An alternative to Anti-God/Christianity Threads..

[Palehorse]

_______________________________________________________________

I'm not forcing anything on you.... You have the right to be as stupid as you obviously choose to be.

.

My, my, my. . . Namecalling already? How so very Xtian of you.  Full-o-Pox!

What ever happened to "turning the other cheek"? 

Drink some more of that Kool Aid!

[Palehorse]

In case you missed it:


Since the beginning of time religion has struggled for control of the people with those who would lead them; from the healers of prehistoric times to tribal leaders, kings, queens, and presidents, the leaders of every religion have wrestled with them for control. During the times before the emergence of Christ and Christianity, the oracles and fortune tellers / astronomers would utilize naturally occurring and predictable astronomical events as signs to the leaders that something they personally wanted done needed to happen. This same methodology was utilized as a means with which to turn the kings and queens of the world into mere puppets of those with the "secret knowledge" they disguised as the ability to hold counsel with the creator. And they took advantage of it to amass personal wealth and power as a means to increase their station in life.

However, it didn't take too long before some of the leadership back then began to figure things out for themselves, by holding counsel with those who possessed new ideas and theories and educating themselves surrounding these things. The old tricks were not what they used to be and these individuals began to lose their grip on the reins of power; and a new way needed to be identified as a means to save themselves.

Along came Jesus Christ and this new idea of Christianity. Now just suppose for a moment, (and I hope you can free up your mind/thought process for long enough to give this some thought) Jesus was nothing more than a man. A man divinely inspired by the creator even works for me. His thoughts and actions, his words, were so revolutionary for the times in which he lived, (Remember, humanity burned "witches" many centuries later and this was after "civilization" had supposedly took hold of the worlds populations), that he was perceived as a threat, an aberration even, by the people of his time. (Some of them anyway. Remember, he did end up on the cross and died at the hands of the "justice" of the times). Yet, amongst the population he struck a chord with many. Some were inspired to follow him, and humanity being humanity, and writers being writers and taking literary license as they usually do, began writing down some of his actions and recording them in the methods of the times.

No doubt some believed so strongly in the things that this man was doing, that they felt compelled to try to bring the point across within the words they placed to "paper", much like the great novelists of the American Wild West days, exaggerating some points to retain the attention of their readers, and hopefully drive home their intended message; that Jesus was onto something here and his teachings were worth passing onto the generations to come. 

Eventually the powers that were in control deemed this man enough of a threat to trump up some charges against him that would enable them to sentence him to his death, and so it was that it came to pass. Only problem was that by the time they had got around to executing him he had developed quite the following, and to make matters worse those within his inner circle had written letters outlining some of his deeds, and lot of his messages. They found themselves unable to quell the movement, much less control those with the information. (Certainly no one back then could even fathom that later generations would take their tales so literally, certainly to the extreme that some do today. And they certainly never could have imagined that science would one day have the ability to identify remains 2,000 years old and even millions of years old.)

As the years passed on the humanity within them came to the forefront, as those within the movement jousted for control of it; greed. That hunger for wealth and power rose to the top and with it began the scheming against each other. Of course after some time those with allegiances to the leaders of the people had infiltrated the movement and someone decided that all this documentation had to be assembled in one place, in order for everyone to better understand the message this man had for humanity.

Thus came about the effort to assemble the books of the "bible" through the editing of the writings of humanity from the times. What a power play this would have been for them. Determine what goes in, what stays out, and make the messages so subjective as to be able to make them say whatever you wish, thus control the people, the power, the wealth for themselves. The "gospels" are only "gospels" because they were deemed as such by the very individuals who edited and assembled them way back in the day. Do I believe there is some truth / value to be had within them, sure I do. But I do not agree with the subjective interpretations and incomplete record that this whole process of editing has left them to be. It gives me reason to doubt, to question, and that is enough.

From my days spent in a Christian University, it is clear that the bible was assembled from a collection of "letters" written by followers of the Christian faith. Parables, they were written by human beings, assembled by other human beings much later on, and magically these same human beings doing the assembly felt they had the authority to exclude anything they felt wasn't in keeping with their personal ideas of what the Christian faith is supposed to mean.

