Terrorism: Paris, Syria, Turkey, Belgium, Florida......

[John U]

Just look at every post. Its the home of all the chain mails Johnny was talking about.




I swear I'm not only replying to you in this thread but you've said something that piqued my interest. I volunteer at a church and one of my mates there is about to start his internship as a coal mine geo. Churches can be repulsive to people who live in pure logic but that doesn't mean you can't believe in god. You can lead theology or a church from your own perspective.

Isis makes me want to be a christian. Even if god is an imaginary friend he trumps all other imaginary friends. Checkmate athiests.

In your mind. What makes your train of thought any more valid to the world than the next blokes. From the perspective of someone who sees everyone as equal, nothing.

I am not here to shove atheism down anyone's throats. I've seen how that looks. Richard Dawkins managed to make George Pell look good on QANDA with his view of religion and complete lack of a sense of homour. I will say this though. My study of geology covered the beginning of life on this planet and the evolution of life on this planet. Knowing this was essential in some parts of it to work the age of rocks and how much particular rocks has been moved around since they were laid down. My belief is no God had anything to do with it.

God is the invention of people. People are highly evolved animals not much more special than any other species on the planet despite what some would like to think. I don't require belief in a god to give me comfort. I take responsibility for my own decisions. I marvel at the wonders of nature and evolution. I don't believe in an afterlife. When you're dead it's over. It's what you do when you're alive that counts.

 

[redbruce]

Isis makes me want to be a christian. Even if god is an imaginary friend he trumps all other imaginary friends. Checkmate athiests.

Don't be too hasty. Seems quite a number of your imaginary friends are not very nice:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/salvation-army-reputation-27no-longer-a-priorty27/5249332
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/f...tice-returns-to-ballarat-20150519-gh4y4r.html
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/27/report-jehovahs-witnesses-hid-child-sex-abuse.html
http://www.theguardian.com/australi...re-apart-australias-orthodox-jewish-community
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...e-inquiry-widens/story-fngburq5-1227037917735

 

[pink poodle]

Something for the Right Wingers here
Cut and pasted from the Wikipedia page on Naomi Wolf's book "The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot"

Naomi Wolf outlines ten steps that "closing societies" — such as Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and Stalin's Russia — have historically followed. These steps, Wolf claims, are being observed in America now.

The steps are:

Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.
Create secret prisons where torture takes place.
Develop a thug caste or paramilitary force not answerable to citizens.
Set up an internal surveillance system.
Harass citizens' groups.
Engage in arbitrary detention and release.
Target key individuals.
Control the press.
Cast criticism as espionage and dissent as treason.
Subvert the rule of law.

It would be great if some of the haters could read this.

Another good one would be Noam Chomsky's "Understanding Power"

Try Hegemony or survival...

It's done wonders for Europe so far, this "progressive thought".

It has done them quite well. Multiculturalism is a fine blessing, people just need to release their fear and embrace it. Shit even if just for the food!

Quite a number of your imaginary friends are not very nice it seems:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/salvation-army-reputation-27no-longer-a-priorty27/5249332
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/f...tice-returns-to-ballarat-20150519-gh4y4r.html
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/27/report-jehovahs-witnesses-hid-child-sex-abuse.html
http://www.theguardian.com/australi...re-apart-australias-orthodox-jewish-community
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...e-inquiry-widens/story-fngburq5-1227037917735

sexual terrorism.

 

[John U]

Don't be too hasty. Seems quite a number of your imaginary friends are not very nice:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/salvation-army-reputation-27no-longer-a-priorty27/5249332
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/f...tice-returns-to-ballarat-20150519-gh4y4r.html
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/27/report-jehovahs-witnesses-hid-child-sex-abuse.html
http://www.theguardian.com/australi...re-apart-australias-orthodox-jewish-community
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...e-inquiry-widens/story-fngburq5-1227037917735

I'll revise some of what I said above. Richard Dawkins looked like a dickhead on qanda. No one could make George Pell look good.

 

[pink poodle]

I'll revise some of what I said above. Richard Dawkins looked like a dickhead on qanda. No one could make George Pell look good.

I'm seeing a "pricks of the world" death match scenario...

