Posts Made By: Glenn Smith

Has anybody here ever tried the Nikon 12x50 Superior E binoculars for astronomy? I imagine that they work best on a monopod because of the 12x. Has anybody compared them to any 10x50 binoculars or to the Minolta Activa 12x50 binoculars?

--Glenn

<< A college student walks into his philosophy 101 class final exam, a class he has seldom attended. It is in a large auditorium, and in the middle of the stage sits a single chair.. Eventually, The professor walks across the stage and states the exam, "Prove this chair exists." The professor leaves. Panic overcomes the auditorium. The college student instantly writes, "What chair?", turns in his exam paper, and departs. Most of the students write for hours. His answer received the only "A+"!.....
I guess it's all in one's perception! >>

dave, actually, this is a case of non-perception (blindness) being taught and rewarded.

Or I guess that it is possible that the student knew that his professor was full of baloney and perceived that to get a good grade he needed to put down on paper what he had figured out that the nutty professor wanted. In this case the student would have been perceptive (able to see both the foolishness of the professor & his exam, and also seeing what it took to get a good grade).

OK, my turn with a philosophy story:

The philosopher DesCarte was sitting in a Restaurant, he had just eaten. The waitress asked, "Mr. DesCarte, would you like anything else?" He replied, "I think not." And he ceased to exist.

<< There is no evidence for it, there is no evidence against it, other than the lack of evidence for it. You must invoke the supernatural if you want an afterlife. >>

Well, of course, that brings up the subject of what somebody is willing to accept as evidence (i.e., what will I allow myself to consider as evidence?). And this goes back to our underlying presuppositions in the first place. For example, if you presuppose that there is nothing whatsoever that is supernatural, then supernatural evidence is ruled out from the beginning as being evidence that supports the supernatural. If you presuppose that there is no God, then all evidence for Him is redefined as something else because to admit it as evidence would be to change your basic presupposition. To change a basic presupposition is what is known as a conversion because it affects the way that you view all aspects of life. Our basic presuppositions are the lenses through which we interpret the universe in which we live. And thus, while you and I live in the same Universe, we live in different universes (if you can catch my meaning here). Now, in reality, only one of our universes is correct, or they are both incorrect; there is no way, however, that they are both correct.

And so, the evidence that we consider will be interpreted by our respective presuppostions. Now, even a more basic question is why we hold the basic presuppostions that we do.

<< I can't believe in something just because I want it to be true. >>

Actually, yes, you can. You can also refuse to believe in something because you don't want it to be true. For example, a person can suppress the knowledge that there is a holy God and that he is going to have to give an account of himself at a final judgment after he dies, and thus, this person can deny that there is anything else after death itself.


<< As far as judgement goes, I fear no judgement. >>

Actually, God's written word tells us how this actually takes place in a person. This may surprise you, but God's Word says that the lack of this fear can only mean one of two things. One of these 2 things is that God is judging you already and is giving you up to your own desire to be self-deceived. If a person doesn't wish to retain the knowledge of the true God, then God will at times give that person over to his own desires. This is actually a dreadful thing to happen to a person, though that person doesn't realize it. The process is described in Romans 1:18-32.


<< Is the reason you believe in an after-life because you can't face the thought of actually dying? >>

Actually, I know that I am going to die, as well as everybody else that I meet. I also know that I am a sinner and that there is a holy, righteous God whose justice must be satisfied. I don't live in denial of these facts.

<< So let's define sin. >>

Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

Thus, there are sins of commission and sins of omission. We are all guilty of both. We all have done things that we shouldn't have done and we all haven't done things that we should have done.

BTW, God's moral law reflects his moral character, his holiness, and thus is not just something that is arbitrary.

Now, since men know there is a holy God to whom they are accountable for their sins, they must do something. They know that they are guilty of sins, but only if there is a law of God that they have broken. If there is no law of God, then there is no sin. Thus, many eliminate sin by eliminating or modifying the requirements of God's law. They do this by supressing knowledge of the true God, and then they embrace a false God, religion, and/or philosophy in His place. They think that when they do this that they are very wise. God's assessment of them is quite different. Romans 1: 22 says this of them, "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools"

Karl Marx referred to religion as being "the opium of the people". He was wrong; actually, atheism, agnosticism, and other false philosophies & religions are the opiates of the people. These things are what people use to avoid thinking of the true God and His law.


Doug, you have informed me that you haven't committed adultery, or stolen anything, and I assume that you haven't ever murdered anybody either. You have accused those involved in the porn industry of being sleaze-balls. My question is why wouldn't you commit adultery if you really wanted to do so. Would anything be wrong with it? If so, why? The same question goes for stealing, lying, and murder? BTW, what standard are you using that says some people are sleaze-balls? Why are they sleaze-balls and why don't you consider yourself one? Aren't you being judgmental? If so, by what standard are you judging? Why is this standard better than the ones that the sleaze-balls use?

<< There are times when I have a feeling like I'm the worst person I know, but it passes. >>

Why do you think that those times occur in the 1st place? Why do you think that "it passes"?

I hadn't seen this post nor had I seen this comet before tonight. I first saw it looking through my Canon IS 15x45 binocs tonight mistakenly thinking that it was M13. However, it looked too big for M13 and a little look around clearly showed that I was mistaken. I didn't know what it was at this point and suspected that it might be a comet, but I didn't know one was expected in this region tonight. I got out my 12" Dob and viewed it and then rushed to see if I could be the first to report this comet so that I could name it :-)

Thanks for your post.

As for me .... oh well, better late than never. I sure was starting to get excited though.

Glenn

I bought a mounting ring from Anascortes about a year ago that fits on my FS102 like the ring that fits on my Genesis SDF (but the right size for the FS102) and it works just great to put the FS102 on my Gibralter mount. Just check with Anascortes and see if they still sell this product.

Glenn

Well, his price seems a little high, but check out Astromart ad# 124389.

Glenn

BTW, on the "Best 7x50 Binoculars for Astronomy?" thread, the 10X50 aus Jen (Zeiss) Jenoptem binoculars were very favorably mentioned. These binoculars do not have a place for a tripod adapter, but they are great hand holding binoculars if you can keep them steady enough.

Any other candidates for best 10x50 binoculars for astronomy?

Glenn

Since I have one, it must be worth at least $120.

If I didn't have one, $25 would be more reasonable.


:-)

<< Some day my life will end. I will close my eyes and whatever it is that makes me exist will disappear. >>

No, you are wrong. This is a false hope, a self-delusion, so that you don't have to think about or face the truth. It is appointed unto man once to die, but then comes the judgment. I know that you deny this to be the case and I know why; OTOH, I am able to squarely face death and what follows because of the gospel of God. You see, all news having to do with the living and true God is not bad for sinful man; He also has good news for those who recognize and face their sinfulness. In fact, the word "gospel" actually means "good news". The "good news" is that God has provided a way of salvation from sin for sinful man. He has done what we could not do for ourselves.

<< The only other choices I have are to end my life or delude myself. >>

In all honesty, you are deluding yourself.

Sadly, there are those who do come to realize that according to their own presuppositions, their life is really meaningless, and they do end up committing suicide. Interestingly, God's word tells us that "All who hate me love death."

<< Without fear of going to hell, there's a lot of people that would behave very badly. >>

No question about it! See Romans 3: 9-18. The concluding verse (v.18) summarizes the ungodly, "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Proverbs 9: 10 though says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."


<< Mark Twain was very likely an atheist. >>

He hasn't been an atheist for quite some time now.