id_category,category,data 0,alt.atheism," Ideologies also split, giving more to disagree upon, and may also lead to intolerance. So do you also oppose all ideologies? I don't think your argument is an argument against religion at all, but just points out the weaknesses of human nature. I would like a reference if you have got one, for this is news to me. One must approach the Qur'an with intelligence. Any thinking approach to the Qur'an cannot but interpret the above verse and others like it that women and men are spiritual equals. I think that the above verse does clearly imply that women have souls. Does it make any sense for something without a soul to be forgiven? Or to have a great reward (understood to be in the after-life)? I think the usual answer would be no -- in which case, the part saying ""For them has God prepared forgiveness and a great reward"" says they have souls. (If it makes sense to say that things without souls can be forgiven, then I have no idea _what_ a soul is.) As for your saying that the quote above may not be given a high priority in all interpretations, any thinking approach to the Qur'an has to give all verses of the Qur'an equal priority. That is because, according to Muslim belief, the _whole_ Qur'an is the revelation of God -- in fact, denying the truth of any part of the Qur'an is sufficient to be considered a disbeliever in Islam. Look, any approach to the Qur'an must be done with intelligence and thought. It is in this fashion that one can try to understand the Quran's message. In a book of finite length, it cannot explicitly answer every question you want to put to it, but through its teachings it can guide you. I think, however, that women are the spiritual equals of men is clearly and unambiguously implied in the above verse, and that since women can clearly be ""forgiven"" and ""rewarded"" they _must_ have souls (from the above verse). Let's try to understand what the Qur'an is trying to teach, rather than try to see how many ways it can be misinterpreted by ignoring this passage or that passage. The misinterpretations of the Qur'an based on ignoring this verse or that verse are infinite, but the interpretations fully consistent are more limited. Let's try to discuss these interpretations consistent with the text rather than how people can ignore this bit or that bit, for that is just showing how people can try to twist Islam for their own ends -- something I do not deny -- but provides no reflection on the true teachings of Islam whatsoever." 1,comp.graphics,"Does ANYONE out there in Net-land have any information on the Cobra 2.20 card? The sticker on the end of the card reads Model: Cobra 1-B-1 Bios: Cobra v2.20 I Havn't been able to find anything about it from anyone! If you have any information on how to get a hold of the company which produces the card or know where any drivers are for it, PLEASE let me know! As far as I can tell, it's a CGA card that is taking up 2 of my 16-bit ISA slots but when I enable the test patterns, it displays much more than the usualy 4 CGA colors... At least 16 from what I can count.. Thanks! .------------------------------------------. : Internet: jele@eis.calstate.edu : : bbs.mirage@gilligan.tsoft.net : : bbs.mirage@tsoft.sf-bay.org : : mirage@thetech.com : : UUCP : apple.com!tsoft!bbs.mirage : `------------------------------------------'" 2,comp.os.ms-windows.misc," Two things that annoyed me about the PC Magazine review: 1. Their benchmarking technique is seriously flawed, as was clearly shown by the Graphite and #9GXE's ""cheating"". Can't they just admit that their benchmark is to easy to optimize for and/or cheat on? WinTach is much harder to beat... 2. The big ""cheat"" that Hercules/IIT used was overlappipping BitBlit and PolyLine optimization, and Hercules sent them a new driver which didn't do this -- but produced almost identical scores. Yet, the only thing PC Magazine says is that scores are not ""legitimate"" -- couldn't they at least make some comment about its real-world performance? I'm not so much going by WinBench for performance, but, rather, by Steve Gibson's results, which are more real-world based (like using Micrografx ""Despite these documented cheats, I have to say that in real-world applications the Hercules Graphite adapter actually draws faster than any other display adapter in the industry. [...] Even though it's just a modest ISA bus card, it outperformed every local bus adapter I have, including the Stealth 24 VLB, the Fahrenheit 1280VA/VLB, the ATI VLB Mach32 and even the Weitek P9000-based Diamond Viper VLB."" This kind of praise is enough for me to be interested in it, bogus WinBench or not! :) I already returned the ATI GU+. My dealer had sold eight of them, and seven