 

[Lazmo]

God is the invention of people. I don't require belief in a god to give me comfort. I take responsibility for my own decisions. I marvel at the wonders of nature and evolution. I don't believe in an afterlife. When you're dead it's over. It's what you do when you're alive that counts.

+ 1,000,000

Get a handle on gravity, main sequence stars and astrophysics... you won't need god.

But, I personally try to be strongly agnostic to give the other dudes view a chance... although in the end I personally think the god thing is a crock.

All over the world there are many "one true gods" and so depending on where you are born, will determine your particular brand of one true god. So if one of these gods is the actual "one" then your chance at the getting to the big cahuna in the sky is solely determined by where you are born... ... ... phark off, what a load.

 

[wesdadude]

But I'd hedge a bet and say that a relatively secular tyrannical dictator still being in control would have resulted in less total deaths to now than the current shit storm we're in.

Uh, Hitler was one of those and he was pretty effective. The ideology of Darwinism has led to mass killing, secularity is not some golden pill.

My study of geology covered the beginning of life on this planet and the evolution of life on this planet. Knowing this was essential in some parts of it to work the age of rocks and how much particular rocks has been moved around since they were laid down

Not trying to derail this thread but I'd be interested in that. As far as I'm aware science doesn't know the origin of life. The closest is the (flawed) Miller-Ulrey experiment which shows how organic compounds could have been formed in a hypothetical early Earth. To say this is the origin of life is like implying the motor vehicle from the invention of fuel. It's not even the right fuel either, it's low quality diesel when premium unleaded is required. A corpse has all the right parts to support life yet we haven't incarnated one of those.

 

[John U]

Not trying to derail this thread but I'd be interested in that. As far as I'm aware science doesn't know the origin of life. The closest is the (flawed) Miller-Ulrey experiment which shows how organic compounds could have been formed in a hypothetical early Earth. To say this is the origin of life is like implying the motor vehicle from the invention of fuel. It's not even the right fuel either, it's low quality diesel when premium unleaded is required. A corpse has all the right parts to support life yet we haven't incarnated one of those.

Fair enough. I should clarify, instead of 'the beginning of life on this planet' what I meant was 'the earliest fossilised lifeforms on the planet'.

 

[Knuckles]

All over the world there are many "one true gods" and so depending on where you are born, will determine your particular brand of one true god. So if one of these gods is the actual "one" then your chance at the getting to the big cahuna in the sky is solely determined by where you are born... ... ... phark off, what a load.

I'll play the devil's advocate (no pun intended).

Allah (Islam), Yahweh (Judaism) and God (Christianity), are all the same unicorn.

Each denomination has substituted their own social mores to the personality of their particular breed of elf.

The Jews were used to persecution, so they decided their god should be a nasty piece of work, with a low tolerance and unforgiving attitude to disobedience.

Prior to the 7 century CE the Arab tribes were pagans, but around 610 the angel Gabriel told Muhammad the Jews were a bunch of whack jobs, talking to trees and rocks. What sort of chosen people would talk to a bush as if it were God? The Arab tribes were the chosen ones, as proven by God's decision to send the underboss angel Gabriel to pass on Intel. The pagan Arabs were a bloodthirsty lot, so they decided the crazy jew God wasn't anywhere nasty enough, so theirs needed to want to eradicate or subvert any pretenders to the roll of chosen people.

The Christians were at the lower end of the class spectrum, and as such were sick of the pushy god telling them they were useless. So they elevated the contradictory prophet, Jesus (what a Mexican was doing in Israel is anyone's guess) to the son of God, as he was pushing a particular brand that was very attractive to the poor uneducated masses. "do anything you want, make sure you feel guilty about any fun you might have, but be damned sure, you're broke and contrite before you drop dead, and dad will forgive you and give you a golden ticket to the chocolate factory.


So it's more the self styled social commentators of the ancient civilisations that decided if you were in like Flynn, rather than your postcode.

 

[wesdadude]

'the earliest fossilised lifeforms on the planet'

[JEST]The ones made by the flood?[/JEST] I've no problem with you or non-belief, my problem is with those who proclaim belief in God is irrational.

 

[pharmaboy]

I'll play the devil's advocate (no pun intended).