Each of these "letters were written by key figures within the circle of trust that was maintained by Jesus; including a key woman that history has shown was unfairly ostracized within later society and made out to be a whore. The reason for this is clearly obvious if one reads her letters, for they document a relationship with this man Jesus, painting a portrait of him that opposed the path the religion needed to take in order to render to those who assembled these works the personal wealth and power they desired. Moreover, even portions of those letters authored by those included within the completed text contained large portions of such information, and if they were included it would undermine the whole purpose behind this activity! So in their infinite "wisdom" these men that lived centuries after these authors had died, took it upon themselves to edit out everything that went against what they personally felt was the path this religion and its followers were to follow.

What provided them this right to undertake such a ludicrous action? How could they know or understand the true meaning and intention of the writers so many years later, much less know something more than they did surrounding the subject of said writings? They took it upon themselves to decide for humanity the path of the religion moving forward, because the true purpose of this whole activity was to create the new tool required to seize back the control lost when the leadership of the time became enlightened.

The book was assembled to purposely be vague and subjective in interpretation, to allow those who obtain positions of power within the church to wield power over the flock, to bend them to their will, and to allow them to accumulate personal wealth and power over the masses. As it has been utilized throughout history and continues to be. So certainly when empirical evidence is discovered there will be no limit to what can and will be done to obscure it; for it threatens their livelihood!

Throughout the subsequent centuries the leadership of Christianity has waffled upon interpretation of passages, providing explanations that best served their purpose at each time the questions arose; in each instance taking the stance that they are only passing along that which God has provided only to them, by speaking only to them. Placing themselves above all others amongst them and in the position to control and decide what is right and what is wrong.  After all, does not the book clearly document the divine power provided to a man by God, and since it is God he can provide this same power to those chosen by him for eternity!

It is no wonder then that all these centuries later humankind struggles to understand why it is so contradictory, and just how it is that a man can sit down and write a set of letters on the very same subject matter, but have the continuity broken up by the fact that others much later adjudicate certain portions of that writing as incorrect.  How can a man be divinely inspired one moment but not so in the next? Human greed is the answer. To exclude "letters" that document the fact that this same man married, that he had children, and when he was crucified his body was secreted away by those who loved him most, to be later laid to rest within a family tomb, only serve to further cast doubt upon the whole business.

Is it any more of a wonder that centuries after the completion of this book, when physical evidence providing empirical proof that a key foundational element of this book is wrong, is categorically denied and dismissed after a decade of it being hidden away from the world?

[Philodox]

My, my, my. . . Namecalling already? How so very Xtian of you.  Full-o-Pox!

What ever happened to "turning the other cheek"? 

Drink some more of that Kool Aid!

________________________________________________________________

You'll excuse me if I don't waste the time responding to an adolescent who talks more with smileys than his own grasp of the language.

toodles...

.

[Palehorse]

________________________________________________________________

You'll excuse me if I don't waste the time responding to an adolescent who talks more with smileys than his own grasp of the language.

toodles...

.

And, another one gone, another one gone; another one bites the dust! 

[Philodox]

In case you missed it:


Since the beginning of time religion has struggled for control of the people with those who would lead them; from the healers of prehistoric times to tribal leaders, kings, queens, and presidents, the leaders of every religion have wrestled with them for control. During the times before the emergence of Christ and Christianity, the oracles and fortune tellers / astronomers would utilize naturally occurring and predictable astronomical events as signs to the leaders that something they personally wanted done needed to happen. This same methodology was utilized as a means with which to turn the kings and queens of the world into mere puppets of those with the "secret knowledge" they disguised as the ability to hold counsel with the creator. And they took advantage of it to amass personal wealth and power as a means to increase their station in life.

However, it didn't take too long before some of the leadership back then began to figure things out for themselves, by holding counsel with those who possessed new ideas and theories and educating themselves surrounding these things. The old tricks were not what they used to be and these individuals began to lose their grip on the reins of power; and a new way needed to be identified as a means to save themselves.

