RIP Stephen Hawking

[Bob Koehler]

A man who demonstrated what a physical handicap did _not_ mean.

[IanD]

Hawking had a way of not forgetting the value of humor and used it wisely in his communications

The other great scientist who remembered this fact of being human and having a laugh on life's journey was my favorite scientist of all, Richard Feynman, another extraordinary man

Farewell Master Hawking...

[dcecu...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 10:05:54 AM UTC-4, Bob Koehler wrote:
> A man who demonstrated what a physical handicap did _not_ mean.

he made fun of God and christians. He was an atheist. He is probably in hell right now recalculating some of his beliefs.

[Steven Schweda]

> [...] He is probably in hell right now recalculating some of his
> beliefs.

Please let us know when you can prove that, instead of merely
guessing at its probability.

"Heaven for climate, Hell for society," I always say.

[Bob Koehler]

I never heard him state anything but respect for believers.

But in any case, he and I disagree with your sentiment.

[Jan-Erik Söderholm]

How could he be, as an atheist? Hell (as something you might end up after
death) only exists in the minds of those who for some reason believes in
such stuff. I think they should focus more on those that happens to live
in a hell in this life…

[Bill Gunshannon]

Pascal's Wager.

bill

[Jan-Erik Söderholm]

That has more to do about basic beliefs. Anyway, stating that someone
would end up in "hell", just becuse one do not belive that there is
any "hell", is quite fun in itself...

[DaveFroble]

for this perspective, there are 3 catagories:

Belivers (without any proof)
Deniers (without any proof)
Truthful(They know there is no proof, so don't have an opinion)

The first group usually doesn't do harm, but in some parts of the planet do harm.

The third group does no harm.

Now, the second group, that's just plain stupid. No advantage to being correct.
Possible great disadvantage to being wrong. So, why be in this group?

But, to get back to your claim, assume there is a merciful god. I'll assume
that you'll agree with "merciful"? Don't you think such a god would reserve
confinement to hell for those who truly deserve it, and not for those who have
done no great harm? Think about it. And if there is such a merciful god, I'd
hope that it would not reflect the attitude of haters such as yourself.

Is this Bob spamming c.o.v again?

--
David Froble Tel: 724-529-0450
Dave Froble Enterprises, Inc. E-Mail: da...@tsoft-inc.com
DFE Ultralights, Inc.
170 Grimplin Road
Vanderbilt, PA 15486

[Jan-Erik Söderholm]

Den 2018-03-20 kl. 01:35, skrev DaveFroble:
> dcecu...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 10:05:54 AM UTC-4, Bob Koehler wrote:
>>> A man who demonstrated what a physical handicap did _not_ mean.
>>
>> he made fun of God and christians. He was an atheist. He is probably in
>> hell right now recalculating some of his beliefs.
>
> for this perspective, there are 3 catagories:
>
> Belivers (without any proof)
> Deniers (without any proof)
> Truthful(They know there is no proof, so don't have an opinion)
>
> The first group usually doesn't do harm, but in some parts of the planet do
> harm.
>
> The third group does no harm.
>
> Now, the second group, that's just plain stupid.  No advantage to being
> correct.    Possible great disadvantage to being wrong.

What would that harm be? Now, *IF* there is a such thing as heaven
and hell, you would end up there anyway, doesn’t matter what you
believe or not. Or is there some third place for those others?

But, the whole idea is absurd anyway. A nice story, but that’s it.

> So, why be in this group?
>
> But, to get back to your claim, assume there is a merciful god.

To assume that, you also need to assume that there are 1000s of
gods out there. Why pick just one of them?

[DaveFroble]

Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Den 2018-03-20 kl. 01:35, skrev DaveFroble:
>> dcecu...@gmail.com wrote:
>>> On Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 10:05:54 AM UTC-4, Bob Koehler wrote:
>>>> A man who demonstrated what a physical handicap did _not_ mean.
>>>
>>> he made fun of God and christians. He was an atheist. He is probably
>>> in hell right now recalculating some of his beliefs.
>>
>> for this perspective, there are 3 catagories:
>>
>> Belivers (without any proof)
>> Deniers (without any proof)
>> Truthful(They know there is no proof, so don't have an opinion)
>>
>> The first group usually doesn't do harm, but in some parts of the
>> planet do harm.
>>
>> The third group does no harm.
>>
>> Now, the second group, that's just plain stupid. No advantage to
>> being correct. Possible great disadvantage to being wrong.
>
> What would that harm be? Now, *IF* there is a such thing as heaven
> and hell, you would end up there anyway, doesn’t matter what you
> believe or not. Or is there some third place for those others?
>
> But, the whole idea is absurd anyway. A nice story, but that’s it.

