Santa V God

Nice smile you have today Mr P....... :)

And you've reminded me...... I'm in need of lunch.
Been in the garden making good on the work the gardener did when he cleared the banks of all beautiful wild flowers useing modern technology, I stopped him half way but the deed half done was even worse because I could see how beautiful the nature was untouched......... so I cleared the rest by more gentle means and blended the two together to bring back the love.

Mmmmmm marmite dipped hot toast in egg.............

- c -
 
Alex P said:
I cant wait til my hair grows white..... That will be a happy day. I'll allow it to grow free and long :D

As a kid I always wanted to look like one of my fantasy heroes Sephiroth lol.

Sephiroth.jpg
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Umm, I hate to have to be the one to tell you this Alex, but by the time the hair begins to get white, it also starts thinning out too.:(
Oh, and it begins to start growing from other places too.
 
Paladin said:
Umm, I hate to have to be the one to tell you this Alex, but by the time the hair begins to get white, it also starts thinning out too.:(
Oh, and it begins to start growing from other places too.
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:eek:

Not the ears, please tell me that is just an urban myth... Please not the ears!

Ciel Egg and marmite? That is a bit too much for me... lol Not as hardcore fan of Marmite as you then, you are the master!
 
Paladin, hi

Like the lady in the pic my hair turned white at 30.........

......... but it's still there :p

- c -
 
Oh, Alex? Umm yeah, the ears. But hey, you can get an electric clippers and take care of it.
Oh well I can always look forward to looking like Grandfather Twilight.
 
Tao_Equus said:
How often do I see a thread condemning and seeking out ways to prevent the further occurrence the great deprivations the religions have forced upon mankind?
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I see them quite often. They usually involve the same flawed arguments.

Amongst the religious there is virtually no debate about the rot within and by this omission atheists like me are continually obliged to remind you.
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Oh really? You're not looking very hard. A case of selective inattention perhaps?

This lack of self-scrutiny (among theists) and effort to right the wrongs history has painted large in the blood of the innocent is not a small detail. It is an integral part of the religious delusion.
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All religionists are totally lacking in moral sensitivity and have never objected to the imperfections and absurdities of those who pretend to be religious. I see. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

People like me are left with no choice. By ignoring the wrongs you allow them to perpetuate and this is what they are doing across the world today. The modern Holy War is real and 100s of people die every day in the name of God. This is the reality.
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Hello Tao,

The fact that you have indiscriminately lumped New Age philosophies with traditional monotheistic religion (even though the former do not include the monotheistic G-d concept that was your original focus for this thread) would suggest that you don't care for spiritual interests in general. Indeed, based on several of your posts, you would also stamp out even the most benign New Age philosophies.

I'm no expert on comparative religion, but a quick glance at the major world religions reveals a common element: ethics and personal responsibility. By equating the belief system with the imperfect human culture you are in effect obscuring the real substance of religion, which deals with moral perfectability.

It is actually easy to differentiate ideology from individual and cultural applications. I'm sure you've heard of the difference between theory and practice. I'm puzzled why you insist on confusing the two when it comes to religion.

Further, you have no reason to believe that the eradication of religion will improve the human condition. Indeed, the dismantling of traditional belief systems is not always a form of progress. Consider atheistic communism, which in terms of body counts and destruction of culture has been the bane of civilization. Perhaps you would like to see all ideology banished, including communism and atheism?

Weak premises and lack of precision are rarely useful in reasoned agreement. It is hard for the fashionable atheism of the day to avoid being compared to the irrational theistic fundamentalisms that are among its targets. Perhaps lack of self-scrutiny is a universal problem??.....
 
Hi Tao —

Tao_Equus said:
Each of us lives in our own little perception bubble.
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Precisely ... I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that you're coming from your bubble, that's all.

Tao_Equus said:
I make no apologies for championing the dissolution of religion in society in the meagre way I do so here.
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You're free to do so. Hardly likely you'd get much support on a 'Comparative Religion' website, though. One would assume that people here can perceive the benefits of religion — or at least be even-minded — but as is becoming evident, 'secularism' is the new fundamentalism, 'live and let live' as long as it's the way we say it should be.

Tao_Equus said:
Most of the threads here that discuss religion deal with the minutiae of contextual interpretations from ancient texts.
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Perhaps that's because that seems to be what this site is about. We do discuss the broader issues, however discussion is interest-led.

Tao_Equus said:
How often do I see a thread condemning and seeking out ways to prevent the further occurrence the great deprivations the religions have forced upon mankind?
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Perhaps because the idea is that if people adhered to the message of religion, then such things would not happen?

For my part, I strive to correct errors in interpretation which can give rise to just the kind of conduct we both deplore. If religion was lived in its fullness, the world would be a much better place. Much, much better than without, but then that's my bubble.

Tao_Equus said:
Amongst the religious there is virtually no debate about the rot within and by this omission atheists like me are continually obliged to remind you.
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And how welcome your attention to our errors are! Constructive debate might be more beneficial, and more welcome. A negative message is rarely well received.