Along came Jesus Christ and this new idea of Christianity. Now just suppose for a moment, (and I hope you can free up your mind/thought process for long enough to give this some thought) Jesus was nothing more than a man. A man divinely inspired by the creator even works for me. His thoughts and actions, his words, were so revolutionary for the times in which he lived, (Remember, humanity burned "witches" many centuries later and this was after "civilization" had supposedly took hold of the worlds populations), that he was perceived as a threat, an aberration even, by the people of his time. (Some of them anyway. Remember, he did end up on the cross and died at the hands of the "justice" of the times). Yet, amongst the population he struck a chord with many. Some were inspired to follow him, and humanity being humanity, and writers being writers and taking literary license as they usually do, began writing down some of his actions and recording them in the methods of the times.

No doubt some believed so strongly in the things that this man was doing, that they felt compelled to try to bring the point across within the words they placed to "paper", much like the great novelists of the American Wild West days, exaggerating some points to retain the attention of their readers, and hopefully drive home their intended message; that Jesus was onto something here and his teachings were worth passing onto the generations to come. 

Eventually the powers that were in control deemed this man enough of a threat to trump up some charges against him that would enable them to sentence him to his death, and so it was that it came to pass. Only problem was that by the time they had got around to executing him he had developed quite the following, and to make matters worse those within his inner circle had written letters outlining some of his deeds, and lot of his messages. They found themselves unable to quell the movement, much less control those with the information. (Certainly no one back then could even fathom that later generations would take their tales so literally, certainly to the extreme that some do today. And they certainly never could have imagined that science would one day have the ability to identify remains 2,000 years old and even millions of years old.)

As the years passed on the humanity within them came to the forefront, as those within the movement jousted for control of it; greed. That hunger for wealth and power rose to the top and with it began the scheming against each other. Of course after some time those with allegiances to the leaders of the people had infiltrated the movement and someone decided that all this documentation had to be assembled in one place, in order for everyone to better understand the message this man had for humanity.

Thus came about the effort to assemble the books of the "bible" through the editing of the writings of humanity from the times. What a power play this would have been for them. Determine what goes in, what stays out, and make the messages so subjective as to be able to make them say whatever you wish, thus control the people, the power, the wealth for themselves. The "gospels" are only "gospels" because they were deemed as such by the very individuals who edited and assembled them way back in the day. Do I believe there is some truth / value to be had within them, sure I do. But I do not agree with the subjective interpretations and incomplete record that this whole process of editing has left them to be. It gives me reason to doubt, to question, and that is enough.

From my days spent in a Christian University, it is clear that the bible was assembled from a collection of "letters" written by followers of the Christian faith. Parables, they were written by human beings, assembled by other human beings much later on, and magically these same human beings doing the assembly felt they had the authority to exclude anything they felt wasn't in keeping with their personal ideas of what the Christian faith is supposed to mean.

Each of these "letters were written by key figures within the circle of trust that was maintained by Jesus; including a key woman that history has shown was unfairly ostracized within later society and made out to be a whore. The reason for this is clearly obvious if one reads her letters, for they document a relationship with this man Jesus, painting a portrait of him that opposed the path the religion needed to take in order to render to those who assembled these works the personal wealth and power they desired. Moreover, even portions of those letters authored by those included within the completed text contained large portions of such information, and if they were included it would undermine the whole purpose behind this activity! So in their infinite "wisdom" these men that lived centuries after these authors had died, took it upon themselves to edit out everything that went against what they personally felt was the path this religion and its followers were to follow.

What provided them this right to undertake such a ludicrous action? How could they know or understand the true meaning and intention of the writers so many years later, much less know something more than they did surrounding the subject of said writings? They took it upon themselves to decide for humanity the path of the religion moving forward, because the true purpose of this whole activity was to create the new tool required to seize back the control lost when the leadership of the time became enlightened.