I cannot say yea or nae ...

>> So, why be in this group?
>>
>> But, to get back to your claim, assume there is a merciful god.

Darn it Jan Erik, you chopped out the best part ...

> To assume that, you also need to assume that there are 1000s of
> gods out there. Why pick just one of them?
>

I don't know, no proof for or against, so I don't make unfounded claims.

But who knows, perhaps there are 1000s of them. Can't say either way.

:-)

[Steven Schweda]

> Truthful(They know there is no proof, so don't have an opinion)

My claim: I have a bug-free version of Info-ZIP UnZip
here.

You can't prove that I'm wrong, but, I claim, you'd be a
fool to believe that I'm right.

Evidence is less than Proof, but it's not worthless.
Opinions can be justified by less than Proof. But, some of
us require more than whimsy.

Perhaps this year Father Xmas or the Easter Bunny will
deliver us all a comp.os.vms with less foolish nonsense. I
won't be holding my breath. Let the silly, off-topic debates
continue. (Stopping them certainly seems impossible. Like
rational arguments with irrational opponents.)

[Neil Rieck]

Some kick around the colloquial definition of atheist to mean "doesn't believe in god" but what they really mean is "doesn't believe in their religion with all the baggage". (BTW, this is how we ended up with ~ 400 christian sects). So did Hawking believe in god? I numerous occasions I heard him say things like this recent quote:

"I believe the universe is governed by the laws of science,” he said. "The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws."

This is also the view of Deists who believe in the concept of god as a "prime mover" but not a god that answers prayers. Yanks should check out Deism, and the enlightenment, were the beliefs held by the majority of the founding fathers of the United States.

http://www.deism.com/deistamerica.htm

The same thing happened with Einstein BTW. On his first visit to America, reporters asked him the god question, didn't understand his answer, then reported "smartest man doesn't believe in god". This triggered a huge backlash which got back to Einstein via the universities who were hosting his visits. On his next visit to America, a better prepared Einstein answered the reporters questions about god like this: "I believe in the god of Spinoza". Most people didn't know who Spinoza was but were satisfied that god was in the answer and left it at that. So check out this article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza

Neil Rieck
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
http://neilrieck.net

[IanD]

Thanks Neil for that link to Spinoza

I'd never heard of him but read most of the wiki, very interesting

So I assume then that, to paraphrase Einstein,

"God does not play dice with OpenVMS's" (but leaves it to VSI)

No one wants to speculate on first boot?

I see Hawking's last theory included parallel universes and how to test for them (I just skimmed an article on it)

I wonder then if there might eventually be a way to hook up quantum (or even classical) computers across parallel universes in an ultimate computational machine?
Para-OpenVMS perhaps?

[John Reagan]

On Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at 2:20:11 PM UTC-4, IanD wrote:

>
> No one wants to speculate on first boot?
>

I'm certainly in position to delay it :)

I will say it won't be today as I'm currently messing with ASHL/ASHQ/ROTL instructions and lamenting to co-workers about the x86 shift/rotate instructions and having a dependency on the %cl register for non-literal shift counts. (Yes, I know about the "X" versions in the BMI2 instruction set extension for Intel, but not AMD)

[Bob Koehler]

In article <8162762d-35a3-465e...@googlegroups.com>, IanD <iloveo...@gmail.com> writes:
> Thanks Neil fire that link to Spinoza

>
> I'd never heard of him but read most of the wiki, very interesting
>
> So I assume then that, to paraphrase Einstein,
>
> "God does not play dice with OpenVMS's" (but leaves it to VSI)
>

> No one wants to speculate on first boot?
>

> I see Hawking's last theory included parallel universes and how to test for them? (I just skimmed an article on it)

>
> I wonder then if there might eventually be a way to hook up quantum (or even classical) computers across parallel universes in an ultimate computational machine? Para-OpenVMS perhaps?

