REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

The notion of patriotism

POSTED BY: KHYRON
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 6, 2007 15:43
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Friday, February 2, 2007 10:16 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important


Quote:

if thats true, then i am unaware, youll have to show me the scriptures so i can study them.. i was under the impression from John(REv 22:18) that anyone who adds or takes away to the prophecies in his book will not be spared by the plagues of the end times


Antimason,

After the book of life is opened, and God disposes of the unworthy, the remainder will be invited to live an idyllic life free from pain, death, or suffering. God said that he would make everything new. People will walk in the presence of God. I suggest that this will represent rather profound changes to our understanding of the world, and our place in it.

Whatever God ultimately wants from his children, he will no doubt let us know once the events in Revelations have come to their conclusion.

And I trust that when God writes the next chapter in his eternal tale, he will be spared his own plagues. I would presume that the admonishment against adding anything to revelations is for humans, not God himself.

--Anthony


"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

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Friday, February 2, 2007 10:32 PM

KHYRON


Regarding the hypothesis of a benevolent god:

http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2007/01/how-many-has-god-kille
d-complete-list.html




The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

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Saturday, February 3, 2007 6:13 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important


Khyron,

Excellent resource. Though I am especially concerned with the times when God asks his own followers to attack and massacre others.

It's important for people who believe in the Biblical God to accept everything that he is, and to go into their worship eyes-open. We assume that everything God does serves a greater good. We operate under belief that God's will is good, even though we can't always see the goodness.

As I see it, there are two 'leaps of faith' involved in worshipping God. The first is the belief that God exists.

The second is the acceptance that God is Good.

And the second is perhaps even more profound than the first.

--Anthony

"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

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Saturday, February 3, 2007 9:52 AM

FREMDFIRMA


Quote:

The story that got me was called "And Then There Were None" by Eric Frank Russell. I'm thinking you may have even read this at some point, but if you haven't it's a must read. And look at this.... I even found a link to the full story so you can read it at your leisure:

*Too busy laughing his ass off to comment*


-Frem

It cannot be said enough, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to endlessly repeat it

PS- for a MUCH longer take on the concept of this story... try THIS book.
http://www.amazon.com/STAINLESS-STEEL-DRAFTED-Stainless-Paperback/dp/0
553273078

The entire series would amuse you, I think.

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Saturday, February 3, 2007 3:04 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important


Quote:

Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Quote:

The story that got me was called "And Then There Were None" by Eric Frank Russell. I'm thinking you may have even read this at some point, but if you haven't it's a must read. And look at this.... I even found a link to the full story so you can read it at your leisure:

*Too busy laughing his ass off to comment*


-Frem

It cannot be said enough, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to endlessly repeat it

PS- for a MUCH longer take on the concept of this story... try THIS book.
http://www.amazon.com/STAINLESS-STEEL-DRAFTED-Stainless-Paperback/dp/0
553273078

The entire series would amuse you, I think.




I haven't even heard the Stainless steel rat series referred to since I was in High School. I can't believe it's still in print!

--Anthony

"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

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Saturday, February 3, 2007 3:33 PM

FLETCH2


You have no God given rights. If you did then no mere human being could ever take them from you. What rights you have are those rights that other people choose to acknowledge, which is why they are mutable and liable to change without warning.

The day someone writes you a parking ticket and is struck down with a thunderbolt I may amend my opinion, but when you have genocide taking place with no sign of divine intervention I'm inclined to think that you don't have a "God Given right to life."

Rights, any rights, only exist if someone enforces them, and it is the power than enforces them that gets to claim them. So if a guy blows your brains out while robbing a liquor store and he gets taken out with a thunderbolt then that was a God given right to life. If he is taken out by your fellow citizens via a lethal injection, then your "right to life" and the retribution if that right is violated, come from your state.

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Saturday, February 3, 2007 8:40 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

AnthonyT-

Antimason,

Well, at the top of my head, without turning a page, I can recall an instance where 1) a man was asked to murder his son



ok, but did he follow through(was he asked to follow through)? its a little hypocritical, since people usually overlook the fact that human sacrifice was common practice among 'pagans' to their 'gods' before Abraham was even chosen by God. to go a step further, human sacrifice was never even a part of judeo/christianity, whereas almost all of the pagan culters did so to their dieties, in gruesome ways throughout history

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2) a tribe of God's chosen people were asked to invade a city belonging to a rival tribe and murder every man, woman, child, and infant.


youll need to be more specific

most people who read the bible forget that Gen 6 literally says that 'fallen angels came unto the daughters of men, and had offspring, both before and after the 'flood'. if you understand the bible at all, you would recognize that these angels ARE the deities of the pagan cultures, which rebelled with lucifer to enslave mankind, and whos hybrid offspring were among men on earth; so keep that in mind when you read that God sent Israel out to destroy the Canaanites or Anakim(who were 'descendants' of the nephilim). it is this influence that is behind the secret socieites today and their occult worship.. but no one wants to connect the dots- as if history is not linear in anyyyway





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Saturday, February 3, 2007 9:05 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

Originally posted by Fletch2:

You have no God given rights. If you did then no mere human being could ever take them from you.



do you have rights at all then?

if those 'rights' are granted by men, then they are not 'rights' at all, but privelages; a 'right' does not require permission from any one

if God exists, then we were granted the right to life(and everything therein) when he created us.. therefore we have certain inalienable 'rights'. if no God exists, then you have no 'rights' because you are subject to the consenses of men, who can rationalize away any matter of the conscience, no matter how profane

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What rights you have are those rights that other people choose to acknowledge, which is why they are mutable and liable to change without warning.


do you not see that without a 'God' you are a slave? when government limits your grand children to 1 per family, or you lose the right to private property to the state, realize it is because you have no 'rights', you are subject to the will of men, who are in the end accountable to no one. its no coincidence that secular humanism(gnostic athiesm)was considered by Marx to be synonymous with communism, and a neccessary tool to dehumanize the human spirit


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Saturday, February 3, 2007 9:29 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

Originally posted by AnthonyT:

Antimason,

Whatever God ultimately wants from his children, he will no doubt let us know once the events in Revelations have come to their conclusion.



before we jump the gun, we should consider prophecies already given by GOd, which would be signs of the end of the age; one in particular, the system of the beast, also known as the GLOBAL GOVERNMENT of antichrist, comes to mind, since its right in front of our eyes. some of us around here actually make an effor tto expose the NWO, rather then pretend that these luciferian societies dont actually exist... and arent behind institutions like the UN




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Saturday, February 3, 2007 10:30 PM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!


Quote:


18 US Code § 2381. Treason:

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.




Arrest all the traitors. Let a martial law tribunal find them guilty. Then kill them. Let Satan sort em out.



"You can't stop the signal!"
-Mr Universe, Pirate TV

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.1044556

www.myspace.com/piratenewsctv
www.piratenews.org


Does that seem right to you?
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Saturday, February 3, 2007 10:54 PM

FLETCH2


Quote:

Originally posted by antimason:
Quote:

Originally posted by Fletch2:

You have no God given rights. If you did then no mere human being could ever take them from you.



do you have rights at all then?



Yes you have those rights you and others are prepared to fight for. In World War 2 we fought for the rights to be free men and we won, had we lost we would probably have been slaves to the Aryan "Master Race." Rights are fought for not given. If God gave man freedom as an inaliable right why did Moses have to lead the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt? If God himself was garentor of their freedom they would never have been enslaved in the first place. You will not find a mention of a right to freedom in the bible, in fact there are rules in there about the treatment of slaves, something that would be impossible if the Bible is the literal word of God and God garenteed all men to be free.

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if those 'rights' are granted by men, then they are not 'rights' at all, but privelages; a 'right' does not require permission from any one




You you're right you don't need permission for rights, rights are not something you are given they are something you fight to take, remember you even have to fight for your right to party.

Quote:



if God exists, then we were granted the right to life(and everything therein) when he created us.. therefore we have certain inalienable 'rights'. if no God exists, then you have no 'rights' because you are subject to the consenses of men, who can rationalize away any matter of the conscience, no matter how profane




This is actually 3 things. 1) There is a God. 2) he never gave you a right to life, couldn't have done because when he raised Sodom or killed the first born of Egypt he would have broken his own rules. Further, as previously mentioned if God is omnipotent and didn't want people to die then they would not die. You have no garentee in life.

Quote:



Quote:

What rights you have are those rights that other people choose to acknowledge, which is why they are mutable and liable to change without warning.


do you not see that without a 'God' you are a slave? when government limits your grand children to 1 per family, or you lose the right to private property to the state, realize it is because you have no 'rights', you are subject to the will of men, who are in the end accountable to no one. its no coincidence that secular humanism(gnostic athiesm)was considered by Marx to be synonymous with communism, and a neccessary tool to dehumanize the human spirit




Then you get upoff your lazy ass, stop waiting for God to do your work for you and fight for those rights you believe you deserve. There is a reason why the Declaration of Independence is held in such esteme by none Americans, it is the first time in history that men threw down the concept that a man is born free and has rights. Before that point in the whole history of mankind going back at least to Mose's time huge numbers of human beings were NOT born free. The whole ancient world was built on slavery. The Roman empire, Athens, hell the Spartans were an occupying elite that enslaved an entire nation of Helots to do their bidding. Even in 1776 when white men were writing about men being born equal there were black men in that same nation being bought and sold as Slaves. If God made freedom a rule then he waited a long time to follow through on it.

