Greetings from the Sandbox.

If you fly over the Pyramids, you've seen enough. It's dirty and you are hounded to buy everything from every vendor out there. They are also located right on the edge of Cairo, not out in the desert like the movie leads you to believe.I was very disappointed in my visit, though the Pyramids themsevelves were impessive.

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Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

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No offense, but I find your overt pro-death imagery a bit disturbing, and rather conflicting with your pro-Xian sentiments.
How do you balance these rather polar moral positions?

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Pro death imagery? I guess you mean 1st Veteran's Battalion logo with the skull? It is what I do, kill people and break things.

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Sorry if I seem a bit forward, but you seem like a tough guy (and can take it), and your referral to Iraq as "the sandbox" seems to have rubbed me the wrong way.

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Nah, I don't mind. And it isn't just Iraq, we refer to the entire middle east as "the sandbox," minus Isreal. There's nothing deragotory meant by it, its simply a statement of fact. There's lots of sand here We refer to the entire eastern hemisphere as "across the pond."

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Also, you say you believe literally in 6 day genesis? I assume this means a 6K year old earth as well. Have you spent any time looking at the areas of Iraq which are dated older than 6K? What do you make of these age estimates?

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About 6-10K yes, but I believe this topic has an entire forum to itself? I've already read umpneen posts about the age of the earth and seen the examples of why it can't be over 10,000 years old and why it must be at least 4 billion. To answer simply, I don't think Carbon dating is quite as accurate as it is made out to be.

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Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

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How do you balance that overtly antiXian moral practice with your spoken Xian moral system? Unless you are a satanist?

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I'm "allowed" to kill people in armed military conflict and in self defense.

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Perhaps you can share a quote from Jesus which makes you feel that killing an breaking things is a worthy pursuit as a Xian.

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"Praise be the Lord my Rock who prepares my hands for war, and my fingers for battle." Psalms 144:1

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There's no sand in Israel? That's a new one. I think that just underscores what these euphemisms are about.

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When you go to the border of Isreal from the Egyptian side, you see nothing but sand. Indeed the entire Siani is a huge pebble fest. You cross the 20 feet or so of no man's land at the border, and poof. There's green grass, oragne trees, all kinds of green things. The difference is night and day. When you cross the border over into Jordan, poof, back to sand.Isreal does have its desert regions though.

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You appear to be a Xian fundamentalist with no respect for death and suffering, indeed pursuing the acts of killing and destruction as your profession, using technology while at the same time pretending the knowledge used to create it must be false (not accurate) because it challenges a singular interpretation of writings which do not specifically give a date for the earth.

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To the first part of your statement: Who says I have no respect for death and suffering? These "other faction" members want to commit martyrdom, I'm just helping fullfill their wish.You seem to imply that I accept some science (one that benefits being the boron carbide ceramic inserts to my personnal armor) but reject the knowledge used to create it.Just because I don't believe in the theory of evolution, doesn't mean I don't believe in the law of gravity.

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Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

*Looks at the worms wriggle from the opened can*Wow, ok where to start with this.*Runs up to find a quote*

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But of course he can! Being ignorant of science is part of the fun of being a fundie. In fact one of the requirements of being a YEC is to be totally scientifically ignorant.

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That is subject to debate, but that is why we are all here.

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Someone else answered this already but I will repeat the point. You can't pick and choose science that you like on a whim. If you believe it works in the case of your body armor, you cannot simply say it doesn't work for carbon dating.

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But what I can do is look at inconsistancies in the method and draw conclusions. Drawing my own conclusion based on all sides of an argument is how I come to "believe" in something or other, whether its faith or science.

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I was taking offense at his callous attitude toward those suffering around him, and his prodeath prokilling attitude. Comments such as "I kill, I break things" is not part of a soldier's job description. It is the self description of a thug.

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One of the jobs I hold is Infantryman. The Infantry's job is to close with and destroy the enemy.