The book was assembled to purposely be vague and subjective in interpretation, to allow those who obtain positions of power within the church to wield power over the flock, to bend them to their will, and to allow them to accumulate personal wealth and power over the masses. As it has been utilized throughout history and continues to be. So certainly when empirical evidence is discovered there will be no limit to what can and will be done to obscure it; for it threatens their livelihood!

Throughout the subsequent centuries the leadership of Christianity has waffled upon interpretation of passages, providing explanations that best served their purpose at each time the questions arose; in each instance taking the stance that they are only passing along that which God has provided only to them, by speaking only to them. Placing themselves above all others amongst them and in the position to control and decide what is right and what is wrong.  After all, does not the book clearly document the divine power provided to a man by God, and since it is God he can provide this same power to those chosen by him for eternity!

It is no wonder then that all these centuries later humankind struggles to understand why it is so contradictory, and just how it is that a man can sit down and write a set of letters on the very same subject matter, but have the continuity broken up by the fact that others much later adjudicate certain portions of that writing as incorrect.  How can a man be divinely inspired one moment but not so in the next? Human greed is the answer. To exclude "letters" that document the fact that this same man married, that he had children, and when he was crucified his body was secreted away by those who loved him most, to be later laid to rest within a family tomb, only serve to further cast doubt upon the whole business.

Is it any more of a wonder that centuries after the completion of this book, when physical evidence providing empirical proof that a key foundational element of this book is wrong, is categorically denied and dismissed after a decade of it being hidden away from the world?

________________________________________________________________

I addressed this in the very first post in this thread.  Although a discourse with you would be comical, it would also be tedious.

Read previous post.

.

[Palehorse]

You may have missed this too!

Science is an effort to understand the world around us, not explain it. Religion likely started out as a means to feed the spiritual needs of humanity, and this morphed into it being (abused) utilized as a tool to control humanity.

A human being is comprised of two parts, physical and spiritual. Our physical bodies are the window of what each of us basically considers "life" here on earth. Our bodies and their various systems work in conjunction to allow us to accomplish things, set goals, achieve them; to basically "experience this thing we call life. However our spirit, or soul if you will, is that part of our makeup that exists eternally; beyond the physical limitations of "life" as we know it here on earth.

Our spirits have always existed and always will, and it is this component of the experience here on earth that I believe to be the other half of the driver behind why religion has become so powerful, so all encompassing, and so vital to such a major portion of humanity around the world. It is my belief that human life does not truly begin until the physical merging of the two entities, our spirit and our physical bodies, that takes place upon the drawing of the first breath. It is at this precise moment that our spirits enter into the physical body that has been awaiting our arrival, and it is at this precise moment that our "life" here on earth begins.

Now while the above statement may hold serious ramifications for a portion of society and in fact elicit a strong opposition to the notions set forth herein, I submit that the lion's share of said opposition can be attributed solely to the collateral damage inflicted upon humanity by the centuries of religious rancor, oppression, and brainwashing; so before you go off on a religious crusade I would appreciate the opportunity to speak my piece here as best I can, so please, take a breath and read on for awhile.

Our spirits do not maintain overall control of our physical being, indeed, it is the experiences and the mentality these experiences create within our minds as we develop physically, that eventually assumes this role within our being while we are here. We are each born with gifts that are equal and far above and beyond that which you may imagine, but due to societal pressure to conform to that which society deems "normal and acceptable", we learn to suppress these gifts; and as we all have learned, that which you do not use you eventually lose.

As we develop physically and mentally, we learn to "forget" or repress our spiritual side; to purposely lose touch with it because unless we do we quickly learn we will be ostracized by society. For the religious among you reading this, think back to the prophets of the bible. The fortune tellers, the folks able to see the future, speak to the dead, and perform other great wonders. Have you ever asked yourself just why it is that these people existed back then and furthermore why it is that if they did indeed exist back then why they are not here now? The answer is that there are many among us who can indeed do these things today, and in fact each of us can still do these things if we would but drop the weight we provide to society in forcing us to repress these skills.