Turns out our universe is made up of threads of clusters of galaxies.

VMS already has Clusters and Galaxies. Next: Universes? Talk about
distributing your lock manager!

[Chris]

Absolutely. The way I see it is that heaven and hell are not some
mythical afterlife, but what we make for ourselves in this world...

Regards,

Chris

[DaveFroble]

Ayep!

Heaven is flying in my ultralight aircraft.

Hell is when the engine quits at the worst time.

[Neil Rieck]

On Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at 2:20:11 PM UTC-4, IanD wrote:

I doubt you will see "production" quantum computers anytime soon in the workplace. Every time I see one at the "Institute for Quantum Computing" in Waterloo...

https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Quantum_Computing

...they are always in front of a very large container (>= 2 meters) of liquid nitrogen. But quantum communication channels for computers appear to be just around the corner (at least for banks, insurance companies, and Google)

[ultr...@gmail.com]

oh hell is very real. Jesus warned about it more than anything else in the bible.

[ultr...@gmail.com]

there is plenty of proof, but you choose to ignore it.

First go to the coliseum in Rome. There are plenty of dead
christians who were executed or mauled by lions. They were not
all crazy. All they had to do is deny Jesus and they would not.

Include all of the apostles as they except for John were martyred.

Then include the over 500 witnesses in the bible who saw the risen Jesus.

Jesus has been confirmed by the jewish historian Josephus and other roman
historians.

Then go to youtube and search for "the real mount sinai".

There happens to be a mountain in Saudi Arabia known to the bedouins
as Jebel al lawz. It has a burnt mountain peak, an altar with 12
golden calves engraved on it, a 40 foot split rock with a water eroded
base in a desert that get .5 inches of rain every 10 years. It also
contains acacia trees, and an altar at the foot of the mountain with
burnt ash. Only hebrews burn offerings. Their are 12 pillars around the altar
just like the bible says Moses built. There is also a cave in the tiwn Al Bad
that has writings of Moses in it. Plus much more. Here is one of many links
from an oil engineer and his family who were the only ones to film it.

God has put the proof there. He will not force himself on you. You have to want
to find it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICBv1760hTQ

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 3/22/2018 7:28 AM, Neil Rieck wrote:
> I doubt you will see "production" quantum computers anytime soon in
> the workplace. Every time I see one at the "Institute for Quantum
> Computing" in Waterloo...
>
> https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Quantum_Computing
>
> ...they are always in front of a very large container (>= 2 meters)
> of liquid nitrogen. But quantum communication channels for computers
> appear to be just around the corner (at least for banks, insurance
> companies, and Google)

I believe IBM offer quantum computing as a cloud service.

Arne

[DaveFroble]

ultr...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Monday, March 19, 2018 at 1:45:01 PM UTC-4, Steven Schweda wrote:
>>> [...] He is probably in hell right now recalculating some of his
>>> beliefs.
>> Please let us know when you can prove that, instead of merely
>> guessing at its probability.
>>
>> "Heaven for climate, Hell for society," I always say.
>
> there is plenty of proof, but you choose to ignore it.

There is no actual proof, but you choose to ignore that fact.

> First go to the coliseum in Rome. There are plenty of dead
> christians who were executed or mauled by lions. They were not
> all crazy. All they had to do is deny Jesus and they would not.

Crazy? Perhaps not. Persecuted? Most definitely. But all the work of men.

> Include all of the apostles as they except for John were martyred.

And? Lots of that going around in the past.

> Then include the over 500 witnesses in the bible who saw the risen Jesus.

You got depositions from each one, that can be proven factual? Then again, it's
been shown over and over that the testimony of eye witnesses has in fact not
been all that accurate. This is demonstrable now, today.

Bible? I do believe that every single one has been printed by some publishing
house. You got one that wasn't?

> Jesus has been confirmed by the jewish historian Josephus and other roman
> historians.

And? Do you believe that every historian has always been 100% accurate?

> Then go to youtube and search for "the real mount sinai".

Oh, youtube is now the official custodian of the history of the world?

