tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post5552948231755425123..comments2023-10-12T03:56:40.702-05:00Comments on Ignorance and apathy. I don't know and I don't care: Choices ?machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04073782907747032366noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-52934178811930660222010-12-17T05:36:34.084-06:002010-12-17T05:36:34.084-06:00Looks like you are an expert in this field, you re...Looks like you are an expert in this field, you really got some great points there, thanks.<br /><br />- RobsonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-31274389947361877672010-01-01T23:58:42.028-06:002010-01-01T23:58:42.028-06:00Rita, that is just sad. Really, really sad. I am a...Rita, that is just sad. Really, really sad. I am always amazed at the fanaticism here when it comes to Duck fans. And God forbid I tell them I don't support the team. I might as well have told them I eat babies for dessert!Nicole Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07312823319201028951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-29993726222511501262010-01-01T21:56:15.065-06:002010-01-01T21:56:15.065-06:00Don't worry Lion. I'm not a fanatic. I don...Don't worry Lion. I'm not a fanatic. I don't even have a TV. We have a few Duck fans down here. My daughter lives next to a guy who painted his house in Green & Yellow U of O colors, has U of O curtains, flys the Duck flag, etc...It's rather ugly.ritahttp://handmaiden-furry.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-46088972898918578102010-01-01T15:08:51.809-06:002010-01-01T15:08:51.809-06:00Rita, don't support the ducks..come on! This p...Rita, don't support the ducks..come on! This place is obsessed with them. It is a sickness. I don't even like Ohio (they are playing Ohio, right?) but I hope they win because I hate the Ducks (all because of the "fans").Nicole Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07312823319201028951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-55148143654628631672010-01-01T12:38:38.311-06:002010-01-01T12:38:38.311-06:00No, Rita ! The Bucs will F...(insert rhyme here) y...No, Rita ! The Bucs will F...(insert rhyme here) your Ducks.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04073782907747032366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-79548602769225241722010-01-01T10:09:24.758-06:002010-01-01T10:09:24.758-06:00Happy New Year. Be sure to say it twenty-ten :)Happy New Year. Be sure to say it twenty-ten :)Nicole Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07312823319201028951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-38323013485097063822010-01-01T08:52:19.071-06:002010-01-01T08:52:19.071-06:00Happy New Year! Have a great day...Are you going t...Happy New Year! Have a great day...Are you going to fall asleep in your underwear, in front of the TV while watching the Oregon Ducks kick some butt?Ritahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14706331228965193251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-88802137602884202932009-12-31T23:01:49.388-06:002009-12-31T23:01:49.388-06:00Happy New Year mac, I'm glad you're still ...Happy New Year mac, I'm glad you're still truckin. <br /><br />Much peace to you and yours.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-261779777510420432009-12-30T23:51:12.342-06:002009-12-30T23:51:12.342-06:00Free will can never be had for those who put their...Free will can never be had for those who put their faith in machines alone.<br /><br />There is no such thing as God in a world where a machine might be used to predetermine the future.<br /><br />To say a computer couldn't be used to do this would be foolish.<br /><br />It is already happening right here in the United States of America.<br /><br />I should know. I've spent the last two years of my life trying to put a stop to it.Shelly Rayedeanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04110822096599541854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-20793642915141049272009-12-27T22:00:29.397-06:002009-12-27T22:00:29.397-06:00Mac, I do tend to disregard human traits assigned ...Mac, I do tend to disregard human traits assigned to God. God is not human and therefore cannot share our traits. It is the one concession that I make. I know I shouldn't, but I do and it makes sense to me and - in the end - that is all that matters, isn't it?<br /><br />Rita, it does not matter to me if God exists or not. Personally, I believe He does but if He does not, at least I tried to live a life that was modeled after someone that only sought to make me a better person. And that can't be wrong, can it? Nevertheless, I think God does exist but, if not, I did no harm believing.