Bottom line, the only reason you were NOT born a slave is that through the centuries human beings like you lay down their lives and paid in blood for your freedom. If you think you have some God given right, some magical inherent freedom then you stand a better chance of being enslaved because you'll still be waiting on that miracle when they lead your sorry ass to market. Freedom is something people bleed for, there are no free lunches in this life.


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Sunday, February 4, 2007 1:32 AM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

Fletch2-

Yes you have those rights you and others are prepared to fight for. In World War 2 we fought for the rights to be free men and we won, had we lost we would probably have been slaves to the Aryan "Master Race."



but if youll notice, a 'master race' implies genetic superiority, which is an evolutionary concept; the bible says God created us in his image, his likeness. God endowes us with unalienable rights, it is then up for us to protect them.. i never claimed he excercised divine magic to manifest their enforcement


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Rights are fought for not given. If God gave man freedom as an inaliable right why did Moses have to lead the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt?


because God gives us these rights, which are then taken away by men in government, so we are forced to fight in defense of them. i never said freedom was granted, but it is alluded to

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If God himself was garentor of their freedom they would never have been enslaved in the first place.


did i say God uses his invisible hand to uphold these rights for people? no.. but that God established these rights, and it is for Gods followers to protect them. without men upholding Gods laws, then just as with the Eyptians(or take your pick of previous empires), slavery(genocide or conquest) becomes relative and rationalized because, (suprise)men are left to the dictates of their own moral compasses

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You will not find a mention of a right to freedom in the bible, in fact there are rules in there about the treatment of slaves, something that would be impossible if the Bible is the literal word of God and God garenteed all men to be free.


the bible didnt start slavery, its a practice that has been with man from the beginning; if you dare to go back to the oldest of cultures, like the Sumarians, theyll say that it was their 'gods' which indroduced slavery TO THEM! you can thank the 'pagans' for that, and similarly it wasnt God behind his peoples captivity in Egypt. see.. people like to blame God for the ills of man.. and then conveniently skip the human conscience and all other worldviews in the process

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This is actually 3 things. 1) There is a God. 2) he never gave you a right to life, couldn't have done because when he raised Sodom or killed the first born of Egypt he would have broken his own rules.


do you care to understand the context of those events, or were you just interested in interjecting biased presuppositions

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Further, as previously mentioned if God is omnipotent and didn't want people to die then they would not die.


do you think you understand God? i dont... assuming you believe a Creator(OF THE UNIVERSE) exists.. can you understand its motives or direction??

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You have no garentee in life.


because most men do not stand for God.. therefore they do not uphold Gods laws. the collective may deny my rights, but it doesnt negate the fact that i am entitled to my rights under God regardless.. which i intend to protect(for everyone). what leverage do you have against those who seek to take your rights from you? if this were a court case, how would you demand something you were never in possession of to begin with? to these people, rights are arbitrary and relative, and solely permitted

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Then you get upoff your lazy ass, stop waiting for God to do your work for you and fight for those rights you believe you deserve.


i am.. by stating that MEN HAVE GOD GIVEN RIGHTS! i dont see how stating the opposite does us any favors

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There is a reason why the Declaration of Independence is held in such esteme by none Americans, it is the first time in history that men threw down the concept that a man is born free and has rights. Before that point in the whole history of mankind going back at least to Mose's time huge numbers of human beings were NOT born free.


which is no suprise, the bible even says that our fight is against "the authorities"

Quote:

The whole ancient world was built on slavery. The Roman empire, Athens, hell the Spartans were an occupying elite that enslaved an entire nation of Helots to do their bidding. Even in 1776 when white men were writing about men being born equal there were black men in that same nation being bought and sold as Slaves. If God made freedom a rule then he waited a long time to follow through on it.


all the incidences of slavery you listed were of men, enslaving other men.. God had nothing to do wtih that. but then.. if there is no God, why is slavery wrong, the majority of those populaces were likely in favor of it; it was probably justifiable right? what right does a slave have?

Quote:

Bottom line, the only reason you were NOT born a slave is that through the centuries human beings like you lay down their lives and paid in blood for your freedom. If you think you have some God given right, some magical inherent freedom then you stand a better chance of being enslaved because you'll still be waiting on that miracle when they lead your sorry ass to market.


that is where i disagree.. it is because i have rights endowed by my Creator, which i will inturn fight for those rights for myself and others

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Freedom is something people bleed for, there are no free lunches in this life.


this is not news to me.. but who are we defending ourselves against? those who do not believe that we were ever entitled to the very rights we're fighting for; so why agree with them??


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Sunday, February 4, 2007 1:37 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by piratenews:
Arrest all the traitors. Let a martial law tribunal find them guilty. Then kill them. Let Satan sort em out.



That really sounds nice and all man, and you know that I probably agree with you more than most people in here, but who decides who's a traitor?

I'm afraid that if they started doing that, you and I would be the first firefly fans to disappear or die in a mysterious car crash.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." http://www.myspace.com/6ixstringjack

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 2:17 AM

FREMDFIRMA


Love the graphic, PN..

Like Jack says, the problem with that thought is who makes those decisions.

Also -

Could you other two guys take the religious argument to it's own thread please ?

Not busting on it, mind you - it's fascinating reading, and while unrelated to the topic at hand, deserves it's own thread.

Can ya copy the existing posts to a new topic and continue.. it'd save confusion, and present the debate entire rather than piecemeal.

-Frem

It cannot be said enough, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to endlessly repeat it

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 2:19 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Where did you get this from? Don't see how anybody could interpret anything I've said anywhere in this way.

Firstly, you mention evolution, so that's probably part of my problem with your original post. I don't believe in God and I don't believe in evolution. I believe that there is a chance that either one or both or neither is the case, so I guess a question worded like this: So when, if at all, will the human race finally overcome this lingering side-effect of its evolutionary past? , as if evolution were fact and everybody (at least everybody who matters) just believes that it is, just really gets under my skin. It's not you man, it's just that this seems to be a general trend that really pisses me off. Maybe I'm not ready to give up on the notion that there really is a God and we're all just a bunch of cute little kids that think we've all figured it out.

If anything, I think we're devolving. Look at the fat moraless idiots all around you and the jokers leading our countries and you'll see what I mean. Maybe you're one of them too, but I suspect not and I'll reserve judgement.

The rest of your post:

While there can be no doubt that tribalism had its merits, the purpose of civilisation is to overcome humanity's less desirable and outdated instincts. Yet this one is still going strong, and in fact is regarded as being virtuous. Am I the only one who finds this strange?

Yeah, I guess there's a bit of evolution in there too.

The entire post just seems to me that you want a one world "civilization" and without any patriotism, I don't see why we wouldn't be a one world civilization. I really don't see any other way to read that initial post.

I didn't suspect that.

About the anarchist, I kinda just threw that in there. I have been labled one before. I guess you didn't think that. Sorry. I tend to ramble... like I'm doing now... stop it....


Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
... I believe there is a very distinct difference between patriotism and love for one's government and standing behind their decisions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Agreed.


Good.... my main point.


Blah..... blah.... seems we agree on most of the rest so no need rehashing.



Ahhhhh yes... Patriotism.

I think you're arguing a point that I'm not trying to make here. I think we haven't seen eye to eye, simply because one of us is on a high dive while the other is on the ground.

For the most part, I agree with your assement of patriotism, except that I don't believe what you're talking about is TRUE patriotism. I believe that this is just the strong emotions that get stirred up in every American when they hear loud drums and see a flag banner behind O'Reilly or whatever counterpart CNN has to him. It's Orwell's "Two Minutes Hate". It's something that can be used to make a public rabid by waving the flag infront of their eyes like a Matador to a bull and then leading them straight into a war and once they've finally woke up to the reaility that they never wanted that in the first place, it's far too late and then they make us feel like assholes and no good hippies for wanting out.

You're right... that kind of patriotism sucks.

Thinking about this from a different aspect, what is a country? What it comes down to is that a country is a division of the planet's crust that forms a cohesive political and administrative entity. So why this intense emotional attachment to something that is nothing more than a political and administrative entity?

I think this is thinking about it from the exact same perspective. I don't believe that this is what America was originally about. Maybe I'm naieve and I've bought other bullshit, but I really believe that the original settlers here that weren't politicians really came to make a new life for themselves that wasn't dictated and micromanaged like it was where they came from (and like it is again here now).



