GatKong |
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The Oompa Loompas of religion.
#323756 - 03/24/14 08:56 PM
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The Gideons.
Think about it. Every hotel room in this country has a bible, put there by the Gideons… but in your whole life… have you EVER met a person who says, "Yeah.. I'm a Gideon."
They're like the Oompa Loompas of religion… no one ever goes in… no one ever comes out… but somebody's making the chocolate!
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Pi |
Allergic to life
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Re: The Oompa Loompas of religion.
[Re: GatKong]
#323758 - 03/24/14 09:19 PM
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> Think about it. Every hotel room in this country has a bible, put there by the > Gideons… but in your whole life… have you EVER met a person who says, "Yeah.. I'm a > Gideon."
Well, "the gideons" are not a religion, but an organization aimed towards spreading the word. Some call it proselitism, others evangelization, whatever. So if you are a christian evangelist, you can collaborate with them. If you're a priest, you can. If you're just a christian, you can.
What I don't know is what kind of bibles do they distribute. Do they have a fixed version, or just whatever the printers want to do for cheap? I've lost count how many versions there are. And all of them are wrong. Only Jehovah's Witnesses are in posession of the absolute truth.
(I think last night's happening was not gastric reflux, it was just choking on plain sarcasm.)
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Wound up, can't sleep, can't do anything right, little honey / Oh, since I set my eyes on you. / I tell you the truth. I can't get it right / Get it right / Since I met you...
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GatKong |
Tetris Mason
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Re: The Oompa Loompas of religion.
[Re: Pi]
#323765 - 03/25/14 01:53 AM
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> Well, "the gideons" are not a religion, but an organization aimed towards spreading the word.
And you've met one? Ever?
Oompa Loompas.
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Tomu Breidah |
No Problems, Only Solutions
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Re: The Oompa Loompas of religion.
[Re: GatKong]
#323767 - 03/25/14 03:39 AM
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Maybe you have and just don't remember it...
[ATTACHED IMAGE]
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Pessimist: Oh, this can't get any worse!
Optimist: Yes, it can!
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Re: The Oompa Loompas of religion.
[Re: Pi]
#323769 - 03/25/14 08:58 AM
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> And all of them are wrong. Only Jehovah's Witnesses are in > posession of the absolute truth.
If you're reading the bible in English then it's wrong (debating whether the source texts are wrong is another matter).
I find monotheism weirder than polytheism. As an atheist I disbelieve in all gods, while a monotheist disbelieves in all but their chosen god.
I find the English translation of "You shall have no other gods before me" quite interesting. To me it suggests that a god is a thing we worship whether it exists or not. and we're either being told to not create more gods, or to ignore the real ones that exist.
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Tomu Breidah |
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Ticket to the War Room
[Re: ]
#323776 - 03/25/14 08:08 PM
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> > And all of them are wrong. Only Jehovah's Witnesses are in > > posession of the absolute truth. > > If you're reading the bible in English then it's wrong (debating whether the source > texts are wrong is another matter). > > I find monotheism weirder than polytheism. As an atheist I disbelieve in all gods, > while a monotheist disbelieves in all but their chosen god. > > I find the English translation of "You shall have no other gods before me" quite > interesting. To me it suggests that a god is a thing we worship whether it exists or > not. and we're either being told to not create more gods, or to ignore the real ones > that exist.
IMO, it's a bit more intellectual (or intellectually honest?) to label yourself as an Agnostic and admit that you can't say there isn't a "god" or the God. (Strike-through left for emphasis/effect).
Once you realize you have always been or actually are Agnostic then you can adopt the title of Anti-Theist (if you don't already).
As I've said times before; My Theistic view comes down to going back to beginning of everything. Time, space, reality itself, everything we perceive and everything we cannot perceive (things far away, or unimaginably small, or in other realms/dimensions). Nothing cannot create anything.... Complexity and order cannot increase... etc. etc. I cannot look at everything we have and know and think that it all came about by a mere random/lucky chance.
If one can think that we came from nothing then that in itself is a belief (or, if you get to the root of it - what some could call a "religion").
Edited by Tomu Breidah (03/25/14 08:59 PM)
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LEVEL-4
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Re: Ticket to the War Room
[Re: Tomu Breidah]
#323778 - 03/25/14 09:17 PM
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> Nothing cannot create anything.... Complexity and order cannot > increase... etc. etc. I cannot look at everything we have and know and think that it > all came about by a mere random/lucky chance. > > If one can think that we came from nothing then that in itself is a belief (or what > some could call a "religion").
It's that, or someone misinterpreting science.
Only an isolated system taken as a whole must experience an increase in entropy. Regions of that system can and do become less disordered, offset by increases elsewhere in the system.
Disorder is random; you can't increase disorder without randomness. Luck is magic; there is no magic.
