Jerusalem as the Capital

[topher800]

Well, someone finally started a thread that will cause A LOT more contentious debate than Politics OR
RICHLAND SPRINGS !!!!!!!!

We could interject a little sex to crank it up if it starts to slow............

Shall we discuss the immaculate conception smokey?!?! ;)

[topher800]

Reasonable people can disagree on the interpretation of an old verse, but I think Donald Trump may have some divine influence looking after him. He's been targeted, called all kinds of name, impeached, had his appointments stalled, compared to a mass murdering pyscho, and still keeps fighting day after day. You can say whatever you want about him, but the bs about him wanting to be President for profit is crap. He could have made way more money with much less headache if he didn't run but keeps on trucking and amazingly wants to be reelected. I wouldn't blame him at all if he pulled a Lyndon Johnson in 1968 "if nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve."

PS. Topher, Trump graduated from a pretty good college. You don't think they teach geography at the Wharton School of Finance?

Pss. Just out of curiosity, who cares if Luke and Matthew copied Mark? Divine plagiarism still records the word of the LORD. What do you and your UT professor hope to accomplish with this theory?

Yah Trump did some great work at Wharton... remind me again why he won't let anyone see his grades from NY Military Academy or his college grades?

It completely is divine plagurism! Couldn't agree more... its just common knowledge of biblical scholarship that somehow is not known by many Christians worldwide.

[TebowTime15]

And a person would get called racist for asking for Obama's grade. Why does the left think Trump should hand over everything? Should he take a nude and send it to the New York Times?

I'm not saying I agree with you because I honestly have no idea as it is a bit out of my wheelhouse. I mean UT professors are always honest, right? I'm kind of doing a motion for summary judgement: If we assume all the facts are on your side, does it really matter? I mean it's interesting academically, I guess, but it changes nothing if God told Luke and Matthew to plagiarize Mark versus divinely inspired them. If that crap about the Epic of Gilgamesh didn't change hearts and minds, this won't either.

[topher800]

And a person would get called racist for asking for Obama's grade. Why does the left think Trump should hand over everything? Should he take a nude and send it to the New York Times?

I'm not saying I agree with you because I honestly have no idea as it is a bit out of my wheelhouse. I mean UT professors are always honest, right? I'm kind of doing a motion for summary judgement: If we assume all the facts are on your side, does it really matter? I mean it's interesting academically, I guess, but it changes nothing if God told Luke and Matthew to plagiarize Mark versus divinely inspired them. If that crap about the Epic of Gilgamesh didn't change hearts and minds, this won't either.

Are you freaking kidding me?!? You believe in that orange monster so much that you are willing to defend his lack of transperancy with everything in life from his grades to his tax returns. And you use a "but but but Obama" as your defence? Perhaps you haven't seen the news lately but Mr. Trump isn't doing very well considering how he has done a 180 on masks and has now cancelled his rally in Jacksonville. Honest to God, when Donald Trump claimed he could "stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and not "lose any voters." He was right!!! That is terribly disconcering for the future of the greatest country in the world.

It's not just a UT Professor who graduated with a Ph.D from Harvard, I mentioned in my last post that it is just good biblical, historical scholarship. Tebow, you know your history so what is the harm in researching into what every crediable Theology professor already knows? It doesn't matter about the plagurisim, I've said that already. Just because someone knows that Matthew and Luke copied Mark doesn't make them a non-believer, it doesn't make the words in the New Testament any less important. It's about knowing and understanding how our ... yes OUR.... faith came into existance. Why is it that anything and everything that challenges your core beliefs is met with hostility?

[TebowTime15]

And a person would get called racist for asking for Obama's grade. Why does the left think Trump should hand over everything? Should he take a nude and send it to the New York Times?

I'm not saying I agree with you because I honestly have no idea as it is a bit out of my wheelhouse. I mean UT professors are always honest, right? I'm kind of doing a motion for summary judgement: If we assume all the facts are on your side, does it really matter? I mean it's interesting academically, I guess, but it changes nothing if God told Luke and Matthew to plagiarize Mark versus divinely inspired them. If that crap about the Epic of Gilgamesh didn't change hearts and minds, this won't either.

Are you freaking kidding me?!? You believe in that orange monster so much that you are willing to defend his lack of transperancy with everything in life from his grades to his tax returns. And you use a "but but but Obama" as your defence? Perhaps you haven't seen the news lately but Mr. Trump isn't doing very well considering how he has done a 180 on masks and has now cancelled his rally in Jacksonville. Honest to God, when Donald Trump claimed he could "stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and not "lose any voters." He was right!!! That is terribly disconcering for the future of the greatest country in the world.

