From: kaldis@romulus.rutgers.edu (Theodore A. Kaldis)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: How big _is_ Texas?
Date: 7 Jan 93 15:01:40 GMT
Followup-To: talk.politics.misc
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

In article <1993Jan6.181548.29505@news.ysu.edu> ae642@yfn.ysu.edu (Kelley Miller) writes:

> Theodore A. Kaldis:

>> When Alaska was being _CONSIDERED_ for statehood, students knew how to
>> spell "consider".

> Awwww....poor baby....he doesn't like the humor so he flames on the
> basis of a misspelled word.

I did not find the humor expressed to be exceptionally profound and
was thus not moved by it one way or the other.  Nor am I enamored of
Texas (or even Alaska, for that matter) to any extent.  But I do find
the lack of self-discipline and self-respect (often exhibited, for
example, in the lack of writing skills) of today's students to be
exceptionally disturbing.

>> I am more inclined, rather, to consider the construction "friendly
>> athiest" as an oxymoron.  
>  ^^^^^^^

> This idiot flames me for spelling, yet he can't spell a word right
> when he has a model a few lines above it...

> Pathetic.

But at least I had the good sense to include alt.flame.spelling in the
distribution.

> I am inclined to consider the construction "Theodore Kaldis" as 
> denoting ignorance, extreme stupidity, and extreme intolerance of
       [take note of this; hypocrisy expressed below]^^^^^^^^^^^
> anything the person labeled by this construction does not agree with
> or approve of.

>> But more to the point: no one that I know of is forced to walk through
>> the door of the church.  You, as I, can choose to enter in, or else
>> decline to, of your own free will.  Or perhaps Torquemada is still
>> operating, undercover these days?

> Did I ever imply that anyone wishing to enter or decline entering a
> church had a lack of freewill?  No.

Well, as a matter of fact, on the contrary, yes you did.  To suggest
that the construct "freewill Christianity" is an oxymoron is to say
that these are two mutually exclusive concepts.  This implies that
those who frequent church lack freewill.

> I simply comment on the concept

Is it really nothing more than a "concept"?  Just simply a thought, a
notion, an idea?  Or is it in fact something more?  Like perhaps an
intuition, a perception, or an observation?

> that those who most strongly embrace Christianity tend to loose touch
                [An exercise: is this really correct usage?]^^^^^
> with their free will, at least those of my aquaintence.

But you miss the larger question here?: is this a manifestation of the
fundamental nature of Christianity, or is it a corruption of it by at
least some of its adherents?

>> BTW, you have trailing blanks after the last asterisks in the lines of
>> your .signature file.

> So what?  Is it your contention that leaving trailing blanks somehow
> denotes some manner of deviance?  [...]

No, it is my contention that it denotes some manner of carelessness.

>> -- 
>> The views expressed herein are my   ||  Theodore A. Kaldis
>> my own only.  Do you seriously      ||  kaldis@remus.rutgers.edu
>> believe that a major university as  ||  {...}!rutgers!remus.[...]
>> this would hold such views???       ||
>  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> Not only do I not believe it, I am amazed that an institute as well
> thought of as Rutgers would ever allow someone like you to be
> associated with it.

(Here is the hypocrisy.)  Rutgers, unlike you, is tolerant of
diversity of opinion, and is fully cognizant that such an attitude is
absolutely necessary -- even indispensible -- if free inquiry is to
flourish.  (Not that I'm acting as a spokesman on behalf of Rutgers,
mind you.  But this has been my observation.)
-- 
The views expressed herein are my   ||  Theodore A. Kaldis
my own only.  Do you seriously      ||  kaldis@remus.rutgers.edu
believe that a major university as  ||  {...}!rutgers!remus.rutgers.edu!kaldis
this would hold such views???       ||