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The wire that transforms much of Manhattan into one big, symbolic home (2017)

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Re: The wire that transforms much of Manhattan into one big, symbolic home (2017)

#251

Post by gizmo686 »

buran77 wrote: post #155
WJW wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He isn't, of course. According to Jewish thought, God is perfect and therefore any loopholes in the rules were put there on purpose. If you have studied the holy texts deeply enough to find the loophole, that makes you more holy, not less. It's like an easter egg for true believers. The true sinners are those who think that they know what God wants better than what He actually passed down as commandments. God knows w…

> any loopholes in the rules were put there on purpose > The true sinners are those who think that they know what God wants better than what He actually passed down as commandments. God knows what He wants and wrote it down exactly like that. So it's just man who decides "this is a loophole and God wants me to use it". Man decides what God really wants. Man who not only looks for ways around God's word but he also cl…

> Rabbi Eliezer then said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, Heaven will prove it. A Divine Voice emerged from Heaven and said: Why are you differing with Rabbi Eliezer, as the halakha is in accordance with his opinion in every place that he expresses an opinion? Rabbi Yehoshua stood on his feet and said: It is written: “It is not in heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12). The Gemara asks: What is the relevance of the phrase “It is not in heaven” in this context? Rabbi Yirmeya says: Since the Torah was already given at Mount Sinai, we do not regard a Divine Voice, as You already wrote at Mount Sinai, in the Torah: “After a majority to incline” (Exodus 23:2). Since the majority of Rabbis disagreed with Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion, the halakha is not ruled in accordance with his opinion. The Gemara relates: Years after, Rabbi Natan encountered Elijah the prophet and said to him: What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do at that time, when Rabbi Yehoshua issued his declaration? Elijah said to him: The Holy One, Blessed be He, smiled and said: My children have triumphed over Me; My children have triumphed over Me.

- Bava Metziah 59b

https://link.chabad.org/torah-texts/5455793/The-Talmud/Bava-...

Re: The wire that transforms much of Manhattan into one big, symbolic home (2017)

#252

Post by adrianN »

msgodel wrote: post #144
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buttons in pedestrian traffic lights are far from universal, my country is not Jewish and pedestrian lights without a button are very common. Actually I dislike those with buttons. They send the message that cars passing and pedestrians stopping is the "default", and ensure that a lone pedestrian always has to stop, regardless of luck, while establishing the ritual that pedestrians need to "beg" for being allowed to…

Cars have much more inertia and often more traffic than pedestrians, it makes sense to give them right of way and reduce the ambiguity with traffic control devices in most places.

If you take sidewalks away completely and turn everything into a big highway you’ll have even less pedestrian traffic. That doesn’t make it good policy.

Re: The wire that transforms much of Manhattan into one big, symbolic home (2017)

#253

Post by lo_zamoyski »

system33- wrote: post #193
lo_zamoyski wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the word of God has obvious contradictions and inconsistencies Such as?

https://www.bartehrman.com/contradictions-in-the-bible/

It is easy to manufacture contradictions by prooftexting. It isn't difficult to read in a favored hypothesis that contains contradictions, but that is by no means demanded by the text. Many can be resolved by recognizing that the same thing was being described from two different perspectives or with a focus on different aspects.

The quintessential example is perhaps #3 which purports that the two accounts of creation are contradictory. But there are a number of ways to interpret Genesis [0] that doesn't result in contradiction while maintaining the theological truths that are the purpose of biblical texts. The Bible isn't a scientific treatise.

Another typical class of examples are the purported inconsistencies within the Gospels themselves [1].

An article on inerrancy you might find interesting [2].

[0] https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/are-there-co...

[1] https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/how-to-reso...

[2] https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/is-scripture...

Re: The wire that transforms much of Manhattan into one big, symbolic home (2017)

#254

Post by david-gpu »

RankingMember wrote: post #250
asenchi wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is answered throughout scriptures. The problem of sin is human's rejection of the goodness of God. We love ourselves more than we love him and in that rejection regularly advantage ourselves at the disadvantage of those around us. In order to solve the problem, we would have to be wiped out. But in the wisdom and goodness of God he planned a way from the beginning to solve our transgressions. God created all thi…

> Out of love he did these things, fully knowing that humans were capable of turning away from God. Out of love, God gave us the option to do things against him and be eternally damned?