The people today have learned to hide these skills from society in general, and the fact that fakes and charlatans abound only serves to further assist them in obscuring their abilities from anyone they choose. Moreover, you will not find the people with these abilities amongst the fleeced flocks milling about within the organized religions of the world today, because religion serves as the panacea to the spirit, required to quell our spirits crying and need for acknowledgment in a world of physical being.

As with anything "living" nourishment is required in order to sustain life and obtain well being, happiness, and contentment. Despite the daily barrage placed upon our lives by the environment we call earth and our day-to-day "life", our spirits can be felt even today. That unsatisfied feeling of unrest, as if we are missing something, that which drives us to question the purpose of "life", that which drives us to understand life and our surroundings, that which completes us. It is our spirit and it demands attention of us. But since we have repressed this aspect of our lives here, we seek out ways to placate this need as we have done since the beginning of time. Religion plays to this need and for many it has now progressed to the point where it is the only acceptable means of acknowledging our spirits; we have become spiritual sheep to a panacea constructed of lies.

It is this very spiritual need that drives humanity to submit to that for which there can be no explanation within the physical world, to abdicate its own ability to that which is preposterous and clearly unreasonable to those who would but take some time to clearly review.  Society has served to further the cause of religion by deeming anyone displaying any kind of "ability" at first a witch, and eventually ostracizing them when various religions began to frown upon actions like burning at the stake.

The crusades and inquisitions undertaken by early society endorsed torture, maiming, and killing as acceptable means with which to obtain confessions from those who would not accept the basic religious tenants of the time, exasperating the need for humanity to repress the spiritual side of our being, to hide it away never to see the light of day again. And all in the name of Christianity and religion, untold numbers of human beings are put to the fire, steel, and grave; and the purveyors of such deeds proudly display the sign of the cross upon their armor, flags, and crests while doing so, claiming the support of God for their actions.

Put yourselves in the place of the people who endured such acts of insanity; imagine if you will that all of sciences contributions to the world as we know it today are no longer in existence. Imagine your neighbors, your relatives, and your people being slaughtered in the name of some religion and man who you had never heard of before. Imagine being forced to accept this religion or die. There is no government but your King or leader, and there is no other way of life but that which has been provided since the day of your birth. Then these people arrive. If you cannot imagine back that far, then try imagining yourself a Native American; can what they endured be anything different, any less horrifying, any less wrong?

Throughout history the struggle for control of the masses has been undertaken on many fronts, not the least of which is science. Science and the church have waged a century's long conflict which clearly demonstrates the lengths to which religious leadership will go in the cause of preserving their golden goose. Not only have some of the great men and women of science had humankind to struggle with, but the threat to their very livelihoods that materialized each time a milestone achievement was arrived at. I shall forego most of these insidious incidents in an effort to spare each of us the history lesson, except for one; evolution.

Along came a man named Charles Darwin and in 1859 he authored a book on his perspectives/theories "On the Origin of Species" , ( when book-ended with the work of Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian priest and scientist, during the mid 1800's serve as  provisional  cornerstones for modern evolutional theory), and from its publication provided science with the impetus to investigate and validate his biological theories. Through the years science has done just that and with it identified, in theory supported in large part by empirical proof, how living things have evolved into the various species that modern humankind has come to identify.

Everything was going along fairly well, with only marginal objection being put forth from the religious leadership until it came to man himself and the theory that we evolved from apes; there the church drew a line in the sand. Once science was able to validate the theory that some 8 million years ago approximately a dozen hominid species emerged from the apes, and at least one of these species represented modern man, the church once again broke out the hardware and began imposing its influence upon our government, education, and science itself.

From the onset as the theory of evolution was supported within an ever increasing sector of the scientific community, the religious leadership undertook a massive propaganda campaign that utilized its centuries of preconditioning of the masses as a lever with which to censor scientists, educators, as well as the educational system itself; at various points subjecting its supporters to public trials that placed their very freedom in jeopardy. All of this indicative of the threat religion considered it due to the fact that, from their perspective, it provided empirical proof that could potentially disprove the historical / traditional teachings and beliefs of the church.