It's not just a UT Professor who graduated with a Ph.D from Harvard, I mentioned in my last post that it is just good biblical, historical scholarship. Tebow, you know your history so what is the harm in researching into what every crediable Theology professor already knows? It doesn't matter about the plagurisim, I've said that already. Just because someone knows that Matthew and Luke copied Mark doesn't make them a non-believer, it doesn't make the words in the New Testament any less important. It's about knowing and understanding how our ... yes OUR.... faith came into existance. Why is it that anything and everything that challenges your core beliefs is met with hostility?

You're right, just like the polls declared President Hillary Clinton the winner of the 2016 election! What's the difference between the obsession with Trump's tax returns and Obama's birth certificate? One is righteous while the other is racist.

To quote Shania Twain, Harvard "don't impress me much," but it does impress me more than UT. It sounds like a narrative driven thing. No one in academia writes "just to write," but rather there is always a reason. I'm not accusing him of a Michael Bellesiles situation as I'm sure some evidence exists for that conclusion, but the more shocking the thesis the more notoriety the scholar receives from the community at large. Then again, I could definitely be wrong.

[topher800]

The debate about Obama's birth certificate isn't racist. No one outside of the USA ever thought as much. That was your own internal battle. But what if he was born outside of the USA? Sure he shouldn't have been President... but what harm did it do? What did Obama do hurt the country so much? Did 140,000 people die because of his lack of intelligence? Because that is what has happened with Trump. Once again, answer me this, why has every other western nation got the 'rona under control but the USA has not?

If he was so intelligent why didn't he graduate with honors? Obama did not as an undergrad but he did as graduate student. What is Donald hiding?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherrim/2019/02/28/heres-why-donald-trump-doesnt-want-anyone-to-know-his-grades-or-sat-scores/#2540d1f63764

Or is Forbes a liberal trash rag that wants to take down the POTUS.

I appreciate the Shania Twain comment! Thank you Tebow, she actually spent part of her childhood in my hellhole of a hometown where ignorance reigns and the rednecks drink beer, fight, play hockey, and pro-create because there is nothing else to do. How on earth does Bellesiles have anything to do with biblical scholarship? He was an academic who was discredited. It happens... but to compare that man to what hundreds if not thousands of Theologian accept as good scholarship is ludicrous.

I am not quite sure why someone working hard to graduate from the best universities in America doesn't "impress you much". Are you a Rhodes Scholar who did work at Oxford or Cambridge? Is that why you look down upon the Ivy League?

[TebowTime15]

The debate about Obama's birth certificate isn't racist. No one outside of the USA ever thought as much. That was your own internal battle. But what if he was born outside of the USA? Sure he shouldn't have been President... but what harm did it do? What did Obama do hurt the country so much? Did 140,000 people die because of his lack of intelligence? Because that is what has happened with Trump. Once again, answer me this, why has every other western nation got the 'rona under control but the USA has not?

If he was so intelligent why didn't he graduate with honors? Obama did not as an undergrad but he did as graduate student. What is Donald hiding?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherrim/2019/02/28/heres-why-donald-trump-doesnt-want-anyone-to-know-his-grades-or-sat-scores/#2540d1f63764

Or is Forbes a liberal trash rag that wants to take down the POTUS.

I appreciate the Shania Twain comment! Thank you Tebow, she actually spent part of her childhood in my hellhole of a hometown where ignorance reigns and the rednecks drink beer, fight, play hockey, and pro-create because there is nothing else to do. How on earth does Bellesiles have anything to do with biblical scholarship? He was an academic who was discredited. It happens... but to compare that man to what hundreds if not thousands of Theologian accept as good scholarship is ludicrous.

I am not quite sure why someone working hard to graduate from the best universities in America doesn't "impress you much". Are you a Rhodes Scholar who did work at Oxford or Cambridge? Is that why you look down upon the Ivy League?

I never said I put much stock in the birth certificate thing or the Trump tax movement, but the Constitution actually says a president "must be a naturally born citizen" while it says nothing about tax returns. Mitt Romney is the only presidential candidate, besides Trump, that has any idea how personal tax returns are to a wealthy person. Liberals just want them so they can find where Trump paid the wrong amount one time and blow it out of proportion. There is a reason why the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, at least in the U.S., protects tax returns unless there is no other way to get the information.

Tell everyone why Bellesiles got discredited, and it will answer your own question. I'll give you a hint, they both have "shocking outcomes."

Victor Davis Hanson is my dude!

