of them. These people will probably have a very strong, unfaltering faith resulting from their prayers "being answered".

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Have you been around the world and everywhere around the world? How do you know that there are not physically impossible miracles that happen when someone prayed to God. I don't even know if there are or aren't, in recent news at least. What are you praying for anyway?

I have not been everywhere in the world. Even if I had been, I couldn't have been all over the world at the same time, thus missing many events.

I know that the mainstream media isn't screaming about such occurrences. In fact, I'm having trouble remembering any descriptions of events in the media that would classify as a true miracle(something impossible happening). If such things were happening, they would be widely publicized.

You must've missed the bits where I said I don't believe in God or any other supernatural beings*). As such, I do not pray.

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*) Freefall gremlins are not supernatural. They're real. I swear everytime I funneled that formation it was those pesky gremlins that stole my air.

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In any case, this isn't to say that there are no miracles, that people don't regain their sight. Check this out:

Depends on your definition of a miracle. Restoring people's eyesight with stem-cell surgery, impressive. However, in my book, not a miracle. When I see(or am reliably informed of) something physically impossible happening after somebody prayed for it, I'll re-think my position. Not before.

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I keep hearing arguments, but nothing that outweighs the killing of the unborn baby.

Try again since you didn't answer last time.

What's your answer to pregancy by rape? Make sure your answer does not in any way further infringe on the right of the woman to live her life as she sees fit.

He wont. He's already stated that he wont speculate what to do in case his 12-year old daughter got pregnant as a result of rape; I doubt he'll do the same for a more general case.

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Furthermore, who are you to say people can't change? I know of men who used to rob banks--do they still do it now? No! I am sure there are men who have raped women--are they not capable of change?

Sexual offenders are very, very often repeat offenders. I don't believe they are capable of change.

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Yeah, I avoid abortion debates like the plague, but I've been wanting to jump into the South Dakota thread just to say "Look out, here comes an S!"

I just took care of that for you

Right. The next time I need help with an English issue I wont even try to find a professor or a teacher.

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Now, you're definitely not on the right track, my friend. God is not a magician. He's not a dog either. He doesn't listen to your commands or demands. He listens to your prayers. And there's a reason why certain things happen to people which may be well beyond our own understanding.

Ah, the "It's God's plan" idea.

It fits God's plan to never answer any prayer where the fullfilment of that prayer would prove His existence. Amputees never re-grow limbs. Probabilities are never altered. The occurrence of prayers-come-true is exactly the same rate as the random probability of the same thing happening.

"God answers my prayers" is a very powerful self-delusion that's cooked from only remembering those prayers that "were answered" and dismissing unanswered prayers with "God's plan".

God does not answer any prayer where the outcome would be physically impossible without divine intervention.

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I'll bet that most of the atheists here when faced with a situation that is going to maybe result in their death will be thinking something like "oh God no!"

Well, I seem to get this hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach, and this thought in my head "Oh shit, is this it then?". I have never been certain that I'm going to die though, but I've been scared good and proper once or twice.

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I certainly would rather be what I am (Christian) and wrong than to not be a Christain and wrong at the end.

Can you do that? I mean believing in God just in case. "Oh, I'll believe in God because it's better to be wrong about that than not to believe and risk eternal damnation after death"-sort of thing? Are there people like that out there?

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On the life of rubber bands, ... I found that Mil-Spec rubber bands last a minimum of two years in the harsh Southern California desert (hot, dry, dusty).

Ok, that's reassuring. Is that 2 years shelf life or two years in a reserve packjob? I'm pretty sure no rubber band would last two years on a main...

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Since locking stows are the highest wear item and they are replaced by the least qualified staff members, it makes sense to replace them with the most popular size of rubber band.

Because packers would use the smaller rubber bands anyway? I can't fully agree with that; While idiot-proofing systems is generally a good idea, I think a packer who can't remember to use a tandem rubber band on a tandem bag needs some additional education.

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I think that all of the people that have been hurt or killed with the present bags would disagree.

