frankPodmore
@frankPodmore@slrpnk.net
- Comment on Is there any real physical proof that Jesus christ ever existed? 1 week ago:
This is what He wanted.
- Comment on Is there any real physical proof that Jesus christ ever existed? 1 week ago:
It’s certainly possible that sayings of other people were later attributed to him, but to really make this case you’d need to have quotations that were attributed to multiple sources, including him, if you see what I mean. Absent that, it could be true, but there’s no particular reason to believe it.
There are enough specific biographical details about Jesus of Nazareth to make it likely that there’s a specific, real central figure. For example, the fact that he was from Nazareth was a problem for his early followers (it didn’t match the Messianic prophecies), which is why they invented the odd story of the census, so that they could claim he’d been born in Bethlehem. That seems unlikely to have happened if there hadn’t been a real, central historical figure.
Also, none of the early non-Christian sources claim he wasn’t real, which they surely would have done if there was any doubt on the matter.
- Comment on Is there any real physical proof that Jesus christ ever existed? 1 week ago:
I agree with you that Jesus wasn’t God, who doesn’t exist, and that there were no miracles, which are impossible. However, this is not the same thing as saying that there’s no evidence for the existence of Jesus, the Jewish apocalyptic preacher.
The earliest documents about Jesus, such as the Pauline Epistles, were written by people who knew people who knew him. In a mostly illiterate society 2,000 years ago, this is about as good as evidence gets. It’s also the exact same kind of evidence as a journalist or researcher writing an account based on interviews with people. This was how, e.g, Herodotus wrote his histories. When Herodotus says ‘A guy rode a dolphin once’ we dismiss that. But we don’t say ‘The people in the Histories didn’t exist’. We do much the same with Jesus and the miracles.
If the Apostles had wanted, for some reason, to invent a guy, that would have been risky. Other people would have just said, ‘That guy didn’t exist’. If they had anyway decided to invent a guy, they’d have invented someone who actually fulfilled the Jewish propehcies of the Messiah, instead of inventing Jesus, who obviously didn’t. This suggests they didn’t invent him, which strengthens the plausibility of the evidence we do have.
A third way of looking at this is to ask if there are any comparable figures, religious founders from the historic era, who we now think were wholly made up in the way you’re suggesting. But there aren’t. The Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, Zoroaster - they all certainly existed. Indeed, I can’t think of any figures form the time period who were actually imaginary.
- Comment on Is there any real physical proof that Jesus christ ever existed? 1 week ago:
Dinosaurs aren’t people.
- Comment on Is there any real physical proof that Jesus christ ever existed? 1 week ago:
No. But physical proof is not the standard we use for determining someone’s historical existence.
- Comment on What is that sound effect in the House M.D theme music? 1 month ago:
It sounds like a dial tone to me, with a lot of fuzz. Could be a pager, as doctors used to use them a lot.
- Comment on Kate Osamor has Labour whip restored after investigation into Gaza genocide comments 1 month ago:
Bizarre day where both Kate Osamor and Natalie Elphicke (re)join the PLP.
- Comment on Five ways to catapult the UK towards solar energy success - Positive News 1 month ago:
Yeah, I signed up to one of the group-buying schemes that Sadiq Khan brought in, in theory to make it cheaper to put solar panels on your house. The company that got the contract ended up going bust, so no solar panels for me! At least I got the deposit back.
- Submitted 1 month ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 4 comments
- Comment on Humza Yousaf to resign as Scotland's first minister 2 months ago:
Would be funny if he did a Theresa May, just came out and said fuck all then carried on like nothing had happened.
- Comment on Conservative MP Daniel Poulter defects to Labour 2 months ago:
He’s standing down at the next general election anyway, so this isn’t about saving his seat.
- Comment on Is there a more politically and ideologically diverse alternative for Lemmy? 2 months ago:
That is true, but I did find a lot of people on Twitter and Reddit who I could have productive and interesting disagreements with, even though I naturally mostly followed and subscribed to people and things I did agree with.
- Comment on Is there a more politically and ideologically diverse alternative for Lemmy? 2 months ago:
Not really interested in discussing things with fascists, but I’ve rarely seen anyone here who’s to the right of, like, a milquetoast social democrat.
- Comment on Is there a more politically and ideologically diverse alternative for Lemmy? 2 months ago:
I don’t think there is one, unfortunately. I agree that lack of ideological diversity is a problem with the Fediverse in general, but it’s a problem that likely won’t go away unless the Fediverse becomes mainstream.
- Comment on Every new school being built in England is in unsafe air pollution area, study says 3 months ago:
The number who think it’s okay to park on the zigzags because they left their hazards on is similarly incredible.
- Comment on Every new school being built in England is in unsafe air pollution area, study says 3 months ago:
As discussed in this article, the government is busily ignoring its own reports and its own advisers, trying to make it harder to implement life-saving policies like ULEZ, LTNs and 20mph zones (by cutting funding, for example), and even trying to make it harder for councils to fine motorists who break the law (more great stuff from ‘the party of law and order’!).
