Please check your etymology, I believe it means a person with a head full of chalk or soapstone-like material.

__________________
Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

i sometimes greet people with "ahoy" - and i'm no sailor.

as el chivito pointed out, words change meaning over time. additionally, "god" has many meaning to many people, from supernatural being to supernatural, indescribable force - it's not just a judeo christian thing.

personally, i think it's ridiculous when presidents and other elected officials say "god bless america". i mean, why not " zeus bless america". makes as much sense.

__________________
"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

On occasions when I have a tete-a-tete with an unfavorable person I often cast parting ways by saying eat me.

Actually no. The word cretin meant someone who was suffering from a deficiency of thyroid hormones. The Christian reference is speculative etymology. One of several that are considered extremely doubtful.

Bot,

Are all the major problems already solved? ( If so I missed the memo.)
Or are you just stirring the pot?

__________________
1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Definitely stirring madly and adding spices.

I'm curious what role intent plays in the prohibition against religious observances in public spaces.

For example, if I go to Texas and, over the public address system, invoke the deity du jour's benevolent intervention in the coming fracas, I will surely be invited to desist.

But what if I am a flat-out non-believer amongst a pack on non-believers and we conduct what looks like a religious tour de force with smells, bells, and funny hats? But we just do this for fun, like Civil War reinactors. I mean, nobody thinks they're real soldiers blasting away at each other.

Bot

intent? looking for loopholes? and why?

__________________
"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

Why? Well, I was going to invent nuclear power but sun-of-a-gun, wouldn't ya know it? Somebody already did!

So I resort to other amusements.

really?

i suspect another motivation. unless you aren't a christian? then, i am stumped.

__________________
"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Actions trump intent.

__________________
You're a daisy if you do.
__________________________________
84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

nope, a woman is just a woman, but a cigar is a SMOKE

__________________
You're a daisy if you do.
__________________________________
84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

I've checked quite a few places. I don't find any references to chalk. They all pretty much come out like this one:

cretin
1779, from Fr. crétin (18c.), from Alpine dialect crestin, "a dwarfed and deformed idiot" of a type formerly found in families in the Alpine lands, a condition caused by a congenital deficiency of thyroid hormones, from V.L. *christianus "a Christian," a generic term for "anyone," but often with a sense of "poor fellow." Related: Cretinism (1801).

__________________
You're a daisy if you do.
__________________________________
84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

The nice thing about being an atheist, one of which I are, is that we are not so hidebound that we can not celebrate all religious holidays if we like. We are multi-opportunists when it comes to holidays. Some don't bother, some use the holidays to drink a beer and celebrate their non-involvement in what we see as a ridiculous rites and rituals.

This has become the default position of the religious now that the default position held by the religions themselves - our is the one and only truth and you better believe it or else - has become more untenable than ever.

__________________
'83 SD, 2x '85 SD
You are entitled to your own opinions, you are not entitled to your own facts.