The case of the disappearing posts

The content of some of our posts has been disappearing (e.g. The case for Catholicism, American's Tiananmen square, Some observations about the riots). It doesn't seem to happen when we initially post the post, but it seems to happen if we edit the post after the fact (e.g. nothing more than adding a single label has made the entire content of the post disappear). We're trying to figure out why, and how to fix it, so please bear with us. Of course, if anyone has any idea why this might be happening, please feel free to comment. Thanks.

(At the moment, recovery isn't a huge concern. I believe admins have backed up most of Triablogue.)

For the record

I'd like to take the occasion to debunk a baseless rumor. Recently, it was brought to my attention that I allegedly said JP Holding was homosexual. But that's fanciful.

That's a wild misinterpretation based on something I said in an ancient post, way back in 2005. I haven't thought about that post for many years. 

The statement I made in that post, which has given rise to this rumor, was sarcastic and satirical. To impute a serious import to the statement is fallacious. 

I don't have any inside information about Holding, so I'd be in no position to opine about his orientation in the first place. Hence, it wasn't even possible for me to intend that statement seriously. I never had access to any public or private evidence to render an informed opinion. 

Moreover, homosexuals are a minuscule fraction of the population, so there's a strong standing presumption that someone is straight unless we have evidence to the contrary. Which I don't. I didn't at the time. 

So in several respects, the interpretation foisted my statement is groundless. 

A New Feature

For those who haven't noticed, we now have a Featured Post section at the top of our sidebar on the right. The post highlighted there will be changed periodically. If you haven't looked much at the sidebar in general, you might want to do so. We have a lot of material there, including links to e-books we've written. We also have a few resources linked in the bar near the top of the screen, below the Triablogue graphic.

Doomsday machine

These are some comments I made at Facebook discussions. 

There's always a problem when a policy is quoted to defend the policy. If the rationality of the policy (e.g. no anonymous comments) is, itself, the very thing in dispute, then defending the policy to quote the policy is circular. Moreover, there's a problem when we absolutize our little manmade rules, as if we're suddenly handcuffed by the rules we make. Once we make them, we're bound to follow them without exception. But the handcuffs are imaginary.

There can be value in having a general policy, like "Don't drive on the wrong side of the road."

If, however, a hurricane is heading your way, it makes sense for authorities to suspend the policy and open all lanes to outbound traffic.

Even if it's a good general policy to forbid anonymous comments to weed out irresponsible commenters who hide behind anonymity to take potshots, TFan is a known quantity. It's unintelligent to treat all anonymous (or pseudonymous) commenters alike when, in fact, they are known to be unalike.

Moral and rational discrimination requires discretion. Treating everyone alike without regard to the fact that individuals are unalike is morally and intellectually lazy. Why punish smart people for the misdeeds of dumb people?

Some people allow themselves to be trapped inside their made-up rules. The rule becomes a doomsday machine. It has an on-switch, but no off-switch. Once the doomsday machine goes online, you can't shut if off. You're now at the mercy of the machine you made. 

The rule becomes the master. The rule tells the rulemaker what he's allowed to do or not to do. I don't understand people who permit themselves to be dictated to by their made-up rules. Rules that aren't moral imperatives. Rules that outlive their usefulness. 

Jared Moore's top 250 Christian blogs

Since Jared Moore plugged us, we thought we could return the favor, and plug his weblog as well. We've added Jared Moore to our sidebar under Blogspotting.

Also, just click on the image below to head over to his weblog:

Download your Google data

Just a bit of recent news in case some people don't already know. You can archive and then download your Google data including Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, Google Drive, YouTube, etc. See here for more information.

Ed Dingess: Troll

This post is a bit ironic since I'm calling attention to Ed Dingess rather than ignoring him! Also, I've failed at ignoring him many times in the past, against my better judgment, and to my considerable detriment.

So I hope this post serves as a word of warning to others. Don't make the same mistake I did! Please be aware of Ed Dingess. Or at the very least take great caution when attempting to engage him in dialogue or debate.

Of course, if you're not aware of Dingess, that's fortunate!

However, if you'd like to be aware of Dingess, you could start by checking out this comment from RWH.

I'll turn off comments for this post for hopefully pretty obvious reasons.

Background checks

To: Head of Security

From: Steve

Re: Screening

Mr. Manata,

It’s come to my attention that I’ve been remiss in properly screening applicants to join Triablogue. Due to my negligence, we have at least on admitted Santa sympathizer on the team. Heaven knows how many other closet Santa-ists are lurking in the shadows. We need to stamp out the contagion before it spreads any further.

From now on, when you interview applicants, using a polygraph, include the following questions:

Are you now, or have you ever been a Santa-ist?

When did you lose faith in Santa and his little helpers?

Have you ever left a glass of milk or plate of Chips Ahoy for Santa on Christmas Eve?

Have you ever written letters to Santa?

Have you ever allowed your kids to sit on Santa’s lap, thereby contributing to the moral turpitude of minors?