There’s no such thing as road tax, but full duty, which motorists do pay, has not risen. It’s been frozen for, I think, 14 years. Hunt froze it again the Budget just the other day! There may be other taxes I’m not aware of and you’re sort of right that the overall tax burden has increased, but I don’t know how much that applies to motorists specifically.
- Comment on Every new school being built in England is in unsafe air pollution area, study says 3 months ago:
This is the third study in the last week that shows just how wrongheaded the government is to pursue supposedly ‘pro-motorist’ policies.
- Every new school being built in England is in unsafe air pollution area, study sayswww.theguardian.com ↗Submitted 3 months ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 6 comments
- Comment on Health gains of low-traffic schemes up to 100 times greater than costs, study finds 3 months ago:
I’m not entirely clear why you feel (re)designing cities around walking/cycling is a patronising policy, but designing cities around cars isn’t. If the answer is, ‘because cars aren’t good for you’, it seems like your stance would have to be ‘cities should be designed around what’s bad for you, otherwise it’s patronising’, and I don’t think that can be what you believe!
- Comment on Health gains of low-traffic schemes up to 100 times greater than costs, study finds 3 months ago:
LTNs make life easier for everyone who doesn’t use a car which, in inner city London, where many of these studies were conducted, means the majority. So, it’s not about maliciously targeting people with cars but benevolently targeting the majority who don’t have them.
I didn’t personally find the tone of this article smug, but again: it’s not about making life harder for people who want to drive or preventing them from doing what they want (because after all everyone can still drive if they choose to), but enabling people to safely do what they want when they want to walk and cycle. LTNs make walking more pleasant and safer; there’s even some evidence they reduce crime! So, as you’re someone who walks a lot but doesn’t particularly enjoy it (sorry about that), LTNs ought to make things a bit better for you.
Finally, LTNs are about as likely to reduce journey times for motorists as they are to increase them, so the net effect on motorists way well be neutral. Again, this doesn’t strike me as the kind of outcome I’d want if I were maliciously targeting motorists.
- Comment on Socialism, anti-fascism and anti-abortion on Prevent list of terrorism warning signs 3 months ago:
And even if we count Cable Street, it was about a hundred years ago!
- Comment on Socialism, anti-fascism and anti-abortion on Prevent list of terrorism warning signs 3 months ago:
Genuine question: have there been any terrorist attacks planned or executed by people in the UK in the name of any of those ideas? I know there have genuinely been communist terrorist acts in other places, but I can’t think of any that happened here.
- Comment on Hi so i am trying some shit for fun like summoning any kind of entities. 4 months ago:
Try the Rite of AshkEnte from the Discworld novels, see if you can summon Death himself.
- Comment on Hi so i am trying some shit for fun like summoning any kind of entities. 4 months ago:
experience fear and thrill of of overcoming it
Riffing off this idea slightly, but I strongly recommend lead climbing. Perfect combo of fear factor - you fall a lot - with limited risk of actually injuring yourself - you’re attached to a rope!
- Comment on I don't know how to deal with what to me is a thin skinned and gossip coworker. 5 months ago:
Lots of bigger workplaces actually have some sort of private organisation you can basically vent to and ask advice from, so that might be a good idea place to start. The whole point of these is that they’re totally anonymous, so you basically cannot get any blowback from talking to them.
You can also speak to your boss if you have a good relationship with them. Just explain as neutrally as possible that you’re finding it a little difficult to work with this particular co-worker. You don’t need to ask them to do anything specific, just be honest that it’s difficult. They might be able to either bring it up with your co-worker (keeping you anonymous, of course), that other people are finding their behaviour offputting, or just arrange it so that you don’t have to work together.
- Comment on How do people carry notebooks without bending it 5 months ago:
I eventually just gave up and started buying expensive notebooks. The cheap ones always fell apart before I finished them, so at least this way I get to the end!
- Comment on Does the rest of the English speaking world generally understand what an American means when they say "soccer", or does it help to clarify by adding "football"? 6 months ago:
No, we understand. In fact, if anything it’s easier if you say soccer! If someone with an American accent says ‘football’ I normally assume they mean gridiron, so sayings soccer is actually a little clearer.
Of course, in different parts of the world, ‘football’ might mean rugby (either union or league), Gaelic football or Aussie rules football. So, the potential for confusion is pretty wide!
- Comment on Why would someone openly say that they oppose human rights? 6 months ago:
Yeah, that’s fair enough. Similar to Foucault’s critique, IIRC.
- Comment on Why would someone openly say that they oppose human rights? 6 months ago:
Fair enough. Sounds like you favour the idea of human rights but disagree on some specific conceptions of exactly what those rights are?
- Comment on Why would someone openly say that they oppose human rights? 6 months ago:
There are also specific articles in the universal declaration of human rights that I think are wrong
Do you mind saying which ones?