Once again the battle flags of science and religion were fluttering in the discourse of the ongoing conflict between these two, and so it continues to this very day with the lines being drawn and the eternal struggle continuing. The church steadfastly refusing to consider what science can prove to be truth, and science frustrated by centuries of offhand dismissal and public propaganda campaigns that in reality are nothing more than bluster; a paper tiger whose bite is only present due to the preconditioning of the very species that is controlled by them. All of this has served to blind both science and the church to any possibility of a blend of both perspectives, and so that path has yet to be seriously explored by more than perhaps a handful of individuals that may very well share my own perspective on the possibility to varying degrees. 

Religion and I don't care which one you want to use as an example, for the most part is premised on the fact that there is a God, and that God created this place in which we exist, the universe in which it exists, and everything else. There are many among us that believe this is not true, or believe it to be true to varying degrees and not necessarily with the religious fervor of the zealot either. Personally I believe in a creator and I find it very hard to conceptualize this place, this universe, and all that exists not having a creator. Perhaps this is due to the fact I am human and everything in my experience has been or has to be created; or perhaps it is my eternal spirit that assures me it is so, I don't really know. And I can provide no empirical proof to the scientist in me to prove that my belief or faith if you will, in the fact that there is a creator is fact. None the less, I believe it to be true and so must accept it.  For the moment let us just stipulate that there is a creator and leave it at that.

Traditional Christian belief is that all of these things came to be as they are outlined within the book of Genesis in its bible.  Science does not endorse "say it and it is so" methodology and rejects that for which there is no proof, and through the centuries of scientific achievement has come to discover that which they believe to be the source for the start of all life and the universe/space; the big bang. The Christian religion rejects anything that does not support a text / letter written thousands of years ago, and despite scientific proof supporting the big bang theory they refuse to acknowledge it to be factual because it represents a natural event and can be explained.

If a fire occurs on your lawn one day the first thing you are going to do is put it out, then you are going to try to figure out how it got started aren't you? I mean, the grass didn't spontaneously combust! Someone threw a cigarette on it, lightening struck it, a vehicle backfired; there has to be a source of origin for the fire right?  Your entire life and the sum of all of your experiences tells you that this is the case for each and every event that transpires each day, something, someone initiates what happens or what you experience, right? Even in nature this is true, as well as the laws of physics. Now extend this line of fact toward the formation of the universe. Even if you believe that it was all created by God, do you really believe that, (in the words of that ancient author), that the creator desired it and it was "so"? What does "so" mean?

Keeping in mind that when that author put those words down he had no conception of the laws of physics, he had no idea there was such a thing as space, the universe, time, and a virtual cornucopia of physical facts and laws that we today accept as matter of fact. To him disease was a punishment, as were floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, insect/rodent/vermin infestation and anything else that negatively impacted his life. My personal opinion is that when these words were written they merely documented the philosophy of a man musing on how all that was came to be, but here I will stipulate to the idea that the creator performed the act of creation. He/she desired to create that which we know, and the act ensued, but I do not accept that it was miraculously then "so".

Now let's incorporate a little scientific evidence into the story, because it is after all thousands of years later, we have evolved as a species, (or progressed if you prefer), and we know a lot more about everything. Tornadoes, hurricanes, rat infestations, all have explainable and documented reasons for their occurrences and we no longer have to sacrifice our first born or a neighbor in order to prevent ourselves from worrying about them.

So the creator creates, then what happens? Within the infinity that we now identify as space a huge bang transpires. The creator thinks/says that they want a universe and BAM!, chemical reactions happen, matter forms, dust emits from infinity and through time, (and I'll get to this subject later), the galaxies, planets, stars, and everything else form. In the creator's infinite and stipulated to wisdom, they await just the right moment within this process to identify a place within all they have created, including light, to create life.

"Let there be life". And from this act/statement/will begins the evolutionary process that eventually results in the emergence of modern man and his lust, greed, and eternal drive for power over all that is; and his need to understand everything.

