Thunderstrike2024

Wolves (or at least those with human-like intelligence) are fickle creatures indeed.

So Australia, or around 12 million square miles.

Fair enough I guess. I did word that poorly. I just don't want this to end with "it's okay for us to have different beliefs", because that's not true. I want to hear/read what your reasoning is for believing in Islam over Judaism or Christianity, as I have no experience with Islam, and only know the surface level details. To me the surface-level details make Islam sound pretty much like a step back from Christianity created explicitly to mislead people. If it is true that Islam claims that Jesus is only a prophet, despite Jesus being recorded in several accounts as saying that he was the Son of God and Son of Man, (such as Luke 19:10), then that immediately sounds super sketchy to me. I'd like to not just have that narrow understanding that might be based on a miscommunication/misconception.

I can agree with your sentiment, but I'm going to say that I don't think you're taking this as seriously as you should. We can't both be right. Either I'm right, and believing that Jesus dying on the cross is enough to pay the penalty for human sins is the only way to escape an eternity in Hell after death, or you're right and I'm destined to Hell for heresy/blasphemy against Yahweh. There isn't any other alternative. If one of us is wrong, they will be going to suffer eternally in Hell. Based on the evidence we have about Jesus's life and death (both Biblical and extrabiblical), I genuinely believe that you will go to Hell if you don't believe in Jesus. Humans are too sinful to make it to heaven without the intercession of a sacrifice to fix the problem. Israel spent a thousand years under the Old Covenant making yearly sacrifices to fix that problem. Under the New Covenant, Jesus's sacrifice on Calvary was enough for all of time. I'm not going to be mad if you disagree with me, but I do think that this discussion is worth having.

Just because it sounds like a contradiction, that doesn't mean it is. Even in our normal lives, things can be in two states at once, acting as both in different situations. Here's a pretty famous quote from the Bible. "In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made that have been made. ... The Word became flesh, and made its dwelling among us. We have seen his power, the power of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:1-3, 17. John's testimony focuses a lot on the divinity of Christ, and the miracles he performed, while Matthew emphasized the humanity of Jesus, and the other two gospels of Mark (Peter's perspective) and Luke lay in the middle. All four agree that Jesus performed miracles, and that Jesus did so while claiming to be equal with God, yet willingly submitting to God's authority. All of them emphasize that Jesus condescended to be with man out of love for humanity. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." - John 3:16. Paul also emphasized the same to the Romans in his letter, stating "But God demonstrates his own love in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8. If there is one thing that the Bible makes clear above all else, it is that God loves humanity. There is no distance between God and humanity except the distance we consciously create ourselves.

No problem! 😁

Depends on the country. In the US, and most European countries, you are entitled to a reasonable explanation for being fired. Taking time off for a wedding photoshoot is not something that you can be fired for unless you no-call no-show to work, and you generally have to have done the same action before at least once or twice. Workers have many more rights in these countries, and can appeal to the courts if they believe they were unreasonably terminated. China and India have significantly fewer protections though, so it's true that you can be fired for basically anything, with only minimal reason necessary.

Just call them cold weapons. Guns were invented and developed during the Medieval Period, so that label isn't very accurate in this context. Variations of the weapons that became guns and similar items existed even in the ancient era, with weapons made to throw flaming oil, a precursor to grenades, were used even by the Greeks and Persians.

Normal...

Solidly better than Age of Mythology in terms of balance and number of civilizations and campaigns. The recent Age of Mythology Retold is great too, but still a bit glitchy and with notable bugs. I will say that Age of Empires 1 is directly inferior to Age of Mythology though, so do Age of Empires 2 or 3 if you want something similar in quality or superior to Age of Mythology.