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Ulf Lorré's avatar

Hm. I would definitely have added a fourth to the selection of three Michaels: Mikhail Kalashnikov ;-)

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cm27874's avatar

Excellent point. Amazingly, he took the sword but did not perish with the sword.

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Ulf Lorré's avatar

Ah, Matthew 26:52, but the Bible is silent about the guilt of the swordsmiths. Instead, it laments the Philistines' ban on blacksmithing in the land of Israel, Samuel 13:19. :-)

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cm27874's avatar

It all started with Tubal-Cain.

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Ulf Lorré's avatar

At least the topic of "the murderer's murderer".

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Zippy's avatar

But what about the invention and use of the atomic bomb in which Western man (in particular) became the destroyer of worlds. And of course Western man conquered the "heathen savages" via the use of superior weaponry beginning with canons, repeating rifles, and of course Gatling guns which were used to mow down the "heathen savages" like flies. And what about the use of airplanes too.

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cm27874's avatar

We are given all kinds of garments of skin, and it is our responsibility how we use them.

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Zippy's avatar

Yes indeed but look at the degraded bodily condition of the now common every person including many Christians, especially in the US the supposedly most Christian of nations.

It is sort of interesting to note that the important topic of right diet, conscious breathing, and consistent moderate exercise is seldom, if ever, mentioned in any of the now many Christian based substack sites.

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cm27874's avatar

As a mathematician, I would be interested in *all* the factors affecting bodily condition. Maybe the cultural aspect is strongest, stronger than religious affiliation. In terms of conditional probabilities (d = degraded bodily condition), maybe

P(d | not from US) < P(d | from US, Christian) < P(d | from US, not Christian).

That said, maybe it is the cautious aspect of 1 Timothy which prevents Christian based substack sites from giving health advice. I run every day and my diet is reasonable but I do not ground this in scripture. Or maybe, and then we are in 2 Timothy, it allows me to flee the evil desires of youth even faster...

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Zippy's avatar

But what would both Hinduism and Buddhism have to say about that. Especially Hinduism the cosmological time-scale of which encompasses vast eons of time called Yugas, positing that we are now living in the very dark end of the Kali Yuga. It also in one way or another takes into account the paradoxical nature of the space-time-continuum.

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cm27874's avatar

To an extent, a cyclical view of time can help prevent hubris. But still, one should not worry too much about one's own place within the cycle.

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