No, no. He didn't give us any option. God is all-powerful and all-knowing, so he made us knowing that we would break his rules and thus knowing that he would later punish us for eternity for breaking them. The notion of free will is in complete contradiction with an all-knowing all-powerful agent that sets things in motion. And the fact that God still punishes us even though we never had a choice is proof that it's not benevolent.

So: all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving. Pick two.

Re: The wire that transforms much of Manhattan into one big, symbolic home (2017)

#255

Post by lo_zamoyski »

Y_Y wrote: post #241
lo_zamoyski wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adversarially? That doesn't sound especially compatible with the sacrament. Sacraments are generally freely received. In any case, you can't baptize an adult against his will. In extreme situations, when a person is in, say, a coma, there can be a presumption of consent, but as I understand it, if the person in question was totally hardened against the very possibility of baptism, then the presumption would prove fal…

Ok, then maybe I'll restrict my wanton baptising to children and babies. It's a pity the LDS church got there first on baptising the dead. Maybe there's some scope for baptising the unborn though.

FWIW, the LDS isn't really Christian. The theological differences are just too vast. Indeed, AFAIK, while the Catholic Church recognizes the baptism of many Protestant sects, it does not recognize the validity of LDS baptism. So a convert to Catholicism from the LDS must be baptized as part of his conversion.

W.r.t. your first question [0].

[0] https://www.catholic.com/tract/infant-baptism

Re: The wire that transforms much of Manhattan into one big, symbolic home (2017)

#256

Post by hersko »

throwneawayx255 wrote: post #23
pclmulqdq wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Jewish tradition, nobody is tricking God. There's a long history of legalism in the religion - God sets out his commandments in language and you take that language at face value. Exact interpretation of that text is then debated by religious scholars, but the meaning of the words is entirely contained in the text. For Christians and those raised in the Christian tradition, this is entirely foreign. The rules a…

I am not sure one could argue that playing semantics is the most honest conduct in understanding. Only the most extremist of Muslims, the Salafi, take the Jewish legalistic idea, majority of other traditions in Islam lean towards Tafsir that squarely leans on “spirit of the law” than strictly the word.

I'f argue the opposite. “spirit of the law” does not work with actual law though. Imagine trying to run a legal system off “spirit of the law”. It would never work. Semantics is the only honest way to interpret the law.

Re: The wire that transforms much of Manhattan into one big, symbolic home (2017)

#258

Post by z500 »

UltraSane wrote: post #72

I love how Orthodox Jews can't change any of their laws BUT they can and do change the definition of words to such an extent it accomplishes the same thing, such as changing eruv from meaning wall to wire.

From what I understand, they believe God intended that to be part of the fun.

Re: The wire that transforms much of Manhattan into one big, symbolic home (2017)

#259

Post by [deleted] »

haiku2077 wrote: post #218
FrustratedMonky wrote: post #212

couldn't they hook up some kind of low voltage or resistance check to confirm continuity. instead of a visual inspection. and This is pretty crazy loop hole.

Would that make it invite a lot from scrutiny from the city and power company? An inert wire, they can look the other way. A live wire is a potential fire hazard and source of EM interference for utilities.

[deleted]

Re: The wire that transforms much of Manhattan into one big, symbolic home (2017)

#260

Post by asenchi »

RankingMember wrote: post #250
asenchi wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is answered throughout scriptures. The problem of sin is human's rejection of the goodness of God. We love ourselves more than we love him and in that rejection regularly advantage ourselves at the disadvantage of those around us. In order to solve the problem, we would have to be wiped out. But in the wisdom and goodness of God he planned a way from the beginning to solve our transgressions. God created all thi…

> Out of love he did these things, fully knowing that humans were capable of turning away from God. Out of love, God gave us the option to do things against him and be eternally damned?

Yes, out of love he gave us the agency and dignity to choose not to be in a love relationship with him. Faith in Jesus Christ and the arrival of the Kingdom of God to set things right provides us a means to enter into a relationship with him in a fallen, sinful world. To be adopted into his family and inherit new creation. This means he also dignifies those who choose not to love him to separate themselves from his presence for all eternity. In which case then they become less human.

In our culture it is easy to think of this in terms of Dante's "Inferno", but that is a poem from the Middle Ages, and not in fact what the Bible tells us eternal separation from God looks like. Anyways, there is a lot of context to cover that isn't possible here. If you'd like to understand all of this better, go to the Bible, but then also perhaps consider "The Prodigal God" by Tim Keller. Blessings.

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