<br /><br />Soubrequet, I disagree. God Created me but He is not responsible for my actions. God created bears but if a bear mauls a human, God is not responsible. God created a dynamic and awesome Earth that is constantly changing and suits our need perfectly. Nature is both giving and cruel. The horrible storms we endure are just a part of the natural world. I don't believe God takes an active role in weather :)<br /><br />I also do not believe Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph, brother of James, was supernatural. He was a man. He was human. He did die. I do believe he was assigned a very special mission and that God worked through him. And I do believe he was Resurrected. <br /><br />But more importantly, I believe he was a good man. And I believe he led people to do good things. And that is why I follow him - Christ - as a Christian. <br /><br />Sou (and I will call you that from now on), God is not all merciful. Of that I am sure. But He is loving and He will reward you for your actions. He gave you the ability to decide for yourself if you would believe in Him and worship him or not. <br /><br />I wish you luck in your journey to find Truth. It is not an easy one, but I think the end is worth it.Nicole Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07312823319201028951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-29239839433174010072009-12-27T18:44:01.876-06:002009-12-27T18:44:01.876-06:00Phew.... Usually if I weigh in with a diatribe lik...Phew.... Usually if I weigh in with a diatribe like I just did, there's a silence.....<br />No more comments.<br /><br />But here the discussion continues.<br />Lion, it is indeed a long civil war, and it's going through a quietish patch just now, but I doubt it's going to be over any time soon.<br />I'd say that if you accept the earth as being created by god, who allegedly made everything, then the earth's tantrums are directly god's responsibility too.<br />I don't believe human actions cause earthquakes, nor the tsunami that devastated Aceh, in indonesia, and southern Thailand, the day after christmas, five years ago. Yes, if god wants to claim the glory, the credit for the beauty, and the bounty of the earth, then god must be held liable for the failures of his creation.<br />Whether we say "This happened because god designed in hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, bubonic plague, etc, to torment his beings" or whether we say "God built a paradise, but he was a bit of a shoddy builder so bits of it go wild and kill us, though he didn't really mean it to happen"<br />Either way, if there's a god, and that god is the creator of all, then he needs a "The Buck Stops Here" sign on his desk.<br />Aids, Leprosy, Fire and Famine, the Lord God made them all.<br />Even if he made the earth as a pissy room-mate who feels us as an itch in her hide, that every now and then she has to scratch, God has to step up and say "This is what I made."<br />Now, Lion, I'm believing that you are a good person, I'll take it on faith that you try to be.<br />And so do I. I try to do good, not to hurt, lie, or cheat, I'd say my code, my watchwords are not so far away from the christian way. Only there is not God, or Jesus in my life. I believe that there is no god. That Jesus of Nazareth may have existed, but that he was no more, and no less than, say, Gandhi.<br />Not a supernatural being. That his mother became pregnant in just the same way as other women, that he died... and remained dead.<br /><br />If there is a god.... Then he gave me this mindset, and the free-will not to believe in him. It's Catch 22 all over. If I have free will, then I am free not to believe. If god is love, god is all-merciful, then I, his wayward creation, made in his own image, can hardly be chastised for doing just what his programming made possible, can I?soubriquethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01151288534629885195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-71904475917674440092009-12-27T14:48:02.013-06:002009-12-27T14:48:02.013-06:00I also agree that Lion is a good person. It takes ...I also agree that Lion is a good person. It takes a good person to give God/Jesus those attributes.<br /><br />I guess what I'm getting at is, In that case...ultimately does it matter whether or not God actually exists?<br /><br />Sure the existence of God matters when militant fundies are breathing down our necks, trying to force us into their version of an intolerant & wrathful god.<br /><br />I agree with soubriquet,<br /> <i>"God? If real, then "Do Not Want".</i><br /><br />I'll quit bugging everyone here now because I'm going to tackle the question from a secular humanist POV & that will take up a whole blog post. <br /><br />Thanks for the great debate!Ritahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14706331228965193251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-66094214712221311672009-12-27T14:11:22.995-06:002009-12-27T14:11:22.995-06:00I think, Rita, Lion is a good person. That's w...I think, Rita, Lion is a good person. That's why her idea of God is of a good God.<br /><br />People who are not so nice tend to see God as more of a punishing wrathful entity.<br />She's right in the aspect that the Bible describes a great god. But, the Bible also describes an entity that is vengeful, wrathful, spiteful, and jealous... the worst of HUMAN traits.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04073782907747032366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-28343055609010721862009-12-27T13:55:56.610-06:002009-12-27T13:55:56.610-06:00Mac, I don't know whose side God is on. I don&...Mac, I don't know whose side God is on. I don't know if He is on any side. The Hebrews were His Chosen people, true, but He often tests His people (and yes, I know how that sounds and no, I am not saying I think it is a good thing). <br /><br />And please do not take the actions of a few to represent the whole. There will always be aggressive individuals particularly when a group is fighting for their lives. Those that the Hebrews killed would have killed them otherwise. Do you fault soldiers in war? And yes, war was particularly brutal then with the killing of innocent children and raping of women but as I said before, we ought not judge them by our standards - we know better now.