I haven't read it since I was a Christian, really, but I liked it then. The guy I knew who wrote for it was walking a fine line where we worked--a lot of people thought he was very sacrilegious. Even though I was extremely conservative doctrinally, I also really liked satire and biting self-commentary. Ship of Fools was that to me. Yes, indeed, atheists are a large group. When we talk about Catholics or Mormons or Sunni Muslims or any religious group, we can have some idea about what they believe or how they approach some ideas, but when we identify atheists, the only thing we have in common is that we don't believe in a god/gods. And we definitely don't all have the same sense of humor. :)

This is a joke. I'm an atheist and none of those interests me, though I find them amusing. I know dozens of atheist families and none of them wear those things, would buy those things, but almost all of them celebrate Christmas, (and they all know where the holiday originated, but that's not a part of their celebration). I bet if you googled Atheist gifts and Christian gifts, you'd find lots more Christian stuff than atheist stuff, so I think it's pretty easy to make Christmas religious (considering its origin is actually Christian). I'm not at all opposed to Christmas. We celebrate it at our house, though not in the way we did when we were Christians :) P.S. Wishbone--I thought it was very amusing. Thanks for sharing! <3

I haven't read it yet, but I'm very familiar with the Ship of Fools website. It's actually a Christian website, and that's where the satire and lampooning comes in. (Oooh, I see on second skim of thread that this was mentioned--still I think it's interesting :)) I learned about Ship of Fools when I was Assistant Editor at a Christian professional's magazine from Group Publishing over a decade ago. Another of our staff often contributed at Ship of Fools. He was considered quite edgy, but he was definitely an Evangelical Christian (not Anglican). I'm off to read!

We go around the table and say what we are thankful for that day, or what thing was special to us, a kindness done for us, or one that we did for someone else.

At our ESL school, we often have pot lucks. We have 75% Saudis, and they just avoid any pork dishes that other students bring. They understand that most people eat pork. If he's never seen people eat pork before, now is a good time as any to recognize the world around him. :)

Thanks! :)

Oooh, I do have several pair of smart wool socks, but perhaps not oddly, they make my feet sweat. It's probably better than the chillblains though. :)

Thanks all. I'm always barefoot in the summer, but I've definitely resorted to socks and slippers in the winter, but my feet still get cold. I have cotton socks and fuzzy sheep skin slippers on right now, and my toes are still cold. My big toes are practically numb. :( I'd love a topical, so I'll look into the Witchhazel and read up on the ginko. Soaking with epsom sounds like a good idea. Thanks again.

Ever since I was a kid, I've suffered from chillblains on my toes in the winter. I have terrible circulation in my feet. They itch terribly, and I wake up in the middle of the night from their itchy painfulness. Does anyone have any home remedies for these horrible things? Thanks SO MUCH!

OP, since we don't seem to have any biochemists around, I think my biochem Ph.D. friend would give you some input. If you message me, I'll give you her email (it may take her a bit, since she just had her first baby a little while ago).

Who is saying the homeopathics don't work? They can/do work--they work by the placebo effect. However, there is no active ingredient. They work on the mind. Placebo effect.

My friend's daughter loves a specific Beanie Baby. She brings it to tests because she says it helps her to feel more relaxed and she does better on tests. She says she know it's not really magic or anything, but it's an emotional help. I have a necklace that's somewhat similar for me. We use these things because of their effect on us. But, if we were to try to sell these items as a type of medicine because they soothed anxiety, I think that's where we fall into the problem. If homeopathy were marketed as a placebo instead of medicine, I think that would be more honest, and we wouldn't have people confused about what is actual medicine that has predictable effects on the body. I don't think it's necessarily unrealistic to hope that homeopathics would start to label themselves as placebos. One of the fascinating thing about placebos is that they work even when the people taking them know they're placebos. This thread caused me to recalled a conversation I had with a friend who actually has a Ph.D in biochem (we were friends together in high school and lost track of each other for many years. She's now a biochem prof in Korea!) I was on my FB asking my friends for suggestions they had to aid me with my insomnia. She suggested some sort of tincture. She said it was homeopathic, and therefore a placebo, but she said she liked it though and she said I could get some and put it in capsules, or I could drop it under my tongue (like she did) for "increased placebo power." (Her words. We had a good laugh). Fact was, she used this tincture knowing full well that it was a placebo, but that she liked to use it (just like I "use" my necklace on certain occasions). She said I could also just save myself the money and have some chamomile tea. Another friend of ours from high school (and a pharmacist) popped in and said he'd give me a prescription for "chamomile" tea, because that too would improve the placebo power--just having something prescribed makes people more likely to respond to it. (The then offered me something else through messages and not on my updates page. :)) I watched this a number of years ago and found it so interesting! It's only 3 minutes, and worth a watch!

