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[Icarus]

#91

Religion / Re: Evangelists

Last post by Recusant - March 19, 2026, 07:28:34 AM

Thank you for understanding Recusant, I was not going to post the sermon here when it was taken and when I heard it  It is not me who took it. I thought it had positive things to learn from for those who do this in person. This thread topic though when it was posted seemed on point, so I decided to post it. I thought it might though ruffle the feathers of those who do this style when I heard it. This shows that not everybody is in support of this style of preaching of hell and damnation and there is others out there who do not hold this view. It seemed to offer something to the thread an insight.

It did, at that. For anybody who ventured to wade through the wall of text. From a Christian pastor, no less.

It's simply that anybody who's still participating here at HAF has seen a dismaying array of walls of text created by Christians. The rule exists for a reason--preaching is equivalent to spam as far as the site is concerned. We've heard the Good News already. Many times.

The content of the wall of text (the sermon) is relevant to our discussion. On the other hand it's a blooming sermon. I think you're sincerely here to talk, and I appreciate the consideration of whether or not to post the sermon. Giving a Christian sermon to atheists as a source may not get many serious takers though.

Many of us (though not all) left Christianity behind a long time ago. Having done so after being more familiar with its ideas and beliefs than many Christians. There are more interesting things to discuss, but believers can usually get some conversation about religion here. As Icarus has already mentioned, you're welcome to post on other topics though. You can see by the names of the various boards in the index that there's a wide variety of things you could post about. Or carry on with the focus on your religion if that pleases you.



Evangelism is a performance. People who do performances are gratifying their egos. Nothing particularly wrong about that; a good or great performance provides value to the audience as well as the performer. As long as there's free will as the basis, no big deal. Coerced attendance at the performance, that's another matter.

[Green Blaze]

#92

Religion / Re: Evangelists

Last post by GreenBlaze - March 18, 2026, 07:39:54 AM

I thought preaching was verboten here.

It's against the rules, yes. However, as I see it Green Blaze was quoting a preacher whose sermon was on topic for the discussion: A reference for a particular philosophy regarding preaching.

While there is an argument to be made that a strict interpretation of our rules would go against Green Blaze, I think it's good to allow some leeway as long as a member is engaging in discussion. Green Blaze has demonstrated a willingness to participate in discussion despite a tendency to edge toward preaching.

In contrast to some of the toxic evangelists that have visited here over the years, I think Green Blaze is honestly adding something to the conversation, even if it's stuff most of us don't find attractive.  I'm not sure how much longer this place will be around--if it's on its way out all the more reason to uphold an ethos of hospitality, in my opinion.

Thank you for understanding Recusant, I was not going to post the sermon here when it was taken and when I heard it  It is not me who took it. I thought it had positive things to learn from for those who do this in person. This thread topic though when it was posted seemed on point, so I decided to post it. I thought it might though ruffle the feathers of those who do this style when I heard it. This shows that not everybody is in support of this style of preaching of hell and damnation and there is others out there who do not hold this view. It seemed to offer something to the thread an insight.

#93

Religion / Re: Evangelists

Last post by Recusant - March 18, 2026, 06:40:18 AM

sorry about the startling image size

Yeah, Kali is a goddess who's all too willing to inflict harm. There's also Sekhmet from Egypt and the Morrigan from Ireland, and no doubt several more.

[GreenBlaze]

#94

Religion / Re: Evangelists

Last post by Recusant - March 18, 2026, 06:22:20 AM

I thought preaching was verboten here.

It's against the rules, yes. However, as I see it GreenBlaze was quoting a preacher whose sermon was on topic for the discussion: A reference for a particular philosophy regarding preaching.

While there is an argument to be made that a strict interpretation of our rules would go against GreenBlaze, I think it's good to allow some leeway as long as a member is engaging in discussion. GreenBlaze has demonstrated a willingness to participate in discussion despite a tendency to edge toward preaching.

In contrast to some of the toxic evangelists that have visited here over the years, I think GreenBlaze is honestly adding something to the conversation, even if it's stuff most of us don't find attractive.  I'm not sure how much longer this place will be around--if it's on its way out all the more reason to uphold an ethos of hospitality, in my opinion.

#95

Science / Re: Neanderthals in the News

Last post by billy rubin - March 17, 2026, 07:02:34 PM

natural selection in action.

#96

Religion / Re: Evangelists

Last post by Dark Lightning - March 17, 2026, 04:11:00 PM

I thought preaching was verboten here.