<br /><br />Rita, if by pick and choose you mean I discard much of the societal aspect of the OT, you are correct. What they did as a society is irrelevant to my faith and many of the laws written in the OT were societal in nature and not unique to the Hebrews or laws from God. <br /><br />My idea of what God is (what little I know) comes from my research. The same is true of Jesus. I have yet to see conclusive evidence that contradicts it. I think my last line in my last post was confusing. I wouldn't care because I would choose not to worship a God that required me to act in a way I find morally repulsive.<br /><br />You have a hard time pinning down my faith because it is ever changing. My faith changes as my knowledge grows. Remember, I grew up with a Pagan mother that was a reformed Catholic. I attended nearly ever church in town and a few alternative services as well. What did all of that teach me?<br /><br />At the core, all religion is the same - we just use different words and different names for the same things.Nicole Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07312823319201028951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-62941957494852140702009-12-27T13:07:35.860-06:002009-12-27T13:07:35.860-06:00I'm having a hard time figuring what Lion beli...I'm having a hard time figuring what Lion believes. It seems to me she is picking and choosing from the Bible according to her ideal of what God & Jesus are. <br />What I mean is; she thinks about what is good & moral in her own eyes & attributes those ideals to God, explaining away the bad stuff as not being relevent. Like I said before, it's not necessarily bad to do that if it's done in the spirit of honest inquiry. <br />In that same spirit of inquiry, I have a question for Lion: Is there a real God & Jesus that exists apart from your idea of them?<br />& if there is, why does it matter?ritahttp://handmaiden-furry.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-78186173748901070092009-12-27T11:26:30.702-06:002009-12-27T11:26:30.702-06:00Lion, surely, with Yahweh on their side, the Jews ...Lion, surely, with Yahweh on their side, the Jews were a force to be reckoned with ?<br /><br />Would genocide not be oppressive?<br />_______________________<br />"When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. When the LORD your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the LORD your God gives you from your enemies. This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby. <br />However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God. " - Deuteronomy 20:10-18________________________<br /><br />The Jews are commanded to kill everyone 'cept the women - better things can be done with them ! Is that not oppressive?<br /><br />AND, we get back to my point about free will. We see, in Deuteronomy, all to well what God has planned for those who worship anything but Him.... Again, where's the "free" about that ?machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04073782907747032366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-22398679112102418082009-12-27T09:54:20.995-06:002009-12-27T09:54:20.995-06:00Mac, you must remember your history. While I don&#...Mac, you must remember your history. While I don't condone it things were different then. And rest assured the Jews were not the powerful race. They never have been the oppressors. Always the oppressed. And be sure not to confuse our terminology for the terminology that existed then. <br /><br />A big problem with reading the Bible is that we must remember that the culture was very different. It is wrong to place our societal standards on a time and place we cannot truly begin to understand. I don't mean to make excuses - many of their ideals were incredibly wrong by our standards. But we understand better now. <br /><br />Soubriquet - that is a very long civil war. :) (maybe a smiley is inappropriate?)<br /><br />Americans are obsessed with religion. It is disheartening that it invades so much of our daily lives including our schools (although it should not) and our politics (although it should not). Faith is a private matter best left that way. <br /><br />You don't really blame God for natural disasters do you? I mean, of course you don't since you don't believe in Him but...for the record - the Earth causes her own natural disasters, not God. I think of it like this. Imagine the Earth as your roommate and you are a messy roommate. You steal her stuff, you leave trash all over - even in her room. She is angry. And thus sabotages you at every turn until she either kicks you out or you move out on your own. <br /><br />Soubrequet, it is shameful what people have done in the name of God. No doubt there. I don't pretend to know whose side God is on, if He even picks sides. But if I read the laws correctly, I must conclude that I ought not kill people or harm others. I try to live that way. I can only hope that is what He really wants and, if it isn't, I'm not sure I would care.Nicole Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07312823319201028951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-48576258961884320482009-12-27T07:52:19.897-06:002009-12-27T07:52:19.897-06:00I'd comment but....
