And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. <\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014II Peter 3:4<\/i><\/p>\n
5746<\/b> On Throwing Ideals Away<\/b><\/p>\n
In her annual Christmas message to the British Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II delivered a sharp rebuke to \u201cunthinking people.\u201d In speaking of the dangers in the nuclear age, she said: \u201cIt\u2019s not the new inventions which are the difficulty. The trouble is caused by unthinking people who carelessly throw away ageless ideals as if they were old and outworn machinery. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey would have religion thrown aside, morality in personal and public life made meaningless, honesty counted as foolishness, and self-interest set up in place of self-restraint.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Prairie Overcomer<\/i><\/p>\n
5747<\/b> The Mia Culpa Campaign<\/b><\/p>\n
The neat middle-aged executive peers out from the television screen. \u201cHello,\u201d he says, his face crinkling into a sheepish grin. \u201cI\u2019m from General Telephone.\u201d Boos and hisses explode off-camera. \u201cNow, I\u2019m aware that General Telephone provides less than adequate service.\u201d Plop. A rotten tomato slides down his chin. \u201cBut we\u2019re spending $200 million in California this year on improving our service.\u201d He is hit with an egg. \u201cCables, switches, personnel, everything.\u201d A cream pie splatters over his face. \u201cThank you for your patience,\u201d he mumbles through the goo. <\/p>\n
In another commercial, a woman at a crowded cocktail party asks her husband to say something funny. \u201cGeneral Telephone,\u201d he replies, and everyone falls into paroxysms of laughter. The punch line: \u201cWe know some people think our service is laughable, but we\u2019re spending $200 million in California this year to improve it. What\u2019s so funny about that?\u201d<\/p>\n
These vignettes have appeared on Los Angeles television as part of a zany General Telephone of California. By tacitly conceding the company\u2019s mistakes, the admen hope that the campaign will win sympathy and understanding among the system\u2019s many disgruntled users. <\/p>\n
5748<\/b> The Interrobang<\/b><\/p>\n
A new punctuation mark, called an interrobang, has been suggested. A cross between a \u201c!\u201d and a \u201c?\u201d\u2014it would be appropriate as the climax symbol to questions that one can answer only with a shrug, a sneer, an expression of resignation or a glance of daggers. <\/p>\n
Applying its use in the medical world, for example, the editor of Medicine at Work<\/i> says the interrobang seems the perfect ending for remarks from patients such as: What are the chances of injecting it in my arm, instead? Or isn\u2019t that a rather personal question, doctor? Likewise, with queries from doctors: Now, that didn\u2019t hurt, did it? Or how can I examine your throat, son, with your teeth on my fingers? <\/p>\n
\u2014Hospital Topics<\/i><\/p>\n
5749<\/b> Success Built On Doubting Stocks<\/b><\/p>\n
Meyer Berman is one stockbroker who is happy when the stock market is falling. In 1969 while most people got ulcers over the marker\u2019s Niagara-like descent, Mr. Berman made money. A confirmed skeptic, he doesn\u2019t believe what he hears about a stock\u2019s rosy prospects unless he investigates. When he does, he often finds reason to believe it will go down instead of up, and he is right often enough to have a fourteen-room house with a four-car garage. <\/p>\n
5750<\/b> Revenge In Book\u2019s \u201cThe Index\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
A new edition of Textbook of Pediatrics<\/i> has become something of a collector\u2019s item at medical schools. The work, 1462-pages long, was edited by Dr. Waldo E. Nelson of Temple University. Dr. Nelson, however, did not compile the index. That job was done by someone who obviously didn\u2019t care much for the book, or for pediatrics. <\/p>\n
Listed among the B\u2019s, between \u201cBiontin\u201d and \u201cBirth\u201d is this entry: \u201cBirds, For the\u2014Pages 1\u20131462.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Detroit Press<\/i><\/p>\n
5751<\/b> A Trifler In Rome<\/b><\/p>\n
In the early days of Rome the philosopher Carneades endeavored to inculcate the spirit of universal skepticism in the city. He offered to argue alternately both for and against any proposition that was given him. He declared that the mind only attained its true greatness when it was in a state of complete suspense. To settle anything was a sign of ignorance. Then Cato came forward. He arose in the senate and urged his comrades to expel the man from the city. He said he was a trifler. He declared that the habit of arguing on both sides of everything would introduce hopeless moral corruption into the life of Rome. <\/p>\n
\u2014George Ferris<\/p>\n
5752<\/b> They Thought Otherwise<\/b><\/p>\n
Antisthenes, the founder of the sect of the Cynics, when he was told that Ismenias played excellently upon the flute, answered properly enough, \u201cThen he is good for nothing else, otherwise he would not have played so well.\u201d Such also was Philip\u2019s saying to his son, when, at a certain entertainment, he sang in a very agreeable and skillful manner, \u201cAre you not ashamed to sing so well?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Spurgeon<\/p>\n
5753<\/b> A Cassandra Utterance<\/b><\/p>\n
A \u201cCassandra utterance\u201d is a prophecy foretelling evil which is not heeded. Cassandra, a daughter of King Priam, was given the power to prophesy by Apollo, according to Greek mythology. Becoming displeased with her, Apollo changed the power Cassandra had to prophesy so she could still prophesy truly, only to be laughed at by those who heard her. <\/p>\n
\u2014Prochnow<\/p>\n
5754<\/b> An Equivocal News Report<\/b><\/p>\n
Mark Twain vividly illustrated the uselessness of being equivocal when he was sent to cover an important social event for a newspaper. His editor had warned him to state only facts he could verify from his own knowledge, and so he turned in this story: \u201cA woman giving the name of Mrs. James Jones who is reported to be one of the society leaders in the city gave what is reported to be a party yesterday to a number of alleged ladies. The hostess claims to be the wife of a reputed attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Robert H. Lauer<\/p>\n
5755<\/b> \u201cA Thousand Times, No!\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
More than twenty-five years have passed since the Department of Agriculture gave out its last free seeds. Still requests poured in. Finally, the department issued a humorous booklet on the subject, \u201cNo! No! A Thousand Times, No!\u201d Result: a temporary spurt on the number of requests for free seeds. <\/p>\n
5756<\/b> Wishing It Was Scribner\u2019s<\/b><\/p>\n
At the height of the last Christmas rush, a slightly befuddled matron wandered into Dutton\u2019s Bookstore. \u201cIs this Scribner\u2019s?\u201d she inquired of a clerk. \u201cNo, madam,\u201d was the reply, \u201cit\u2019s Dutton\u2019s.\u201d \u201cOh,\u201d said the lady. \u201cI saw the sign \u201cDutton\u2019\u201d\u2019 on the window, but I thought it might be Scribner\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
5757<\/b> Psychiatrists\u2019 Mutual Analysis<\/b><\/p>\n
Two psychiatrists passed each other on the street, and one said: \u201cNice to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few steps away the other scratched his head and said: \u201cWhat did he mean by that?\u201d<\/p>\n
5758<\/b> Epigram On Skepticism<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 Secretary, taking dictation, to boss: \u201cAre you sure you want an exclamation point? Nobody\u2019s surprised at anything anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 An employee suggested this slogan for his accounting firm: \u201cIn God We Trust. All Others We Audit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 A cynical philosopher once proclaimed, \u201cScratch a Christian and you will find a pagan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014C. R. Hembree<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. \u2014II Peter 3:4 5746 On Throwing Ideals Away In her annual Christmas message to the British Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II delivered a sharp rebuke to \u201cunthinking people.\u201d In … Continue reading “SKEPTICAL ATTITUDE”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}