Well, there are certainly elements of modern protestant Christianity which make me rather uncomfortable in this regard, even while I claim generally to be an adherent of their faith.

Take one extreme example: Scientology. There's pretty much no question that this organization is more or less a pyramid scheme, which has evolved to the point where it really is all about the money. Nobody questions that.

But then we have Hollywood-mainstream Christianity, with slick, showy preachers on television speaking from buildings that resemble the Taj Mahal. And on their coattails, a generalized tendancy within the local churches towards bigger and more and bigger and more. Do you really need a massive building with fancy trimmings, a high-dollar sound & video system that rivals that of a Floyd concert, etc?

Honestly. Why do you need a big building with pretty things inside it in order to be a church? That's what bugs me.

Probably the coolest bunch of Christian folk I've ever known meet every week in a space that used to be a warehouse in an industrial park. They threw some paint on the walls (well, first they built some walls, then they threw paint on them) and set up a bunch of folding chairs that were probably surplus from a junior-high school, and that's their church. A couple of 'em are in a band, so they haul in their guitars and amps and do a little praisin' and singin' and just generally aren't dicks. No collection plate passed across the aisle, no pomp, folks show up on motorcycles wearing riding gear and mingle with the ones who arrived by minivan wearing a button-down shirt, and that's that.

Probably a heck of a lot closer to actual old-school religion circa 1AD than most of the suit-n-tie crowd in the whitewashed building would care to admit.

But they're invisible. You could drive down San Marcos Blvd a hundred times and not even notice they were there. Pretty sure they're not exerting control over any masses.



This is all just a diversion, though. Questioning the motives of televangelists has nothing at all to do with your own personal views on where we came from, where we're going, and what it all means.



As I have no formal training in philosophy, I'm sure that I will probably contract some widely held school of thought here, but in layman's terms, I would consider it an axiom that faith, by definition, is blind.

I don't need to have faith that my car is sitting outside in the parking lot. I can't see it from here, but that's where I put it this morning, that's where it always is every evening when I leave.

I do have faith that it came across the Pacific ocean twenty years ago on a barge from Japan. Sure, there's a sticker on the door jamb that says that's where it came from and when, but can I trust that sticker? Do I know anything at all about the person who wrote the sticker? For that matter, how can I be sure Japan exists? I've never seen it, and even if it was there before, didn't we allegedly drop two bombs on it that were supposed to destroy everything?

We have blind faith every day and don't even notice it.




Seven stars and seven lampstands? Sharp swords coming out of mouths and rainbows resembling emeralds? I'm not sure what they were burning with that incense back in the first century, but somebody was tasting the rainbow.

However, just because Bill & Ted gave a report on Socrates and Genghis Khan doesn't mean that they were fictional characters.

I just got in my fight with my boss. I altered of his artwork:

http://www.unitedwaystore.net/newsle...matt_towel.jpg

and how I fixed it:

http://www.unitedwaystore.net/newsle...lytowel_01.gif



just so we are clear, the item in question looks like this, a 10x16" terry cloth towel with a screen printed logo on it:

http://www.unitedwaystore.com/images...1167_popup.jpg


And mind you I'm the graphic designer on staff... he's the moron exec. on staff and overruled me because he thought the wrinkles looked cool and the fact that he used a blue beach towel he found on the web and edited it added merit.

Don't get me started on the shitty perspective and the sidewayz grass blades.

Can anyone tell me what's the fucking thread size of the temp sensor :vash: I ordered a 3/8 to 1/8 and it does not fit. FML :facepalm:

<-- Lol

Funny quote

Religion is like the lotto, you can't win if you dont play.

I believe the large one is M12 x 1.5. Not sure about the small one.

Ask Mario.
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The one in the back of the head. I guess it is the 12 x 1.5.


What Mario?

EDIT: Im trying to find a fitting to install the temp on the spacer. What did you all use?

Your Mario.