There was never nothing, matter is energy, the universe is a ripple in a pond. Pardon, "pond." Science is the method of determining an answer, not the answers themselves. The journey, not the destination.
Atheists are without deities. Anti-theists are against them. Agnostics are without knowledge. Anti-gnostics spread disinformation.
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GatKong |
Tetris Mason
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Re: Ticket to the War Room
[Re: TriggerFin]
#323779 - 03/25/14 09:25 PM
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> Anti-theists are against them.
Ironically, to be against something, you must first accept that it exists… then take the position to be opposed to it.
Just messin' with your head.
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Pi |
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Re: Ticket to the War Room
[Re: GatKong]
#323786 - 03/26/14 12:17 AM
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> > Anti-theists are against them. > > Ironically, to be against something, you must first accept that it exists… then take > the position to be opposed to it.
I don't think it's ironic. I'm against zodiac and tarot, because they don't work. Anti-theist are agaisnt theism, the belief in, or worship towards, god(s). They are not against a god, but against the thought that god exists.
In any case I'm a pastafarian.
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Wound up, can't sleep, can't do anything right, little honey / Oh, since I set my eyes on you. / I tell you the truth. I can't get it right / Get it right / Since I met you...
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Re: Ticket to the War Room
[Re: Pi]
#323791 - 03/26/14 02:25 AM
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> > > Anti-theists are against them. > > > > Ironically, to be against something, you must first accept that it exists… then > take > > the position to be opposed to it. > > I don't think it's ironic. I'm against zodiac and tarot, because they don't work. > Anti-theist are agaisnt theism, the belief in, or worship towards, god(s). They are > not against a god, but against the thought that god exists. > > In any case I'm a pastafarian.
Yeah, I was trending toward inaccuracies in that last bit. But in any case, to be an agnostic is to not know if there is or isn't a deity, and an atheist has, by definition, no religion.
An atheist, certain in the knowledge that there are no supernatural entities, could call any theist an agnostic, as they, to his mind, can't possibly know that something that doesn't exist does. The same way that they insist that all atheists are actually agnostics.
I am secure in the knowledge that Supernatural is on tonight.
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Tomu Breidah |
No Problems, Only Solutions
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Re: Ticket to the War Room
[Re: TriggerFin]
#323798 - 03/26/14 04:47 AM
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> Yeah, I was trending toward inaccuracies in that last bit.
I wonder if the 'something from nothing' thing was one of them?
> But in any case, to be an > agnostic is to not know if there is or isn't a deity, and an atheist has, by > definition, no religion.
What about, say, Buddhists?
> > > An atheist, certain in the knowledge that there are no supernatural entities, could > call any theist an agnostic, as they, to his mind, can't possibly know that something > that doesn't exist does. The same way that they insist that all atheists are actually > agnostics. >
Hm-hmm. Tit for tat.
Not to draw any focus on you TriggerFin, but at one time you did have 'Gno Truth' under your username (and was changed to 'Gnu Truth' after some criticism by a couple other forum members -making a joke of 'No Truth').... So I had the thought, wondering if 'Gno' was a reference to Gnosticism.
I doubt it, but I figured I'd put it out there.
Quote:
Anti-gnostics spread disinformation.
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Re: Ticket to the War Room
[Re: Tomu Breidah]
#323808 - 03/26/14 05:36 AM
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> > Yeah, I was trending toward inaccuracies in that last bit. > > > I wonder if the 'something from nothing' thing was one of them? > > > But in any case, to be an > > agnostic is to not know if there is or isn't a deity, and an atheist has, by > > definition, no religion. > > > What about, say, Buddhists? > > > > > > > > An atheist, certain in the knowledge that there are no supernatural entities, could > > call any theist an agnostic, as they, to his mind, can't possibly know that > something > > that doesn't exist does. The same way that they insist that all atheists are > actually > > agnostics. > > > > Hm-hmm. Tit for tat. > > > Not to draw any focus on you TriggerFin, but at one time you did have 'Gno Truth' > under your username (and was changed to 'Gnu Truth' after some criticism by a couple > other forum members -making a joke of 'No Truth').... So I had the thought, wondering > if 'Gno' was a reference to Gnosticism.
It wasn't. I don't recall it ever being that, though I guess it WAS something else....
I do rather prefer the Bible with Apocrypha to the onion-skin KJV next to it, though I like the language of KJ more, from a literary standpoint, and I know they're both full of translation errors. But I have certainly never identified myself as a Gnostic, publicly or privately. The only church I've ever enjoyed attending was the local Methodist one, the whole congregation singing a good variety of selections from the hymnal. Then they started sending letters regarding our falling behind on our "donations." Probably 30 years ago now.
No, the gnu is an animal, I think there was something about wildebeest on TV at the time.
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