One can appreciate the fact that one's country gives one a decent quality of life, opportunities to further oneself and live the life one wants to live.
One can be glad that one's country isn't some third-world country with third-world problems, or France.
One can have respect for or be fond of personalities from one's country who excel in their chosen profession.
One can like and be supportive of particular aspects of the government's policies.

But these positive emotions can be felt in lots of countries.....


Agreed. Haha.. France. Am I the only one on the Fireflyfans boards that doesn't hate France? Never been there, don't know them, have no reason to hate them.... Guess the same could be said about Iraqis, Iranians, Palestinians... you get the point.

and to have an intense emotional attachment to one's own country because of any of these things just seems kind of emotionally, well, for the lack of a better word, undeveloped.

Agreed, if they share love of a country due to the reasons that you specify as patriotism. I don't agree with your blanket definition.

I can, however, see why government would want the people to be patriotic, since it serves a purpose similar to that of religion up until a couple of centuries ago (and in many cases, still), namely to have some peaceful means to subdue the masses and keep them in line. They do this by turning the country itself into an abstract concept that has an almost quasi-religious appeal, and I think few countries in the world, if any, are better at this than the US, where being unpatriotic is seen in the same vein as being blasphemous.

All very dangerously true... "Two Minutes Hate", "War" on "Terror", "War" on drugs, etc....


Well, I never said government is bullshit. It's really quite necessary, even though it extends its power too far in many cases. Although administrations or cabinets may be bullshit.

Yeah, I guess you didn't. Well I'll just agree with myself then. At least large centralized government is bullshit.



Quote:
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... I won't stand for people attacking patriotism.
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Now this statement I find interesting. Why shouldn't one be able to criticise patriotism? I feel that this is part of the American-style patriotism that I at first thought wasn't directly my target, but now realise that it probably was. I don't understand why unconditional devotion to one's country is seen as being such a virtue, and why the validity of this virtue shouldn't be questioned. Just like "god-fearing" is still seen as a virtue in the US and shouldn't be doubted as being a virtue. It's just quaint.


Firstly, saying we should "evolve" beyond a sense of patriotism is more than an critique. It is an attack. Am I proud of my country now? Sure the hell not. What I don't think you understand is that the true patriots in America would most likely find themselves jobless and in jail if they actually came out and said what they wanted to say. Hunter Thompson was a true patriot, but as he said, if you're going to be crazy in this country, you better get paid doing it or else you'll end up in a cell. Patriotism, in my definition is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the ideals of freedom and protecting them, even from our corrupt Government.

I think I really get so mad at a statement like that is because in a sense you're right. Most people in this country view their own patriotism the very way you color it.

While I believe that the biggest patriots the world has ever known has been against ANY Government enough to be labeled a terrorist under the current Administration.

The only good thing about times like these is that they are when the true patriots are born.

Hope that clears things up a little.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." http://www.myspace.com/6ixstringjack

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 2:31 AM

CITIZEN


Quote:

Originally posted by antimason:
but if youll notice, a 'master race' implies genetic superiority, which is an evolutionary concept;

It's all evil sciences fault, that's a new one for you. People were exalting the idea that theirs was the master race long before the Nazi's and long before the theory of evolution.

Usually it was based on the idea that 'Our religion is better than your religion'.
Quote:

did i say God uses his invisible hand to uphold these rights for people? no.. but that God established these rights, and it is for Gods followers to protect them. without men upholding Gods laws, then just as with the Eyptians(or take your pick of previous empires), slavery(genocide or conquest) becomes relative and rationalized because, (suprise)men are left to the dictates of their own moral compasses
Though of course Atheists are just as capable of being moral as Theists. In fact I've seen evidence to suggest they're more capable of it. Believe it or not many people don't need the threat of a vengeful God punishing them in order for them to not go out and kill children. Weird concept I know.

Further more this really ignores the whole centuries of holly wars, inquisitions, slavery and intolerance perpetrated by good Christian men. Fact is historically all those things are the norm for Christianity, not the exception, how do you rationalise that if God's people are always upholding Gods law on Earth, unlike those evil sinful Atheists, Egyptians et al?
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the bible didnt start slavery, its a practice that has been with man from the beginning; if you dare to go back to the oldest of cultures, like the Sumarians, theyll say that it was their 'gods' which indroduced slavery TO THEM! you can thank the 'pagans' for that, and similarly it wasnt God behind his peoples captivity in Egypt. see.. people like to blame God for the ills of man.. and then conveniently skip the human conscience and all other worldviews in the process
Like Christians turning a blind eye to all the ills perpetrated by Christians because Christians are 'good' and it's everyone else that is 'bad'? Listen to what Fletch is telling you, Christians practised slavery, there's no mention of Christians inventing it. Thus your assumption that Christians have always held true to all men are free is utterly false.

You're argument boils down too "because Americans didn't invent the wheel, they don't drive cars".
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do you care to understand the context of those events, or were you just interested in interjecting biased presuppositions
Well it boils down significantly too:
People that don't do what they're told tend to die.
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i am.. by stating that MEN HAVE GOD GIVEN RIGHTS! i dont see how stating the opposite does us any favors
Erm, by doing something. Sitting around in a cell telling your cell mates how free you are because God said so would certainly get you out of the cell.

And into a nice padded one.
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which is no suprise, the bible even says that our fight is against "the authorities"
Jesus was the biggest anti-establishment hippy ever. Funny how his teachings have been used to create one of the biggest and longest lasting establishments ever, ain't it?
Quote:

all the incidences of slavery you listed were of men, enslaving other men.. God had nothing to do wtih that. but then.. if there is no God, why is slavery wrong, the majority of those populaces were likely in favor of it; it was probably justifiable right? what right does a slave have?
Back to the old points, if you're not afraid God will give you a spanking you'll be a bad wittle boy. Personally I don't kill people because I don't want to, not because I'm afraid of being punished.



More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 4:00 AM

KHYRON


I'll just give a brief response, since I've got a hectic few days coming up that I need to prepare for, and I also don't see a reason why we should take this discussion too much further.

Regarding evolution, well yes, I see it as a given. There's enough evidence to support it and it's a sound theory; there's no reason for me to doubt it. Anyway, in the absence of god, I don't see any other way of how different species came about. If you don't see it that way, then that's a completely different discussion. Although I find it strange how one could not "believe" in evolution and also not believe in god. Is there an alternative I don't know about?

Quote:

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
The entire post just seems to me that you want a one world "civilization" and without any patriotism, I don't see why we wouldn't be a one world civilization. I really don't see any other way to read that initial post.

Take the "one world" out and you've got my opinion. I think you've understood "civilisation" to mean "culture", which I definitely didn't mean. I meant the intellectual aspect of a society, but I concede that I didn't make this at all clear, and also that the intellectual level is, if anything, regressing because of the dumbing down of society - btw, I think this dumbing down is in no small part because of government, since they know that the more advanced the intellectual level of a society, the more the society will be critical of their government and the more difficult it'll be for the government to instill mindless patriotism and therefore obedience into it.
Quote:

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
I think you're arguing a point that I'm not trying to make here. I think we haven't seen eye to eye, simply because one of us is on a high dive while the other is on the ground.

No, I'm arguing about a point that I was trying to make. I wanted to talk about patriotism in an abstract and more philosophical setting. If you take the pragmatic approach, that's fine but not the discussion I was looking for and communication problems are bound to happen. So yes, I'm on a high dive... because that's where I want to be (not always, just in this thread).
Quote:

For the most part, I agree with your assement of patriotism, except that I don't believe what you're talking about is TRUE patriotism. I believe that this is just the strong emotions that get stirred up in every American when they hear loud drums and see a flag banner behind O'Reilly or whatever counterpart CNN has to him. It's Orwell's "Two Minutes Hate". It's something that can be used to make a public rabid by waving the flag infront of their eyes like a Matador to a bull and then leading them straight into a war and once they've finally woke up to the reaility that they never wanted that in the first place, it's far too late and then they make us feel like assholes and no good hippies for wanting out.

You're right... that kind of patriotism sucks.

There's a thin line between patriotism and it's ugly cousin nationalism, and sometimes I'm not sure where that line is. What you described I'd probably count under nationalism.

EDIT: Actually no, I think you're right and it's a version of what I define to be patriotism. Either way, it sucks.
Quote:

Thinking about this from a different aspect, what is a country?...

I think this is thinking about it from the exact same perspective.

Nah, I don't think it is, but I'm not in the mood to rehash that argument and the one I made before it.
Quote:

Patriotism, in my definition is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the ideals of freedom and protecting them, even from our corrupt Government.
That's completely reasonable, but, for the purposes of what I wanted to discuss, not applicable. It's inherently an American point of view (not the part about freedom, but the part about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights), so too narrow for my original intent, and also it's just plain not my definition of patriotism.

