u/NomadJago

If I buy an AR10 or AR15, how difficult is it to disable the gas tube so as to make the rifle no longer semiautomatic (to comply with laws if a law were passed to make AR illegal (a fair chance of that in the future in Minnesota)?

I would want to be able to do this myself, so that I could know how to re-enable the gas tube function to make the rifle semiautomatic again should a zombie apocalypse happen (grid down from cyber terrorists, etc) and I need serious home protection.

(FWIW, a decade ago I built an AR15 from parts but sold it soon after that. The barrel came with a gas tube attached of course. So I have some, a minimal amount of, gun parts experience for an AR.)

In this Orwellian age we are in, what are easy ways to block my phone from listening to a (legal) conversation a friend and I are having while out hiking? No involving removing the phone's microphone. We could leave our phones in the car but then they could get stolen, or we might need a phone in the event of an accident while hiking. Just do not like the idea of Big Brother possibly listening in on (legal) conversations.

Am I correct that there are no named eyewitnesses to a resurrected Jesus outside of the bible? I am not interested in bible verses, or people writing of people believing in or having seen a risen Jesus. Just named eyewitnesses outside of the bible to a risen Jesus. Do such witnesses exist?

Planning a trip to New Orleans for mid-October. Would really like advice on how to get lodging in (if possible) or near the French Quarter for about 3-4 nights and hoping for a hotel that has a kitchenette or at least a fridge and microwave. We want to buy groceries to cook in our hotel room to eat healthy and avoid high price of restaurants. Any suggestions or ideas on how to achieve this? Airbnb is an option, but that gets expensive and usually has bad options for cancelling on short notice (in case of weather or illness).

Who specifically were the 12 disciples of Jesus? The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John do not agree on who the twelve disciples were, which seems sketchy for a story written by anonymous authors but allegedly inspired by God. The bible is supposed to be the Word of God, so how can it have such disagreements? Matthew lists Thaddaeus but Luke does not; Luke lists two different Judases but Matthew lists only one; John lists Nathaniel who is not listed as a disciple by Matthew and Luke.

MATTHEW 10 (The 12 Disciples)

The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Thus Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas

LUKE 13 (The 12 Disciples)

...He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

Thus Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Simon the Zealot, Judas son of James, Judas Iscariot (who became a traitor)

GOSPEL OF JOHN

Gospel of John does not provide a formal, comprehensive list of the twelve disciples like Matthew, Mark, and Luke do. Instead, it mentions specific disciples by name scattered throughout the narrative, primarily in John 1:35–51 and John 21:2.

John 1:35–51 names Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, and Nathanael as the first followers.

John 21:2 lists Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee (James and John), and two other unnamed disciples.

Other named disciples in John include Judas (not Iscariot) in John 14:22 and Judas, son of Simon Iscariot in John 6:71.

Thus Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, Nathaniel, Thomas, James, John, Judas (not Iscariot), Judas Iscariot, Simon Iscariot, and two unnamed disciples.

I created a new Facebook account, joined a couple of groups, did a friend request, added some details about myself. Then BAM! I was stopped cold as a popup was forcing me to do a video selfie. I don't have a camera attached to my computer. Okay done with Facebook. I wonder how many people are roadblocked trying to join Facebook.

If I cancel Amazon Prime membership, can I still rent movies from Amazon? I want to cancel my membership, but I would still like to be able to pay for movie rentals now and then.

Claim: There is no courtroom-level direct evidence of Jesus's crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.

Premise 1: Outside of the anonymously written gospel stories, there are no direct, signed, contemporary eyewitness accounts of the crucifixion, burial, or resurrection. There are no named first-person accounts from any named witnesses.

Premise 2: There are no surviving contemporary Roman execution reports of Jesus's crucifixion or for others crucified in the Roman provinces.

Conclusion: There is insufficient evidence to believe in a crucified, buried, and risen Jesus. Not at the level of courtroom evidence-- which is what an alleged God in charge of it all could have and should have provided for mortal souls living centuries and millennia after the alleged events.

