Messages From Marilyn Burge
401 - 420 of 3,324
2 Re: A FAIR & JUST GOD [1]
If I remember correctly, my fundy friend would view this whole
issue quite differently. He would say that God did not create each
and every one of us. Our parents created us, just as their parents
created them, etc. What God created was the FIRST human beings,
and the mechanism for them to create more human beings. Viewing it
that way removes god from any direct responsibility for things
like birth defects, people who are born psychotic and therefore
can't
A FAIR & JUST GOD
You can't teach people to adequately farm land that is not longer
arable. THAT is my point! And, that IS the case in many areas
in sub-Saharan Africa. To think otherwise is to completely miss
the seriousness of what has happened there.
A FAIR & JUST GOD
Yes, I pretty much feel that way regarding the Constitution. I'll
admit it. I've spent my life trying to get people to see the
importance of preserving our liberties. And, with damned good
reason. History will show that once a people lose a liberty, they
only way they can regain it is with bloodshed. It is far, far
better to hang onto those liberties to begin with. And, that is a
perspective that is totally in keeping with my pacifism:
ALLEGORY
I read Spong (two of them, in fact), then mentioned that I had.
That got the ball rolling. Rather than see that as a "well at
least she's reading something that isn't openly hostile toward the
religious point of view" sort of thing, he immediately started
bad-mouthing Spong for having a deviant theology. He's a bone fide
prick, Al, whether you can see it or not.
No. I have already read enough conservative apologetics to
last me a lifetime. It
A FAIR & JUST GOD
That wasn't our experience. Of course, we both worked whever
we could, so we didn't get below the SRO level. Single-room
occupancy is a bummer though, for the same reasons you cite.
A room by the night in a fleabag hotel costs way more than a
room by the week, which in turn costs more than a room by the
month. But, if you can't get enough together at one time to
pay for a week's room rent, then you
A FAIR & JUST GOD
All I can say is that stupdity knows no bounds. A story like that
makes you wonder just how thoughtful and thorough their safety
lessons actually were. <sigh>
GAY LOVE
Like everything else, inflation is usually considered to be good
in small quantities. A bit of inflation is a sign of a healthy,
growing economy. But an economy couldn't really grow with a
hundred percent employment, because it would spend too much of
its energy spinning its wheels playing musical jobs. A hundred
percent employment suggests that even the unqualified would be
working (and not really pulling their weight, which would also
be inflationary (i.e., some wouldn't be producing enough
A FAIR & JUST GOD
You're right I *AM* a caring person. But I also do not suffer
fools gladly, and anybody who would leave an unlocked gun lying
around for an untrained child to get ahold of is a fool. That
is unfortunate for the child, but I cannot rear everybody else's
kids, and it is not society's place to rear them, either. The
only real incentive there is for parents to do the job of parenting
is to have them pay the consequences
A FAIR & JUST GOD
Sorry, but it was not a 1950's economy. I was still in grade
school in the 50's. We got married in the mid-60's, and had
a child in 1966, which did not help our "trip up the ladder."
ALLEGORY
Correct. And the fact that Christianity makes these same,
hackneyed claims is rather boring. Why should anybody give
their claims any more credence than they give to the claims
of the shamans in Central America or the NewAgers' claims
that are similar or identical? Christianity is nothing but
a retread of the same old superstitions that have been around
since Man learned how to communicate with words.
BADMOUTH
That's because he's never turned the full force of his obnoxious
personality on you. Likely THAT's because he a) needs an ally in
this echo, and b) happens to like you for whatever reasons of his
own. He has not extended those same courtesies to Lynda and me,
probably because a) our take on the mythical portions of his
theology make him acutely uncomfortable, causing him to display
a rabid need to defend those mythical portions in both orthodox
and
BADMOUTH
I don't have to "prove" anything. Mack's reasoning is no more
circular than the fundamentalists' reasoning. Mack believes there
is a now-extinct form of communication called "Q," Mikey and the
fundies believe there is a no-extince form of communication called
"miracles."
Now YOU tell ME which is more likely: a perfectly human construct
that is mundane in character, or a perfectly impossible construct
that is supernatural in character.
Go ahead. I dare you to admit that you are just as
[1/2] Losing the Labels
Michael has a VERY selective memory where his own history is
concerned. Don't you KNOW you're supposed to knee-jerk your
approval of "his side" of any position in order to avoid
embarrassing him by leaving him out there all alone? Don't you
KNOW it is more important for you to "take the proper side" than
it is for you to express your own mind? Don't you KNOW the whole
purpose of this echo is "us" against "them?"
There is a
[1/3] ALLEGORY 1/2
But, would he have made the above admission, had his back not
been thoroughly pinned against the wall? I see no sign he would
have. It is only when the conversation has disintegrated to the
point where we are discussing HIS TACTICS rather than the issues
that we've been able to get this admission at all. WHY do we
have to get into personalities in order to get any real candor
from him? WHY do we have to veer so
[2/2] [1/2] ALLEGORY
You do notice, of course, that there is not a word about a need
to apologize to ME. It has never occurred to him that I have in
any way been hurt by this whole debacle, and that is why I've
twitted him. He'll leave a certain amount of latitude for
diversity among believers, but by damn, NONbeliever had better
get it RIGHT!
He's a real piece of work, Lynda, and he'll stay in my twit
filter. I would not
ALLEGORY 1/2
He had the option of switching gears, yet he didn't. To me,
that says it all. I think that he is crawfishing now only
because he is being left with no alternative but to crawfish
or be forever seen as the brick wall that he truly is.
Well, at last I found an area of open disagreement between us.
You give Mikey far more slack than I'm willing to give him. He
honesty BELIEVE "I'm right and you're wrong, period,"
Evidence...
The same can be said about a whole lot of other stories in the
Bible. You either have to accept them as allegory, or you have
to admit that the claims of god's justice, mercy, and love are
a crock. You can't have it both ways.
That's what my "god is an asshole" conversations with Al have
been about. I simply can't see his description of god as being
valid without it raising far more questions than it answers.
Hanging
Losing the Labels [1/2]
I misstated the question by a hair. Let me restate it. Where in
the bible does it say that we must accept verse X or book Y the
way that Mikey does or be condemned? There is much room for
disagreement regarding perspective, where scripture is concerned.
Yes. I'd very much like to see those who insist that the
Resurrection account are literal fact try to harmonize the various
accounts. It can't be done. I just can't be done. There
possibilities
That's the part that's so infuriating. If somebody comes to
another conclusion, it's because they just haven't deovted the
sincere thought to the topic that Mikey has. And, Mikey just
can't understand why he comes across as putting others down in
order to build himself up. <sigh>
GAY LOVE
I don't know what Al is talking about on this one. Is his
wife birthing PUPPIES?????