Allah (Islam), Yahweh (Judaism) and God (Christianity), are all the same unicorn.

Each denomination has substituted their own social mores to the personality of their particular breed of elf.

The Jews were used to persecution, so they decided their god should be a nasty piece of work, with a low tolerance and unforgiving attitude to disobedience.

Prior to the 7 century CE the Arab tribes were pagans, but around 610 the angel Gabriel told Muhammad the Jews were a bunch of whack jobs, talking to trees and rocks. What sort of chosen people would talk to a bush as if it were God? The Arab tribes were the chosen ones, as proven by God's decision to send the undergoes angel to pass Intel. The pagan Arabs were a bloodthirsty lot, so they decided the crazy jewelry God wasn't anywhere nasty enough, so theirs need to want to eradicate or subvert any pretenders to the roll of chosen people.

The Christians were at the lower end of the class spectrum, and as such were sick of the pushy god telling them they were useless. So they elevated the contradictory prophet, Jesus (what a Mexican was doing in Israel is anyone's guess) to the son of God, as he was pushing a particular brand that was very attractive to the poor uneducated masses. "do anything you want, make sure you feel guilty about any further you might have, but be damned sure, you're broke and contrite before you drop dead, and dad will forgive you and give you a golden ticket to the chocolate factory.


So it's more the self styled social commentators of the ancient civilisations that decided if you were in like Flynn, rather than your postcode.

How long were you a theologian before you were able to distill it all down to such a simple story?

 

[Knuckles]

How long were you a theologian before you were able to distill it all down to such a simple story?

Bwahahahahaha....

I was raised a catholic, until mum's excom for getting divorced, at which point she encouraged us to investigate and make up our own minds about religion. Wife is a catholic school teacher, I ended up doing all of her theology assignments while she was at uni. Then she did her masters in theology (don't ask me why, when she couldn't even get her head around the basic stuff in the graduate modules).

After 3 years of studying the 3 main fantasy novels, and their eleventy billion variations and offshoots, that was pretty much what it all boiled down to (I even tried to slip a less condescending version of that into her final paper (Fuck you proof reading!). Well that, and the fact most mainstream religions are benign and harmless, its the fuckheads running the pyramid schemes that is organised religion who perpetrate the rain of shit down on the world of scared people looking for a litte comfort in their short meaningless lives....:amen:

 

[pharmaboy]

Ooh, call me ignorant, but I thought one of the problems with the mad parts of Islam, was that it wasn't an organised religion - no pyramid, so you take your learnings from your chosen mufti who may or may not be an angry mad man. So there isn't anyone at the top, to say, no this doesn't mean kill everyone, that infidels only applies to pagans of the Middle Ages ( or some such)

 

[slowmick]

Awesome summation Knuckles. :thumb:

Makes me think of flying high:

Well, let's see. First the earth cooled. And then the dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, so they all died and they turned into oil. And then the Arabs came and they bought Mercedes Benzes. And Prince Charles started wearing all of Lady Di's clothes. I couldn't believe it....

 

[redbruce]

I'll play the devil's advocate (no pun intended).

Allah (Islam), Yahweh (Judaism) and God (Christianity), are all the same unicorn.

Each denomination has substituted their own social mores to the personality of their particular breed of elf.

The Jews were used to persecution, so they decided their god should be a nasty piece of work, with a low tolerance and unforgiving attitude to disobedience.

Prior to the 7 century CE the Arab tribes were pagans, but around 610 the angel Gabriel told Muhammad the Jews were a bunch of whack jobs, talking to trees and rocks. What sort of chosen people would talk to a bush as if it were God? The Arab tribes were the chosen ones, as proven by God's decision to send the underboss angel Gabriel to pass on Intel. The pagan Arabs were a bloodthirsty lot, so they decided the crazy jew God wasn't anywhere nasty enough, so theirs needed to want to eradicate or subvert any pretenders to the roll of chosen people.

The Christians were at the lower end of the class spectrum, and as such were sick of the pushy god telling them they were useless. So they elevated the contradictory prophet, Jesus (what a Mexican was doing in Israel is anyone's guess) to the son of God, as he was pushing a particular brand that was very attractive to the poor uneducated masses. "do anything you want, make sure you feel guilty about any fun you might have, but be damned sure, you're broke and contrite before you drop dead, and dad will forgive you and give you a golden ticket to the chocolate factory.