I seriously doubt I'd have an objection to patriotism if I'd see it as love and devotion to ideals (which is kind of the way you see it) instead of the country itself. But those ideals aren't unique to a country, which again leads to the question: "why be patriotic to America if most of the free world has a similar set of ideals, and in many cases is able to implement them better than America?".
Quote:

Haha.. France. Am I the only one on the Fireflyfans boards that doesn't hate France? Never been there, don't know them...
Be glad! It's a horrible place. They don't speak English, but instead some primitive, incomprehensible language where they don't articulate half of a word and mispronounce the other half, which is doubtless a relic from their comparatively recent evolution from lesser apes, and they smell like cheese and stale cigarette smoke. I still have nightmares. *shudder*

EDITED: To streamline my rant against the French.



The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 7:48 AM

FLETCH2


The only rights you have are the ones that you are willing to fight for. The people willing to do the fighting, bleeding, killing and dying for your rights are it's garentors, not God, something is only a God given right if God is willing to get involved to support them. Since history shows that God does not enforce them then they can not be God given rights. God is like the UN in that regard, good at high minded pronouncements not so great at the follow through.

You also missed completely the part about the bible. If the Bible is the absolute word of God and if in it he gives advice about the correct treatment of slaves then he is condoning slavery. It makes no difference who invented it, or if man made it up along with pagan gods. This is the word of the big guy all he has to say is "hey Israelites I made every man free, slavery displeases God, stop it." He doesn't because freedom was never part of the deal, God wants you to take an active part in making your life and the lives of the people around you better, he's hands off, he gave you the rules, hell he even died for your sorry ass, he just never gave you a free ride.

You are free because men like you bleed and died to make you free and to keep you free. You have a right to life because anyone wishing you harm knows that your fellow citizens will punish anyone that tries to kill you.

You have no right to happyness but you can pursue it, I believe I saw it heading that way not so long ago. If you run you may catch it....

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 11:13 AM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

posted by Citizen-
it's all evil sciences fault, that's a new one for you.



i dont know why we constantly have to go down this path Citizen, i do not hate science, never said it was evil sciences fault, or the fault of athiests. i am simply underlying the differences in the two competing philosophies of (biblical)creationism and evolution. the point of all this is, people would like to believe that if we just got rid of all world religions, human reason and logic would govern us, peaceably; but the few attempts in history of this athiest utopia, inspired by guys like Marx, were communist dictatorships, who enslaved their citizenry. science is a tool, it is not in itself moral in anyway.. and cant be relied on to spiritually guide people. when i look back through history, i jonly see the sick behavior of selfish, disturbed people absent ANY moral guidance(religious and not)

Quote:

People were exalting the idea that theirs was the master race long before the Nazi's and long before the theory of evolution.


yes, but theyre either occult(angelic race), or gnostic/evolutionary(spontaneous generation) concepts, either premised upon man evolving over vast periods of time from the lower levels of the natural kingdom, or being seeded by superhuman races. the simple observation that the Nazis adorned themselves with the gamut of esoteric occult symbolism, and the nature of their propganda should make it obvious that it wasnt Jesus Christian

people who are non theists have a tendency to lump every religious belief together, 'since its all make-believe'.. but there are actually notable, profound differences between the seperate beliefs

Quote:

Usually it was based on the idea that 'Our religion is better than your religion'.


im sure people would just gallop along in harmony, incapable of fueding, in unity and peace.. IF ONLY we could facilitate the absence of religion? how many times hve i heard that.. its the great secular myth thats been taught the world over, which makes it easier to blame religion and God for every horror that human beings have committed throughout history. look i recognize that the "Church" was a monster.. but i dont blame Gods teachings for it; i blame the Romans who converged their pagan beliefs with christianity, and used the institution itself as a tool for worldy control.

there are a lot of instances where this has happened.. but one more recent example that tends to go unnoticed is(secular)Humanism, made popular by guys like Marx, and the role it played in communist Russia. as is witnessed, atheism was an intregal part of enslaving people and devaluing there worth and convincing them that they have no rights but that which the state gives them. there are a lot of examples of wordlviews run amok... the single common denominator is always corrupt men behind the scenes

Quote:

Though of course Atheists are just as capable of being moral as Theists.


dont twist my words.. all im asking is...if there is no God, where do rights come from? you will say that men gather a consenses on what is allowed, they will rationalize among themselves what is appropriate, and it will be decided that way; only that decision is subject to change- dependant on the moral majority at the time. was it not this 'majority' who did the bidding of the Nazis, who rather than standing up, actually carried out the murderous dirty work? if everything is 'relative', as the Humanists say, then morality is relative aswell, is it not? i never said atheists are immoral, never once.. but there is no observable standard as a safegaurd either

Quote:

In fact I've seen evidence to suggest they're more capable of it.


it depends on which beliefs your talking about.. but if you still think the Nazis were christians, then im not gonna bother with all this again..

Quote:

Believe it or not many people don't need the threat of a vengeful God punishing them in order for them to not go out and kill children. Weird concept I know.


thats your interpretation Citizen.. i dont restrain myself from adultery or theft for fear of 'vengeange', i do so because God says those things are wrong

Quote:

Further more this really ignores the whole centuries of holly wars, inquisitions, slavery and intolerance perpetrated by good Christian men.


"..perpetrated by good Christian men." that is the essence of your belief isnt it.. that it is our doctrines which drive us to these things. see this is where we disagree: i recognize that all human beings are capable of such things, but that we can be dissuaded or spiritually discerned enough to know otherwise... where as you think that people are born perfect, and then corrupted by religion. how can i reason with that?

Quote:

Fact is historically all those things are the norm for Christianity, not the exception,


Jesus Christianity, or Holy Roman pagan bastardized christiniaty? to you they are one in the same, to me they are examples of apostasy, hereticism and luciferian corruption

Quote:

how do you rationalise that if God's people are always upholding Gods law on Earth, unlike those evil sinful Atheists, Egyptians et al?


i never said they were "always" upholding rights, but that it is our duty.. the fact is even people of the faith become corrupted by the same world that you atheist live in, apparently unperturbed

Quote:

Like Christians turning a blind eye to all the ills perpetrated by Christians because Christians are 'good' and it's everyone else that is 'bad'?


a blind eye to what? name it.. ill acknowledge it; and then ill ask you to acknowledge the fundemental errencies which contradict the God of the bible, which they are alleged to be murdering for. the only 'god' which used death to bring life is Lucifer.. a religion you all certainly turn a blind eye to

Quote:

Listen to what Fletch is telling you, Christians practised slavery, there's no mention of Christians inventing it.


and atheists allowd it to.. why didnt they stop it? among the people who did come out against the abolition of slavery were christian protestants, who fought for their rights as equals under God(rather than an inferior species from the primordial ooze)

Quote:

Thus your assumption that Christians have always held true to all men are free is utterly false.


thats probably because they didnt understand the message.. just as most of you around here dont. what is your alternative to a benevolent Creator? nothing.. so say what you will about christians who fail to uphold Gods standards, atleast we attempt to do so, outide of which there seem to be no universal truths that men will recognize

Quote:

Erm, by doing something. Sitting around in a cell telling your cell mates how free you are because God said so would certainly get you out of the cell.


you guys dont even recognize that the NWO is pushing world communism, and atheism, to enslave you.. it is not a christian agenda. you may think im enslaved by my belief, but consider that you are about to become the socialist serf of a government of men who HAVE NO BELIEFS. you dont want God, fine.. live with men and the justness of their supreme consciences

Quote:

Jesus was the biggest anti-establishment hippy ever. Funny how his teachings have been used to create one of the biggest and longest lasting establishments ever, ain't it?


because the world is under the influence of Lucifer.. if you notice that there is a contradiction between JEsus' teachings, and the way men outwardly manifested them- and used them for their own means- then why is perversion then by definition called christian? in the bible, such is called occult. my whole point to this is, if it wasnt christianity, it would have been someother belief.. and now its secular humanism, but because its atheistic, people dont tend to notice the atrocities occurring

Quote:

Back to the old points, if you're not afraid God will give you a spanking you'll be a bad wittle boy. Personally I don't kill people because I don't want to, not because I'm afraid of being punished.


i really dispise that kind of comment.. where does it say to murder in the bible? between Jesus and the ten commandments.. show me where?

on the other hand, i can trust that you wont murder, because you THINK its a bad thing. whew.. theres a whole lot of assurance in that- but i believe you, after all, thats how you FEEL right now, its perfectly REASONABLE to you. well i demand something a little more tangeable to garauntee my rights then that

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 11:20 AM

KHYRON


Quote:

Originally posted by antimason:
on the other hand, i can trust that you wont murder, because you THINK its a bad thing. whew.. theres a whole lot of assurance in that- but i believe you, after all, thats how you FEEL right now, its perfectly REASONABLE to you. well i demand something a little more tangeable to garauntee my rights then that

So you decide to believe in something for which there is no evidence at all? Yep, doesn't get more tangible than that.



The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 12:21 PM

ANTIMASON


the bibles tangeable.. where are your laws written??

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 12:39 PM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!


On paper?

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 12:40 PM

KHYRON


So you need to have it written down somewhere to know that murder is wrong?