By the bags, or by the mis-use of the bags? We have seen that the current designs work well when properly packed, and we've also seen that they can fail spectacularly when improperly packed.

Do you think the Speedbag is more difficult to pack incorrectly?

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Based on that we should never design or test anything new because it has not been tested as much as what is already in use.

No, based on that we should never design or test anything new to replace current designs that work well. Of course, "well enough" is rather subjective, and that's what drives the designers to design new stuff.

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“Regularly” I would agree with, but if it reduces the irregular times that people are getting hurt then it is a good thing.

But if it introduces a whole new set of problems, is it worth it? I don't think the Speedbag has been in use for long enough for us to make that judgment yet.

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So then the worst case scenario that you can come up with is that the rubber bands will break on deployment and your reserve will work? And this is a bad thing?

Well, if it results in the bag strip("line dump") the Speedbag was designed to avoid, it's a bit pointless, isn't it?

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It is a funny thing about prejudice, it never shows much reason. Do you say the same thing about all of the hundreds of thousands of pilot emergency rigs out there?

I haven't packed that many pilot rigs. Are there designs that use all the rubber bands as locking stows? The ones I've seen only had one or two locking stows and the rest of the lines were stowed like on a main.

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Just because you could not pack it does not make it a bad thing. And since you took the time to go online here to slam it did you take the same time to go online to get the packing instructions?

The packjob with the Speedbag I did months ago. I didn't have Internet access handy at the time.

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I find it interesting that while some people are working hard to get rid of all rubber bands(the stowless bag designs), there are others trying to introduce rubber bands in places where they aren't used at the moment.

Now this is really confusing as virtually all pilot emergency rigs and the latest most advanced military high speed deployment system uses rubber bands instead of stow bands or flutes and for good reason.

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When saying "in places where they aren't used at the moment" I meant sport reserves.

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Well, since the latest designs that are coming out are already eliminating grommets I guess that theory is blown and it didn’t even take 10-15 years!

Which ones? Are there many new reserve bag designs that eliminate the grommets or the safety stow(apart from the Speedbag, of course)? Are there many new main bag designs that eliminate the grommets or the rubberbands(apart from the current "stowless bag" designs that are not available to the general public yet)? Do note that I said "most new systems".

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What the heck do you think is inside a bungee to make it stretchy? elf snot?

Some kind of rubbery substance, I find. It's not the same stuff than mil-spec rubber bands though.

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Q:How long does a bungee stay with a freebag?
A: long after the elastic inside has broken.

Not when I'm packing. It is quite easy to inspect a safety stow and see if there are any broken strands inside. If there are, it's a sign that the rest are about to go, and it's time for a new safety stow. You can't pack a reserve with a broken safety stow and expect the bag to stay closed until it needs to open.

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The feeling is you are more likely to get a bag lock from a loop that fails than a loop that snaps. That feeling is one of the thing that led to the speedbag.

I don't follow. Are you saying that a safety stow with broken inside strands could cause a bag lock? How?

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I'm really sorry you have problems packing it but maybe you should take the time to get educated instead of throwing up your hands and crying "Racers suck".

Oh, I threw up my hands and said "Racers suck" long before I saw a Speedbag. I'll still try and pack one if I'm given enough money, but not one with a speedbag until I've received some hands-on instruction on how to pack them.

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May I request a more elaborate explanation?

Why yes, yes you may!

I believe that both the freebag with the safety stow and the main bag with grommets and rubber bands have a very impressive track record. They work quite well enough for their respective applications; there are no glaring problems with main or reserve deployments that are screaming "Fix me!". Because of this, I believe that the current most popular designs will continue to be the most popular designs well into the future.

If it's not broken, the market doesn't want it fixed, even if riggers and engineers would be delighted to be fixing it until it's broken. I should know, I'm working on the third version of my main bag. The previous two worked just fine, so some fixing seemed to be necessary.

I don't get it.

