TheRtRevKaiser's recent activity
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Comment on The Ten Commandments must be displayed in all public Louisiana classrooms under requirement signed into law in ~humanities
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Comment on Protests seen as harming civil rights movement in the '60s—What we can learn from this for climate justice in ~enviro
TheRtRevKaiser This is fascinating, I've never seen it before. Thank you for posting it.This is fascinating, I've never seen it before. Thank you for posting it.
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Comment on Poppy - New Way Out (2024) in ~music
TheRtRevKaiser Yeah I've listened to a decent sampling of her stuff and really like how much experimenting she does with her sound. I thought this track was decent but it just didn't have the impact of some of...Yeah I've listened to a decent sampling of her stuff and really like how much experimenting she does with her sound. I thought this track was decent but it just didn't have the impact of some of her other stuff. I like the industrial/nu-metal vibe but I just felt like it was missing something.
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Comment on Poppy - New Way Out (2024) in ~music
TheRtRevKaiser I can definitely hear Jordan Fish's influence here, lol. I like Poppy, and this is a cool track, but I really liked her feature with Knocked Loose better than this. I really think she gets lost in...I can definitely hear Jordan Fish's influence here, lol. I like Poppy, and this is a cool track, but I really liked her feature with Knocked Loose better than this. I really think she gets lost in the production here.
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Comment on Spotify raises US prices of premium streaming plans for second time in one year in ~music
TheRtRevKaiser That's pretty weird, because I listen to a lot of music on YouTube and I've been recommended all kinds of cool, weird bands. You'd think they would be able to use whatever secret sauce they have...That's pretty weird, because I listen to a lot of music on YouTube and I've been recommended all kinds of cool, weird bands. You'd think they would be able to use whatever secret sauce they have for video recommendations for music as well...
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Comment on Retailers hate that you buy big things on your laptop in ~finance
TheRtRevKaiser I have constant issues with this on Android, but it's switching between apps that is the issue. I have an older phone that came with very little storage (I cheaped out and bought a lower storage...I have constant issues with this on Android, but it's switching between apps that is the issue. I have an older phone that came with very little storage (I cheaped out and bought a lower storage option and have come to regret it) and the OS and system files takes up more than half of what I do have, so I'm perpetually operating on low storage, which means that Android sleeps apps when they're not in use very aggressively. Sometimes if I just swap to my password vault to authenticate, when I come back the app or site I was in will refresh. It's maddening...
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Comment on Retailers hate that you buy big things on your laptop in ~finance
TheRtRevKaiser You should be able to do that with Lens on Android phones as well, in my experience.You should be able to do that with Lens on Android phones as well, in my experience.
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Comment on Divine Hiddenness argument against God’s existence in ~humanities
TheRtRevKaiser Eh, I think you're overstating your case that a particular way of thinking about omnipotence is critical to Judeo-Christian theology. There are different ways of defining omnipotence in theology,...Eh, I think you're overstating your case that a particular way of thinking about omnipotence is critical to Judeo-Christian theology. There are different ways of defining omnipotence in theology, even among those who accept that as a necessary attribute of divinity (and there are a few, although not many, who don't). There's omnipotence in the sense of god being capable of doing literally anything, even if it's non-causal, paradoxical, or against his nature. There's the more common definition of omnipotence as capable of anything that is not intrinsically impossible/self contradictory. Then, there's omnipotence in the sense of a diety being capable of anything that is within his nature - e.g. a god that is described as perfectly truthful may be seen as not capable of lying. Or, for example, in some Calvinist thought, where god is seen as being perfectly just and is therefor incapable of mingling with that which is unjust, i.e. imperfect humanity, unless some step is taken to atone for that imperfection.
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Comment on Divine Hiddenness argument against God’s existence in ~humanities
TheRtRevKaiser I'm not totally sure I have a good answer for this, which is something I've had to make peace with in the last few years. I do think that there are some ideas that address these concerns, like...I'm not totally sure I have a good answer for this, which is something I've had to make peace with in the last few years. I do think that there are some ideas that address these concerns, like forms of universalism that I've encountered since leaving evangelical churches, but I certainly don't know all the answers.
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Comment on Divine Hiddenness argument against God’s existence in ~humanities
TheRtRevKaiser (edited )Link ParentDisclaimer: I'm approaching this as a believer, albeit a believer who is very open to being wrong and pretty comfortable with doubt. One thing I don't love about this argument (and most arguments...Disclaimer: I'm approaching this as a believer, albeit a believer who is very open to being wrong and pretty comfortable with doubt.
One thing I don't love about this argument (and most arguments for and against the existence of God) is that it is extremely reductive, in that it assumes that our knowledge of what/who God is or must be is complete and so we have all of the facts needed to reason about Him.
It hinges on the assumptions that,
a. God is capable of directly being in reciprocal and conscious relationship with all/most people.
b. Most people are capable of being directly in relationship with God.I don't think these are givens. The Christian tradition (at least the parts before/other than modern evangelicalism) has a healthy amount of skepticism about humankind's capability of being in direct relationship with God. The common belief is that He provides a number of proxies through which a relationship can happen, the greatest of which are the person of Jesus, who was in some way both divine and human, and the indwelling of the Spirit. Both of these (either personally or corporately depending on what branch of Christianity you're talking about) provide a means for humans to have some level of limited communion with God.
I realize that might be unsatisfying or seem like an evasion of the problem, but I think it's at least worth considering that there is some limitation, either on the part of humans or God, that prevents a more direct relationship from occurring for most people, most of the time.
