Good Old Neon

Ok, but what does any of this have to do with my questions?

You seem to be attempting to separate the bible (the Quran, etc) from faith and religious belief

This I have a problem with

I cannot, and I openly admit that

Now, go back a few hundred years and the percentage would be skewed heavily in favor of the new earth creationist view. How many biblical claims must be disproved before we finally get to the center of the tootsie pop, only to find it hollow?

Yes, but for the better part of two thousand years, Christians did just that, interpreted the bible literally

Ah, the wonders and joys of corporate welfare, do they know no end?

So it then follows that because we cannot say with certainty why or how the universe came to exist, the only viable alternative is the belief in a higher power? A higher power for which no evidence exists, aside from a book written by folks who

It could be argued that

Sure, but that sense of shit-togetherness started to dissolve while the Trade Center

McSweeney

It seems as though we now decide everything that way, so, I guess it comes as no surprise (or should come as no surprise) that sooner or later, choosing a political candidate would hold no more importance than choosing a brand of soda or beer or a particular purveyor of fast food based almost entirely on who presents the more appealing marketing campaign.

At the moment, I feel defeated, and I get the sense that this country will, yet again, vote for and receive the leader it deserves

From the NYT: "James Wallace said that last year his son had begun suffering side effects from the drugs and, at a doctor

Two of the better, more reflective and informative remembrances I

As someone who has stood on the ledge, and felt the flames, the following passage from Infinite Jest is about as fitting an explanation as to the "why's" as we are likely to receive: "The so-called 'psychotically depressed' person who tries to kill herself doesn't do so out of quote 'hopelessness' or any abstract conviction that life's assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning

You

David Foster Wallace (I'm still in absolute fucking shock ) commenting on the nature of political discourse in this country (all of which, I, myself am often guilty of) - from an interview published in The Believer:

Thanks - at the moment, devastated is an understatement. Now, more than ever: Transcription of the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address - May 21, 2005 (If anybody feels like perspiring [cough], I'd advise you to go ahead, because I'm sure going to. In fact I'm gonna [mumbles while pulling up his gown and taking out a handkerchief from his pocket].) Greetings ["parents"?] and congratulations to Kenyon's graduating class of 2005. There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the wa

Cool - I

Thank you, Sarah Palin? Military help for Georgia is a 'declaration of war', says Moscow in extraordinary warning to the West http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article...West/article.do

You are 100% correct - though we go back and forth quite a bit, bobbob is one of my favorite posters on this board - I think he and I share many of the same beliefs, we just differ on how to present them.

Sweet