[topher800]

Bellesilies falsifed his research that he claims he did somewhere in New England in the 80s and did crappy research on some gun book that dealt with 18th century America. Thats all I remember. Not quite sure where you are going with this to be honest. Seems a rather random topic to bring up in a religious based discussion. You seem to be very good at spinning topics towards US Constituition and Amendment Rights... I assume that was your major in college. I was reading earlier today a conversatoin about the UIL you had a while back and how it turned into a US Constituition discussion with rainjack....

[TebowTime15]

To quote Luke Skywalker "you'll find I'm full of surprises."

Seriously though, the 2nd amendment is a little different than other the amendments in the Bill of Rights. While some consider it "controversial," there has been surprising little litigation about it in comparison to amendments 1, 4, 5, 6, and 8. 3 and 7 are quirky in today's time while 9 and 10 are totally different animals all together.

In this instance, I didn't mean to bring up the Bill of Rights. In contrast, I did mean to bring it up when the UIL declared Landon Burkhart ineligible with at best circumstantial evidence and suggested the UIL should have to provide basic due process because it is an agent of the government. Since you did however, it will help me make my point.

Academics have one of the coolest and most important jobs; they get to decide what people accept as fact. What has happened over the years, however, is they are forced to say shocking things to get noticed by their peers. Since 99.9% are liberal, it turns into a bash white, heterosexual, Christian (especially Protestant,) males who are not disabled. Most of them make shocking arguments that possesses some merit but are probably not true. I suspect the "divine plagiarism" is in this category.

Although there are more liberal professors, I think Bill O'Reilly did the same thing in his book about Reagan. He basically argues in Killing Reagan that Ronald had episodes where all he could do is watch opera in the dark. That's absurd because Reagan had to make some very important decisions that could keep the Soviet Union going a little longer if he got it wrong. I suspect he probably suffered from headaches but not to the degree that it disabled him.

Bellesiles, however, purposely deflated the number of gun numbers in certain counties to argue the U.S. did not have a firearm culture before the Civil War. That seems absurd to most common sense people, oldgoat will probably add a line in the comments, but he won awards for it. The only reason he got caught is some graduate student studied the same thing and realized his numbers in like Kentucky were wrong. People started looking and a lot of his numbers were wrong.

Regardless of the subject, people are entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts. I'm not going to sit here and tell you the "divine plagiarism" theory is wrong because I do not read Hebrew, couldn't tell you the difference between the four gospels other than most prefer John, and have not studied the issue myself. I will tell you, however, it sounds, in my opinion, a lot like a narrative driven thesis.

[FCSA football]

Topher, For my money the “Ivy League” is highly over rated in today’s world. It’s not where you went to school, it’s what have you done/what did you do with your education, and just what kind of education was it ?
Sam Walton went to Missouri, maybe it’s part of the “Midwest Ivy League”, I don’t know.
Just saying...,,,...

[smokeyjoe53]

Some of the most highly educated are also the most ignorant........

[TebowTime15]

As I prepare for class in the fall, I came across something that seems apropos to today and thought I would share it with you:

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/public/1948-election.jpg

[Texlonghorn75]

Some of the most highly educated are also the most ignorant........

I agree with you 100%. I had the opportunity to attend UT at Austin in the mid 1970's and found the highly educated professors to be arrogant and overpaid. I was told by the dean of my major that this is "The University of Texas you know". Like I didn't know it. I'm sure some of them were flat worn out from teaching some of those huge classes but that is what they signed up for. I attended Tarleton State University at Stephenville prior to transferring to UT and found the professors involved and invested in their students. And they would flunk you in a heart beat if you didn't make the grade. It helped that they understood our group of students had either the opportunity for an education by passing or the opportunity for the Vietnam War if we didn't. Motivation does make a difference. Those PHD's and Master degrees mean nothing if you are lazy and have intention of working(at something!). A lot of people stock pile degrees with no intention of ever using them. Another point, I don't associate some professor from any major university whether Ivy League or not, as having the final say or best opinion on any topic. And any dirt farmer or rancher is just as good as any college educated person.

[topher800]

Ill reply proper in a day or two. Sliced the living heck out of my hand ... kitchen knife slipped

[FCSA football]

I agree with you on many points longhorn. As an employer, I really don’t care where you went to college. First of all I want to know you had some part of the investment of your education. Your major is not important. I know a VP of Finance for a major energy company whose degree is in Spanish, a VP of a group of companies whose degree is in economics. Another business owner whose degree is in criminal justice, etc., etc.
common sense, practical knowledge, decency and character can’t be purchased at any university.
If you have a PHD from the University of Hard Knocks, there is always an opportunity for you.
Just saying.........