At what time didst thou renounce Santa and all his flying reindeer (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen), the vain pomp and glory of the North Pole, with all covetous desires for candy and toys, and the sinful desires of his elvish helpers, so that thou wilt not follow, nor be led by them?

In addition, because at least one Santa-ist slipped through the cracks, conduct background checks on current teammates with Santa-ist associates (e.g. grandmother, ex girlfriend, kindergarten teacher).

Intervention

To: Comrades

From: Steve

Re: Rhology

Comrades,

I’m afraid our erstwhile teammate, Rhology, has been making impertinent comments about my post on the spiritual gifts. He’s clearly possessed. You can almost catch a whiff of sulfer under his breath.

I’m assuming an evil spirit entered him in his sleep. Most likely a succubus. They’re the worst. You must always wear a breath mask when you sleep.

Urgent intervention is required to rescue his imperiled soul from the clutches of the dark side.

Patrick can bring the chloroform. We’ll need to rent a van without side windows. And take him to an abandoned warehouse.

We should pay that nice waitress at Hooters to drive, so that if we’re stopped by the cops, she can sweet-talk the policeman out of checking the back of the van.

I’ll borrow a copy of the Rituale Romanum from Evan to perform the rite of exorcism. Demons only speak Medieval Latin. When dealing with really intransigent demons, we sometimes need to use Malleus Maleficarum as a back up.

Which reminds me, I must consult Derek Prince’s They Shall Expel Demons to find out which evil spirit is bedeviling Rhology. The list is long. You have to be on a first-name basis with the demon to make any headway.

A New Topical Index For Triablogue

You may have noticed a new tab at the upper left portion of the screen, titled Triablogue Master Index. It's a topical index linking to some of our posts on a large variety of topics. The index was put together by Matthew Schultz. If you don't find what you're looking for there, you can try another topical index I designed last year, or you could try a Google search.

Crypto-Calvinist espionage

To: field operatives

From: spymaster

Re: status report

I’m pleased to report that the crypto-Calvinist sleeper-agents we placed at Concordia Seminary to gradually infiltrate the LCMS are having the desired effect as they percolate down to the rank-and-file. As Paul McCain, echoing Mary Magdalene, recently told campus police: “They have taken away the True Body, and I know not where they have laid him.”

http://cyberbrethren.com/2012/03/29/crypto-calvinism-and-lutheranism-beware-the-danger-of-historical-revisionism-cling-to-the-formula-of-concord/

It was our subtle stratagem all along to subvert the pure doctrine of the Lord’s Supper, thereby causing the faithful to surrender the Lutheran Confessions. We now need to expand our sleeper-cell presence in WELS, to complete the Calvinist takeover. 

One-stop chomping

To: Evan May

From: Steve Hays

Re: For your eyes only

I’m afraid our worst nightmare is coming true. Alan Kurschner is beginning to critique the amillennial deposit of faith. We need to take immediate measures before the damage is irreparable.

Perhaps we can tell Alan that New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is prepared to offer Alan a professorship. That might lure him down from Jersey.

We can then take him to a smoke-filled sports bar in the French quarter where I’d bribe the waiter to slip a Mickey into Alan’s beer. I’ll make sure the trunk of my rental car is roomy enough to accommodate a former high school wrestler.

And I’m sure you must know of some gator-infested bayou in a remote location where the local wildlife will do the rest. One-stop shopping…or should I say, one-stop chomping? 

Got Milk?

To: Heads of Security (Paul Manata, Peter Pike)

From: Puppetmaster

Re: The Neo-Calvinist Cabal

Despite our best efforts to conceal our true identity and our insidious agenda, Doug Pagitt has outed the Neo-Calvinist Cabal. So it’s time for us to regroup and rebrand.

Of course, this is something we have to do every generation or so. The Neo-Calvinist Cabal has run through many front organizations over the years, viz. the Knights Templar, Rosicrucians, Montauk Project, Skull & Bones, Trilateral Commission, Disneyland, McDonalds

Recently our most successful front organization was the Midwest Dairy Association, with its faux wholesome image.

Indeed, it was the Got Milk? commercials, with their backmasked excerpts of the Westminster Confession, that launched the New Calvinist movement.

For our next move, I think we ought to hide in plain sight by making Asbury Seminary our latest front organization. That’s the last place anyone would suspect the Neo-Calvinist Cabal to be headquartered.

We need to start phasing in pod people to replace the faculty and administration.

Finding Material At Triablogue

We get new readers, and people often ask us where they can find material on a particular subject at Triablogue. For those who aren't aware of it, I put together a topical index for the site earlier this year.

For example, Roman Catholicism has been discussed in some recent threads. Those who are interested in what we've written on a topic related to Catholicism could look for it on the topical index linked above. If that doesn't turn up anything, try something like a Blogger search or Google search.

