gentleexit

No. We all believe what we find credible and that usually matches what we think of as normal. And normal is subjective. Otherwise, we would never disagree. Admittedly, that's being pedantic.

Underneath this discussion is the proposition that there is one objective reality where a man can't rise from the dead. And that's Kodak-moment true. But that doesn't mean anyone who reports visions or messages in dreams or the dead rising lacks all credibility if such phenomena were the norm of their time.

To capture such a time, you can't excise what is fantastic for us because it motivated them. The miraculous didn't happen in the sense that your sony could capture it but it often did in the sense that people believed they saw something or believed when they heard of something and then acted on that something. That, you must bear in mind when you read history.

I knew you were out there Pete. BTW, I'm still trying to get my head around Hellenes == Greek Jews and not just plain Greeks for your Gentile thread. Chasing around received wisdom is not as easy as it looks.

thedistillers

That's not a "useful advice", that a basic principle that every rational person applies.

We know what the observable reality is by observing reality, by the way. Not by reading historical texts.

thedistillers

Why do you say that?

Amaleq13

I'm somewhat fond of the emphasis of redundancy regardless of what my English teachers might think. Them and their bossy rules.

I doubt there will be much more. There is sometimes one last burst of squid ink to hide the escape and then the wait begins anew.

fatpie42

Sheesh! Talk about delusional...

What I am see more often is a struggle by more sensible figures to discourage the hysterical cries of 'terrorists' and 'send them back home' whenever Muslims are mentioned.

Criticism of Islam is pretty widespread and the biggest problem with it is that it often comes hand in hand with racism and xenophobia. Trying to calm the hysteria is not the same as whitewashing Islam.