The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 12:48 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

Originally posted by Fletch2:
The only rights you have are the ones that you are willing to fight for.



once again, i agree; but what is it inside us that fights for this freedom? God created us free, and men seek to enslave us

Quote:

The people willing to do the fighting, bleeding, killing and dying for your rights are it's garentors,


i agree.. they are fighting for rights God gave man, before he was denied by man, and man became his own god

Quote:

something is only a God given right if God is willing to get involved to support them.


his prophets, Jesus.. what do you think that was about? you either misunderstand the relationship between men and God, or the concept of free will

Quote:

Since history shows that God does not enforce them then they can not be God given rights.


should God run your life? maybe you misunderstand Gods charachter

Quote:

God is like the UN in that regard, good at high minded pronouncements not so great at the follow through.


no.. the UN is like lucifer, imposing its secular will upon sovereign beings of the world

Quote:

You also missed completely the part about the bible. If the Bible is the absolute word of God and if in it he gives advice about the correct treatment of slaves then he is condoning slavery.


first off, show me where, specifically? when you look up slavery in the ancient world, specifically in regards to the OT, it shows that many of these 'slaves', especially domestically, were just forms of indentured servants or estranged or indebted villagers. * am i condoning that? no.. but lets try to keep 1500bc in perspective

Quote:

It makes no difference who invented it, or if man made it up along with pagan gods. This is the word of the big guy all he has to say is "hey Israelites I made every man free, slavery displeases God, stop it."


show me the instances of Israel owning slaves.. and lets examine whether this was at the behest of God, or against his will; so we can know whether the context of your accusation is correct. God didnt establish government, man did.. but people will read it and assume otherwise, because its written down in the bible

Quote:

He doesn't because freedom was never part of the deal, God wants you to take an active part in making your life and the lives of the people around you better, he's hands off, he gave you the rules, hell he even died for your sorry ass, he just never gave you a free ride.


you completely missed the point- God believes we have rights! it is those rights that you are fighting for! if there are no God given rights, for which rights are you fighting?

Quote:

You are free because men like you bleed and died to make you free and to keep you free. You have a right to life because anyone wishing you harm knows that your fellow citizens will punish anyone that tries to kill you.


and i never said otherwise.. so now that thats out of the way


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Sunday, February 4, 2007 12:50 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

Originally posted by Khyron:
So you need to have it written down somewhere to know that murder is wrong?



The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.



Stalin, Hitler, Mao.. apparently no one told these people it was wrong; they justified perfectly within their own sick consciences

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 12:51 PM

OLDENGLANDDRY


Quote:

Originally posted by antimason:
the bibles tangeable..




So are Harry Potter books.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 12:56 PM

ANTIMASON


and so's the communist manifesto, wich literally uses the platform athiest, evolutionist amd communist. which of those do you identify with?

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 12:59 PM

OLDENGLANDDRY


All of them.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 1:08 PM

KHYRON


Quote:

Originally posted by antimason:
Stalin, Hitler, Mao.. apparently no one told these people it was wrong; they justified perfectly within their own sick consciences

Want me to list some of the events where people were murdered in the name of Christianity?

Because apparently the good book didn't tell the Christians that murdering other people is wrong. Or they justified it perfectly within their own sick consciences.



The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 1:12 PM

ANTIMASON


go for it... and lets discuss the ultimate point: WHO DECIDES WHAT IS RIGHT?? we have the ten commanments and Jesus teachings, whether people believe it all or not. on the hand, what standards do atheists uphold?

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 1:19 PM

CITIZEN


Quote:

Originally posted by antimason:
i dont know why we constantly have to go down this path Citizen, i do not hate science, never said it was evil sciences fault, or the fault of athiests.

Save where you find some way to blame all the worlds ills on evolution, atheist et al.
Quote:

i am simply underlying the differences in the two competing philosophies of (biblical)creationism and evolution.
One has factual support, the other does not? BTW, strictly speaking evolution isn't a philosophy.
Quote:

the point of all this is, people would like to believe that if we just got rid of all world religions, human reason and logic would govern us, peaceably;
Interestingly enough I've heard a few well thought out arguments that support that. They tend to show how people can be bad and immoral, but to be hard core and fanatical about it tends to take a religion allowing you to believe your actions are ultimately good and mandated from a higher power.

Personally I don't prescribe to that thought, but I do think losing blind faith and fanaticism can't really harm us all any. In fact I think dropping the whole organised religion thing altogether would be a good idea, and before you burn me on that remember that that is exactly what Jesus wanted.
Quote:

but the few attempts in history of this athiest utopia, inspired by guys like Marx, were communist dictatorships, who enslaved their citizenry.
I think the problems with Communism stem from areas other than religion or lack there of. I think to say Communism was what it was because it was 'Atheist' is a fallacy. Capitalism is 'Atheist' in so much as it is non-Theist', as is Democracy and in fact most societal systems.
Quote:

science is a tool, it is not in itself moral in anyway.. and cant be relied on to spiritually guide people.
Which is why it isn't used that way. More often than not (in fact I'd go as far to say always) it is religion pushing in to science's realm when there is conflict between the two, not vice versa.
Quote:

yes, but theyre either occult(angelic race), or gnostic/evolutionary(spontaneous generation) concepts, either premised upon man evolving over vast periods of time from the lower levels of the natural kingdom, or being seeded by superhuman races. the simple observation that the Nazis adorned themselves with the gamut of esoteric occult symbolism, and the nature of their propganda should make it obvious that it wasnt Jesus Christian
Either it's pagans or Evolutionists at fault? Guess we can write off all the atrocities committed because someone honestly believed that God wanted it.
Quote:

people who are non theists have a tendency to lump every religious belief together, 'since its all make-believe'.. but there are actually notable, profound differences between the seperate beliefs
What does this have to do with the price of Fish?
Quote:

im sure people would just gallop along in harmony, incapable of fueding, in unity and peace.. IF ONLY we could facilitate the absence of religion? how many times hve i heard that.. its the great secular myth thats been taught the world over, which makes it easier to blame religion and God for every horror that human beings have committed throughout history.
Well this is a strawman, but stepping past that issue quickly how often have I heard some theist telling us that Atheists are inherently less moral because they haven't got a god to tell them what to do. Certainly makes it easier to blame those that don't believe in your religion for all the evils of the Human race.
Quote:

there are a lot of instances where this has happened.. but one more recent example that tends to go unnoticed is(secular)Humanism, made popular by guys like Marx, and the role it played in communist Russia. as is witnessed, atheism was an intregal part of enslaving people and devaluing there worth and convincing them that they have no rights but that which the state gives them.
Was it? Or is it just a convenient way of attacking non-theists? Could you tell me how exactly it was an integral part?
Quote:

there are a lot of examples of wordlviews run amok... the single common denominator is always corrupt men behind the scenes
Very often, but those corrupt men tend to use true believers.
Quote:

dont twist my words.. all im asking is...if there is no God, where do rights come from?
Fletch has told you several times, and in light of your continued questioning that anyone who doesn't derive their morals from God, FSM, or some other benevolent benefactor can't be depended on to act morally I fail to see how I have twisted your words.
Quote:

you will say that men gather a consenses on what is allowed, they will rationalize among themselves what is appropriate, and it will be decided that way; only that decision is subject to change- dependant on the moral majority at the time.
Yeah, but then this is true of religion too. Don't tell me the morals of Christianity are unchanging and immutable, Fletch has clearly shown that the Bible condones Slavery, as long as you treat your slaves in a manner deemed appropriate, yet modern Christianity does not condone slavery.
Quote:

was it not this 'majority' who did the bidding of the Nazis, who rather than standing up, actually carried out the murderous dirty work?
Careful, the Nazi's played up to the Christians because they were a large majority required for their power base. One of the reasons the Jews were chosen as the target actually. Where were the Christian safeguards while Christians were supporting the Nazi's?
Quote:

it depends on which beliefs your talking about.. but if you still think the Nazis were christians, then im not gonna bother with all this again..
No, and I don't think I've ever said they were, I have said they used Christians and Christian texts to support them. They certainly talked about creating a Christian empire.
Quote:

thats your interpretation Citizen.. i dont restrain myself from adultery or theft for fear of 'vengeange', i do so because God says those things are wrong
Right, God tells you they're wrong so that makes you less likely to kill because I come to the decision that they're wrong of my own violation. Logically I'd say the opposite is more likely.
Quote:

"..perpetrated by good Christian men." that is the essence of your belief isnt it.. that it is our doctrines which drive us to these things. see this is where we disagree: i recognize that all human beings are capable of such things, but that we can be dissuaded or spiritually discerned enough to know otherwise... where as you think that people are born perfect, and then corrupted by religion. how can i reason with that?
Thank you for telling me what I think, where would I be without you . Are you denying that many, if not most, slave owners in recent history from the western power were Christian, and often considered good Christians by their contemporaries?
Quote:

Jesus Christianity, or Holy Roman pagan bastardized christiniaty? to you they are one in the same, to me they are examples of apostasy, hereticism and luciferian corruption
One exists, the other disappeared about 2000 years ago.

