Commander Riker

No. I bought it in a pinch when my weapons were stolen during a robbery. Was more worried about their immediate return and really didn't want to get shot with my own weapons at the time. Promptly installed a security system, which I should have had in the first place, but yeah. Plus, I'm a bigger fella. It's a bit tiny for my hand. Thought I could get extended mags, but haven't been successful in finding any for this model.

We should probably should ban bombs, you guys.

Bought an ultra compact .45 Not a good weapon for home defense. Anyone want to trade? :)

I'm curious... what is the height of the doors in that house. Love what you've done with the place, BTW.

Shhhhhhhh.... this thread was sleeping.

2009 KLR 650

Dude... the height is so awesome in that house. Such a great pad.

How.... how did you noodle I am a pastafarian? He who created the mountain... and the midget. FSM. Fuck yeah.

Of the possibilities, this experience is more likely to be a simulation than there be the existence of "god". Either are possible, I suppose. Guess I just brain to hard, and thus I'm on a fence.

Atheism is a religion... very clearly. I get that I'm upsetting both sides when I say that... but if it looks a saab... drives like a saab... it's probably a saab, ya know? The only difference is that there is congregation on the internet instead of in a fancy building every Sunday. As a person who is outside of both... Atheism and organized religion if you want to call them separate... they sound very much the same, especially in the extremist visceral tones used by all parties in that realm. Please do not lump those who are agnostic in with those who are atheist. They are considerably different positions. Just because they are "not religious" in view by those who are religious doesn't mean they are the same. I agree that there is some sort of effort to remove god from public conversation... but you have to agree that there is and has been an equal if not larger public effort for a longer period of time to put god into public conversation and space. The agnostic crowd, from my experience, just doesn't care. The whole debate is (as I view organized religion as well), has just become irrelevant. It doesn't need to be a public conversation, not in an attempt to stifle discussion, just not something that is time well spent by the public discussing uncertainties. Not if you're not willing to consider all possibilities, at least. Religion in it's current form is just a modernization of previous religions. Atheism may be a replication of that, I'm not sure... but we often do not look back to the past, so it's no surprise that we make the same mistakes over and over again.

Riiiiiiight... they're just a group of people who enjoy telling other people they are incorrect in their beliefs... and the universe is a set certain way with a specific outcome for all life. Sound familiar?

Atheism has evolved into a religion of sorts. Claiming definite lack of existence of things is as much a stretch as claiming existence. It is a very "us vs them" group... just like.... religion.

There is equal if not more evidence that there is no god, IMO. I'm willing to consider both.. but the more I learn the less plausible the pearly gates sound. It's a scary thing to consider... but we may exist in this brief life with nothing to look forward to. A thought I rely on to remember not to take things too seriously, while taking them very seriously at the same time.

Alain, in the same way you are asking Erik to be open to alternatives, I think you are not. Do you consider the possibility that we are nothing more than a mere accident in the cosmos? A random chance of events that has eventually led to this position, without any influence form some grand creator. If you are all up about scientific method, then you have to consider this a possible reality, and that your faith is potentially flawed due to this.

Matt... I love you bro... but I know wind exists. I have seen it... come to my mountain of knowledge my friend... the view is great! <3

What I am attempting to grasp (and apparently failing) is that it sounds as though the belief in things at a molecular level is the a faith that is akin to believing in a god.

Thanks for the LARGE TEXT SUGGESTION! lol However, I really have an issue with this claim. It is not faith allows me to confirm or deny the existence of molecules. A microscope allows me to do that. Just as it is not faith that allows me to see distant starts and galaxies... the Hubble Space Telescope allows me to do that. I really... REALLY hate that idea of "if you can't touch/feel/taste it, then it must be due the existence of god" That is what turns so many people away from religion, and really, rightfully so. Why isn't it just ok to say we just don't know? Doesn't mean we won't know eventually... but not "well it must be because of god" until we realize that there is actual science that explains it. You're trying to tie religion and faith into science to mute the fact that science has repeatedly been used to defy religious beliefs in the past. The multiverse, potentially.

Alain are you saying that "faith" is required to believe in the complexity of things at a molecular scale?

But in religion... it appears there is no room for alternate theories. That apparently conflicts with "faith." I would never want someone to change their views if it makes them happy. It's when they push their faith on other people as being the "only truth." Me, personally, I'm curious and will always question everything. Especially things of spiritual nature that cannot... and never will be pinned down.

It's equally possible that the modern religious approach to the mind/soul is wrong as well, is it not? That's my issue with religion. Saying iron clad everything is one way... when repeatedly as we learn more, we learn it's not. You have to be willing to consider all the possibilities. Especially like things we consider mythical right now like "how the brain works..." once it's proven with science by what we later learn... we find it was "because God." Look at wireless communications for example. If you took that back just in our brief history as humans... it would be considered the power of a god. They would have recoiled in fear as you waved your iPhone around. The problem religion faces itself is that it is becoming quickly outdated. Obsolete. We don't need it to do well by one another. We are finding other ways.

Is it really an adventure if you're not high? lol This thread is interesting, and I like that everyone is being pretty civil with one another. ErikS posted something that is very important... that generally religion has done both great and awful things. It's hard for both sides to accept, but I think it's quite possibly the most true statement in this thread. It's unfair to say someone's religion is wrong if it brings them joy and they use/need it to do well by others. There is no question that Alain, for example, is one of the nicest people I have ever met and he would give me the shirt off his back if I ask for it... knowing it wouldn't fit! lol To be specific, mormons are probably some of the nicest religious people I've met, speaking to the different branches of christianity. At the end of the day... we're all here on a small rock in the infinite vastness of space... and while there are likely other planets with life or gods on them, we haven't found a way to get there. So we have to make this place work with what we have.

I have an issue with the idea that there is a single being responsible for everything we observe. From the furthest away... as we peer into the stars we see more and more... as is with looking smaller and smaller... we continue to make fascinating observations at that small scale. When I dejected this idea that there is an all powerful God... I was 11... and my parents were less than thrilled. What I see is that there is power in everyone... so when there is gatherings of people at a concert, or at a church... there is undeniably an energy that forms there. The problem I have... is that at the gathering of a religious institution, it is beat into people that they are powerless... and all bestowed upon them is from above. Instead of what I feel is within. We're all god, if you want to use that term. Sit and think about it. Is there a deity that is listening to everyone when you cry out? Or ask the ceiling for help? Or are you asking the all powerful self?

It doesn't take much to just gain some insight. You can attempt to belittle the points of these men, but you have to realize that outside information, in and of itself, is likely directly correlated with the decline of religious membership. As soon as you add outside variables to what used to be a very tight equation, the so called truth in that tight equation becomes less and less solid. I would go so far as to say that religion has been around as long as it has due to constraints on information for so many years, combined with people's desire for traditions. On that point, I'm very welcome to every person having as much access to information as possible. Not against what anyone believes... call it whatever you want... He, god, universe, Gaia. If it empowers someone to do right by others, there's nothing wrong with it. Personally, I don't need the impending doom from an almighty head to goad me into caring about you as a fellow human being. Morals are not a religious exclusive. It's when those religions are used for corrupt purposes that I really have a problem with... and not one, as far as I know.. is exempt from that.

How many miles does your car have? Did you notice the sub frame bushings as an improvement? I think mine are going at 230k.

Glad to see another M66 swap. Really makes these cars a treat to drive. On that shifter assembly, cut out the plastic riser below it. Improves the position of the shifter greatly.