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Yes I know this is a valid interpretation. However pride is a sin, and pride in killing, even if the killing was necessary, is certainly not consistent with Xian ethics.

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Some of the greatest men in the bible were soldiers by trade. Joshua, Gideon, King David, the Roman Centurion. King David wasn't allowed to build the temple because he had so much blood on his hands, yet he was still loved by God.

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Now you find me where people are supposed to be haughty and boastful of their need to kill others, and use language that demeans the people they are fighting for.

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You assume much. I am not a war junkie. I haven't been on a mission for the last month, and that suits me just fine. You have chosen to believe that I run out into downtown Baghdad and start shooting whomever, because hey, I have the rounds and need the target practice. You jumped to a wrong conclusion.And make no mistake, while I love the Iraqi people that I've met (note alot of insurgents are not Iraqis) and my particular mission is to help rebuild their country and provide stability, I am fighting for Mr./Mrs. US citizen that would like to be able to board a plane without fear of it being highjacked and run into a building.

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Other than the fact that he said that he is a US soldier and a fundamentalist Xian, please explain how the words he has used and the image he has presented are any different than the image of and words used by those we are fighting and said were intolerable?

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Now you are starting to work on the nerves. I will simply say that you don't see me on TV cutting an average Iraqi's head off with a dull knife. There is no equivication between what I do, and what the insurgents do.

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Esprit de Corps and enthusiasm for the job of a soldier does not translate to idiotic comments such as "I kill, I break things"

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It's not idiotic, it's a simple phrase for what we do.

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I kill and destroy things? Only if you are an ignorant soldier. Part of your job would include these possibilities, that is not the whole and certainly not the part you are supposed to be gloating on when you are supposed to be helping a nation rebuild.

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You would be correct if there were no more badguys. However, until the bad guys stop killing civillians and blowing stuff up, killing them remains our primary job.

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To have someone boldy announce that they would rather believe what a musty old book 'might' say over what millions of dedicated scientists have painstakingly discovered about the universe, with no other justification than that's what they want to believe, then I owe them nothing but scorn.

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But what I can do is look at inconsistancies in the method and draw conclusions. Drawing my own conclusion based on all sides of an argument is how I come to "believe" in something or other, whether its faith or science.I don't mind your scorn, but don't assume that I haven't read and researched about many of these topics. You make it seem as if I pulled my opinion on the matter right out of thin air with no evidence and rejected the mountain of evidence brought to the table by evolution.That is simply not the case for me. I did sum up what I believed in one statement just to let everyone know where I stand. The details of why I stand there are being debated in the threads above.

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Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8
No webpage found at provided URL: www.1st-vets.us

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In later posts I clarified this further and so did he in a way that should make very clear that "sandbox" is an insult, especially to those that live in the region. Did you by any chance note that Israel is left out of the sandbox? Gee yet he admits there are desert areas... hmmmmm.

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We refer to it as the sandbox...because there is sand here, and lots of it. Even here in the Tigris river basin the most you'll see is palm trees and very little grass.Isreal has grass and many different types of trees.It's not an insult, just a statement of fact. If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.I'm sorry if I don't sugarcoat things to give everybody warm fuzzies about everybody else.For more on SAND...click the following link. Warning, bring your sense of humor! No webpage found at provided URL: http://1vb-blacksheep.com/vets/tal/john_laws_and_arabs.mp3This message has been edited by Tal, 01-01-2005 05:40 AM

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Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8
No webpage found at provided URL: www.1st-vets.us

I like how you refer to me as a "fundie Xian" while telling me you are offended in my calling the mideast "the sandbox."As for the rest of your desert drivel, anyone that has visited these countries knows what I'm talking about. It passes the common sense test. Your objection to it does not IMO. I never claimed to be perfect nor have a monopoly on wisdom. But the link is funny. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck. It's funny, so I laugh.Common sense test again.This message has been edited by Tal, 01-01-2005 08:08 AM

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Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8
No webpage found at provided URL: www.1st-vets.us