I think it's trying to fix something that isn't broken. Regardless of the amount of test jumps done on it, the regular freebag design has been field tested much more. People aren't regularly getting hurt because of reserve line dumps, and if they are it's most likely because the safety stow was too loose or too worn out.

The main thing is the rubber bands. They perish. No matter how much people try to convince me that Mil-spec rubber bands will be just fine for 6 months in any conditions, I'm not buying it. And sooner or later someone will pack a Speed Bag with non Mil-spec bands. And pencil pack it a few times. Both real world situations, no matter how un-acceptable, would be non-issues with a regular safety stow.

The first thing I thought when I saw a Speed Bag for the first time was "Why would you want all those possibilities for a bag lock in a reserve?". I couldn't even pack it. It was a tandem rig, and the Racer manual didn't even mention the speedbag. No-one around knew how to pack it. Luckily I had a regular tandem freebag handy, so I just swapped the bags.

I find it interesting that while some people are working hard to get rid of all rubber bands(the stowless bag designs), there are others trying to introduce rubber bands in places where they aren't used at the moment.

Regardless of either of them, I'm willing to bet that in 10-15 years most new rigs will still have a safety stow on the reserve and 4 grommets and some bungees on the main...

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Religion is man made, my friend. Born again Christians don't have a religion. We have what you call "A relationship with Christ through our hearts."

Semantics. My OED defines religion as:
religion
noun
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods

Christianity is a religion among many others. I'm not going to engage in a debate over A relationship with Christ through ones heart. Much too wordy for me.

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If you only knew the power of prayer, my friend. God answers all prayers. You'd be amazed at how he answers our prayers. I have some stories to tell you.

Do you have one where someone who lost his legs got them back by praying to god? He may answer all prayers, but most often the answer is "Nahh, not today, sorry".

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When do you think abortion should be allowed?

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Before 10 weeks, during the first trimester, before substantial brain activity. Around that time.

And even later if the life of the mother is in danger or if the fetus has a 0% chance of survival.

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I think in this case, it will cause women to go to another state for an abortion than to seek out a rusty coat hanger in her home state.

I hope that's the case. Of course, is the people who banned abortion in South Dakota had their way, abortions would be banned in the whole country.

What's the maximum distance that anyone needs to travel to get a legal abortion in the US? Are there other states besides SD where abortion is illegal?

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My objection to the OP and to you is the inference that back alley abortions were the ONLY option. I acknowledge this MAY cause more back alley abortions, but it's more likely these would be performed by a doctor who believes in reproductive rights, in a sterile setting.

By a doctor willing to break to law, that is. I wonder how many pro-choice doctors in SD will continue to perform abortions? Even if they do, will they take the risk of doing it at their office/clinic, or will they do them in motel rooms while trying to do "the best they can" with regard to sterility?

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It could just as easily be said that banning abortion would cause more adoptions, a greater awareness of the benefits of birth control, and abstinence.

More adoptions? I don't know, is there a shortage of babies to be adopted in SD? If there isn't, the abortion ban will just increase the number of children in orphanages. I guess many people will consider this a good thing, as opposed to killing unborn babies.

Awareness of the benefits of birth control and abstinence... maybe. But the attitudes that ban abortions tend to co-incide with the attitudes that also think that pre-marital sex and contraceptives are a bad thing. I wouldn't want to see those attitudes gaining any more foothold.

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You need a qualified pastor to answer this question.

Oh. Do we any that post in Speakers Corner?

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Why think about that? Why not think about the Love God has for you? Why not love strangers, help them, and care for them. Why should you hate or gossip? Why not be very forgiving? These are all good things my friend.

Thinking of the love God has for me doesn't really work for me, seeing as I don't believe in him existing. For all the other bits, I do agree. All good stuff. I try to be a good person, but I don't do it for fear of eternal damnation. I just think that it's what everyone should try to do.

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You're only thinking about the end result. What about the middle part?

For me, the middle part is all there is. The end is the end; no consolidation prizes for me. If I'm engaged in religious debate, it's only to understand the way religious people think.

And maybe trying to convert a few of them by use of logical arguments. So far no success.