What are you talking about? Bygones? I'm glad you had some relief using homeopathy. There are many other types of placebos would have worked just as well in their place. To say that homeopathy is a placebo is not "slamming" homeopathy. To say that best method scientific studies identify any affect of homeopathy as placebo is not "slamming." It's identification.

Fierce hug! I know this wait is hard. You're in my thoughts!

Are you sure you're talking about homeopathy? The use of essential oils isn't the same as homeopathy. Homeopathy is a placebo. It's taken some sort of "active ingredient" and diluting it hundreds if not thousands of times. http://xkcd.com/765/ If homeopathy worked, it would be possible to overdose in some way. James Randi has "attempted suicide" dozens if not hundreds of times to overdose on homeopathic sleeping pills and never had any effect at all. http://www.ted.com/talks/james_randi.html There are entire groups of people who participate in these public "overdoses." One member of our board has done this--though I can't remember who. Plus, one needs no nothing about the placebo effect to have it "work". Not to mention that correlation does not equal causation. I think have a few biochemists around here. I hope they see this thread!

Meh. I'm surprised the girl was stopped. I think she had the right to share this tradition and the beliefs that went behind it. If the teacher didn't want the kids to talk about religion in their traditions, s/he should have stated that up front. The evangelism aspect is so minimal here to me--plus, if she was stopped before John 3:16, what prior to that was evangelistic? Even John 3:16 isn't the entire gospel to some Christian groups, it's just a verse, though it encapsulates a segment of basic Christian theology. A girl this age, I guess I'd give it a pass. I'd just make sure the rules are clearer next time, and I'd have let her finish.

That's an area of the brain. . . but I can't remember what it's in charge of, so I'll pass that little bit onto someone else who can add onto it. Nice one on "ante-penultimate" TrulyCrabby. :)

I think it's 2 years. But I'm not certain. (ARGH, turns out it was 19 months, which was my 2nd guess actually :)) DYKWOG: What does "ante-penultimate" mean? :)

I was about to make this point. When I was an Evangelical, I was in some circles that were tangential to the local Messianic Church, and at the same time had many Muslim students (and some Bahai). That's when I first started thinking about this. It is a great illustration and interesting food for thought.

Most of the Messianic people I know are Christians who have "adapted" some sorts of cultural Judaism and have elements of Jewish worship. Most go to a Messianic Jewish worship center and they call themselves Messianic Christians. The Jews who have embraced Jesus as the Messiah seem to call themselves Messianic Jews, and I have known fewer of these. I think people should label themselves as they like, but for my own convenience, I think of anyone who has believed in Jesus as the Messiah is a Christian, by definition, though they may have all sorts of backgrounds.

Great! I'll definitely talk to my dr!

Church of God in Christ Mennonite (Holdermans) believe that Jesus is fully God, but not at all man. I suppose if you want to be given "evidences" that Jesus is God, you could read some of their material and theological works because that's where it will focus.

I'm wondering if this is even a thing. I will likely be in a wedding this summer for my friend P. (I'm thrilled for this P!) But, it is very likely there will be someone in attendance (S) that is a very difficult person for me to be around. So much so, that I've sort of been dreading this wedding, though I've been eagerly anticipating it too. We were all friends at one time, but S and I don't really have anything to do with each other anymore, and I have a bit of anxiety if I even think about her. When I think about this wedding, I think I'm having little panic attacks--well, "panic attack" is maybe too strong a word here, but my chest hurts and my heart races. I feel sort of sick all over. I think that having to face S over a weekend will be terribly stressful. I've even given thought to not going to the wedding because sometimes the feeling is so severe--but I very much want to go. I love P. So, I don't even know if this is possible, but do GPs ever proscribe anti-anxieties or the like just for a short-term? Whew, I have to stop typing now, my hands are starting to shake. This is pathetic.

"Proof of income is required at each visit to qualify for discounted services." For women who don't have an income, it is true.

I'm so sorry, Quill. :grouphug: