The Army Of The Future Could Look A Lot Like Iron Man - ComicsAlliance | Comics culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

It's nice to see that research in exoskeletons has progressed. I've wrote about such technology before on this blog, but I'm glad to see more information. When I was a student at UC Berkeley, a similar project was underway. I'm not sure where they are on theirs but I think I may do some research to find out. I love the idea. It has applications far beyond war. Construction and medical prosthesis technologies would greatly benefit.

The Army Of The Future Could Look A Lot Like Iron Man - ComicsAlliance | Comics culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

Answering Atheism - audio, page 1 of 3 | True Freethinker

Here is a great summary of audios about answering Atheism that Mariano has compiled and put on his blog. Check it out. Some of them I have listened to and some I have not.

Answering Atheism - audio, page 1 of 3 | True Freethinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/blog_this.pyra?t=&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.truefreethinker.com%2Farticles%2Fanswering-atheism-audio-page-1-3-4&n=Answering+Atheism+-+audio%2C+page+1+of+3+%7C+True+Freethinker

Smallville and Friedrich Nietzsche — Superman and the Ubermensch | True Freethinker

Image by xploitme via Flickr
I enjoyed this post by Mariano so much I had to link to it. I do understand exactly what he means because I saw the latest episode of Smallville and Nietzsche's philosophy was brought up and endorsed.
Mariano wrote:

In the most recent episode Carter Hall aka Hawkman refers to Friedrich Nietzsche, “To him, the true hero was the person who embraced the life that he or she was given and made it better. He called that person ‘ubermensch” to which Lois Lane states, “A Superman.” Yet, along with the concept it is stated that, in essence, we can all be an ubermensch.

I like science fiction and fantasy because you can explore themes and ideas that can't be reasonably done in other genres. This is a good example. I think we should be careful in embracing Nietzche's ideas because while he did have some good ones that can be spun positively as it has on Smallville, his philosophy was also an inspiration for the Nazis. Also I don't think Nietzsche thought all people could be ubermensch - only the elite. And when you look at how Nietzsche's ubermensch is described by Nietzche himself do you really wanna be that kind of person? Mariano wrote:

I do not know if they realize that whist to the unlearned in this area this sounds very nice—I can be Superman, after all—to Friedrich Nietzsche the ubermensch were merciless and uncompassionate iron fisted survival of the fittest domineers. Keep in mind that uber is translatable as "super," "above," "over," etc.

I most definitely don't want to be that kind of person if that is what an ubermensch is supposed to be.
Smallville and Friedrich Nietzsche — Superman and the Ubermensch | True Freethinker

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Free audio book: John Calvin, “Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book One” | True Freethinker

Mariano has posted a link to an audio book of some of John Calvin's most important works. Follow the link to go to his blog to get the audios!

Free audio book: John Calvin, “Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book One” | True Freethinker

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Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: My Study Bible

Dr Mariottini has posted a great article regarding a new online suite of tools from Lifeway publishing. IT seems impressive. I'm planning to use it. Follow the link to read his post!
Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: My Study Bible

FacePalm of the Day Quote #10 - Debunking Christianity: The Irrational Christian: The John Loftus Trinity Argument

John Loftus endorsed the following video on his blog. He said:

Some things are hard to explain in a video, but Rhetorical Bullshit gives it a try:

Truly an epic fail. But I am gratified that the comments on the post are lively and informative. There is so much wrong with the analysis of the Trinity given in the video. But let's just discuss the first key point. Neither Loftus nor the video author understands what the Trinity is - so of course it doesn't make sense. It is also not what I believe.
One of the comments made by john I summed up my main problem with the video:

the continual use of terms like "3 people but 1 person" and "3 beings but 1 being" shows this guy does not understand the trinity as defined by theists. if this is a remake of Loftus' argument, and Loftus uses the same language, Loftus doesnt get it either.
its hard to criticize something you don't understand. however if either does actually understand it, but explains it like this on purpose, then both are just attacking a strawman, and purposefully misrepresenting the trinity in an effort to make Christians appear illogical.
philosophers a great deal smarter than these two, even atheists, recognize the trinity as properly defined, is not illogical.

I agree with him. The problem is that they wrongly equate "person" with "being". They are not the same thing and can't be used interchangeably. Being is "what" and person is "who"? There is one "what" and three "whos". God is one being! The Trinity is the doctrine that three persons make up the one being. Three people cannot equal one person and three beings cannot equal one being. That is truly illogical, but that is not what Christians are saying.
I did see the point that many Christians do explain the Trinity, and even outright reject it, the way it's explained here, but it just means that they don't understand who and what God is. All I can do personally is just follow what I understand from Scripture. Understanding the Trinity does not save you. Neither does misunderstanding the Trinity damns you. Romans 10:9-10 tells you all you need to be saved and it does not include a correct understanding of the Trinity. Good thing because I don't think anyone fully understands it...but that doesn't make it untrue.
I have to give this one my FacePalm of the day because the argument has been knocked down for 2000 years. Please get something else.
Debunking Christianity: The Irrational Christian: The John Loftus Trinity Argument