SherlockedCAMPer

As much as the UK is secular it is not 100% anti-God. There is still a state church. Whereas the society mentioned in the book was based on there is no God and we will not teach otherwise; many of the already in existence churches will have to hide or close and there is no state church.

I will try to answer your question Artemis and may not do the best at it. God wanted an internal unity among people even while scattered over the earth. Because humans are far from perfect and to varying degrees full of pride (haughty & arrogant), that internal unity was lost. The people tried to have an external unity (one not established by God but through whatever wrongful acts [aka sin] had already been committed leading up to the plan to build the tower). God confounding (confusing) the languages was His way of helping to prevent further wrongdoing (sin) as He knew our nature gravitated towards wickedness & audacity leading to fear based enterprises.

Was this a literal tower? If not, I can't imagine what it might be a description of... And if so, what on earth could it do?! Why was it so threatening, and what does that say about nature of God, and the capabilities of humanity? The God of this story has always seemed to me a little out of sync with the fearless God of the rest of the Bible. It is a literal tower they were going to build. 2 chapters earlier God told Noah and his sons that they were to fill the earth. Building the tower to keep people from scattering to fill the earth was going against God so He took just action to correct it.

No one on here has been negative to me in that way. But there are people off site who would be if they knew because my beliefs are contrary to what would be considered popular culture. I do have a certain amount of live and let live because of what I said earlier about not trying to shove my religious beliefs down anyone’s throat.

I believe that there is a God and that there are people who believe that there are 1 or more gods which are different from God. I believe that the Bible is an all or nothing not a pick and choose as in the Bible is either all true or none of it is. We can't pick and choose what from the Bible we believe to be true. I try to live out what I believe without shoving it down people's throats as the expression goes. I know I am far from perfect. Some people would erroneously label me a homophobe based on my religious beliefs on homosexuality before even hearing me out even though I have no fear of homosexuals in any way, shape, or form. I believe science and religion compliment each other and support each other. However, many scientists (no I don't have an exact number as it has been years since this was told to me by a former atheistic scientist) create their hypotheses automatically dismissing any notion of any sort of god existing let alone the one stated in the Bible before gathering the evidence when they test their hypotheses (which from what I recall of the scientific method is something that shouldn't happen as nothing is to be dismissed until all evidence has been gathered and so far I have not seen any scientific proof successfully denying the existence of God but have heard over the years of many scientists proving God, including the one I mentioned above and as I recall Stephen Hawking in possibly his doctoral dissertation). I also don't believe the Bible on faith alone. There are more than 18,000 manuscripts in existence for the Bible dating back to the New Testament writers and possibly as far back as the Old Testament (I have the research on that somewhere). Of the 400,000 known errors in those manuscripts 320,000 are minor errors such as spelling differences that don't change the meaning. Most, if not all, of us on here have seen multiple ways of spelling names such as Chris, Jenn, or Dianna. I forget how the remaining errors were accounted for beyond someone trying to compare apples and oranges as the expression goes. As for the verse that states to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39), when looked at in context (starting in verse 38 and going to the end of the chapter), Jesus is talking about being loving, generous, and merciful (see also Luke 6:27-36). There is also an interesting book called The Grace Effect by Larry Alex Taunton that talks about how religion, specifically Christianity, helps a society not be cold, pitiless, or graceless. I need to sleep but will contribute more later.

This is a sermon I happened upon yesterday that tries to answer that question: https://gracechapel.net/media-series/processing-our-suffering/ The pastor makes it clear that he's not going to sufficiently answer that question for everyone. I found it an interesting video to watch at just under 1 hour in length. There is a book (and video series) called Imagine Heaven by John Burke. I've seen most of the video series and have the book (haven't started it yet). Total oblivion I don't think is going to happen. Personally, I like the idea of living on forever so long as it is not in Hell. Heaven would be just fine by me.

Douglas wrote all versions of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy starting with a radio version. Each version is different with the Freeman movie being the last with his direct hand on it. I don’t know all of the changes. I just know they exist.

I blame my not realizing it was a joke on my general perpetual tiredness as I adjust from being a night owl to being an early bird for work when leg still having to close 2 nights a week.

Interesting because I look 15-20 years younger than I am and I’m the opposite of that.

I’m allergic and I have to work in about 90 minutes. Thinking about a hot chocolate if I can manage my supervisor role correctly.

The Close is a tv show that I might have seen an advert for once or twice (or more) possibly in BBCs twitter feed otherwise on 1 of the few occasions where I turn on the TV at my parents.

I remember an interview once where Benedict said that his father read The Hobbit to him when he was young using a variety of voices for the various characters.

What I remember from an interview (might have been Fallon’s), is he wanted to do an American accent as the Grinch and Suess are American not so much British.

All he needs is some rosemary and/or cedarwood (might be sandalwood) essential oil and that should prevent the hair loss.

I’m just excited he’s beginning to get some length back for his hair.