Well, there are a lot alre...I'd comment but....<br />Well, there are a lot already...<br />And....<br />Oh, go on then. <br />Here's some rambling thought.<br />Firstly, you Americans are so OBSESSED with religion compared to we brits. What can I say. That's of course, not true about certain parts of Britain... Glasgow and its environs, for instance are plastered with the graffiti of an ongoing civil war, that's been ongoing since about 1640. We won't even discuss the deaths and hatred that are ongoing in Northern Ireland either, all in the name of god, jesus, the pope, prince billy.....<br />The same war spills over into Liverpool. Not exactly a surprise fact that Liverpool and Glasgow are historic ports of Irish trade? or that........<br />And of course, you in the U.S. collected a good number of the belligerents of both sides along the way.<br />After 9/11, you kinda started to get behind the war on terror, when it seemed you were the targets. A pity you weren't a little more behind it when british people people were being killed by terrorists who were funded out of Boston and New York, supplied with armalites and explosives by american sympathisers.....<br />No, It's not off- topic, because at the bottom of all this killing and hatred were people who tagged their cause to either the protestant, or the catholic side of the christian church.<br />People who grew up kneeling, saying the lord's prayer, learning the ten-commandments and then went out to butcher their neighbours.<br />If that's god's message, in the words of the internet "Do Not Want"<br />Throughout History, God's various believers, wearing different colours and waving different flags, have knelt and heard priests telling them "God is on our side", whilst their opponents on the other side of the valley did the same. Then out they go to eviscerate each other. It seems that force in numbers, more arrows, sharper swords, better training, and posession of high ground are better predictors of outcomes than god's goodwill.<br />Of course, the winner always says that it is god who gave them the high ground, god who rained on the enemy's powder....<br />So<br />Free will?<br />Do as I tell you to and I will reward you, go against me and I will smite you? But hey, you're free to choose.<br />If god created us, including our brains, then no doubt he created our choices. His earthquakes kill the holy as often as the unbeliever. No favouritism there then. It's all down to the afterlife, for which we have no evidence, save a 2000 years ago heap of contradictory hearsay that would not be admissible in court, except to swear upon...<br />If a person set loose thousands of toddlers in a booby trapped minefield, saying he'd reward the survivors, we'd think him a pretty sick individual. <br />Yet, if we believe in god, that's pretty much the game he plays with us.<br />No doubt chuckling as he thows in a firestick, a tsunami, a plague, just to add a bit of fun to the game.<br /><br />God? If real, then "Do Not Want".soubriquethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01151288534629885195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-34777427954857188472009-12-26T21:27:14.829-06:002009-12-26T21:27:14.829-06:00I think he was metaphorically demeaning her.