> There happens to be a mountain in Saudi Arabia known to the bedouins
> as Jebel al lawz. It has a burnt mountain peak, an altar with 12
> golden calves engraved on it, a 40 foot split rock with a water eroded
> base in a desert that get .5 inches of rain every 10 years. It also
> contains acacia trees, and an altar at the foot of the mountain with
> burnt ash. Only hebrews burn offerings. Their are 12 pillars around the altar
> just like the bible says Moses built. There is also a cave in the tiwn Al Bad
> that has writings of Moses in it. Plus much more. Here is one of many links
> from an oil engineer and his family who were the only ones to film it.

This planet, and perhaps others, has mountains, caves, and such. So what?

> God has put the proof there. He will not force himself on you. You have to want
> to find it.

Perhaps, and perhaps you're finding things that actually don't exist?

Just because you want something Bob, doesn't make it so. Though, it would be
nice if you came out with a bit more substance, and perhaps a bit less hype.
That's something I might want, but I doubt I'll get it.

[VAXman-]

https://thelittle.org/sites/default/files/imges/film/i-am-not-the-messiah-im-a-very-naughty-boy.jpg

--
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG

I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.

[Jan-Erik Söderholm]

Den 2018-03-22 kl. 19:01, skrev ultr...@gmail.com:
> On Monday, March 19, 2018 at 1:45:01 PM UTC-4, Steven Schweda wrote:
>>> [...] He is probably in hell right now recalculating some of his
>>> beliefs.
>>
>> Please let us know when you can prove that, instead of merely
>> guessing at its probability.
>>
>> "Heaven for climate, Hell for society," I always say.
>
> there is plenty of proof, but you choose to ignore it.
>

Yea, right. There are other (and older) books that other people believes
in, that has no concept of any hell or heaven. More like Nirvana or some
other, thought up, construct. If anything of this actually was real,
there would not be any need for the alternative thoughts, of course.

Mankind has always tried to get explanations to many things around why
we are here and where we are heading. Around 2000 years ago it become
possible to save these thoughts for the future to read. So it was just
a coincident that the thoughts from around that time happened to be
saved and to get followers today. One could think that people of today
would be smarter than that, but some obviously still needs these made
up explanations. Like telling kids about the tooth fairy.

The rest is just too silly to comment...

[VAXman-]

What about the tooth fairy?

[MG]

Op 22-mrt-2018 om 21:29 schreef Jan-Erik Söderholm:

> One could think that people of today would be smarter than
> that, but some obviously still needs these made up explanations.

Isn't religion on the rise in Sweden? I remember reading
or hearing about that.

- MG

[Jan-Erik Söderholm]

Not in general, but of course we have got a lot of refugees
lately that usually comes from a bit more religious countries
than the current Sweden. I guess it says something why they
had to flee also…

> What about the tooth fairy?

Maybe I should not hurt you by telling that she doesn’t exist.

[MG]

Op 23-mrt-2018 om 00:44 schreef Jan-Erik Söderholm:

> Not in general, but of course we have got a lot of refugees
> lately that usually comes from a bit more religious countries
> than the current Sweden. I guess it says something why they
> had to flee also…

How do you mean?

>> What about the tooth fairy?
>
> Maybe I should not hurt you by telling that she doesn’t exist.

That was VAXman who wrote that.

- MG

[Bill Gunshannon]

Excuse me. It's a he. Newton Snookers. And he's Chicken Man's
best friend.

bill

[Jan-Erik Söderholm]

Den 2018-03-23 kl. 01:01, skrev MG:
> Op 23-mrt-2018 om 00:44 schreef Jan-Erik Söderholm:
>> Not in general, but of course we have got a lot of refugees
>> lately that usually comes from a bit more religious countries
>> than the current Sweden. I guess it says something why they
>> had to flee also…
> How do you mean?
>

I mean that whenever there is trouble, religion is usually
part of it.

>
>>> What about the tooth fairy?
>>
>> Maybe I should not hurt you by telling that she doesn’t exist.
>
> That was VAXman who wrote that.
>

Yep, sorry. I thought I'd save a post from the list... :-)
Should have a put an extra line there.


> - MG
>

[DaveFroble]

What are you saying? Of course there is a tooth fairy? I got my nickels and
dimes for the teeth I put under my pillow. You've gone too far this time.