Quote:

i never said they were "always" upholding rights, but that it is our duty.. the fact is even people of the faith become corrupted by the same world that you atheist live in, apparently unperturbed
Who said I was an Atheist? Since when do you have to be Christian to up hold rights?

Quote:

a blind eye to what? name it.. ill acknowledge it;
I've done so many times, you turn a blind eye to it by blaming it on the Atheist, Evolutionists, Luciferians, Rastafarians, Pastafarians...

Quote:

and atheists allowd it to..
I didn't say they didn't. It was your assertion that Christians wouldn't do such a thing because they believe everyone's free.
Quote:

(rather than an inferior species from the primordial ooze)
Back too how evolution is at fault for Slavery. Maybe the Evolutionists forced the Christians to take on their evil enslaving ways? Pretty clever since Evolution as a theory didn't appear until after Slavery was abolished in the western world...

You keep going on about how Evolution causes the viewpoint that some people are better than others, yet completely fail to back it up. Where does it say "Oh and Black people are gentically inferior so they're okay as slaves?".
Quote:

thats probably because they didnt understand the message.. just as most of you around here dont. what is your alternative to a benevolent Creator? nothing.. so say what you will about christians who fail to uphold Gods standards, atleast we attempt to do so, outide of which there seem to be no universal truths that men will recognize
Yet more assertions that atheism is also non-moralism. I get it already, you can't see how Atheists could ever be moral and want to live by a moral code and not go around killing each other. You keep asking me to see things from your perspective, why don't you step out of your perspective and spin it around. In order to survive Humans would have had to evolve so that on the whole they don't go around killing each other, or doing things to group members that'll bring them into conflict. So the vast majority of people are going to live by a moral code and see things as good and evil purely because evolution requires that of them in order to continue the species survival. No God required. Indeed if there is no God then all religions are created based on the same compulsions an Atheist has to construct their own Moral code.
Quote:

i really dispise that kind of comment.. where does it say to murder in the bible?
Erm, okay if you want, by no means a complete list:
Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)

"If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives." (Leviticus 20:13 NAB)

Whoever sacrifices to any god, except the Lord alone, shall be doomed. (Exodus 22:19 NAB)

They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)

Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants. (Isaiah 14:21 NAB)

Cursed be he who does the Lords work remissly, cursed he who holds back his sword from blood. (Jeremiah 48:10 NAB)
Cursed be those who don't kill?
Quote:

on the other hand, i can trust that you wont murder, because you THINK its a bad thing. whew.. theres a whole lot of assurance in that- but i believe you, after all, thats how you FEEL right now, its perfectly REASONABLE to you. well i demand something a little more tangeable to garauntee my rights then that
Tangible like belief in something for which there is no tangible evidence? Your morals are better than mine because you derive them from the a book that teaches us the correct way to treat ones slave?

Give me a break, you're morals are no more tangible than mine, and since they're dictated to you rather than arrived at independently arguably less so.



More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 4:34 PM

ANTIMASON


Citizen- let me preface this by saying, i dont know what you want me to say? am i allowed faith in God?

if so, then i am permitted to believe that men have inalienable rights. you can choose to believe in evolution, that is fine.. you acknowledge that men are the ultimate arbitors of your freedom. i feel that all people are endowed freedom by their Creator.. and as long as i am entitled to the freedom of belief, those are rights i will stand for

Quote:

I think the problems with Communism stem from areas other than religion or lack there of. I think to say Communism was what it was because it was 'Atheist' is a fallacy.


why? Marx said himself that communism, as a fully devoloped system WAS secular humanism- that there was no seperation between the two. the communist manifesto states the following as their 14th affirmation
Quote:

" the humanists firmly believes that the existing acquisitive and profit motivated society has shown itself to be inadequate. a SOCIALIZED and cooperative economic order must be established to the end that acquisitive distribution of the means of life be possible"
. in other words, the absence of God neccessitates communism, because the individual is no longer seen as sovereign, but an assett to the state.

Quote:

Capitalism is 'Atheist' in so much as it is non-Theist', as is Democracy and in fact most societal systems.


it is not directly theist, but it plays upon our belief that men are entitled to life and liberty, and everything therein. capitalism is fundementally FREE enterprise, to allow the individual the right to liberty... whereas secular humanism, the admitted philosophy of communism, removes such rights altogether

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In fact I think dropping the whole organised religion thing altogether would be a good idea, and before you burn me on that remember that that is exactly what Jesus wanted.


Jesus wanted man to be governed by God, not by other men; God warned of government, because men are inherintly sinful, and would not uphold Gods laws over the majority

Quote:

Either it's pagans or Evolutionists at fault? Guess we can write off all the atrocities committed because someone honestly believed that God wanted it.


im sorry that they were mistaken, that they were unable to understand the context of historical events in the bible. a being perfect enough to manifest Creation, doesnt get off on repulsive lower brain human impulses.. that is the realm of men, in their lust for material wealth and gain

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how often have I heard some theist telling us that Atheists are inherently less moral because they haven't got a god to tell them what to do. Certainly makes it easier to blame those that don't believe in your religion for all the evils of the Human race.


its just a different way of looking at it. in all of this, you never offer your opinion.. atleast im willing to put my view out there, and take scrutiny for it.. i dont hear anyone else around here chiming in.

i believe God created Adam and Eve perfect, that these beings were decieved by angels, and fell into an imperfect sinful state in the material dimension. when someone sins, i blame the fallen nature of man, i do not blame his idealogy. it is possible that his idealogy contributes to his sinful nature.. which many believers have fallen into this category, but it does not make it Gods will when it happens.

you are entitled to believe that we are subject to no higher authority, and that through our own morality we choose what is right and wrong. i agree.. we do choose what is right or wrong, but where were these empirical concepts derived, if they did not come about through God? did we evolve a sense of right or wrong? did men collectively agree once upon a time, and it stuck with us? you dont need a God to tell you what is right or wrong, fine.. how do you know then?

just to take a quote from Lenin
Quote:

"We must combat religion. down with religion; long live Atheism. the spread of Atheism is our cheif task. communism ABOLISHES ETERNAL TRUTHS. it abolishes all religion and morality"
. if there are no eternal truths, what hope do you have that your rights will be protected?

Quote:

Careful, the Nazi's played up to the Christians because they were a large majority required for their power base.


they used propoganda to twist the message of the bible to decieve these people.. its happening now, its happened to everyone throughout history. how is that God, or the bibles fault? there were plenty of atheists duped by the Nazis.. and not because they were religious in anyway, but because because evolutionary theory is identical to kabbalic gnosticism, which also allowed for the dogma of racial inferiority towards the jews

Quote:

One of the reasons the Jews were chosen as the target actually.


by christians, or luciferians? why would christians kill Gods people Citizen?

Quote:

Where were the Christian safeguards while Christians were supporting the Nazi's?


no one would have risked their lives in that battle if they didnt believe human life was worth something.. fortunately Britain was once a great christian nation, as was the US.. which allowed for the unbridled prosperity and philosophies of liberty which we have attempt to uphold for the world.

in any event, im trying to prevent the next Nazi takeover(this time of the world), and instead of joining me, and directing your attention towards the occultists orchestrating terror attacks and establishing their NWO government, people are angry with christians for things that happened centuries ago under the catholic churchs reign.

Quote:

Thank you for telling me what I think, where would I be without you .


you wont tell anyone what you think.. i assume you have beliefs formed dont you? you are quick to criticize me and my worldview.. but you never offer me yours in return

Quote:

Are you denying that many, if not most, slave owners in recent history from the western power were Christian, and often considered good Christians by their contemporaries?


western nations yes, only because it has been the dominant faith since the 2nd century. before that it was Rome, who worshipped zues at the time.. who was murdering christians for sporting events. everyone has there go around.. notice human nature is always fucked up to begin with. there were atheist slave owners aswell.. why didnt they know better? maybe because all people sin? i dont blame the Creator for peoples actions

Quote:

Back too how evolution is at fault for Slavery. Maybe the Evolutionists forced the Christians to take on their evil enslaving ways?


a superior arian race is an occult concept, which predates christianity by a few millennia. Darwin just formalized the concept with his work.. and evidence of this was the racial attitudes in America, which became more vitriolic and hateful after the introduction of evolution. not suprising, the KKK, the AMerican sympathizers to the Nazi party, was started by none other than Albert Pike, the Freemason

Quote:

Pretty clever since Evolution as a theory didn't appear until after Slavery was abolished in the western world...


than you are unfamiliar with the Kabbalastic concept of the 'golem', the self created organism which spawned the universe.. the gnostic grandfather of evolution. go ahead, google it

Quote:

Tangible like belief in something for which there is no tangible evidence?


no evidence to you.. i dont believe the universe created itself, i dont believe everything on earth randomly evolved to its current state. my proof is in front of my eyes, the Creation is tangeable. i have never seen an inanimate object spring to life, or a chunk of matter appear from nowwhere.. both of which are presupposed in your theory

Quote:

Your morals are better than mine because you derive them from the a book that teaches us the correct way to treat ones slave?


way to frame an arguement. i guess you derive your morals from the rock that billions of years ago spawned you and your ancestors

Quote:

Give me a break, you're morals are no more tangible than mine, and since they're dictated to you rather than arrived at independently arguably less so.


go cheat on your wife.. its all relative. go abort a fetus.. its all relative. go murder a criminal..hes just a criminal, its all relative. there is nothing about your standards which insures anything for anybody.. so ill take my misunderstood moral dictates any day









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Sunday, February 4, 2007 4:54 PM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!