If t...I think he was metaphorically demeaning her.<br /><br />If there is a clear divide between races, and more powerful of the races must not refer to the less powerful race in derogatory terms.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVIs0D2acgw&feature=related" rel="nofollow">However, </a> it can be reversed ;-)machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04073782907747032366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-14527708471312678632009-12-26T12:32:22.571-06:002009-12-26T12:32:22.571-06:00Mac, that is a very good verse to use. Much of the...Mac, that is a very good verse to use. Much of the Bible, particularly Jesus's words can be taken for what he literally says. However, some of it is to be taken as a metaphor. <br /><br />At the time of his life, Jesus was there to serve the Jews. He was Jew and there was a deep divide between Jews and Gentiles. Remember that there were no "Christians" at this time - if you were not Jewish, you did not believe in God. With his death, he began servitude to all mankind, including Gentiles and we all became the "Saved Ones."<br /><br />But you will also note that even though she was not Jewish, he helped her. He saved her daughter if we are to believe the miracle story. Well, technically, he did nothing. It was God's work through him because we must remember that Jesus himself had no power. He was merely a man with a very important mission.<br /><br />As for calling her a dog, it is a metaphor. And he helps her after she admits to faith. That is a big theme in the miracles performed for non Jewish individuals. Christ asks if they believe he is who everyone says he is. If they answer yes, the miracle is performed (allegedly) and they are told it was their faith that saved them.Nicole Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07312823319201028951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-25069430911420506622009-12-26T06:29:17.027-06:002009-12-26T06:29:17.027-06:00Lion Ok, I won't quibble. You seem like a nic...<b>Lion</b> Ok, I won't quibble. You seem like a nice, fairly tolerant person. If you can get through Christianity unscathed & untainted then good for you.ritahttp://handmaiden-furry.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-59861982997652557522009-12-25T23:05:35.162-06:002009-12-25T23:05:35.162-06:00Oh yeah, he's also performing an excorcism.
H...Oh yeah, he's also performing an excorcism.<br /><br />How crazy is that ?machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04073782907747032366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-29041924030271281142009-12-25T22:59:52.106-06:002009-12-25T22:59:52.106-06:00Help us understand Matthew 15:22-28.
"And,...Help us understand Matthew 15:22-28. <br /><br /><br />"And, behold , a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying , Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil . <br />But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying , Send her away ; for she crieth after us. <br />But he answered and said , I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. <br />Then came she and worshipped him, saying , Lord, help me. <br />But he answered and said , It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. <br />And she said , Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. <br />Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt . And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."<br /><br />In this it seems Jesus is saying, he only represents the Jews. <br />He also calls the woman a dog, because she's NOT jewish, helping her only after she admits to being a lowly dog, shaming him into it.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04073782907747032366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-25638621802407355442009-12-25T22:27:19.812-06:002009-12-25T22:27:19.812-06:00Rita, Rita.
I don't interpret. I take it for ...Rita, Rita.<br /><br />I don't interpret. I take it for what it literally says. And I discount Revelation (that is Revelation - not Revelations)because it is so very different in style, tongue, events and predictions than any other book. In addition, it was revealed to someone that would be known in modern days as a lunatic. The reason it was included in Canon is because it suits the needs and wants of the Catholic Church. Which is why the Book of Judas (Gospel?, I don't recall) and the Sofia of Christ were not included but ought to have been (along with many, many others).<br /><br />My idea of Christ is simple. He was peaceful. He was loving. He was kind. Can you find evidence to the contrary? If you can I would certainly like to see it. As it stands with no evidence to show otherwise, I believe he is a wonderful role model if nothing else. And, before anyone claims it - he never said he was the King of Jews and he never claimed to be anything other than his Father's Son (as we all are, in his words).<br /><br />And, for the record, I said MY betters, not THE betters. And MY betters referred to those that translate the Bible. People that have studied the ancient languages extensively. Mostly, seculars if that makes you feel any better.Nicole Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07312823319201028951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327069052684075877.post-90181308449998515002009-12-25T16:48:04.226-06:002009-12-25T16:48:04.226-06:00Lion
Yes, you do "interpret" the scriptu...<b>Lion</b><br />Yes, you do "interpret" the scriptures...<br />For one thing, you have an idea of who Jesus was. Your idea of Jesus does not exactly correspond to other peoples idea of Jesus. If you weren't interpreting you wouldn't discount the book of Revelations. & who are the betters anyway?ritahttp://handmaiden-furry.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com