Anybody know if Medicare covers seeing an allergist? And if so, can I book an appointment directly with an allergist or will I have to go through my primary care physician? I have Medicare, Medigap, and a Drug plan.

The evidence is sketchy and debatable as to if a divine Jesus was sacrificed and resurrected so leave that out of the list; I am not convinced of a gospel story with no named author and with no eyewitnesses and that seems to be a derivative of other crucified-savior stories.

In light of the many immoral horrible things a Judeo-Christian God of the bible has done to humans, what love has God shown to humans to counter the horrible things God has done (condoning and propagating slavery, commanding genocide, drowning everybody on earth including pregnant women and babies), and more)? What objective credible evidence is there?

Studies have shown that God does not answer prayer, other than subjective emotional claims Christians invent in their mind:

Multiple rigorous scientific studies have concluded that intercessory prayer does not influence medical outcomes, with results uniformly showing no benefit for patients who were prayed for compared to control groups. 

• Randolph Byrd’s 1988 Study: Conducted at San Francisco General Medical Center, this initial study of 400 cardiac patients reported a small benefit, but it was later discredited due to major protocol violations where staff knew which patients were receiving prayers, introducing bias. 
• The STEP Study (2006): Led by Herbert Benson at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, this major trial found no difference in mortality or complications between prayed-for and non-prayed-for cardiac patients; notably, patients who knew they were being prayed for experienced more complications. 
• COVID-19 Study (2023): A peer-reviewed study in Heliyon involving 199 patients found no statistically significant difference in mortality, ICU admission, or hospital stay length between those receiving intensive intercessory prayer and the control group. 
• Earlier Replications (1999–2005): Studies by William Harris (Saint Luke’s), Jennifer Aviles (Mayo Clinic), and Mitchell Krucoff (Duke University) all failed to find any positive therapeutic effect from intercessory prayer on cardiac recovery.

 

The scientific consensus from these large-sample, double-blind randomized trials is that intercessory prayer does not improve survival rates or reduce medical complications, with some data suggesting that the expectation of prayer may even negatively impact recovery. 

I don't see God's love when women are being raped, when war crimes are committed, when floods cause disease and drown people, when tornadoes rip through towns, when crime happens every second across the globe. I can not think of a single thing a God has done for me that is loving and which can be explained away from a non-God natural world. The Christian-God of the bible, if real, appears to want to remain hidden from the world.

So what objective credible evidence is there of a God showing love to humans?

I was doing great continuing on the path of minimalism. Then my best friend broke up with her bf and moved in with me, again. She has so much s**t, accumulated a lot more since living with that bf, and now she moves back to my house which is not a large house. And she keeps buying stuff to cram into the kitchen (a big storage rack, an air fryer, etc), my garage is filled with her stuff as she tries to figure out what to do with it, she has enough clothing to start her own clothing store. My goal of minimalism just got turned upside down and backwards, what do I do?

Claim: Jesus is immoral.

premise 1: Jesus as portrayed in the bible is God.
premise 2: God has committed immoral acts as demonstrated in the bible.
premise 3: Morality is that which is in the best interest of wellness for a person.
conclusion: Jesus has committed many immoral acts and this is an immoral being.

(p1) Christianity generally considers Jesus to be God, co-equal in the trinity that represents God.

(p2) Being God, it was Jesus who committed immoral acts in bible, most notably in the Old Testament:
(Ref: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-examples-of-immoral-acts-by-God-in-the-Old-Testament)

Deuteronomy 22:28–29; God’s punishment for the raping of a virgin is to pay her father 50 shekels of silver and marry her for life. The rapist was seen as ruining someone else’s property, not ruining a young girl’s life. Forcing a girl to marry her rapist and have her father accept some money as compensation is disgusting.

2 Samuel 7:11; God, through Nathan, says he is going to punish David’s affair with Bathsheba by making all of David’s wives prostitutes. God making David’s wives prostitutes, despite what His own law said, is not moral.

Leviticus 26:29; God describes how he will punish people by making them eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters. Any God threatening to force people into cannibalism on their family is not moral.