were returned to him. I'm now (temporarily) back to running an original ATI GU, until I get my Graphite. And, yes, the GU is faster in my 16 MB system than the GU+, especially in bitmap handling (that's where you use BitBlits). Hercules has a promotion available for VARs and software developers: you can buy one Graphite or Graphite VLB for 50% off list to try it out. At just $199 for Graphite or $249 for the VLB version I decided it was worth trying (I'm supposed to get the VLB board within two weeks). I'll post my impressions when I get it... " 3,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,"Hi. I am trying to set up a Conner 3184 and a Quantum 80AT drive. I have the conner set to the master, and the quantum set to the slave (doesn't work the other way around). I am able to access both drives if I boot from a floppy, but the drives will not boot themselves. I am running MSDOS 6, and have the Conner partitioned as Primary Dos, and is formatted with system files. I have tried all different types of setups, and even changed IDE controller cards. If I boot from a floppy, everything works great (except the booting part :)). The system doesn't report an error message or anything, just hangs there. Does anyone have any suggestions, or has somebody else run into a similar problem? I was thinking that I might have to update the bios on one of the drives (is this possible?). Any suggestions/answers would be greatly appreciated. Please reply to:" 4,comp.sys.mac.hardware," In certain Apple 13"" RGB monitors there has been a problem with the HIGH VOLTAGE CAPASITOR. Apple knows about this problem and is replacing the cap at no cost if it falls into the bad batch that they got from their supplier. Your local repair shop should know about REPAIR EXTENSION 3L0218. " 5,comp.windows.x," Have you gotten an answer yet? Using your variables, this is what I would do: xterm -T ""$HOST - $LOGNAME"" -n ""$HOST"" " 6,misc.forsale," COD is fine until the buyer opens the box to find they paid 150.00 for a brick. Or if it the seller allows for a personal check to be used on a COD it's fine till a stop payment is made. There are few methods to protect both buyer and seller in any sort of transaction. Even with merchants and customers there are problems...stolen credit cards, chargebacks, no return policies and getting the wrong item, etc. About the only protection available to to do business with someone you trust....someone who has been around for a while. Jeff ________________________________________________________________________" 7,rec.autos,"From article <1993Apr5.200048.23421@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>, by lorenzo@rintintin.Colorado.EDU (Eric Lorenzo): --Let me put it like this. The only similarity between the three models is the ""300"", or 3-liter engine displacement. Actually, the SC300 (the coupe) and the GS300 (the funky-looking new sedan) share the same 3.0 liter inline-six, and the ES300 (popular small sedan) uses 3.0 V6 shared with the Camry. The SC300 is a luxury/sports coupe, the GS300 is the new luxury sedan, and the ES300 is the base executive sedan. All three look completely different. --Aamir Qazi -- " 8,rec.motorcycles,"Now, I am jumping into the middle of this thread so I may not know what y'all been talking about, but I have a few comments: There are a number of other factors that are very important, the three biggest being air velocity, air momentum and shock waves. Velocity stacks have been used for years and are now being used inside of stock airboxes on a number of bikes. At a tuned engine rpm, the stacks can greatly increase the speed, and thus momentum of the air rushing in. Air momentum is critical in getting good air intake: the momentum of the air stack outside the combustion chamber will force its way inside long after the piston has begun its compressive up-stroke. Shock waves are used to induce air intake and to prevent fresh air from escaping out the exzhaust ports. Shock waves are the product of expansion chambers or any other means of presenting a 'wall' (opening or closing) to the air in motion. Beyond this I am lost in the mystery of how they design for shock waves." 9,rec.sport.baseball," Maybe it's just me, but the combination of those *young* faces peeking out from under oversized aqua helmets screams ""Little League"" in every fibre of my being... " 10,rec.sport.hockey,"........ It looks like the Edmonton Oilers just decided to take a European vacation this spring... Ranford, Tugnutt, Benning, Manson, Smith, Buchberger, and Corson are playing for Canada. Podein and Weight are playing for the US. Is Kravchuk playing for the Russians...I know he had nagging injuries late in the season. Podein is an interesting case...because he was eligible to play in Cape Breton in the AHL playoffs like Kovalev, Zubov, and Andersson...obviously Sather and Pocklington are not the total scrooges everyone makes them out to be...certainly in this case they've massively outclassed Paramount and the New York Rangers." 