Triablogue Topical Index

We've sometimes put together posts that link to some representative material we've written over the years on a particular topic. What's below is a list of such posts. The list could be updated or expanded in the future. You may want to check back on it from time to time.

What's Going On With These Link Posts

I've recently been putting together more collections of links to Triablogue posts on particular topics. And I plan to post more of them in the coming days, as I have time for it. But keep in mind that I'm being highly selective in the topics I cover, and all of these collections are being put together from my perspective. Other members of the Triablogue staff might include different links or focus on different topics if they were to write the same type of post. For example, we've written many posts on creation and evolution over the years. Peter Pike, Steve Hays, and Patrick Chan in particular have written a lot about the subject. I occasionally read books and articles on those issues, and I sometimes write about them, but not nearly as much as some of the others on the Triablogue staff. It would make more sense for somebody else to put together a collection of links on creation/evolution issues. I'm not planning to do it. Similarly, Paul Manata knows far more than I do about philosophical issues and abortion, for example. Gene Bridges knows more than I do about a lot of subjects related to church history. Dustin Segers, Evan May, James Anderson, and others who have written for Triablogue could put together a better collection of links than I could on some topics. If they have the time and desire, they can post some link collections like the ones I've done. It's up to them. If they do it, I'll include their posts with mine in the topical index I'll eventually be creating. But I want to be sure that people realize that it's not my intention to cover every topic with these posts I've been putting together. All that I'm doing is expanding upon what I did in earlier years when I put together link posts on subjects like Jesus' resurrection and the infancy narratives. I'm expanding the topics I'm addressing, but these posts are still limited to my areas of knowledge, my time constraints, etc.

Aporetic Christianity

The world famous Paul Manata has a new and already awesome weblog, Aporetic Christianity.

Good Morning, Mr. Phelps

"It is ironic that this post mostly applies to Steve Hays and Paul Manata, but Jason Engwer (i.e. the only author of TID worth reading) is the one sent over here? Smooth move on their part..."

http://richardcarrier.blogspot.com/2010/09/infidel-delusion.html?showComment=1283696281217#c6884640065205409885

I see that WOE is on to us. Yes, we sent Jason over to Carrier's blog.

Jason receives his orders on a hidden iPad, along with photos and other info which explain the nature of his off-book mission. You know how it goes: “Good Morning, Mr. Phelps [Jason’s international spy name]…As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions”–after which the iPad self-destructs in a puff of smoke. Jason then proceeds to an IMF-sponsored safe house, where he retrieves an oversized, leather-bound dossier folder from a locked drawer, containing glossies of available IMF agents, from which he selects his team.

Jason doesn't know from one day to the next where we will send him. He goes wherever we tell him to go. Just last week we reassigned him to our station in Herzegovina to monitor Russian troop movements. And the week before that we had him assassinate a Swiss chocolatier in Tangiers (a trafficker for Al Qaida).

Where Dreams Come True

Computer genius Charlie Sebold has been kind enough to create a new blog for my collected fiction. The name of the new blog is "Where Dreams Come True" (http://truedreamsfiction.blogspot.com/). You will find a link on the sidebar, under "Fiction by Steve Hays."

I'll add new short stories as time and inspiration allow.

Security alert!

Date: 3/27/666
To: All succubae
From: Malacoda
Re: Security breach

Our listening station in Uzbekistan just intercepted this communiqué:

Dear brethren of the ELCR, we live in a dangerous time. Today, more than ever before, Satan is trying to wipe true Christianity off the face of the map. We know that he cannot ultimately accomplish that, but we also know that he will not cease his efforts until the Lord comes. He will gladly promote any religion, including all false representations of Christianity, if it is devoid of the Gospel because that does him no harm. One such religion that rejects and destroys the Gospel is Calvinism. Throughout this paper, I am speaking of that Calvinism that denies the universal atonement of Christ. For this reason Satan has raised it up and established it in its many forms. Its errors are subtle, reflecting the deep guile and great might of our old evil foe. The Scriptures describe the serpent as “more subtil than any beast of the field” (Gen. 3:1). The deadly danger of Calvinism is that it looks so much like true Christianity. It is a counterfeit that can easily pass as public tender. In fact, I would never have known or even have suspected the poisonous nature of this devilish lie if not for the writings of Martin Luther which taught me faith and delivered me from its terrible snare. You see, Calvinism is really a false religion, despite its appearance as an advocate for Biblical truth. It is a religion led of depraved human reason and not that true religion which belongs to the Word of God and child-like faith. Now what about Calvinism, the offspring of that rebellious and faithless woman, Madame Reason?

http://sites.google.com/site/arlomax/takingthemaskoffcalvinism:thedangerofhum

This underscores our security protocol requiring all succubae to use cryptophones when recruiting Reformed defectors to the cause of darkness.

One of our honeypots in the SBC used an unsecured wireless network to contact a promising seminarian, resulting in this security breach. We are able to control the damage in this case by arranging a freak accident to eliminate the whistleblower, but we can’t do that too often without arousing suspicion.