So it's more the self styled social commentators of the ancient civilisations that decided if you were in like Flynn, rather than your postcode.

After 3 years of studying the 3 main fantasy novels, and their eleventy billion variations and offshoots, that was pretty much what it all boiled down to (I even tried to slip a less condescending version of that into her final paper (Fuck you proof reading!). Well that, and the fact most mainstream religions are benign and harmless, its the fuckheads running the pyramid schemes that is organised religion who perpetrate the rain of shit down on the world of scared people looking for a little comfort in their short meaningless lives....:amen:

Nice.

With your style of historical rendition, you should be a writer for "Horrible Histories" on TV

 

[wesdadude]

On topic, those targets that France recently bombed, why hadn't they been destroyed before?

 

[Knuckles]

Ooh, call me ignorant, but I thought one of the problems with the mad parts of Islam, was that it wasn't an organised religion - no pyramid, so you take your learnings from your chosen mufti who may or may not be an angry mad man. So there isn't anyone at the top, to say, no this doesn't mean kill everyone, that infidels only applies to pagans of the Middle Ages ( or some such)

There was Imperial Islam for a fair squirt, when the seperate city states or caliphates almost started a civil war. The Imperial period was known as the Golden Era of Islam and ended up being an empire of roughly 13 million km2.

During the early middle ages, shi'a laws were established, then factional fighting split the power base back to caliphates.

In short, lots of little pryamids, with lots of little tinpot dictators sitting on top of them. However, the imperial model is what Alan Kyeda, to some extent, and IS to the nth degree wish to return to. A golden age of an Islamic empire spanning the globe. In other words, they want a big, fuck off pryamid.


Interesting side note......all historical Islamic eras have allowed the active practice of other religions within their borders, as long as the practitioners didn't place their religious observances above those of shi'a.

All this destroy the infidel bullshit is a modern concept, which is really only touted by a tiny, but vocal (and somewhat nutty) percentage of active muslims (another interesting factoid, muslim translates to: one who submits to God). Usually the knob jockeys who want the penthouse suite of the pryamid.

 

[Knuckles]

Nice.

With your style of historical rendition, you should be a writer for "Horrible Histories" on TV

Might finally earn my childrens' respect.

 

[Lazmo]

So it's more the self styled social commentators of the ancient civilisations that decided if you were in like Flynn, rather than your postcode.

Ha ha, I’m an ex-mick too… and enjoyed your summation… but I still think your post code will have a fair input into which pyramid you will belong to.

 

[MARKL]

I'll play the devil's advocate (no pun intended).

Allah (Islam), Yahweh (Judaism) and God (Christianity), are all the same unicorn.

Each denomination has substituted their own social mores to the personality of their particular breed of elf.

The Jews were used to persecution, so they decided their god should be a nasty piece of work, with a low tolerance and unforgiving attitude to disobedience.

Prior to the 7 century CE the Arab tribes were pagans, but around 610 the angel Gabriel told Muhammad the Jews were a bunch of whack jobs, talking to trees and rocks. What sort of chosen people would talk to a bush as if it were God? The Arab tribes were the chosen ones, as proven by God's decision to send the underboss angel Gabriel to pass on Intel. The pagan Arabs were a bloodthirsty lot, so they decided the crazy jew God wasn't anywhere nasty enough, so theirs needed to want to eradicate or subvert any pretenders to the roll of chosen people.

The Christians were at the lower end of the class spectrum, and as such were sick of the pushy god telling them they were useless. So they elevated the contradictory prophet, Jesus (what a Mexican was doing in Israel is anyone's guess) to the son of God, as he was pushing a particular brand that was very attractive to the poor uneducated masses. "do anything you want, make sure you feel guilty about any fun you might have, but be damned sure, you're broke and contrite before you drop dead, and dad will forgive you and give you a golden ticket to the chocolate factory.


So it's more the self styled social commentators of the ancient civilisations that decided if you were in like Flynn, rather than your postcode.

That is awesome Knuckles.