u/LAAccountant

Existence of God. God is too big and powerful to be understood by mortal senses.

That's exactly what you'd need to say if God didn't exist

Miracles: God isn't a stage magician. He's not here to generate miracles at your request. You wouldn't believe it anyways. Miracles were only for a specific time and place in history they are no longer needed

That's exactly what you would say if there were no miracles.

Evangelism: We need to spread the message of our religion by doing good works and winning people over (or threatening them).

That's exactly what you'd need to do to create and maintain a religion without the help of the supernatural.

Sin: There is a divide between God and man. Humans need salvation. Sin is always a problem and constantly needs to be addressed via religious ritual.

That's an excellent way to keep people dependent on your religion. If sin was cured permanently then you'd no longer need religion.

Afterlife: A paradise free from suffering and death.

Of course it's only accessible after you die because it doesn't exist.

It happened in last night's game in the second inning.

Why is the excuse for handouts always about 'family farms' and why is it our job to make sure a family keeps their farm?

What's the usual approach for a budget in a mid term year? Do they usually pass CRs until the election is finished?

Both Christianity and Islam teach that the Jews were once God's chosen people but somehow lost God's favor (I acknowledge this area of theology is complex and there's a lot of nuance but this is the overall gist). The reasons for Jews losing God's favor vary ...some Christians see the rejection of the Messiah as the reason. Others claim they embraced idolatry. But mostly people point to the fact that the promises that were once made currently haven't been fulfilled.

​

Why doesn't the same standard apply to Christians and Muslims? Obviously God's promises are conditional and contingent on good loyal behavior. Additionally it shows God does collective punishment. The entire Jewish people were removed as 'chosen people' regardless of the actions of a few. It also shows once the favored status is lost it can't be recovered.

​

The History of so-called Christian nations and so-called Muslim nations and peoples shows they've committed far worse offenses than anything attributed to the Jewish people. Both nations and peoples have routinely cherry picked or out right ignored the message of their divine revelation. They have routinely practiced slavery, mass rape, genocide, torture , child abuse. They have modified their religions to allow all sorts of exceptions under the guise of 'theology'. Why does God, who ran out of patience with the Jews, tolerate such behaviors for Muslims or Christians?

​

Maybe God has abandoned Christians and Muslims. The evidence is all there. Both Jesus and Muhammad are 2,000 years overdue. Christianity is highly fractured and is slowly fading away year by year. What remains has been radically reinterpreted either in progressive Christianity (which has become Christian humanism) and fundamentalist Christianity (which doesn't align with what Jesus teaches). Other more traditional defenders of Christian faith have become seriously compromised because they care about wealth and power (i.e. Catholic Church abuse scandal)

​

The Islamic world is a shadow of the historical power it once was. There is no more Caliph. No more Islamic empire. A lot of Muslim nations are ruled by oppressive authoritianian governments that are puppets of non Muslim Western powers. Constant warefare and strife are constant in others. Islam has become aligned with global terror. Allah doesn't seem to be doing anything about it.

​

​

It seems simple to me, God has cast off Christians and Muslims. They have failed him and not fulfilled their end of the bargain. Like the Jews , they are no longer in God's favor.

Texas Rangers have 1 extra innings game. Everyone else has 2 or more.

Both Islam and Christianity claim the same God and mythology as the Jewish religion. There is, however, a major problem both these religions have to answer. The Jewish religion obviously existed first. If it's the same God, why does either Islam or Christianity need to exist?

The long documented evidence of the existence of a Jewish religion is an embarrassment because why didn't God ever mention Jesus or Muhammad or any of their particular teachings over the course of the many centuries that he was the God of the Jews?

Christian and Islamic theologians can't completely invalidate the Jewish religion because that means God is imperfect and gave incorrect teachings to the Jews. So, they choose instead to blame the Jewish people. Famously, Christianity claims it fulfills the Jewish religion, essentially the end goal of the Jewish religion was always Jesus as the Messiah. The Jews, however, failed because they killed Jesus and so triggered the creation of a New Covenant. Muslims go further and claim Islam always existed and Abraham was a Muslim. They claim the truth was corrupted by the Jewish people and the Torah as it exists today is in error.

This constant focus of claiming the failures of the Jewish people as justification for the existence of your religion is obviously toxic. It's why even amongst so-called progressive movements in these religions there are latent negative views of Jews.

About 6-7 years ago I used to eat lunch at a Peruvian place in Glendale called Lola's. They would roast pork and serve a slice with the skin all crispy and crackling.

Based on my internet research I think it's chancho al palo. Lola's doesn't serve it anymore.

Are there any other Peruvian places that serve it?

In Napoleon Total War, I played as Russia and conquered the Ottomans. Unfortunately I was so busy with them , that next thing I knew Napoleon was steamrolling through Europe right to my door step. When I moved all my troops to face him, Spain spent a fleet to invade my Ottoman lands.

So.....I traded all my Ottoman lands to Spain in exchange for them breaking their alliance with France and giving me full military access. Then I sent an army to Spain, invaded France and sacked Paris. This caused Napoleon to retreat

Remove: Special characters, Government management, Structures not related to military, All non military tech.

Dramatically simply the government. No more appointing governors or issuing special edicts. Very simple population response : unhappy with wars and conquering (x amount of turns to assimilate) and happy if peace and stability.

Dramatically simplify the economy (no more good production vs tax revenue vs special trade resources). Simplify to rich income land vs average income land vs poor income land. Some areas allow recruitment of special military units due to their historical legacy.

Improve the diplomacy..more complex negotiations like cease fire, truces etc (these can be invoked during battles).

The +/- for why a faction hates you are simplified based on war/peace and battles won/lost.