I have a moral code which has nothing to do with any type of god. It IS possible to have one without a deity and without any part of the bible.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 5:09 PM

MAZAEN


Quote:

Antimason wrote "science is a tool, it is not in itself moral in anyway"

I agree with you that Science is a tool and that it isn't moral. Although I think of Science as a tool that god uses a lot.

I'd like to contribute on this topic of patriotism. Some people here seem to see Patriotism is a value, everyone has different values. But I think of patriotism as more of an instinct, like a mother's instinct. If you've got the instinct to work in a group it doesn't mean your evil. LOL. Firemen, who are people who usually have very good group instincts, are not evil.

Firemen are a good example of patriotism on a small scale. All the fire-brigades in NSW belong to two services. Firemen from the NSW Rural Fire Service are very patriotic towards the NSW Fire Service and Firemen from the NSW Fire Brigade are very patriotic to the NSW Fire Brigade. The patriotism to the NSW Fire Brigades and NSW Rural Fire Services causes some healthy rivalry between the two groups. This healthy rivalry helps the brigade members improve their skills and build team working ability. If a fire-brigade works well as a team they might be able to work together to save someone in a fire. If the brigade doesn't work very well in a group and the group falls apart at a crucial moment, then someone might be hurt or worse. So, patriotism is a very helpful and good instinct that helps people work together and can help people save lives.

Patriotism is humans forming groups and this has been occuring since the dawn of civilisation. A group is a fundamental dynamic that humans use to work and survive in the world.

An example of patriotism at the most basic level is shown in Firefly. Mal and the crew are very Patriotic about their little group. Being patriotic and proud of the ship Serenity and the crew helped them all to get back to Serenity in Ariel. In Ariel, Mal and Zoe showed a bit of patriotism on a small scale by going back into back into the hospital to find Simon, River and Jayne.



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Sunday, February 4, 2007 7:36 PM

FREMDFIRMA


What you believe means nothing to me, what you DO means... everything.

Simple as that.

-F

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 8:27 PM

FLETCH2


Most of morality is a learned response part of the "socialisation" of a child as it grows (ie the way we are taught to play together and later to cooperate in groups and societies.) A byproduct of this process is the normalisation of societial standards some of which (in the west) are derived from the Christian religion and some from secular humanism. Raise a child in a different culture and it's moral norms are different, which is why groups like the Spartans could "normalise" essentially homosexual relations between men as being the natural state.

If morality came directly from God you would expect it to be the same everywhere, it should be inherent in all men, yet even Believers call their moral standards "Christian morality," accepting that it is "downloaded" behavior and not inherently built into the original wetware of the brain.

What IS in the original hardware at leat for neurotypical folks is the basis of empathy, the ability to feel what another person would feel in that situation. It is an essential part of socialisation, the "boot code" of the process that allows more complex social ideas like morality to be taught. If you had to point at anything and say something is a God built in function in humans it would be Empathy, especially as the absence of empathy is the closest thing to Evil that most of us will ever know.

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Sunday, February 4, 2007 11:08 PM

FREMDFIRMA


Dead Bang On there, Fletch.

The complete lack of empathy is sociopathy, which in and of itself is not an evil, but tends to lead to evil in short order, generally.

Anyhow, I gotta throw in a bit here about something *between*, not a lack of empathy, but glitch in the system you could say, often aided and abetted by environmental factors, resulting in a far lesser degree of empathy than normal, let's simply refer to it as "Diminished Capacity".

These are the ones that can go either way, you see - and are far more common than the true sociopath, and in their own far, are far more dangerous because while the true sociopath simply sees you as an object, a thing, a tool or an obstacle, maliciousness for it's own sake isn't really part of their thought process you see.

Worse is the one who knows HOW to hurt you the worst and goes about doing it with malicious glee - I cite Carl Panzram as a classic example of such.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Panzram

The other side of the coin is interesting as well, because a person with less capacity to BE hurt, operating on a muted emotional basis and able to operate with clincal detatchment even in the most stressful environs without suffering the emotional impact thereof tends to make the very best Fireman, Policeman, EMT or what have you.

The key to that is getting TO kids like that, first identifying and then helping them deal with, and even take advantage of this trait - rather than the devolution into.. for lack of a better word.. "Monsters".

Doctor Bruce Perry and the CITIVAS initiative have been workin that angle for a while, and the research and progress, although badly underfunded, is both excellent and fascinating.

Just some vaguely related thoughts...

-Frem

It cannot be said enough, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to endlessly repeat it

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Monday, February 5, 2007 7:58 AM

CITIZEN


Quote:

Originally posted by antimason:
Citizen- let me preface this by saying, i dont know what you want me to say? am i allowed faith in God?

Yeah, that's what I said, I said “Antimason stop believing in God or I will kick you in the nuts! Respect my Authorita god damn it!” You caught me out there, clever you, no wait, the other thing.

Quote:

why? Marx said himself that communism, as a fully devoloped system WAS secular humanism- that there was no seperation between the two.
So you're either a theocracy or evil? Get with the program Secularism is a good thing, and Communisms Secular nature has NOTHING to do with the problems of Communism as a system.

Quote:

Quote:

" the humanists firmly believes that the existing acquisitive and profit motivated society has shown itself to be inadequate. a SOCIALIZED and cooperative economic order must be established to the end that acquisitive distribution of the means of life be possible"
in other words, the absence of God neccessitates communism, because the individual is no longer seen as sovereign, but an assett to the state.

No in other words they didn't like Capitalism, no mention of God or Christianity there at all. Where did you get you argument? Joseph McCarthy's big book of Fascism?

Quote:

it is not directly theist, but it plays upon our belief that men are entitled to life and liberty, and everything therein. capitalism is fundementally FREE enterprise, to allow the individual the right to liberty... whereas secular humanism, the admitted philosophy of communism, removes such rights altogether
No, Capitalism has nothing to do with Christianity. Can't be put any simpler than that.

Quote:

its just a different way of looking at it.
I see, when you see me doing it its terribly biased and anti Christian, when you do it it's “just a different way of looking at it”.
Quote:

in all of this, you never offer your opinion..
What do you think I'm doing right now? Doubles tennis?
Quote:

atleast im willing to put my view out there, and take scrutiny for it.. i dont hear anyone else around here chiming in.
So you think your what? Typing posts to the voices in your head?
Quote:

you dont need a God to tell you what is right or wrong, fine.. how do you know then?
Well, there's lots of ways, empathy for a start, as Fletch explained if you bothered to read his post. How do you know what God is telling you is good is good?
Quote:

just to take a quote from Lenin
Quote:

"We must combat religion. down with religion; long live Atheism. the spread of Atheism is our cheif task. communism ABOLISHES ETERNAL TRUTHS. it abolishes all religion and morality"


Actually I think Lenin's stance on religion is better put here:
Quote:

Religion must be declared a private affair. In these words socialists usually express their attitude towards religion. But the meaning of these words should be accurately defined to prevent any misunderstanding. We demand that religion be held a private affair so far as the state is concerned.