11,sci.crypt,"Gee, I guess they should also have such a repository for house keys, car keys, safety deposit keys, ... :-( rdl" 12,sci.electronics,"Doesn't Motorola AMCU have something on the BBS yet? (512-891-3733) " 13,sci.med,"[reply to keith@actrix.gen.nz (Keith Stewart)] It would help if you (and anyone else asking for medical information on some subject) could ask specific questions, as no one is likely to type in a textbook chapter covering all aspects of the subject. If you are looking for a comprehensive review, ask your local hospital librarian. Most are happy to help with a request of this sort. Briefly, this is a condition in which patients who have significant residual weakness from childhood polio notice progression of the weakness as they get older. One theory is that the remaining motor neurons have to work harder and so die sooner." 14,sci.space," Any lunar satellite needs fuel to do regular orbit corrections, and when its fuel runs out it will crash within months. The orbits of the Apollo motherships changed noticeably during lunar missions lasting only a few days. It is *possible* that there are stable orbits here and there -- the Moon's gravitational field is poorly mapped -- but we know of none. Perturbations from Sun and Earth are relatively minor issues at low altitudes. The big problem is that the Moon's own gravitational field is quite lumpy due to the irregular distribution of mass within the Moon." 15,soc.religion.christian,"I wrote in response to dlecoint@garnet.acns.fsu.edu (Darius_Lecointe): Was Paul a God too? Is an interpretation of the words of Paul of higher priority than the direct word of Jesus in Matt5:14-19? Paul begins Romans 14 with ""If someone is weak in the faith ..."" Do you count yourself as one who is weak in the faith? Yes, but what does the Bible have to say? What did Jesus say? Paul closes Romans 14 with, ""On the other hand, the person with doubts about something who eats it anyway is guilty, because he isn't acting on his faith, and any failure to act on faith is a sin."" Gaus, ISBN:0-933999-99-2 Have you read the Ten Commandments which are a portion of the Law? Have you read Jesus' word in Matt5:14-19? Is there any doubt in your mind about what is right and what is sin (Greek hamartia = missing the mark)? Whereas, the Ten Commandments and Jesus' words in Matt5:14-19 are fairly clear, are they not? Matt5:14-19 doesn't answer your question? Breaking bread - roughly synonymous with eating. How do you unite this concept of yours with the Ten Commandments and Jesus's word in Matt5:14-19? Or, they assumed that the Ten Commandments and Jesus' word in Matt5:14-19 actually stood for something? Perhaps they were ""strong in the faith?"" --------------------------- [No, I don't believe that Paul can overrule God. However Paul was writing for a largely Gentile audience. The Law was regarded by Jews at the time (and now) as binding on Jews, but not on Gentiles. There are rules that were binding on all human beings (the so-called Noachic laws), but they are quite minimal. The issue that the Church had to face after Jesus' death was what to do about Gentiles who wanted to follow Christ. The decision not to impose the Law on them didn't say that the Law was abolished. It simply acknowledged that fact that it didn't apply to Gentiles. Thus there is no contradiction with Mat 5. As far as I can tell, both Paul and other Jewish Christians did continue to participate in Jewish worship on the Sabbath. Thus they continued to obey the Law. The issue was (and is) with Gentile Christians, who are not covered by the Law (or at least not by the ceremonial aspects of it). Jesus dealt mostly with Jews. I think we can reasonably assume that Mat 5 was directed to a Jewish audience. He did interact with Gentiles a few times (e.g. the centurion whose slave was healed and a couple of others). The terms used to describe the centurion (see Luke 7) suggest that he was a ""God-fearer"", i.e. a Gentile who followed God, but had not adopted the whole Jewish Law. He was commended by Jewish elders as a worthy person, and Jesus accepted him as such. This seems to me to indicate that Jesus accepted the prevailing view that Gentiles need not accept the Law. However there's more involved if you want to compare Jesus and Paul on the Law. In order to get a full picture of the role of the Law, we have to come to grips with Paul's apparent rejection of the Law, and how that relates to Jesus' commendation of