Stormbringer's Thunder

Buon giorno. A few months ago, I saw a comment on an atheist's Weblog that astonished me in its arrogance and stupidity: Recent archaeology shows that Palestine was not even inhabited at the time of Jesus. This insipid remark reminded me of similar remarks that archaeology of the past hundred years is disproving the Bible. Ostracon from Qeiyafa. Can you dig it? That is just plain silly. Archaeology is not like other science (that is, not evolutionism) where hypotheses and theories are made, modified to fit data and even discarded when necessary. No, archaeology accumulates evidence. "New" archaeology is unlikely to "disprove" the archaeology that supports the Bible. I've been up to my old tricks, and I called Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason . When I told Melinda the call screener ("The Enforcer") that I was calling about the claim that Palestine was not inhabited at the time of Jesus, she actually laughed! Greg expressed a bit of amazement as w...

First, I have to tell you where this Weblog is going overall. I do not know. The primary purpose is to be multi-faceted with an occasional emphasis on political matters. I will not specialize in those (or in other things) because I believe that it would get boring to both you and to me. Regular readers may have noticed that there have been some changes in my subject matter and writing style. That is because there have been changes in my life, and I am returning to my Christian roots. A renewal, so to speak. Some things must be changed, others given up, still others need to be brought into my life, or at least, given more priority. Nobody should expect me to be a shining example of saintliness because I still have a long, long way to go. Also, I am making up for some lost time, getting good Bible teaching and letting the political input wait for a while. It won't be forever, but I do not feel that I should be making time for that. People who read my articles for political content, d...

Buon giorno. In my last post, I was emphatic that if someone is going to be a Minimalist, that they should do it at their own pace and in their own way. There is no creed or code other than the consensus that you cut back on non-essentials as much as possible so that you have time and money for things that you think are important. I want to expand on the part where I said that Minimalists can make themselves miserable by viewing every move they make through a filter of, "Does this fit with the Minimalist lifestyle?" "Yeah, the buttons on your shirt say you've been expanding again!" Clam up, Nicky. You do want that bonus, don't you? Anyway. If you go around testing and judging yourself, filtering your every action through whether or not it fits your chosen philosophy, you'll make yourself miserable. This is mainly because there is no creed or code. That thought should be liberating, so do not make it into a prison! Here are some ways that I can ima...

One of the things that I like about writing Weblogs is that I can do whatever I want. Part of that comes from pondering things, keeping my eyes and ears open, pondering some more and then being able to write them out. That is why I have done several articles on Minimalist philosophies. Defining "What is the definition of Minimalist, Uncle Bob?" Actually, the term really applies to a minor form of art, and also to a kind of music. People also decided that it was a good term for a philosophy of having fewer possessions. It goes beyond simplifying to get rid of needless clutter, and getting to having and doing the fewest things in order to survive. This sets one free because there are relatively few possessions to cling to so that time and energy can be spent doing things you love, and to focus on people and relationships instead of the pursuit of more stuff. A good definition can be found here . Addendum: An excellent resource is here . Even the basic definition of "...

"It takes an awful lot of people, working together at an awful lot of jobs, to keep a civilization running. Smash the installations and kill the top technicians and scientists, and the masses don't know how to rebuild and go back to stone hatchets. Kill off enough of the masses and even if the planet and the know-how is left, there's nobody to do the work. I've seen planets that decivilized both ways." from The Space Viking, by H. Beam Piper Interesting how this comes along while I'm looking at material on simplifying and on minimalism. In this far future story, the survivors of a planet's war devolved into barbarism. This came about because nobody was able to take care of what was needed to keep the technology going. In times of power loss, we realize how dependent we are on technology that is driven by electricity. Once the power is restored, we can watch television, make telephone calls and go online. Some people are only slightly inconvenienced from t...

Buona sera . As you know, I've been examining minimalism. It turns out that there are several sites devoted to discussing the subject. Some writers have made statements that made me uncomfortable. I began to wonder, "Am I getting into something that looks good on the surface, but is a plank in a platform that I cannot sanction?" Not really. The philosophy of minimalism is disparate . One writer seemed to advocate something resembling communism, where everyone shares what they have, and nobody owns anything. Ummmm....yeah.Who regulates? Well, there is no overseer. Oh, I get it: anarchy. That may be your goal, Poindexter, but you're probably alone in that (people are selfish at heart, you see). Another advocates "social change through minimalism". That won't happen, Cupcake. You need some kind of uniform code and many like-minded people. A third writer on minimalism is a Christian. He finds that the philosophy fits in with Christian values. I have sta...

The thoughts just keep on rolling! But I think this will be the last one on "Minimalist" philosophies for a while because I have some other things to talk to you about. Let me remind you that I am still working through these things. As far as I can figure it, a Minimalist is the ultimate clutter reducer. Leo Babauta describes it this way: “Minimalism isn’t about having or doing nothing – it’s about making room in your life for the things you love doing most. In this way, by getting rid of all the clutter in our lives – physical clutter and commitments – we are freeing ourselves, so that we can focus on what truly matters, and not all the extra crap people tend to do and have for no good reason”. You can read some more interesting discussions on that here , here and here . Note: Use your right-click and "Open in New Tab" feature on Firefox so you don't get lost and forget to finish this article that started you off. As I said before, Leo takes things further t...

Buona sera. I am still on a journey, attempting to simplify things in my life and to remove as much clutter as I can. It started with the possessions around the house. This led to introspection. (Nicky hates it when I use that word, I put it in there just for him.) I was asking myself why I am hanging onto some things, even though I had removed other things that are just taking up space. It is much, much easier to get things done if you have clutter removed (or at least reduced) in your life.If you are interested in this area (or arena), there is some good material at Unclutterer . This moved into an effort to simplify my life itself. But as I have said many times before, balance is the key word. I don't want to live an austere or extreme minimalist lifestyle because I simply like gadgets, pleasures and conveniences too much. But I do not want a lifestyle that is cluttered with excessive gadgets, pleasures and conveniences. I have to have a balance. I do not want an iPhone. It...