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He also had a solution for the omniscience issue. He said that God was all powerful so he could switch his omniscience on and off like a light switch. And that is how "free will" and "omniscience" could exist simultaneously.
lol wut...
I'll give this much to the Omniscient God- it's at least logically possible, I guess.
The Omnipotent God, though, is logically impossible, because omnipotence itself is a self-contradiction.
I would have asked said youth minister, whether Jesus could microwave a bean burrito so hot that even he could not eat it.
Similar "it's your own damn fault" reasons in the religion I was raised in. And my current issue is my own damn fault, because once again, even though I should have learned my lesson several times over, I am stuck with a loser on my hands, this time a family member, because I thought it was my responsibility to help them out and stupidly forgot that you give these types an inch and they take a mile, every time.
OMG do I understand the frustration! I am a "loser" magnet and I've managed to shake two of them but I've got two others I'm still trying to cut loose. Some people just want handouts and do not want to change. I'm sick of it, it's been going on for years because I'm big-hearted. Once I'm rid of the other two, it's Northsouth's time to enjoy the things that I have worked so hard for that I've just been giving away.
Good luck with that thorn in your side, leaches have to pulled off usually.
The toughest thing about is that at least in my upbringing you got no help because you "didn't have enough faith", "you've been secretly sinning", "God provided you with an answer and you didn't recognize it."
It is much easier to just accept that it didn't happen because it didn't happen. But to also realize that perhaps it didn't happen because I didn't put forth an effort. Had an unrealistic expectation. Couldn't control someone else's preferences when they needed to align with mine.
And finally. I have to realize that my request is trivial compared to others who are in way worse shape than I am in.
ooh good ones. I've heard all the "excuses" and the desperate need to cover for a god who is unresponsive. That's probably because it doesn't exist.
OMG do I understand the frustration! I am a "loser" magnet and I've managed to shake two of them but I've got two others I'm still trying to cut loose. Some people just want handouts and do not want to change. I'm sick of it, it's been going on for years because I'm big-hearted. Once I'm rid of the other two, it's Northsouth's time to enjoy the things that I have worked so hard for that I've just been giving away.
Good luck with that thorn in your side, leaches have to pulled off usually.
I hear both of you ... the hard part for me is threading the needle with people who are genuinely impaired / incapable. We have a resident in our HOA who doesn't mow the grass or maintain the exterior of his house and half the time doesn't bring deliveries in off his porch; there's a car he never uses with expired out of state plates; the place looks abandoned and it makes the neighborhood a magnet for burglars, especially since the house is right at the entrance in full view of a busy artery. So something Has To Be Done ... but the guy is a graduate student, with no family in-country, clearly anxious, depressed, and probably autistic, and certainly in over his head. His family bought the house as an investment and parked him in it to offset his living expenses but doesn't seem to understand he doesn't know how to care for a home.
He has to be handled delicately or we're apt to find him swinging from a rafter someday. If his lawn hasn't been cut by the end of the week I will probably go over and cut it myself ... he claims to have hired someone to do it but he has zero ability to follow up or handle speed bumps or even pay his bills, and at the end of the day, the lawn is probably the biggest problem. It would probably take me 15 minutes to mow the whole thing (once I overcome the foot-high grass that's there initially) and it will go a long way to defusing the situation. But yeah ... you can easily take on a bunch of this kind of thing until you end up overwhelmed.
I hear both of you ... the hard part for me is threading the needle with people who are genuinely impaired / incapable. We have a resident in our HOA who doesn't mow the grass or maintain the exterior of his house and half the time doesn't bring deliveries in off his porch; there's a car he never uses with expired out of state plates; the place looks abandoned and it makes the neighborhood a magnet for burglars, especially since the house is right at the entrance in full view of a busy artery. So something Has To Be Done ... but the guy is a graduate student, with no family in-country, clearly anxious, depressed, and probably autistic, and certainly in over his head. His family bought the house as an investment and parked him in it to offset his living expenses but doesn't seem to understand he doesn't know how to care for a home.
Yikes! That is a tough situation. What a terrible thing to do an obviously challenged/impaired person, his family should be ashamed. Now I feel bad for him.
Quote:
He has to be handled delicately or we're apt to find him swinging from a rafter someday. If his lawn hasn't been cut by the end of the week I will probably go over and cut it myself ... he claims to have hired someone to do it but he has zero ability to follow up or handle speed bumps or even pay his bills, and at the end of the day, the lawn is probably the biggest problem. It would probably take me 15 minutes to mow the whole thing (once I overcome the foot-high grass that's there initially) and it will go a long way to defusing the situation. But yeah ... you can easily take on a bunch of this kind of thing until you end up overwhelmed.
