There is an urban myth that it derives from Neronis Caesar Legatus Xristiani Viliter Interfecit - NCLXVI = 666. Clearly someone had far too much time on his hands and an unhealthy interest in numerology.
No shit, Sherlock?
However, the Latin (Vulgate) tag I used used to be very common in the private school system and I assumed that Trump would have heard it at some point, possibly directed at him. On the other hand I think I can say with confidence that Trumpâs knowledge of Hebrew is not vast. Look at the title of the thread; it isnât @Israel_B 's favorite Bible verse.
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Urban myth? Nero is the accepted answer to the puzzle for the majority of biblical scholars. And the key is in Hebrew gematria, not Latin.
My point was that Sanders is an example of âa non-religious politician who doesnât get grilled on his religious beliefs because he doesnât claim to be otherwise.â Trump could learn a lot from Sandersâ example on that front.
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The Bible like Donald Trump, enjoys contradicting itself.
I do hope though, that Trump understands that most of Hammurabiâs code is messed up and no longer applicable after almost 4000 years (well, except maybe that bit about giving people receipts for bought goods, thatâs just good business). Unless he wants to reinstate slavery and put capital punishment on just about everything⌠⌠YeahâŚ
One thing though, if he does reinstate Hammurabiâs code of laws, as an avid swimmer I would be golden:
Law 2. âIf any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.â
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I recall reading that veganism, including theologically motivated veganism, is getting quite popular in Israel.
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That wouldnât have happened to have been the Catholic private school system, would it?
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I assume swimming practice would be taken as evidence that you are intending to commit some crime, and youâd be executed as a precaution.
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Fair comment. I knew Trump had been to a private school but had lazily failed to check - it was a military school. However, in the English private school system in the period when he would have been at high school, everybody learned Latin.
Majority of Biblical scholars? Really? Do we mean actual academics at proper universities here?
There may be a use of gematria in interpreting the writings of someone who believed in gematria, but as a system, it is simply bonkers. The stretches of interpretation and logic to make Nero into 666 or 616 by gematria are extreme. It also sets a very unlikely date range for the Apocalypse of John; either it is remarkably early or it postdates Nero, which means that by a further stretch of an already overstretched imagination people suppose it to mean Domitian.
I used the term âurban mythâ for NCLXVI, just as an example of the silly things people make up when they have too much time on their hands, but for anyone who takes gematria seriously I have only sympathy. As for the author of the Apocalypse, I suspect too many magic mushrooms on top of mild sunstroke.
Not according to anyone I know there. AFAIK thatâs just propaganda.
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OK. I read a great many things. Some of them are true. Some are transitorily amusing.
It might have been this one.
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/117687/israel-goes-vegan
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Iâd take that with a few grains of kashering salt
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He also didnât write Ecclesiastes.
The call that political correctness has âgone too farâ keeps coming up again and again. I honestly donât get it. Itâs basically a bunch of people with platforms and followings saying that somehow they are being oppressed, their voices are being blocked. If they were being censored then we wouldnât hear them whining about being censored. Political correctness from most of the republican party is self-censorship, it is political correctness, an attempt to get votes by not offending (since saying what they actually think would offend many). And complaints about it are like people saying, âHey, if you donât vote for me because I said something racist or sexist then you are violating my first amendment right to win an election.â
A few Republicans might be angry at Donald Trump for not being politically correct - that is racists who have been hiding the fact that they are racist are angry that their partyâs racism is being exposed. Almost everyone who doesnât like what Trump says donât like the racism and the sexism. Itâs not about how he says what he says, its about the message he is trying to convey. Thinking itâs wrong to bar people from entering a country based on their religion isnât political correctness, itâs a real opinion about a real issue.
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