Joshua 6:20–21; God helps the Israelites destroy Jericho, killing “men, women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys”. C’mon. Ruthlessly murdering all the women and children in a city is not moral.

Deuteronomy 2:32–35; God has the Israelites kill everyone in Heshbon, including children. Later in chapter 3:3–7, God commands they do the same to the city of Bashan. Killing children ain’t moral, dude.

1 Numbers 31:7–18; God decides to not kill everyone this time. This time, He commands the Israelites to kill all the Midianites except the virgins, whom they will take as spoils of war. Killing everyone besides virgins and using them as sex slaves isn’t moral.

Genesis 7:21–23; God drowns the entire population of the earth (except for Noah and his family): men, women, and children, both born and unborn, because they were “evil”. I don’t know how unborn children could be evil, but whatever. Killing the entire population of earth, including innocent babies, is not moral.

Judges 11:30–39; Jephthah burns his daughter alive as a sacrificial offering for God’s favor in killing the Ammonites. Jephthah is crazy for burning his daughter alive and God is crazy for allowing it. Child sacrifice is not moral.

Deuteronomy 21:18–21; God demands we kill disobedient teenagers. Stoning disobedient children to death is not moral.

Exodus 21:20–21, Colossians 3:22–24, Ephesians 6:5, 1 Peter 2:18; God legitimizes slavery by saying it’s okay to own slaves and to beat them. Slaves are told to obey their masters just as they would obey Jesus, even if their masters are harsh. God blatantly supports slavery. Supporting slavery is not moral.

Homosexuals should be killed: Leviticus 20:13.

God tells you to kill people who work on a Saturday: Numbers 15:32-36

God explicitly allows slavery: Exodus, chapter 21 (the entire chapter). See also Leviticus 25:44-46, 1 Peter 2:18, Ephesians 6:5-7

God sends two bears to maul 42 children, just because they made fun of a prophet: 2 Kings 2:23-25

God tells his "chosen people" to commit genocide among a neighboring people (the Midianites) - but keep the minor girls "alive for themselves" (presumably as sex slaves): Numbers 31:17-18. See also, Amalekites, 1 Samuel 15:1-3.

God tells you to kill unbelievers: Deuteronomy 13:6-10; Deuteronomy 13:13-18; 2 Chronicles 15:13

God tells you to kill women, if they have premarital sex: Deuteronomy 22:13-21

God tells you to kill prostitutes (in the case of a daughter of a priest): Leviticus 21:9

God torturing people on a large scale (torturing unbelievers in the afterlife)

God hates people with disabilities: Lev. 21:16-23

God hates illegitimate children "up to the tenth generation": Deuteronomy 23:2

(p3) Matt Dillahunty argues that secular morality is superior to religious morality because it is inclusive, dynamic, and based on the physical realities of human interaction rather than unjustified divine pronouncements. He defines morality not as a set of objective, transcendent laws, but as a system aimed at maximizing the well-being of thinking creatures. I share Matt's definition of morality.

Conclusion: Given all the immoral acts by Jesus (God), any reasonable person would conclude that Jesus is a mass murderer and more, and is thus immoral. I don't believe in God, but as far as the bible is concerned, we have Jesus (God) of the Old Testament committing horrible immoral acts.

It is unbelievable how saturated the ads are now from Amazon on their prime video. I can't even pause a movie scene without suddenly seeing not only a full screen ad but now an annoying bright box in the lower left about adding the product to my cart to buy. And I have a Prime Membership. I just am not paying their outrageous price now for no ads on top of my Prime account. I canceled my Prime account so it expires in a couple of months. I canceled the extortion fee for no ads. This is at the point where I will just take the money saved from no more Prime subscription and no more extortion fee for no ads and I will simply pay for a no-ads streaming platform like Netflix, Hulu, or HBO. I hope Amazon takes a big hit financially from other users following my decision, and learns a lesson.

I was sad to learn that the minimalism course by Joshua Becker is no more. Anybody know of any good minimalism courses (online)? I wanted to gift a course to friend in serious need of guidance.