the Law. At least as I read Paul, he says that the Law serves a purpose that has been in a certain sense superceded. Again, this issue isn't one of the abolition of the Law. In the middle of his discussion, Paul notes that he might be understood this way, and assures us that that's not what he intends to say. Rather, he sees the Law as primarily being present to convict people of their sinfulness. But ultimately it's an impossible standard, and one that has been superceded by Christ. Paul's comments are not the world's clearest here, and not everyone agrees with my reading. But the interesting thing to notice is that even this radical position does not entail an abolition of the Law. It still remains as an uncompromising standard, from which not an iota or dot may be removed. For its purpose of convicting of sin, it's important that it not be relaxed. However for Christians, it's not the end -- ultimately we live in faith, not Law. While the theoretical categories they use are rather different, in the end I think Jesus and Paul come to a rather similar conclusion. The quoted passage from Mat 5 should be taken in the context of the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus shows us how he interprets the Law. The ""not an iota or dot"" would suggest a rather literal reading, but in fact that's not Jesus' approach. Jesus' interpretations emphasize the intent of the Law, and stay away from the ceremonial details. Indeed he is well known for taking a rather free attitude towards the Sabbath and kosher laws. Some scholars claim that Mat 5:17-20 needs to be taken in the context of 1st Cent. Jewish discussions. Jesus accuses his opponents of caring about giving a tenth of even the most minor herbs, but neglecting the things that really matter: justice, mercy and faith, and caring about how cups and plates are cleaned, but not about the fact that inside the people who use them are full of extortion and rapacity. (Mat 23:23-25) This, and the discussion later in Mat 5, suggest that Jesus has a very specific view of the Law in mind, and that when he talks about maintaining the Law in its full strength, he is thinking of these aspects of it. Paul's conclusion is similar. While he talks about the Law being superceded, all of the specific examples he gives involve the ""ceremonial law"", such as circumcision and the Sabbath. He is quite concerned about maintaining moral standards. The net result of this is that when Paul talks about the Law being superceded, and Jesus talks about the Law being maintained, I believe they are talking about different aspects of the Law. Paul is embroiled in arguments about circumcision. As is natural in letters responding to specific situations, he's looking at the aspect of the Law that is currently causing trouble: the Law as specifically Jewish ceremonies. He certainly does not intend to abolish divine standards of conduct. On the other hand, when Jesus commends the Law, he seems to be talking the Law in its broadest implications for morals and human relationships, and deemphasizing those aspects that were later to give Paul so much trouble. It's unfortunate that people use the same terms in different ways, but we should be familiar with that from current conflicts. Look at the way terms like ""family values"" take on special meaning from the current context. Imagine some poor historian of the future trying to figure out why ""family values"" should be used as a code word for opposition to homosexuality in one specific period in the U.S. I think Law had taken on a similar role in the arguments Paul was involved in. Paul was clearly not rejecting all of the Jewish values that go along with the term ""Law"", any more than people who concerned about the ""family values"" movement are really opposed to family values." 16,talk.politics.guns," That's a revisionist account of what happened. Gritz was well-aware of Duke's presence on the ticket. Given that Gritz is not at all shy about associating and promoting other white supremacists (such as the Christian Identity movement or Willis Carto), whatever reasons Gritz had to leave the ticket had nothing to do with Duke's presence. I believe Chip Berlet has a Populist Party newsletter from the time with a photo of Gritz happily shaking hands with Duke." 17,talk.politics.mideast," ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^" 18,talk.politics.misc," And the reason that the Soviet Union couldn't achieve the ideal of pure communism was the hostility of surrounding capitalist nations...Uh huh. Somehow, this all sounds familiar. Once again, utopian dreams are confronted by the real world... " 19,talk.religion.misc," Paradise and salvation are not the same thing. Salvation is better. Refer to John 14:2."