:-)

[DaveFroble]

Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Den 2018-03-23 kl. 01:01, skrev MG:
>> Op 23-mrt-2018 om 00:44 schreef Jan-Erik Söderholm:
>>> Not in general, but of course we have got a lot of refugees
>>> lately that usually comes from a bit more religious countries
>>> than the current Sweden. I guess it says something why they
>>> had to flee also…
>> How do you mean?
>>
>
> I mean that whenever there is trouble, religion is usually
> part of it.

Worst thing that ever happened to the human race, and, we did it to ourselves.

[MG]

Op 23-mrt-2018 om 01:05 schreef Jan-Erik Söderholm:

> I mean that whenever there is trouble, religion is usually
> part of it.

But why would they retain and bring their religion with
them to Sweden, if they fled from it?

- MG

[Jan-Erik Söderholm]

They fled from another religion (or variant of their own).
Yes, they bring it with them now, but in 3-4 generations
it will be of less importance.

[VAXman-]

I knew that. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Faery and honest lawyers;
they all fictitious!

[Bob Koehler]

In article <00B2A57F...@SendSpamHere.ORG>, VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG writes:
>
> What about the tooth fairy?
>

The State of Massachusettes has recognized the religious rights of
ĀPastafarians. The New York Times and Hollywood have both recognized
the reality of Santa Claus.

But sadly, I think there is not yet a definitive statement on the
tooth fairy. Just large sums of money, in small collections, as
evidence.

[Bob Koehler]

Same reason generations brought them to the US. They didn't realize
they were fleeing thier religion, they thought they were just fleeing
the folks who seized control of it.

Intersting contrast to those who fled because their religion was
being attacked.

[Phillip Helbig (undress to reply)]

In article <fhb1sv...@mid.individual.net>, Bill Gunshannon
<bill.gu...@gmail.com> writes:

> On 03/19/2018 06:03 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> > Den 2018-03-19 kl. 17:26, skrev dcecu...@gmail.com:
> >> On Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 10:05:54 AM UTC-4, Bob Koehler wrote:
> >>> A man who demonstrated what a physical handicap did _not_ mean.
> >>

> >> he made fun of God and christians. He was an atheist. He is probably in

> >> hell right now recalculating some of his beliefs.
> >

> > How could he be, as an atheist? Hell (as something you might end up after
> > death) only exists in the minds of those who for some reason believes in
> > such stuff. I think they should focus more on those that happens to live

> > in a hell in this life.

Yes, there is life before death.

> Pascal's Wager.

This is very similar to the suggestion put forward by the Quirmian
philosopher Ventre, who said, "Possibly the gods exist, and possibly
they do not. So why not believe in them in any case? If it's all true
you'll go to a lovely place when you die, and if it isn't then you've
lost nothing, right?" When he died he woke up in a circle of gods
holding nasty-looking sticks and one of them said, "We're going to show
you what we think of Mr Clever Dick in these parts...".

---Terry Pratchett, in HOGFATHER

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 03/25/2018 04:50 PM, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) wrote:
> In article <fhb1sv...@mid.individual.net>, Bill Gunshannon
> <bill.gu...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> On 03/19/2018 06:03 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
>>> Den 2018-03-19 kl. 17:26, skrev dcecu...@gmail.com:
>>>> On Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 10:05:54 AM UTC-4, Bob Koehler wrote:
>>>>> A man who demonstrated what a physical handicap did _not_ mean.
>>>>
>>>> he made fun of God and christians. He was an atheist. He is probably in
>>>> hell right now recalculating some of his beliefs.
>>>
>>> How could he be, as an atheist? Hell (as something you might end up after
>>> death) only exists in the minds of those who for some reason believes in
>>> such stuff. I think they should focus more on those that happens to live
>>> in a hell in this life.
>
> Yes, there is life before death.

Everyone dies. Some people never live.

bill

[in...@icod.de]

On Monday, March 19, 2018 at 5:26:52 PM UTC+1, dcecu...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 10:05:54 AM UTC-4, Bob Koehler wrote:
> > A man who demonstrated what a physical handicap did _not_ mean.
>
> he made fun of God and christians. He was an atheist. He is probably in hell right now recalculating some of his beliefs.

You just had to troll this topic, didn't you?

[Neil Rieck]

I think you should read a book or two about Christianity "other than the bible". For example, in one of John Shelby Spong's books we read this:

Take the books of the new testament, reorder them by the date of their writing, then notice this: No miracles at all in the first books then they slowly creep in until the last book (Revelation) which is totally bizarre.

