I'll have to check out the Beethoven Letters, never even heard of that one. (he may not have heard them, either!)

Thanks!

Saw an interview of him saying that his portrayal of Stalin was a role that he felt he did some of his best work in.

I'm not sure I've ever seen that.

"Robert Duvall's portrayal of Joseph Stalin in the 1992 HBO television movie Stalin is widely recognized as a major, acclaimed, and challenging role in his career, for which he won a Golden Globe.

Duvall sought to portray Stalin as a complex human rather than a one-dimensional monster, focusing on his paranoia, cunning, and contradictions."

#38

Which is why when we have THE expert scholar on people like Muhammed, who's story WAS written 200 years later, or Augustus Caesar, a contemporary of JC... it might be wise to hear out his analysis.

- One early version of the Bible taught that Lilith was Adam's first wife, not Eve.

That's a much later version:

"The legend of Lilith as Adam's first wife, created from dust alongside him before Eve, originates from medieval Jewish folklore"specifically the 8th"10th century text Alphabet of Ben Sira"rather than early versions of the canonical Bible.

While Lilith is not in the Bible as a human, she is sometimes interpreted from a single mention of a night creature in Isaiah 34:14, though she was traditionally understood in literature as a demon."

#35

- Jesus didn't write the Bible,

If you ever find someone who said he did, you'll be the first.

- religion is a means of controlling people by manipulating them.

Yes, it can be used that way, just as nuclear power can be used for bombs or home energy, for evil or for good.

Perhaps you need to clear your mind with a twink or two?

See if JPW will volunteer!

(although I cannot attest to his, um, 'twinkiness', you could ask BillJohson.)

- Bronze Age goat herder myths beyond simple faith.

Aww... the tawdry old standards. You need some new material... and obviously prefer reading Wiki rather than the thread link, or even the Except from #3, which I see you are definitely still afraid to do.

Here, I'll help:

"I think there is no one who's more
culturally Christian than the atheist...

who says, "I don't need some, you know,
bronze age sky [music] fairy telling me
how to behave because I just know how to
behave. I'm a good person.

I don't need the Bible to tell me to care for the
weak and the poor and the refugee...

... manifesting the fact that they are the
result of centuries worth of biblical
weathering." - Tom Holland

or perhaps you need someone to explain the concept of a 'Cultural Christian' to you.

- en.wikipedia.org(author)

Um... not the Actor Tom Holland.

"Tom Holland is an English historian and author who, while not identifying as a traditional Christian believer, argues that Western morality, secularism, and human rights are profoundly shaped by Christian, particularly Catholic, history. His 2019 book, Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind, explores this foundational influence."

#38

Fact is that Dem voters on average have higher education levels than Republican voters... which is why Trumpublicans hate education. Along with Hating America.

#2 - jajaja!

from the excellent article

"Robert Hines, president of UAW Local 2359 and a worker at the Conn-Selmer plant in Ohio, said Paulson's latest decision smacks of hypocrisy.

"To go publicly on CNBC to support the Trump administration's positive views on tariffs and all that stuff, and then you turn around and [say you] want to go send the work right over to China," Hines told The Guardian. "It's a slap in our face."

Overall, U.S. manufacturing jobs have declined since last spring, when he first implemented his aggressive and wide-ranging tariffs " which he promised would lead to a renaissance of blue-collar jobs, according to Reuters.

The industry shed 8,000 jobs in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. And since April employment in the sector has fallen by more than 70,000 to about 12.69 million as of December, marking the worst reading since March 2022."

;;
Thanks, Trumpers!!

- He knows that we know what he's done.

He also appears not to care that we know what he's done.

He reminded us again the other day that he could shoot someone on 5th Ave and not lose any votes. I mean, he's been Impeached, convicted by a Jury of his Peers, openly lied into the faces of his Cult... with little to no effect on the Base.

Fortunately, it takes more than the Base to win, and he's already lost the middle voters.

- who don't understand the concept of "medical bankruptcy."

We fund Billionaires rather than health care and education.

Because that's better for us; just ax' Trumpers, it's best to keep the Oligarchs happy so they will Tinkle Down on us and not enslave us, which they already have when they bought all our politicians.

This is because of Urgent Important Issues... like trans, immigrants, liberals, and anything that women or dark skinned people do.

"Donald Trump told us that even though he had dinner with these people in NYC and West Palm Beach, that he would be transparent," Massie said.

"But he's not. He's still in with the Epstein class. This is the Epstein administration."

"The people who are funding the attacks against me, they may or may not be implicated in these files, but they were certainly rubbing shoulders with the people who are in these files," he said.

"They're billionaires who are friends with these people and that's what I'm up against in Washington, D.C."

Despite the president's attempts to thwart him, Massie reported some of his best fundraising ever last year, particularly in Q2 after he began championing the release of the Epstein files."

;;

Massie, Ro Khanna, MTG... the new Three Amigos!

(Martin Short as MTG! Which reminds me, have you ever seen he and Steve Martin in the tv show Only Murders in the Building?... one of like 2 shows I watch sometimes &)

AND both of you are afraid to even read or hear what the renowned secular scholar of ancient history, and best selling author, has to say.

Just like any Trumper avoids any information that might possibly differ from what they already believe.

This Gangster Government and it's brain damaged crew don't know the definition of, 'Ethics'.

If they did, they would not have and still be murdering 100's of thousands of children through starvation and lack of medicine... so that they can give tax cuts to their Oligarch owners.

#27

The thread vid (w transcript) is by a secular scholar of ancient history, and guess what? The 'magic of religion' is never mentioned.

But you already KNOW EVERYTHING, so why would you ever learn anything?

You prolly don't even know that 'faith' isn't a religious word.

- I know the same way you know.
I believe it to be true.
Thats the magic of religion.

You seem to be the magical thinker here; I'm quoting a secular historian, and you are trusting your fee fees.

- between 12 and 16 years old.

What was the age of marriage for women in most cultures 2000 years ago?

"Around 2,000 years ago, the typical age of marriage for women in many ancient societies, particularly within the Mediterranean and Roman world, was shortly after puberty, generally between 12 and 15 years old.

While 12 was often the legal minimum, middle-class girls typically married in their mid-to-late teens, whereas elite, arranged marriages often occurred as early as 12."

- you seem very concerned with the validity of your faith

Assigning motive in argument is... well, it's just sad.

- what possible reason is there to care about this argument?

A 'scientist' who eques finding factual evidence? OK, that's funny.

- meaningless to me.

What the blind man said about the elephant.

One supposes that everything that's meaningless to you must also needs be meaningless to others. But then, yours in the only opinion that counts, right?

It's almost like you are very concerned with the validity of your thinking. As apparently you should be.

- feel the need to describe people in that manner.

It's OK... Trumpers don't believe 99 percent of Climate Scientists and you avoid expert opinion. Got it.