But I do have such debates with atheists. I am obliged to regard you not as a-theist but anti-theist — most atheists I know do not plough the anti-religion furrow you have chosen. It seems to me as if you require religions to be dismantled and you'll fasten on to anything towards that end.

Tao_Equus said:
In other words, if theists were honest people like me would not have to bother.
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So anyone who holds a belief in God is dishonest? Everyone ... and that doesn't seem to you to be somewhat excessive, indiscriminate ... dare I say fundamentalist? it seems we are either with you, or against you.

Tao_Equus said:
This lack of self-scrutiny and effort to right the wrongs history has painted large in the blood of the innocent is not a small detail. It is an integral part of the religious delusion.
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OK. So now we're dishonest and delusional ... whereas you comment above is entirely balanced and reasonable?

Tao_Equus said:
People like me are left with no choice.
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Comments like that chill my blood ... invariably they are intended to excuse what happens next ... Are you reaching for your gun?

More to the point: Are you so infallibly certain of your position?

Absolutely no doubt whatsoever?

Does it not occur to you that someone with the conviction of a zealot often manifests as dangerous and frightening to others? It frightens me, really, as that is just the mindset that initiates the kinds of activity you bring so often to our attention.

Tao_Equus said:
The modern Holy War is real and 100s of people die every day in the name of God. This is the reality. To me religion is not worth the price.
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Who, precisely, is waging this war and where?

As the ancients used to say 'take care ... you become what you think about' ...

Thomas
PS — It may surprise you to know that more Christians have died for their faith in the passed 100 years than the total recorded in the 1900 years prior.
 
Tao_Equus said:
The emphasis on my previous post is on children as a whole and works on the assumption that children are naturally happy and sociable. But the mental state of a child is highly dependent on its environment and the behaviour of those around it. The old nature/nurture debate. I do not want to save them from themselves. Rather I want their 'selves' to be allowed to grow and mature free from the ideologies currently force fed to them. It is what they are given that is damaging, not what they innately are.

tao
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It is not nature vs nurture, because you claim that both are the programming. I was questioning the will vs both the nature and the nurture. Can a child choose differently than what is taught by his parents, and in his genetic traits?

What I see you denying is the importance of placing faith in parents or in society. Children are commanded to obey their parents and to learn from them. Your reaction to that is...?

If a person commits a crime, should his parents and neighbors be punished for the bad genes and the bad teaching? I think it is impossible for man to determine whether someone was misled, or whether despite being misled the person should have still done otherwise. Government law leans towards the individual responsibility... whereas you argue for the responsibility of the parents. In my mind, I have to take responsibility for everything that I have done. If my parents taught me wrong, I am equally wrong if I do not learn from it. If it was my nature that got the better of me, then I am equally wrong for not overcoming it. Either way I am being like my parents... and if they were wrong then so am I. It is ok to be wrong, but upon seeing the wrong there is a need to confess. Upon knowing the difference there is a need to no longer do and teach the wrong.

Interestingly the bible, the qur'an, and I believe other religions indicate what you are saying: that the parents, the elders, the preachers, the neighbor, and the society is responsible for what they teach. The OT teaches that the preachers for example also owe a sacrifice for someone's sin. Jesus teaches that every person is responsible for what they say and do not say... and woe to the person who misleads a child. He indicates there will be accountability.

So Tao, lets take a closer look at what you are teaching. You teach that God does not exist. You teach that religion is evil. What if you are wrong? Will you not be responsible for the child or neighbor who you lead?

I know that God exists... here... living amongst us. Living inside of us. Living outside of us. I know this because I personally verified it. It is not easy. That is what I teach. I can still entertain your idea of a what if God did not exist... like a child listening to a parent. Today it is like asking what if every neighbor did not exist. When I was younger I could have easily followed you, and believed as you... but I would recognize the importance of deciding and finding out for myself whether or not you are correct.

When it comes to education I am opposed to anything that requires a child to repeat something as an oath. Hymms included... I consider it wrong to teach a child to say things that the child does not understand. I consider the pledge of allegiance in the USA to be evil. That forced regurgitation... is the forced feeding. I consider it wrong. It is ok to hear it... it is bad to require children to say it. I know that God can sort out the difference, but people can't.

So then likewise Tao, if you do NOT know that God exists... then don't teach it. Don't become a preacher. But if you teach something... anything... then you have some explaining to do. For example if you teach that God does NOT exist then you might someday owe an explanation to God and all of those who you convinced. You believe as I do that a person is responsible for what they teach... so then will you likewise own that responsibility.
 
Tao_Equus said:
sg said:
Tao and I discussed how forced religious education will naturally lead to a decrease in religion here.
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Your last words from that thread:
Doesn't an attempt to produce a compulsory, one-size-fits-all religious education program fit the description of enforced medicrity? IMHO, it's a surefire way to kill any desire for religion. JMHO.
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Not often I'd argue for mediocrity.... but here I am embracing it wholesale. :D
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It's easy to reject mediocrity. But, can you reject this?
Bwahahaha! :p
 
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