You're a good person Mordant to do that. Most people would just want him out and not care what his circumstances are. But you might want to sling blade that yard first. Take pictures!
Quote:
It's a tough problem ... with no good answers
It is. After all these years, I still haven't figured it out either.
Yikes! That is a tough situation. What a terrible thing to do an obviously challenged/impaired person, his family should be ashamed. Now I feel bad for him.
We live in the shadow of the Cornell campus, and there are a lot of Asian students from wealthy families who attend there. From talking to some of them, it seems that the cultural thing is you send the kid to 'Murica for the best education, but with strict (as in, implying you would probably be disowned or horribly shamed) expectation that you will return home to be something respectable (doctor or high-level bureaucrat seem popular with, at least, Chinese parents). You don't stay in the US or pursue personal dreams in any way. One student was nearly in tears describing his longing to stay here and go into a different field than his parents wanted, but you could tell that he just wasn't able to make the break. The sense of duty is deeply ingrained from the youngest age.
I'm sure it's like that with this kid, his parents probably use the "sink or swim" approach to toughen him up. But the reality is that he's sinking and not swimming, and probably conceals his true situation from them. He's also distraught because funding for some project he's working on has been cut.
We are unable to contact his parents because the deed is in his name alone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northsouth
You're a good person Mordant to do that. Most people would just want him out and not care what his circumstances are. But you might want to sling blade that yard first. Take pictures!
Fortunately so is the HOA President and to a lesser extent, the other board members. They have visited him, conveyed his situation to Student Services, and refrained from convening a Committee, per the bylaws, to contract the necessary work and charge him for it (and put liens against the property for whatever he doesn't pay). They are afraid he might become suicidal -- rightly, I think.
In this case, kindness is needed but no one is actually going so far as to do practical things like mow his friggin' grass. I have limitations too, not least that my wife is getting knee replacement surgery in a few days, so ... we'll see how it goes.
You are right, I'd probably have to buy a scythe to get started [sigh] but it would be an opportunity to rope in my autistic stepson for a practical lesson in empathy, which is not his strong suit (it's in there, but struggles to get out due to all his phobias).
I hear both of you ... the hard part for me is threading the needle with people who are genuinely impaired / incapable. We have a resident in our HOA who doesn't mow the grass or maintain the exterior of his house and half the time doesn't bring deliveries in off his porch; there's a car he never uses with expired out of state plates; the place looks abandoned and it makes the neighborhood a magnet for burglars, especially since the house is right at the entrance in full view of a busy artery. So something Has To Be Done ... but the guy is a graduate student, with no family in-country, clearly anxious, depressed, and probably autistic, and certainly in over his head. His family bought the house as an investment and parked him in it to offset his living expenses but doesn't seem to understand he doesn't know how to care for a home.
He has to be handled delicately or we're apt to find him swinging from a rafter someday. If his lawn hasn't been cut by the end of the week I will probably go over and cut it myself ... he claims to have hired someone to do it but he has zero ability to follow up or handle speed bumps or even pay his bills, and at the end of the day, the lawn is probably the biggest problem. It would probably take me 15 minutes to mow the whole thing (once I overcome the foot-high grass that's there initially) and it will go a long way to defusing the situation. But yeah ... you can easily take on a bunch of this kind of thing until you end up overwhelmed.
It's a tough problem ... with no good answers.
Here in Buffalo, we (well, some of us) are observing 'No Mow May' for ecological reasons...I'd think Ithaca would be on board with that. There's actually very mixed opinions about whether No Mow May is good from an environmental standpoint, as Lyme Disease is starting to spread across NY state from its typical northern New England environs, so the potential tick safe space offered by an unmowed lawn can be problematic. But, I'm lazy and don't like cutting the grass. I've always scoffed at people's obsessions over lawn maintenance...who cares what a lawn looks like. Suburban American ideals are pretty contemptible generally speaking.
Not to take this thread too far off topic, but, my brother went to Cornell, and I have used his e-mail address for a couple years now, and when I went to the Cornell site earlier today for e-mail purposes, I saw an extremely interesting article:
Michio Kaku also has a new book out on quantum computing which I plan on reading relatively soon. 'Non-Abelian anyons' is not a term with which I was previously familiar, lol.
Also, although I find lawn-mowing pretty pointless, it's barely an inconvenience to mow another person's lawn. My father was catatonically depressed for years, and during that time, he was unable or unwilling to mow the lawn. A neighbor dependably did so with no expectation of compensation. Just basic neighborly kindness, which I realize is in short supply in 2023 America...someone showing up to mow a person's lawn unannounced might well find themselves spending their dying seconds becoming acquainted with the grey areas surrounding the Castle Doctrine.
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Take pictures!