This begs the question, why are the gospels presented first when the first chronological book of the four (Luke) was not written until 70 AD (almost 40 years after the events it documents).

###

In books from Bart D. Ehrman we read that there are many historical references (mostly Roman) to the crucification of Jesus but not a single one (other than the bible) that mentions the resurrection. In fact, a pure interpretation of Christianity does not require one.

Neil Rieck

[ultr...@gmail.com]

you need some history classes. Sure they did not mention it, the tomb was sealed with a roman guard. They blamed His resurrection on the guards falling asleep. They probably put them to death.

Riddle me this, if the resurrection did not happen, why did the romans try so hard to suppress christianity which was peaceful by murdering thousands who would not deny the name of Jesus?

You need to start thinking.

[ultr...@gmail.com]

Matthew 7:13-14

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

[ultr...@gmail.com]

Mark 9:43

43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.

Jude 1:7

7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Revelation 21:8

8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

[ultr...@gmail.com]

there is nothing silly except you. You refuse to acknowledge archaeological proof.

[ultr...@gmail.com]

On Sunday, March 25, 2018 at 5:28:43 PM UTC-4, Bill Gunshannon wrote:

Matthew 10

38 and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 40He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me

[Neil Rieck]

Sir! You have not provided any archaeological proof of any kind. In fact, you have only provided bible verses which have been tweaked by well-meaning scribes and authors over the past 2000 years. This is subjective proof at best but nothing objective.

Frankly, I am surprised at the lack of historical knowledge on the North American side of the Atlantic. Most Christians have never investigated the biggest split in Christianity known as east-west
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East-West_Schism
which was preceded by a lot of tinkering with the Nicene_Creed
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filioque

So using a tiny bit of literal logic, if the Eastern church is still known as "orthodox" then the western church (catholic and every protestant thing derived from it) should be called "unorthodox" if not heretical. I was the western church that came up with the Filioque which turned Jesus into a literal son of god. (it seems that many simpletons did not understand that Jesus was speaking figuratively we he used phrases like "we were all children of god" and "our heavenly father")

What does all this mean? Most of us have been born into a belief system that is based upon a lot of made-up non-sense.

p.s. people are taken more seriously when they post under their real names

Neil Rieck

[Jan-Erik Söderholm]

Yo can just as well quote Mark Twain. There are probaly more
quotes from him having some truth in them. Or why not Bhagavad Gita,
there are some fun stories there also.

[DaveFroble]

Perhaps because they did not worship Nero (or any Roman emperor) sufficiently?

After all, the lions had to eat too ....

[DaveFroble]

Somebody leave Bob out of his cage ?

Oh, Bob, back then I'm sure computers would be considered "magic arts", so you
better destroy yours to avoid the fire, right?

[Neil Rieck]

My favorite quote from Mark Twain is this one: "It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled"

Neil Rieck

[Bill Gunshannon]

Believe it or not, there has been considerable research done
on tis fact in particular. I have used it to explain some
rather strange things that have happened to certain segments
of society but, as the research has shown, not with much
success.

bill

[Richard Maher]

On 15-Apr-18 12:00 AM, Neil Rieck wrote:

>>>>> engineer and his family who were the only ones to film it..

> The common myth that Christians were thrown to the lions is (more or
> less) a creation by the entertainment community starting with the
> novel "Quo Vadis" (1895). Now it is true that "people" were thrown to
> the lions, but this was almost always for breaking the law (eg.
> arson) and not for being a Christian.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_ad_bestias
> http://theconversation.com/mythbusting-ancient-rome-throwing-christians-to-the-lions-67365
>
> It is a fact that historians wrote "Nero blamed the fire of 64 AD on
> Christians" but anyone who has had any formal education about Roman
> History will already know that historians would often take revenge on
> unpopular leaders by writing conflated negative histories about them.
> For example, for a evil as Caligula was, not everything attributed to
> him was true. (but he was considered evil even by the standards of
> ancient Rome)
>
> Neil Rieck
>

I have never understood the motivation or mindset of Holocaust Deniers
apart from simple bigotry and hate. Still most parts of the world
legislates or at least frowns on such low-life. But once again
Christians are fair game while others are protected :-(