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So... What makes a terrorist a freedom-fighter? If it's not the Wistful-Poetry, then what is it? Surely it's not the Potato-Eating... It CAN'T be The Bushmills - The Prods make that!

Maybe it has something to do with sheep?

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Why do you assume that's the only option?

In countries/states where abortion is legal, a woman has three choices:
1) Have the baby
2) Get an abortion at a clinic
3) Do the old coathanger trick

When abortion is banned, that leaves two options:
1) Have the baby
2) Get an abortion at a clinic
3) Do the old coathanger trick

And when having the baby is not a viable option for some reason, that leaves one option:
1) Have the baby
2) Get an abortion at a clinic
3) Do the old coathanger trick

Banning legal abortions will increase the number of back-alley abortions. This, in my book, is bad.

I wasn't expecting to, but I actually found some statistics. From Wikipedia:

Polygamy worldwide

According to the Ethnographic Atlas Codebook derived from George P. Murdock’s Ethnographic Atlas recorded the marital composition of 1231 societies, from 1960-1980. Of these societies, 186 societies were monogamous. 453 had occasional polygyny, 588 had more frequent polygyny, and 4 had polyandry.

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Jesus said, those that don't believe that he is their Lord and Savior will answer to God and be judged. Those that welcome him with all their heart as their Lord and Savior will live in heaven for all eternity.

So even when I didn't believe in Jesus while I was alive, I still get a fair judgement by God, and if he thinks "Yeah, ok, you did well enough" I still get to go to heaven?

Or am I completely off here and "judged by God" means judging of the old-school way with lots of smiting and furious anger?

But if a believer demands that I, as a nonbeliever, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission.

Right. I'll try again. Back on track.

No believer can force me to observe his taboos in the public domain, apart from those taboos defined in the law. The editors of the Danish newspaper did not break any laws, but the muslims still demand that no pictures of Mohammed are published(or even made, I suppose).

Any believer can expect me*) to observe his taboos in the public domain, as long as there is a law that requires me to do so.

Any believer may ask me to observe his taboos in the public domain, and if such a request is reasonable, I'm likely to agree. Burning down embassies wont help his case.

(edit to add:)

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Canada and the US are founded on Christian principles, with christian based mores to guide society. As a non-believer, or different believer am I not forced to submit to that?

You are forced to submit to the local laws, not religious taboos. The laws and taboos may overlap, but it's the law that you're forced to submit to. What happened in Denmark was quite legal in that country.

--

*)"Me" here refers to some fictional entity. No conclusions of my law-abidingness should be made from the above statement.

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polygamy

I'll give you that one.

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nudity

This is not an exclusively christian taboo. People tend to wear clothes in most parts of the world regardless of their religion.

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gay marriage

Seeing as marriage is a christian term*), christians can do whatever they please with marriage. "Registration of a relationship"("secular marriage", if you insist) is possible for straight and gay couples in many parts of the world these days. Hardly a taboo. If a christian church says that there isn't and can not be such a thing as "gay marriage"... well, it's their religion, they can keep it.

*) Marriage, as in in a church, with a priest, in front of this congregation and all that. I don't want to get into semantics about this(unless someone really wants me to), but if there is a possibility for a straight couple to get a married by a civil servant, and a similar possibility for a gay couple to "get their relationship officially registered" it's more or less all the same to me. As long as the legal benefits are the same.

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So we're looking for an American, working for an American Intelligence agency, without a partner. It really HAS to be Maxwell Smart in "Get Smart".

It's been a while since I've seen any episodes of the fine series, but didn't Maxwell have Agent 99 to help him out most of the time?

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Doesn't this happen in pretty much all countries though? Canada and the US are founded on Christian principles, with christian based mores to guide society. As a non-believer, or different believer am I not forced to submit to that?

(Now, I agree with him in light of what happened in specific to the issue of the cartoons. But I think the sentence in general is just to easy.)

Can you mention an example of such a taboo? A taboo that would be imposed on my atheist self by the christian society?