EmperorofIceCream

Reply to A Brief Message for Ill-Educated Christians in Misc JoeUser Forums

To A.D.D. Girl The article illustrated the fact that the belief, widely held by Christians of all denominations, that Sodom was destroyed because of the presence of homosexuals within it, is contradicted by the testimony of at least one of the ancient prophets - Ezekiel. Since you claim to know something I shall hold you culpable for not understanding that Ezekiel was a prophet appointed specifically to testify against the iniquity of Jerusal

Reply to A Brief Message for Ill-Educated Christians in Misc JoeUser Forums

To Texas Wahine: As with much else in the Bible, the subject of homosexuality is a source of contention. Since the letters of Paul (whether written by him or not - which is also a matter of dispute) form the bulk of the New Testament, and since Paul was a child of the the Torah (the Christian Old Testament) he was by education if not by nature a homophobe - as is the god of the Old Testament. It's primarily through his writings that that ho

Reply to A Brief Message for Ill-Educated Christians in Misc JoeUser Forums

To A. D. D. Girl: Go read the chapter from Ezekiel. You might also attempt to familiarize yourself with the concept of logical extension. Personally, I don't think God gives a shit for the people of New Orleans (or anywhere else for that matter) having far more interesting things to do than pay attention to what happens on this fly-speck planet. I am however annoyed that Christians who pass judgment on others do so on the basis of a book with

Reply to A Brief Message for Ill-Educated Christians in Misc JoeUser Forums

To Edmund Falgui: read the linked article.

Reply to A Brief Message for Ill-Educated Christians in Misc JoeUser Forums

. appearance dot

A Brief Message for Ill-Educated Christians in Misc JoeUser Forums

Eze 16:48 [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Eze 16:49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. <BR

Reply to What really is in God's Hands? in Religion JoeUser Forums

Since all the gods that are dead (may they live forever) are unknown, unknowable, and utterly indifferent to anything we say, do, think, feel, desire, hope for, fear, or dread, each and every one of you is talking out of his, hers, or its ass. All of these questions are forever beyond any answer other than "I haven't got a fucking clue" because there is no place outside of ourselves and the limitations of our existence where something we might call tru

Reply to A Comedy of Terrors in Misc JoeUser Forums

.

A Comedy of Terrors in Misc JoeUser Forums

Comedy is an old word. Dante used it to describe his wanderings through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. While it has its funny moments (particularly when the devil salutes his confreres by making 'a bugle of his breech' before sending Dante and Virgil into a trap - which they elude of course but that's another thing altogether) it hardly makes sense to think

Reply to Spiritual Evolution in Religion JoeUser Forums

Spiritual consciousness is a unique kind of awareness in which we absolutely comprehend that we are far more than ordinary people living ordinary lives. Firstly, what's wrong with being ordinary? Almost all of us are, by definition, and without choice in the matter. The extra-ordinary is the exception -

Reply to Quantum Bathwater in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

I don't think it wise to not question the integrity of the data collecting mechanism in order to get right to explaining the data because if the mechanism has no integrity, or only partial integrity, so follows the value of the data. Having questioned it and discovered that it has no integrity (if it ha

Reply to Quantum Bathwater in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

It's an old ploy - saying that the self is whatever is left over after everything physical has been removed from the equation. You are your eyes, your ears, your sense of touch, taste, smell. Lose one or more of these senses and you are, to that degree, less than what you were when you possessed that sense. Your argument seems to be that because your sense of self would remain even after you have lost a sense (how can you know that it

Reply to An Englishman apologises to America in Politics JoeUser Forums

To Politically Active: what 'apathy' are you referring to? Apathy in emotional response? or Apathy in terms of calling for some impossible crusade to set right the conflict between Islam and the West? Or apathy in some other form? Perhaps you mistake realism for this apathy you mention? I confess, I'm a tad confused. Clarify a little, if you would.

Reply to An Englishman apologises to America in Politics JoeUser Forums

Americans are a good-hearted, honest, sincere, well-meaning people - and just fool enough to believe that everyone else is that way too. Or, perhaps, just fool enough to believe that everyone ought to be that way, and can be persuaded to be so by example, or compelled to be so through the use of overwhelming military might exercised in their interest and for their own ultimate good. Any realist will tell you that this is Romantic, Ide

Reply to An Englishman apologises to America in Politics JoeUser Forums

I'm going to respond to one of the themes that have become manifest in the responses - rather than the responses themselves. The theme is this: 'how can people do this?' The answer is actually simple. They can do this because they do not identify their victims as people like themselves. They don't even identify their victims as enemies. The jurist and political thinker Carl Schmitt drew a distinction between the Foe and the Fiend. Foes are p

Reply to An Englishman apologises to America in Politics JoeUser Forums

Link Link The above links reference an article in The Guardian newspaper, and the website of the author of that article - Tariq Ramadan. I particularly urge anyone interested in how an intelligent, articulate, thinking Muslim feels about these issues to visit Mr. Ramadan's website and read this.<

Reply to An Englishman apologises to America in Politics JoeUser Forums

Some very interesting comments to which I will respond tomorrow, as its now 1am. But I will say this: America, in her brief history, has become very great indeed. And while Americans don't always live up to their own ideals (who does?) I've learnt that they are sincere in the attempt.

Reply to An Englishman apologises to America in Politics JoeUser Forums

To Larry Kuperman: It's my opinion that the Israelis have become the thing they hate. The reasons for becoming that thing are readily understandable - but that doesn't mean they haven't failed their own best aspirations for themselves in the process. Living with terror, devising strategies to nullify it, has a tendency to make us terrible. You can either accept that realization, or deny it. But denial only ever makes temptation strong

Reply to An Englishman apologises to America in Politics JoeUser Forums

To Dharmagrl: Of course no one understands. You would have to come from a different place to understand. No American understands how America is viewed by the rest of the planet. The size of America, its isolation geographically, its power and wealth, all defend Americans from having to deal with the ill-opinions of others. And since they don't grasp the original position, they can neither grasp nor appreciate the changes that can occur in an i

Reply to An Englishman apologises to America in Politics JoeUser Forums

To RH: I'd respond in detail but find myself slightly repelled by your gift for twisting words. Enough by pointing to the difference between having respect for the ideals for which America stands, and contempt for the betrayal of those ideals by the 'suits' of Corporate America. Like many others before me, I was too lazy, too indifferent, too envious, to look past the stereotype. As for my wishing to kill, or have killed, dar

Reply to An Englishman apologises to America in Politics JoeUser Forums

. appearance dot

An Englishman apologises to America in Politics JoeUser Forums

Like many others, I had no kind or charitable thoughts for America in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. I was shocked but not surprised, and to me it seemed that an inevitability had come to pass that flowed naturally from the policies of the American government. Despite my lifelong love affair with the idea of America I had little idea of what America is, and l

Reply to If You were a Book which Book woud You Be? in Misc JoeUser Forums

First line answers headline. Second line answers subtitle.

If You were a Book which Book woud You Be? in Misc JoeUser Forums

Confessions of an English Opium Eater Naked Lunch

Reply to Another question for christian scolars in Religion JoeUser Forums

Of the making of many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness to the flesh. From somewhere in Ecclesiastes. Personally, I believe in all gods (because every 'god' has its roots in the Divine) and none (because all 'gods' are only fragments of the Divine). Every holy book is fundamentally true (because it speaks of someone's experience of God), just as every holy book is fundamentally a lie (because that experience is necessarily l