Now we're pretty resourceful and some of us have some very vivid imaginations, (case in point, I know), and as we grown and struggled throughout this process we've created some wonderful things, done some terrible things, written about them, and along the way lost touch with our true selves, abdicating that which we are for that which civilization and society say we must be. There are rogues amongst us as history has shown, but we have survived and progressed as a species in most respects as is evident by the fact we are still here.

So what is the problem then? Control, greed, and lust for personal wealth and power. Why can it not be possible for what I have presented herein to be true? Why cannot science and religion accept that at the end of the day both of them may be right to varying degrees? Are the big bang and evolution the result of a creator's will or desire to create, and all that science has proven a direct result of this action?

I strongly suspect that as each of us reach our expiration dates for the physical bodies we occupy, and once again return to the eternal, spiritual beings that we truly are, we will look back upon all of this in disappointment concerning our understanding of it all. We let our desires for superiority over one another obscure our very purpose and origin to the point of erasing them altogether from our collective consciousness, and neglect that which is of the utmost importance to it all; our spirits and their growth. Our purpose is likely to be the addition of physical experience with which to better arm our spiritual being for a higher level of understanding, but of what?

[Palehorse]

________________________________________________________________

I addressed this in the very first post in this thread.  Although a discourse with you would be comical, it would also be tedious.

Read previous post.

.

So it was meant to offend me!

[Philodox]

So it was meant to offend me!

_________________________________________________________________

Now you see why I don't want to fart w/ you... even after you've read it, you STILL don't believe it...lol

.... now shooo

.

[Palehorse]

_________________________________________________________________

Now you see why I don't want to fart w/ you... even after you've read it, you STILL don't believe it...lol

.... now shooo

.

Non-responsive. Now quit wasting my precious time!

I am very offended by your topic, its title, and you.

[LOsborne]

Now when I was a little boy,
At the age of five,
I had somethin' in my pocket,
Keep a lot of folks alive.

Now I'm a man,
Made twenty-one,
You know baby,
We can have a lot of fun.

I'm a man,
I spell m-a-n...man.

All you pretty women,
Stand in line,
I can make love to you baby,
In an hour's time.

I'm a man,
I spell m-a-n...man.
. . .

You SHOULD be offended...

.

HAH! Doxie don't know Diddley!

[Sandy Eggo]

You SHOULD be offended...

_______________________________________________________________

I'm not forcing anything on you.... You have the right to be as stupid as you obviously choose to be.

Believe it or not, I've been thinking about this thread. I can't decide if my instinct is correct and you're trying to make a bigger point along the lines of walking in someone else's shoes OR if you're simply narrow-minded and pompous.

Help me out here, please.

[Philodox]

Believe it or not, I've been thinking about this thread. I can't decide if my instinct is correct and you're trying to make a bigger point along the lines of walking in someone else's shoes OR if you're simply narrow-minded and pompous.

Help me out here, please.

_____________________________________________________________________

I would say you are right on all 3 counts, just not necessarily in the order you describe.

The thread is what it is. I described it rather lucidly in the opening post. Take that for what it's worth. Cuss it or discuss it among yourselves, but don't expect me to join into a ridiculous rant from some disenfranchised pop-off valve.

The first post has all the info you need, along with my intended advice. If you use it or shove it, it is no concern of mine. That is between you & God.

Hope that does it for ya.

.

[Sandy Eggo]

No, I believe that I was wrong, at least on the first point.

I thought that perhaps you were introducing the topic of religion from another perspective and with the attitude which is typical for some non-believers to encourage a discussion along a different line of thought and that I think would be interesting.

Instead, I see that you're hoping that the information provided will convince the reader that religion is "value added" to their lives, specifically Christianity.

Sorry, I've been there done that and like you, I choose to not discuss it either. I don't care what you or anyone else believes, but there's nothing of value that religion has ever added to my life and so, I'm happy with the way things are. Oddly enough, it was apologetics which convinced me that the concept of religion is more-or-less circular. How can you use the very book you're trying to prove as proof? It's not logical. At any rate, good luck with that.

As for the other two points, I'll accept your self certification and move on to something more interesting to me. Thanks for the response.