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Comment on Former US President Donald Trump has been found guilty of thirty-four counts of falsifying business records to influence the outcome of the 2016 election in ~news
TheRtRevKaiser Between 16 months to 4 years. House arrest or probation are very likely. -
Comment on YouTube seems to once again be rolling out its widely hated new web redesign in ~tech
TheRtRevKaiser Maybe it's more of a reflection of the channels I tend to watch, but YT's comments have been WAY better in the last year or more than they used to be. I don't see anywhere near the kind of spam...Maybe it's more of a reflection of the channels I tend to watch, but YT's comments have been WAY better in the last year or more than they used to be. I don't see anywhere near the kind of spam that I used to and there's often good discussion in the comments. Honestly on a lot of channels the comment section is better than what you'd see on a default reddit sub.
Edit: I realize that bar is so low that it's pretty much on the floor...
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Comment on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pitches mandatory national service at eighteen in ~news
TheRtRevKaiser I've thought for a long time that something like a year or two of mandatory public service could be really good for kids and for the country, if done correctly. I wouldn't want it to be primarily...I've thought for a long time that something like a year or two of mandatory public service could be really good for kids and for the country, if done correctly. I wouldn't want it to be primarily military/defense focused, but if done well I think it could have a positive impact both on communities and the people serving.
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Comment on The new propaganda war in ~misc
TheRtRevKaiser This is the kind of article that really makes me feel helpless. What do we do in response to stuff like this?This is the kind of article that really makes me feel helpless. What do we do in response to stuff like this?
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Comment on The most mispronounced brand from every country in ~humanities.languages
TheRtRevKaiser Will this be sufficient to validate my Americanness? /joke -
Comment on The most mispronounced brand from every country in ~humanities.languages
TheRtRevKaiser As a person with three kids in prime LEGO age, plus multiple LEGO obsessed adult friends, I hear people talk about LEGO the company ALL. THE. TIME. "Dad, why hasn't LEGO made a Percy Jackson set?"...As a person with three kids in prime LEGO age, plus multiple LEGO obsessed adult friends, I hear people talk about LEGO the company ALL. THE. TIME.
"Dad, why hasn't LEGO made a Percy Jackson set?"
"Dad, LEGO discontinued this set I want, can we still buy it?" (It was like $700 dollars. We did not buy it)
"Dad! (younger brother) is messing with my Minecraft LEGO set!"
Please...can we talk about something besides LEGO? 😅
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Comment on Mozilla is adding vertical tabs, profile management, and local AI to Firefox in ~tech
TheRtRevKaiser (edited )Link ParentYeah, I'm sure I'm opening myself up to a dozen "but have you tried this distro" comments, but I didn't really enjoy my couple of excursions into daily driving linux. I'm just used to windows and...Yeah, I'm sure I'm opening myself up to a dozen "but have you tried this distro" comments, but I didn't really enjoy my couple of excursions into daily driving linux. I'm just used to windows and I'm a lot less likely to run into some random thing that causes me to spend two hours googling for a solution. Not saying it never happens, but usually if something goes wrong in windows I can figure it out pretty quickly, but it always felt like a lot more friction on linux. All that to say, I was thinking more from the perspective of Firefox on windows.
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Comment on Mozilla is adding vertical tabs, profile management, and local AI to Firefox in ~tech
TheRtRevKaiser I guess the thing that always makes me go back to tabs in the title bar is that it's not like I get that real estate back or anything, the title bar is still gonna be there either way. Might as...I guess the thing that always makes me go back to tabs in the title bar is that it's not like I get that real estate back or anything, the title bar is still gonna be there either way. Might as well use it.
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Comment on IGN Entertainment acquires Eurogamer, GI, VG247, Rock Paper Shotgun and more in ~games
TheRtRevKaiser I don't know if you would consider them major, but there's also Polygon.I don't know if you would consider them major, but there's also Polygon.
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Comment on The spectacular failure of the Star Wars hotel in ~movies
TheRtRevKaiser Yeah, I have a hard time listening to unscripted or lightly scripted podcasts, too, so I think it's just a me thing. I struggle with that kind of long, rambling stuff in general.Yeah, I have a hard time listening to unscripted or lightly scripted podcasts, too, so I think it's just a me thing. I struggle with that kind of long, rambling stuff in general.
I agree with this, with a few differences, and it's something I've thought a lot about. I think what it is that you're thinking of is the rise of Evangelicalism. Part of the spread of that movement was the rise of leaders outside the traditional denominational structures - people like Pat Robertson and James Dobson. They built networks of Evangelical Christians that bypassed the existing structures, like TV and Radio broadcasts, newsletters, etc. There are absolutely still mainline churches, but there's a reason that you've seen several of them experience major splits in the last couple of decades as evangelical wings developed or were strengthened and increasingly clashed with the traditional leadership of those denominations. We're at the point now where you could go to an evangelical Methodist church, and evangelical Baptist church, or an evangelical Presbyterian church and the differences would be pretty negligible. There probably would still be theological differences, but I suspect they'd be minimized. There are, though, still plenty of churches in the US that are pretty firmly not evangelical, like the Episcopal church, the remaining United Methodist church, the Evangelical Lutheran synod (ironically), and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). There are others, too, but those are the ones that come to mind. The traditionally black denominations don't map neatly into this dichotomy in every case, since black theology developed separately for so many years.
I kind of disagree with your last point, though. There are 50+ decades of development of evangelical theology, and the actions of hardcore, right-wing evangelicals often do go hand-in-hand with their theology, it's just that much of their theology leads to conclusions that most people, and many christians, find abhorrent.
A really good read that has a lot to say about the development of evangelical theology is Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez.