Is this a good argument?

[Pauliesonne]

Swidler's argument has been bugging me.....

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?postid=1492231#post1492231

[tkingdoll]

Pauliesonne, for the last fricking time, will you please start a topic and GIVE US YOUR OPINION FIRST.

It's just plain rude now, especially as it's been pointed out to you several times that your threads simply don't have any value if you just post a question and run away, leaving us to do the work.

WHY has Swidler's argument been bugging you?
WHICH parts of the argument?
WHAT do you think the solution is?

Tell us that, then ask for a response.

Perhaps you think you are some sort of cat among the pigeons, posting exciting or controversial topics to scatter our opinions and maybe start a fight or two? If so, you are mistaken. Your threads are becoming tiresome.

THINK before you post a 'serious' thread, for goodness sake. I'm beginning to think you are mentally deficient, which I'm sure does you no justice.

[Pauliesonne]

I did'nt have an opinion. That's why I needed someone who's opinion I can learn from.

This one;

Regarding Pauliesonne's mention of existing mythologies, that's hardly news, and certainly wouldn't have been to Genesis's initial audience. The author(s) could easily have consciously invoked preexisting cultural references, much as an American might sprinkle his speech with baseball or football references requiring explanation to those unfamiliar with the culture.

WHY has Swidler's argument been bugging you?

Because I don't know if it hold's any perverbial water.

[tkingdoll]

I did'nt have an opinion. That's why I needed someone who's opinion I can learn from.



Er...in a skeptic community, you learn from facts, not opinions.

You mean someone disagreed with you and you're waiting for someone else to come along and tell you whether they're right or not? How do you know if that second person is right though?

At the very least, try and work these things out for yourself. There are a lot of things to learn from the people of this board but your opinions you must form yourself.

[Kopji]

Hi Pauliesonne,
A concept you might want to become
more familiar with is "midrash".

Midrash is a method of reading the Bible as
an Eternal text, and is the result of applying a set of hermeneutical
principles evolved by the community to guide one in reading the canon,
in order to focus one's reading. The ultimate goal of midrash is to
"search out" the fullness of what was spoken by the Divine Voice.

In developing midrash, there are two schools of thought on how to
handle the language of Torah. One is that the language is the language
of human discourse, and is subject to the same redundancies and
occasional verbiage that we all encounter in desultory conversation.
The other view holds that since Scripture is the Word of G@d, no word
is superfluous. Every repetition, every apparent mistake, every
peculiar feature of arrangement or order has meaning.
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/03-Torah-Halacha/section-25.html

First, so to answer your question, I don't see anything logically wrong with David's pov and it certainly has an ancient origin, at least in the Jewish tradition.

As a simple matter of ettiquette, it is better to ask David about his post in the thread you linked to, before starting a new one here.

(apoligies, my spell checker was victim of a virus attack yesterday and I need to repair it...)