I put the sensor itself into the spacer.
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A tap.

to install a mazda thermosensor (yes, I like to use real names) you would use the following:

tap - 12mm x 1.5
drillbit - 13/32

Wow I went nuts looking for a stupid fitting. Thank God Brain is around.

Per Brains picture of jerk towels-

Are you going for a poster look or trying to make it look realistic? The fact that the grass BG is perpendicular to the viewer and yet the "towel" is angled to give depth is really annoying. Your boss' version is worse though...looks more like a flag and the shading is an eyesore. Also, the shading on the baseball is completely wrong. The shadow on the towel is more on the left side, yet the light reflecting off the ball is on it's left side. Not to mention the fact that you mention golf in the bottom...and have a baseball on it.... maybe go for some golf clubs or golf-related items to match?

i know all the problems. i agree with everything you point out. he's a fucking moron and the least i could do was make the towel look like the actual towel we are trying to promote, i dont have the time to recreate everything he does anymore. he just learned how to use photoshop and really believes he's a designer now. i want to kill him...i am going to an interview friday... maybe this one will pan out.

What's the size of the bolt that holds the speedometer cable in?

someone call the amber lamps!

http://www.faillol.com/wp-content/up...tal_Kombat.gif

I find it funny that it's mortal kombat.gif but Zangief and Dee Jay are from Street Fighter.....

I had forgotten how graphically violent Sin City was until I watched it on cable last night. But the women in that movie... :drool:
Goldie... :drool: :drool:
Alba... :drool: :drool:
Dawson... :drool: :drool:
Murphy... man... sad that she died...
Good show

sounds like youll like that new movie.... um punch something.

sucker punch:

http://media.egotastic.com/media/pic...rowning-01.jpg

http://media.egotastic.com/media/pic...e-chung-01.jpg

http://media.egotastic.com/media/pic...-malone-01.jpg

http://media.egotastic.com/media/pic...hudgens-01.jpg

http://media.egotastic.com/media/pic...cornish-01.jpg

http://media.egotastic.com/media/pic...-gugino-01.jpg

Left hook, left hook, right hook, right hook, body blow, body blow...KNOCK HIM OUT!!!

that is going to be a day-one viewing for me. Thanks for that! So far away though...

Bullshit on that entire movie. Everyone knows women die faster than men.

Speak for yourself, demon spawn.

And you are its spokesman?
Your car is metric... intellect, reason, knowledge...:facepalm:

I am not a fan of most churches I have ever visited. Disingenuous members and preachers have driven so many people away. But there are good churches, and even good people in bad churches who are trying to make things right.

Far too often people are invited, given very little true background and knowledge, and then pushed to get baptized without any deep understanding of what is going on. Then their needs for education and intellectual nourishment are ignored by those who pushed them to be baptized. Those who pushed them are more interested in finding more new people to push because it is exciting and makes them feel important. They fail those who trusted them and need them. The new person feels disillusioned because there is no depth to what they have done and they feel like it was a sham. They feel like they were used and that everyone at the church is just out for the show.

Then there are big show churches that are all sizzle and no steak. Plenty of fakes and showboats there. They are fancy operations that don't really care about people but put on a grand show like they do.

Then there are dirty churches where no one is living right except on Sunday morning. And, by God, they want everyone to know that they are there on Sunday morning. They will screw around and they will steal all week long and then clasp their hands together on Sunday morning and pray and sing loudly like they have been living holy lives all week.

Then there are the real churches. Not much glamor or show, but contemplation and study. Less emotion out of the pulpit and a lot more like a college lecture complete with cross references and footnotes. They might even have and outline of the sermon to hand out. They won't baptize you unless you have been through some study with an elder or deacon or the pastor. And they need to know that you know that your life isn't going to be different after you are baptized unless you make it different. The people admit to being sinners everyday but are earnestly trying to be good. They actually study their bibles during the week and live so that you know they are Christians without even having to ask. I meet people like that all the time when I am out and about. You can see it in them, and when you ask them about God they are happy to volunteer their thoughts and love for Him. They are changed by it and they are happier and enjoy each day as a blessing. And they openly help others when given the opportunity.