That's granting too much, I think.

Post #223,267 by mmoffitt 9/6/05 8:51:11 PM Reply	That's granting too much, I think. In brief: attributing Stupid- stupid decisions to mere sloth, ignorance, ineptness, retardation or even - just Desire-for-Empire would be to miss explanations which offer a more cohesive picture of Patterns since Inauguration. Medieval superstitious religions of fear are indicative of underdeveloped minds, no? What more do we need to know of this ilk than "they are true believers?" bcnu, Mikem It would seem, therefore, that the three human impulses embodied in religion are fear, conceit, and hatred. The purpose of religion, one might say, is to give an air of respectibility to these passions. -- Bertrand Russell
Post #223,280 by Ashton 9/6/05 9:17:13 PM Reply	Quite a Lot more - if you are to counter them. It's fun to ridicule the ridiculous. But %some of 63M is no longer deterred by being laughed outta the play (especially when the script is a LITERAL interpretation of Revelations. (And this despite: in the Second Century .. the general understanding was formalized in some Concordat, or whatever these Editing meetings label themselves). 'Rev' was never intended for literal! any more than Psalms and other poetic dreamweavings as are sprinkled throughout this self-contradictory collection of human works + the humans' God-imaginations. ie Even by their own concepts of the Bible-as-Unix-Handbook -- these-All are Revisionists! (too) The Fright/Rage aspect is too complex for sound bites, as is the more-subtle thread to the jelloware of the Neoconmen .. I'll save that for the Review thingie. Aux barricades. ..Sans i-Pod, you idiot!
Post #223,290 by Silverlock 9/6/05 10:30:58 PM Reply	Beg to differ Many are, shall we say, taken under the wing of a religious faith for the moral touchstone it gives them. Others have other reasons but this is one I have some intimate contact with. My oldest sister had already had a baby by the tiime she was 15, gave it up for adoption, became a groupie for friggin' bar bands in hawaii and was well on her way to being someones pass around toy for the coke he could supply by the time she was 17. She got saved. I know she uses the phrase in a different way than I do but the end result that matters to me is she is still alive. Her faith in what I consider superstition saved her life. I spent many an evening at her church watching in awed wonder at the speaking in tongues, the laying on of hands and other "spirit filled" bug-nut craziness. These people are crazy; my sister is still alive. I can condemn them for many things but my sister is still alive. ----------------------------------------- George W. Bush and his PNAC handlers sent the US into Iraq with lies. I find myself rethinking my opposition to the death penalty. --Donald Dean Richards Jr.
Post #223,353 by mmoffitt 9/7/05 6:50:46 AM Reply	Interesting. I also personally know of cases similar to your sister's. They exist, to be sure. An interesting thought occured to me as I read your post. Christianity, I think, may be just like computer technology. By that I mean that both have contributed some to the human condition, but both are a net negative on society. YMMV, of course. bcnu, Mikem It would seem, therefore, that the three human impulses embodied in religion are fear, conceit, and hatred. The purpose of religion, one might say, is to give an air of respectibility to these passions. -- Bertrand Russell
Post #223,383 by jb4 9/7/05 10:02:20 AM Reply	One might interpret your observations thus: I spent many an evening at her church watching in awed wonder at the speaking in tongues, the laying on of hands and other "spirit filled" bug-nut craziness. These people are crazy; my sister is still alive. I can condemn them for many things but my sister is still alive. You sister found a group of bug-nut crazies (great phrase, BTW) that complement her bug-nut craziness. The difference is that the group she found values living over self destructive behavior. You sister is no less whacked than she was when she was snorting coke off the backside of some bass player somewhere. The only difference is the company she now keeps. IMHO, she found a better class of whack jobs; the price of entry was a spiritual-based superstition. Not a bad trade, all things considered. jb4 shrub●bish (Am., from shrub* + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf.* BULLSHIT

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