Quote:

if there are no eternal truths, what hope do you have that your rights will be protected?
Well if history is anything to go by far better hope than in a theocracy.
Quote:

they used propoganda to twist the message of the bible to decieve these people.. its happening now, its happened to everyone throughout history. how is that God, or the bibles fault? there were plenty of atheists duped by the Nazis.. and not because they were religious in anyway, but because because evolutionary theory is identical to kabbalic gnosticism, which also allowed for the dogma of racial inferiority towards the jews
How's it evolutions fault? You keep blaming science and evil evolution but have yet to come up with a single reason why. No rationalisation whatsoever.
Quote:

by christians, or luciferians? why would christians kill Gods people Citizen?
For the same reasons they have been for millennia? The Jews were greatly oppressed by Christians in Europe, not to mention the open warfare between Protestants and Catholics, that's Christian on Christian in case you missed it.
Quote:

no one would have risked their lives in that battle if they didnt believe human life was worth something.. fortunately Britain was once a great christian nation, as was the US.. which allowed for the unbridled prosperity and philosophies of liberty which we have attempt to uphold for the world.
Britain was a great Christian nation while it was colonising Africa and talking about bringing civilisation to the hapless savage, because white Christians were, as everyone knew, better than the 'darkies'. America on the other hand was at conception secular, though I note the barriers between church and state in that nation are getting weaker, not stronger.
Quote:

in any event, im trying to prevent the next Nazi takeover(this time of the world), and instead of joining me, and directing your attention towards the occultists orchestrating terror attacks and establishing their NWO government, people are angry with christians for things that happened centuries ago under the catholic churchs reign.
Maybe because you're rehashing their tired old rhetoric? “Ohh science is EVIL and IMMORAL, only the Christians are righteous, down with heathen science that is responsible for all evil in the world”.
Quote:

you wont tell anyone what you think.. i assume you have beliefs formed dont you? you are quick to criticize me and my worldview.. but you never offer me yours in return
Try reading what I write.
Quote:

western nations yes, only because it has been the dominant faith since the 2nd century. before that it was Rome, who worshipped zues at the time.. who was murdering christians for sporting events.
Rome was Christian for a very long time, and they still fed people to lions, but carry on with the Christian victim bit, your very good at it.
Quote:

everyone has there go around.. notice human nature is always fucked up to begin with. there were atheist slave owners aswell.. why didnt they know better? maybe because all people sin? i dont blame the Creator for peoples actions
I didn't say there wasn't atheist slave owners, though how truthful that actually is I'm not entirely sure. It was your assertion that Christians believe everyone is born free and have always upheld that, an assertion that is plainly not the case, this is mere deflection.
Quote:

a superior arian race is an occult concept, which predates christianity by a few millennia. Darwin just formalized the concept with his work.. and evidence of this was the racial attitudes in America, which became more vitriolic and hateful after the introduction of evolution. not suprising, the KKK, the AMerican sympathizers to the Nazi party, was started by none other than Albert Pike, the Freemason
You mean how like Christians, such as yourself, think they and they're morals are better than other peoples? Perhaps you could back up this assertion by showing me where in Evolution it says “Black people are genetically inferior to white people”? I mean when you asked me too show you where the Bible calls for murder I did, didn't I?
Quote:

than you are unfamiliar with the Kabbalastic concept of the 'golem', the self created organism which spawned the universe.. the gnostic grandfather of evolution. go ahead, google it
No, if you wanted to sound clever you should have talked about Anaximander, not farcical talk of the Golem which is actually a Jewish myth of a sentient creature created out of clay, and bears little if any resemblance to modern evolutionary theory. The modern evolution theory is a scientific theory that was founded by Charles Darwin in the 1830's during and after an exploratory trip on the HMS Beagle.
Quote:

no evidence to you.. i dont believe the universe created itself, i dont believe everything on earth randomly evolved to its current state. my proof is in front of my eyes, the Creation is tangeable. i have never seen an inanimate object spring to life, or a chunk of matter appear from nowwhere.. both of which are presupposed in your theory
No, evidence is something that is objective, if it's subjective it's not really evidence. And actually neither of those are presupposed by evolution, nor the big bang theory, do try and actually know what your talking about before trying to rubbish science, otherwise you just look silly. Closed time like curves can be a spring board for your knowledge, or you can explain where God in fact came from since biblical creation is a so much better scientific explanation for the existence of the universe.
Quote:

way to frame an arguement. i guess you derive your morals from the rock that billions of years ago spawned you and your ancestors
No, that's not framing the argument. Both before, and now, you express that your morals are inherently better than mine because you've got them from a book, a book that tells us the best way to treat our slave. Not framing at all, rephrasing yes, framing no. For an example of framing we'd have to look at statements like:
Citizen- let me preface this by saying, i dont know what you want me to say? am i allowed faith in God?
Quote:

go cheat on your wife.. its all relative. go abort a fetus.. its all relative. go murder a criminal..hes just a criminal, its all relative.
Well if I was in the business of building my moral code on what people (or books) told me was right and what was wrong I'm sure I'd go and do all those things, but I'm not in that business, you?
Quote:

there is nothing about your standards which insures anything for anybody.. so ill take my misunderstood moral dictates any day
By that yard stick there's nothing in your standards that ensures anything for anybody, the difference is your a hell of a lot more holier than thou about it, which isn't a great thing let me tell ya.

Perhaps if instead of coming to my morals by careful thought, my life experience, feeling the pain inflicted on myself by others and not wishing to reciprocate, basic empathy and so on, instead of that if my invisible friend Bob had told me not to be a bad boy you'd have more respect for my moral code?



More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

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Monday, February 5, 2007 8:05 AM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!


Anti -

I'm still waiting for an answer. If god created the universe, who created god?

Your whole post is based on your inability to conceive how the universe could have sprung from nothing. And yet you have no problem with your concept of a god which is even more fanciful. (No beginning or end, exists everywhere but not corporeal, riddled with contradictions - man that guy needs some time on the couch)

So I'm wondering, what is it about your idea of a god that is so much more palatable than your idea of the universe coming out of nothing?

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Monday, February 5, 2007 3:56 PM

FREMDFIRMA


Quote:

I'm still waiting for an answer. If god created the universe, who created god?

Why he sprang forth fully formed from the forehead of Zeus!

C'mon, everybody knows that!

-F

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Monday, February 5, 2007 6:44 PM

ANTIMASON


i cant debate you guys.. you want me to prove the existence of God, im sorry, i cant do it. i guess im ignorant of your enlightened ways...

Citizen- i disagree, socialism is not good. also, that quote from Lenin, which said that religion is fine 'so long as its seperate from the state', would work, except that it seems to ignore the consistant historical facts, like the rest of you on this site, which is that religious secret societies have operated above and in control of western governments for the past few centuries(at the least), and still to this day. Albert Pike, one of the legends of Masonry, admitted that they worshipped the 'seething energies of Lucifer'... so believe it or not this influence is not christian. there are loads of occult symbolism in America, in London, France, Germany, Israel and even parts of the middle east too.. where freemasonry was also prevelant at times. i cant overstate the significance of this any more... if there werent luciferian societies attempting a new world order, id have less tangeable evidence as 'proof' of my biblical conspiracy

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Tuesday, February 6, 2007 3:43 PM

HKCAVALIER


Quote:

Originally posted by AnthonyT:

Patriotism IS love. It is love for your country and the people in it.

This is a little misleading--which is pretty much par for the course, I find, when "patriotism" is invoked. I think what properly differentiates Patriotism from Love is more telling about its nature than its similarities to Love. Because the love the patriot expresses for his country and people is highly exclusive. Furthermore, patriotic love is almost always coupled with patriotic hate for an enemy.
Quote:

It is what causes you to feel outrage and sorrow when our soldiers die.
To me it's sad to think that simple compassion is limited in this way for some people. It's gorram tragic, when you get right down to it. That so many folks would not feel outrage and sorrow when any well-intentioned person dies at the hands of another, particularly a soldier in any army, because such brave souls join up out of precisely the kind of love for country and people that Anthony is so proud of in himself.
Quote:

It is what causes you to feel charitable when New Orleans is flattened by Hurricane and Flood.
Jesus, really? Is compassion so rare among humans that we need a nationalistic excuse to give a damn?
Quote:

It is what makes you care when decisions are made which cause others to view your nation in a negative light.
And here, patriotism is not so much a kind of love, as a kind of embarrassment? Last I checked this was a representative democracy, so naturally I feel bad when we screw up. If we haven't screwed up and others want to see my country "in a negative light" that's their problem.
Quote:

It is what makes you vote for initiatives that you think will benefit the nation, and against initiatives that you feel will harm it.
Who needs patriotism when simple sanity will suffice?
Quote:

Patriotism is what makes you care about things outside your personal sphere.
How far outside my personal sphere do I get to go before I interfere with my patriotic xenophobia?
Quote:

Without patriotism, there would be no 'Us' and 'Them.'
Good Christ, is that all it would take? Ditch patriotism and there would be no more demonization of other peoples? Where do I sign?
Quote:

It would be just 'Me' and 'Everyone Else.' And that's not an improvement.
I guess so, seeing as you've never felt empathy or compassion for anyone ever. Oh, wait, I'm sure you have, so this is all...what then?

Quote:

Patriotism is just another sphere of love. You love your family. You love your friends. You love your neighborhood. You love your City, your State, your Country.

And if the arguments over Global Warming are anything to go by, you love your World.

Patriotism is a circle of love bigger than family, but smaller than the planet.


I know this was just meant as some kind of rousing speech, Anthony, but it's really kind of creepy when you examine it closely. That's been my experience of patriotism at all times, when you look really close at the thing it's pretty creepy--not in principle so much as in execution. Because the stuff you site as patriotism, the kind of thing people get all misty eyed over, denies the hatred and the violence and the brutality which is never too far away.

If patriotism were simply a kind of love, then the only thing that would be un-patriotic would be hate, and we all KNOW that that absolutely ain't the case with patriotism.

The kind of patriotism you're talking about, Anthony, just makes hating and killing "the enemy" a little easier to accept. Fill our young soldiers heads' with patiotism so they'll sleep easier at night when we send them around the world to do our dirty work. Fill your own head with patriotism when they die and maybe you'll sleep a little easier, too.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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