Fletcher, I wasn't meaning to insult you. "Saint" just doesn't appear to be an appropriate appelation. BTW, is it only in Australia that you can insult someone by calling them an academic?

You're right that OLO could have some more up-to-date technology, and when we have the resources, we'll do something about that. But, in the meantime I'm impressed with the community that has built around us.

BD, I'm not sure why I require footnotes. If you want evidence of Greek thought in the Bible, then you only need to look at Paul's line about "Now we see through a glass darkly, but then we shall see face to face". Sure you can sort out the exact reference for me, but this is straight Platonism.

Buddhism is a bit harder to pin down. "When you consider the lilies of the field, neither do they reap nor do they sow. But your heavenly father looks after them. How much more will he look after you," is pretty Zen. Not necessarily a link, but very similar. Grist for a PhD.

Appropriate to what Graham? If I am not Christian, how is it not appropriate to show a bit of humor. You just don't get it do you? Like I said last time, I have tried to change this name, but OLO is IP sensitive, and whenever I try to change it, the site keeps going back to "saintfletcher". It is not fair for you as the moderator to keep teasing me about this when it is clearly a technical problem with your site.

You put me in a frustrating situation and it could be seen as bullying.

Also, it lowers the decorum when you impose your opinion against others and you are supposed to be impartial and unbiased as the moderator.

Of course you also have the right to your own opinion, but with personally digging in to me like this is not "appropriate".

I sense that you may be younger and less mature than I once thought.

Besides this, I still enjoy OLO and I do like just about everyone on this site including Graham.

I am learning from you all and respect everyone's opinion (well, usually, I had my times...lol) and well anyway thats the last of my little whinge I'll let the discussion move on now.

I think you're missing my humour Fletch.

This is slightly off-topic, but there is a good reason why the system won't let you change your nickname. It is not that it is IP sensitive, but that it uses your email address as your identifier. The reason we won't let you change your nickname is that if you did it would change every entry that you had ever made. This would be very confusing for people trying to follow threads.

So you are stuck with your nickname, unless you want to create another account at a different email address. As long as you then exclusively move across to this other address then you are free to continue posting. It's only in the case when posters register another account to circumvent posting rules that we get upset.

whatever

Hi to you BOAZ David...

I've followed your many 'threads' for quite some time now. And in my view, you exude a certain quality of decency, in your writing. Notwithstanding you do receive a fair amount of criticism and occasionally, even abuse from a few. But you never seem to be 'fazed' or angered by your critics or tormentors. I've often wondered why ?

Obviously, you do possess a fairly strong Christian ethic, BD. So did I once, in another life ! Though, South Vietnam and the coppers soon knocked that out of me. The existance of God, is a rather novel concept or hypothesis, but certainly nothing more. Sadly !

During my sixty six years of life, I've seen absolutely NO evidence of his existance. But, I've seen and experienced very strong empirical evidence, to the contrary. Supporting the FACT that he (God) doesn't exist, and never did.

When it's our time to 'fall off the perch', that's it. Unequivocally!
In most cases, we're not such a terrible loss to the world. But to our immediate family, perhaps ?

But what about say, a very gifted Medical Doctor (I'm thinking of such a man murdered in Sydney twenty odd years ago?). What an absolute waste ! This man dedicated his life to the service of humanity, and all of a sudden... it was simply 'snuffed' out by a gunman's bullet. How can this atrocious crime be reconciled or justified in one's mind ? It can't, it's as simple as that!

I really wish you and your fellow Christians were right. Regrettably, your not I'm afraid. Anyway, more power to you BOAZ David.

BOAZ_David,

Here are a couple of references to the 23rd Psalm item. There are several others but they are repetitive.

http://www.geocities.com/inquisitive79/godmen.html#horus
http://www.freethinkerscs.com/articles/myth.html

Although not EXACTLY alike, the "core" Sargon/Moses factor (ie the endangered child set afloat in a reed basket and the rescue and subsequent rise to prominence in a royal court) is more than pure chance.

According to Joseph Campbell - an American mythology professor, writer, and orator best known for his work in the fields of comparative mythology and comparative religion -

"The story of Moses is also based on the Tamarian myth called Meeses. The Babylonian myth is similar. Tamarian myth, had the Pharaoh’s son, Meeses, climb the mountain or pyramid, called "Mount I and I."
Moses climbed Mount Sinai. After forty days and nights Meeses came down with the new laws but saw his people weren’t ready for them So he cast them out into the desert for forty years.
Until they came unto the land of milk and honey, which was the Nile.

Incidentally, any religion which uses “amen” at the end of any prayer, exposes the origins of their faith. Semitic, Judaic and Christian religions are rooted in the Tamarian civilization.
Contrary to popular belief, ancient Egypt never subscribed to slavery. At least not until Julius Caesar took the Pharaoh, Cleopatra. Women were land owners, tax paying, free citizens.
Contrasting their peers in Rome or in Grecian societies, who were slaves. Three million Jews lived in peace and were sovereign in the great Tamarian age."

As for the source of your earlier rebuttal I think you should be wary of the validiity of the author - James Patrick Holding (aka Robert Turkel ) of Tekton Apologetic Ministries - as these links will show.
http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/2002/4/024jph.html
http://the-anointed-one.com/exposed.html

You may have noticed by now that all the examples quoted in the posts above have actually been "borrowed" from various sources to create an alternative version of a commonly accepted reality.

Sort of like the argument proving itself?