#97

Religion / Re: Evangelists

Last post by billy rubin - March 17, 2026, 03:31:54 PM

sorry about the startling image size

#98

Religion / Re: Evangelists

Last post by zorkan - March 17, 2026, 12:46:49 PM

The evangelists I had the misfortune to meet were a man and a woman.
I asked the woman if her god is male or female.
She replied male, a reference to the father in heaven.
The man was silent on this, but it makes an interesting point.
Is god male, female, neither or both?
By god I mean the god of Abraham and not any of the other thousands of gods in human history.
This Christian god appears only to be the father of all archetypes.

According to analysts like Jung, god is in the mind, but deep within the subconscious may be either male or female.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_goddesses
Unlike the male gods, all are probably harmless.







 

#99

Religion / Re: Evangelists

Last post by Recusant - March 17, 2026, 07:05:44 AM

PREACH IT! 

Oh yeah. To put it in the idiom of the quoted preacher's land: a load of bollocks.

[Abstract:]

#100

Science / Re: Neanderthals in the News

Last post by Recusant - March 17, 2026, 01:58:30 AM

A hypothesis about the disappearance of Neanderthal. Considering that as a species they were around for a relatively long time and were apparently successful, if not as ridiculously dominant as Homo sapiens, the question is: Did something change to bring about this problem?

"Pregnancy complications may have helped wipe out Neanderthals" | Phys.org

Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil record approximately 40,000 years ago. Their extinction was a gradual process over thousands of years, and theories as to why include competition with modern humans and rapid climate change. However, there may have been other contributory factors: preeclampsia and eclampsia.

A new study published in the Journal of Reproductive Immunology suggests that these potentially life-threatening pregnancy complications may have been more severe in our extinct cousins.

Human fetuses are exceptionally energy-demanding owing to their large brains. To meet this demand, the placenta needs to embed deeply into the mother's uterine wall so that blood can flow freely to the fetus. However, if it does not invade deeply enough or remodel the mother's arteries, blood flow is reduced. It then sheds microscopic debris into the mother's blood, signaling that it is under stress.

The mother's body may react by raising its blood pressure, leading to preeclampsia or even eclampsia—the most severe, human‑specific complications of pregnancy. However, this does not always happen. In many cases, when the placenta fails to invade deeply, the mother does not develop preeclampsia. Clinical data suggest that roughly three quarters of fetuses with vascular, growth‑restricted placentas are carried by women who do not show preeclampsia, indicating a significant protective effect. For reasons not yet fully understood, the body sometimes dampens or ignores the placenta's stress signals, which helps protect the mother from dangerous high blood pressure. The baby may be born small as a result, but the mother stays healthy.

In this new study, an international team of physicians and researchers proposes that Neanderthal women lacked this protective mechanism. Consequently, struggling pregnancies may have triggered life-threatening high blood pressure or seizures, significantly reducing reproductive success.

The scientists based this idea on a comparison between modern medical records and ancient Neanderthal DNA. They identified genetic differences that may have affected how pregnancy-related blood pressure is regulated.

[Continues . . .]

The paper is behind a paywall.

Abstract:

Preeclampsia and eclampsia, unique to human reproduction, represent the first disease documented in written history over 5000 years ago, yet their etiology remains elusive in 2026. These disorders, exclusive to Homo sapiens among 4300 mammal species, may have posed an even greater reproductive challenge to Neanderthals, potentially contributing to their poor fecundity.

Arising from incomplete deep trophoblast invasion into maternal spiral arteries, essential for nourishing the energy-demanding fetal brain, they lead to placental insufficiency and fetal growth restriction (FGR). In humans, eclampsia (grand mal seizures) occurs naturally in ∼1 % of pregnancies, while preeclampsia affects 2–8 %, with untreated cases carrying high maternal and fetal mortality.

Predominantly affecting primiparas [first pregnancy] and multiparas with a new partner ("primipaternity"), early-onset preeclampsia (EOP; delivery <34 weeks) results from failed maternal immune tolerance to paternal antigens, causing partial fetal rejection and inadequate artery remodeling. This manifests as FGR with or without maternal syndrome.

Critically, humans evolved a protective mechanism decoupling maternal preeclampsia from ∼75 % of placental FGR cases, averting life-threatening complications. Without this safeguard, preeclampsia rates could soar to 10–20 %, with eclampsia at 4–5 %, severely impeding reproductive success.

Neanderthals, sharing deep hemochorial placentation but possibly lacking this adaptation due to genetic divergences (e.g., imprinted genes, KIR-HLA interactions, PIEZO1 variants), likely suffered higher incidences, exacerbating demographic vulnerabilities like small populations and inbreeding. This hypothesis bridges a gap in paleoanthropology: preeclampsia, the principal human reproductive complication, is never cited by anthropologists as possible explanation of the well-known low fecundity rates in Neanderthals communities.