Just keep in mind there are opposites in nature; hot, cold, high, low, wet, dry..you get the picture. Without the one, the other would be meaningless. So with the Almighty. There is a dual nature there, so beware. Contrast the two testaments; the old and the new.

The saddest thing is how many people think that somehow the universe actually cares if the individual exists or not.

I'm willing to wager that if any of "the believers" on this thread were right now in one of these poor third world countries searching for loved ones, an existence of God would be the last thought in their heads.

I think real world perspective is needed in lieu of this tragedy; not dogmatic masturbation.

Anyone looking for real world perspective should not be checking into the OT Forum. You can never leave...

:p

AGREED!!

There are no athiests in foxholes.........

I guess these BB are so PC and liberal. You can't even say God whether its Jesus, Budda, Mohammed, Yahwey, is responsible for a natural disaster anymore. No God isn't in charge of acts of doom? Only the good stuff!

Give me a break. God must be like presidents and only take credit for the good stuff, blame the garbage on advisors.

This planet is run like a sh(*)t hole by which ever god you assign, he/she/it is doing a piss poor job.

Oh yeah, right. Athiests are too busy dodging the draft. :rolleyes:

Easy enough to say, now get up off your ass and do something about it instead of posting diatribes here!

Neutron bomb?

Whatever it takes....

Hey skippy, didn't the mod say leave off the language?

Adrian, I will surely ignore your comments. As you attempt to justify your position you only further reveal your ignorance and narrow mindedness. You are a blind sheep who has been coraled by fear and must continually reinforce your faith ... sad. Subjecting others to what you think is the truth makes you feel better and helps to reinforce your weak understanding of the world. Fear narrows you view and ignorance shortens its depth.

Good bye! You are too far gone.

Agreed. This place sucks. I'm sticking to the 914club.com and not coming back here. What a waste of time and bandwidth. I know this is the OT forum, but how about talking about getting your cars off jack stands and running (if you have one anyways)??

Oh, I would probably disagree with that. When people have just seen their families die, they tend to cry out to God "Why did you let this happen?!" When they see their own life flash before their eyes, they tend to say things like "Holy cow, I almost died! I wonder what would have happened..." and they end up deciding that there must be some pleasant afterlife, and typically, that they're entitled to whatever happiness comes after death. People in tragedy often turn to a deity, because they have nothing else to which to turn. (shrug) MHO.

Dan

Good point - but not the only point.

If I dismiss anything, it is not the fact that subjectivity exists differently from person to person.

I think the concept of yin/yang predated the old and new testaments. I think xtians should be sued for plagarism.

hehe, plagar the horrible! :p

DD -- good point. I have no further questions, Your Honor; the defense rests.

NoStatic -- Yin/Yang certainly predates the NT by quite a bit -- several thousand years, at least. Technically, the paired god/goddess worship is quite common, dating to many ancient civilizations. The only one that comes certainly to mind (aside from Sun/Moon worship) is the Canaanite pairing of Ba'al and Asherah. Ba'al had big poles stuck into the ground (symbolic of ... hmmm, thinking...) and Asherah was worshiped at groves, typically by groups of people who seem to have left their clothing elsewhere. Symbolic rites were typically performed shortly before planting the fields in the spring -- roughly Easter time-frame, in case you're curious. (Didn't you ever wonder where ever-fertile bunnies and eggs which carry life came from? If the holiday is about Jesus' resurrection, what are the stinking bunny-rabbits for?) The idea was to imitate the fertility that was desired of the fields, and to provide some offering to the goddess. Similar rites were typically performed in the fall, as a "thank you" note to the goddess.

Eventually, the Canaanites (like most religious groups) would develop temples -- places where the penitent would come to perform holy rites. Goddess worship typically included rites which were thought to be pleasing to the goddess -- and typically included the services of a woman for hire. (Were "ritual payments" tax deductible?) The OT book of Joshua mentions a woman named Rahab who was influential in the reconaissance of the fortified city of Jericho. Rahab's occupation is sometimes translated as "innkeeper." That's far too conservative -- Rahab was a prostitute, and many speculate (though the text omits this detail) that she worked at the local temple.

Of course, the Canaanites (and all of the others, for that matter) were amazed at the Hebrew religion -- they only had _one_ god! How can this _be_?! Revolutionary! Heretical! Everyone knows there are two major gods, male and female, and at least a few minor gods!

(shrug) Enough middle-eastern religious history. Suffice it to say that NoStatic is thoroughly correct. Christians who advocate a duality in the Bible should pay the Canaanites (or maybe the Akkadians? Or Phillistines, perhaps?) copyright violation royalties. :)

Dan

Interesting read fellas, I think some of the name calling has simmered down - a good thing. And now I know about the bunnies too.:)

Read Bush pledged 15 million to help out the victims?

Only 15 million, can't he raise that much in two days during a funding rasing supper, where rich business owners attend who make $$$ from all the slave labor and illegals.

We spend 6 BILLION a month on Iraq alone. You can damn near win more than that on a stingy reality show. Even goldenpalace.com pledges more for a dead mans cane or grilled cheese sandwich if you compare income to spending.

Oh my, how ridiculous. My only comment is for Dr. Wilson. Have you seen the lady of the lake yet? Long ago, I was a player on the ball fields.