Feb 11, 2012 -- 2:59PM, Abner1 wrote:

Recently I got an email from a former student (who does not know of my atheism - I don't mention it to students for obvious reasons).  The email was about how "Madylyn Murray Ohare" is currently working to outlaw religious broadcasting in the U.S.  This led to two thoughts:

1.  If this was true, it would definitely disprove "Ohare's" belief that there was no afterlife.  :)

2.  The next time someone tells me that there was no way that false stories could have propagated without being overcome with the truth, so the stories about Jesus must have been true or they would have been disbelieved at the time ... I am going to laugh in their face.  Really, a great big horse laugh!

Obviously you don't understand.  Ohare was resurrected and is leading a band of zealots to ban religion in the U.S.  Your former student is an apostle spreading the good news.

Paladinsf wrote:

> If you are SERIOUS and this student was in your class I am prompted at ask: What

> the hell do you teach?  Are reasoning skills required for your course? Did you pass

> this student?

The student was in first-semester freshman chemistry.  Mostly the skills required for first-semester freshman chemistry are algebra-level math, a decent memory, and the ability to write coherent sentences (and you might be surprised how many fail even at that).  More advanced reasoning skills show up a bit more in the second semester, but don't generally become essential until about a third of the way into organic chemistry; the freshman students are more at the this-is-a-periodic-table-let's-learn-how-to-read-it level, sadly.

Frankly it's hard enough getting the freshmen to recall their basic algebra.  I had a student a few years back who got upset because I wouldn't explain step-by-step, in class, how to solve 2x = 2 but instead wanted them to come by during office hours!  *shudders*

Wohali wrote:

> Abner, that email you received from your student is a zombie. It's been killed time

> and again, but it won't die.

Yep.  And I have no reason to think that the people 2000 years ago were any less gullible or any better at basic fact-checking, which explains a lot.  :)

Mind you, anyone who's sat through a half hour of Jack Van Impe and his wife Godzilla or The Gospel Bill Show would agree that that outlawing religious broadcasting might not be a bad idea.

Godman

I feel that everyone has a right to be insane.

Another of your self-serving arguments.