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Author Topic:   Will The Real God Please Stand Up?
Archer Opteryx
Member (Idle past 3598 days)
Posts: 1811
From: East Asia
Joined: 08-16-2006


Message 133 of 364 (380446)
01-27-2007 11:44 AM
Reply to: Message 131 by jar
01-27-2007 11:12 AM


Re: And now for the answer
What if the real gods are An, Enlil, Inanna, Enki, Nanna and Utu after all?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 131 by jar, posted 01-27-2007 11:12 AM jar has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 134 by jar, posted 01-27-2007 11:46 AM Archer Opteryx has not replied
 Message 136 by Phat, posted 01-27-2007 11:59 AM Archer Opteryx has replied

  
Archer Opteryx
Member (Idle past 3598 days)
Posts: 1811
From: East Asia
Joined: 08-16-2006


Message 138 of 364 (380456)
01-27-2007 12:05 PM
Reply to: Message 136 by Phat
01-27-2007 11:59 AM


Re: And now for the answer
Oh great! A committee...just what we need running the place!
You know, Phat, a committee-managed universe does explain a lot...

Archer
All species are transitional.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 136 by Phat, posted 01-27-2007 11:59 AM Phat has seen this message but not replied

  
Archer Opteryx
Member (Idle past 3598 days)
Posts: 1811
From: East Asia
Joined: 08-16-2006


Message 176 of 364 (380933)
01-29-2007 12:49 PM
Reply to: Message 175 by Malachi-II
01-29-2007 12:02 PM


Re: What are the duties of a God?
Is it to protect your Ego (or the actor you impersonate rather badly) that you failed to include part of the description of self-righteous: "...when smugly moralistic and intolerant of the opinions and behaviour of others." Perhaps it was your charming modesty?
One could fairly describe the deity portrayed in most biblical texts as 'intolerant of the opinions and behaviour of others.' Sending plagues and opening earthquakes under their feet and authorizing the burning of their villages and all. Not to mention hell.
And 'moralistic' is surely an accurate description.
The only quibble is whether the biblical deity may be fairly described as 'smug.' This is a subjective call. I submit that room exists for an honest difference of opinion on this point.
Perhaps Ringo omitted that bit out of modesty, as you say. Or perhaps he just didn't want to furrow the brow of any moralistic, intolerant deities out there.
You are clearly not interested in what others have to say, and I'm bored with your self aggrandisement. I have no more time for your games.
An extreme reaction and illogical in context.
Ringo is asking you questions. That is not the behavior of someone who is 'clearly not interested in what others have to say.'
But you wouldn't be the first person who actually wished he would pay less attention to your posts than he does.
On the subject of boredom: I'm bored with this whole digression down Dictionary Lane. It risks making pedants of all of us. And it's fatuous.
Any chance of getting back to our committee work?
____
Edited by Archer Opterix, : HTML.

Archer
All species are transitional.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 175 by Malachi-II, posted 01-29-2007 12:02 PM Malachi-II has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 180 by Malachi-II, posted 01-29-2007 4:41 PM Archer Opteryx has not replied

  
Archer Opteryx
Member (Idle past 3598 days)
Posts: 1811
From: East Asia
Joined: 08-16-2006


Message 207 of 364 (381832)
02-02-2007 8:08 AM
Reply to: Message 206 by Malachi-II
02-02-2007 6:29 AM


Thanks for taking the time to share all that. Very eloquent.
I submit that A) we try listening to God without knowing how to listen, B) God cannot impose His will because Creative Love could not survive (as His has done for more than 16 billion light years or so) if it was controlled.
I don't see anything here to stop God from sending a fax if a person wants one. Thoughts?
__

Archer
All species are transitional.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 206 by Malachi-II, posted 02-02-2007 6:29 AM Malachi-II has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 208 by Phat, posted 02-02-2007 8:36 AM Archer Opteryx has not replied
 Message 210 by Malachi-II, posted 02-02-2007 9:52 AM Archer Opteryx has replied
 Message 214 by Malachi-II, posted 02-02-2007 1:09 PM Archer Opteryx has not replied

  
Archer Opteryx
Member (Idle past 3598 days)
Posts: 1811
From: East Asia
Joined: 08-16-2006


Message 216 of 364 (381930)
02-02-2007 3:22 PM
Reply to: Message 210 by Malachi-II
02-02-2007 9:52 AM


Fax from God
Malachi-II:
Please let the rest of the world know if you receive a fax. Be warned, however, you'll have to prove it was sent by God.
Why let the rest of the world know? The fax was sent to me. It's nobody's business who I talk to.
If God wants other people to have the contents, he can send them faxes, too. Everyone can trace the number themselves. Why should I have to prove anything?
A direct transmission to millions of people is as easy for God as a direct transmission to one person. Sleazy telemarketers can do as much. A Supreme Being hardly needs to go roundabout.
__
Edited by Archer Opterix, : HTML.

Archer
All species are transitional.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 210 by Malachi-II, posted 02-02-2007 9:52 AM Malachi-II has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 218 by Malachi-II, posted 02-03-2007 3:34 AM Archer Opteryx has not replied

  
Archer Opteryx
Member (Idle past 3598 days)
Posts: 1811
From: East Asia
Joined: 08-16-2006


Message 234 of 364 (383804)
02-09-2007 9:33 AM
Reply to: Message 174 by ringo
01-29-2007 10:36 AM


Nomination of UR (Tao)
Ringo writes:
If only out of courtesy, I don't always shoot to kill.
True. Sometimes you just shoot to set the varmints rattling so loud they lose it and bite themselves in the spleen.
(sigh) Cowboys will be cowboys...
___
OK, I'll nominate a candidate close to home.
This candidate has no name because any name one gives the candidate instantly renders an idea that is too small. It nurtures us intimately while remaining a mysterious stranger, half glimpsed, half hidden. For committee purposes we could enter the candidate as Ultimate Reality (hereinafter UR) provided the minutes register the provisional nature of such a label.
(Could you please hand me one of those sticker things, Mr Chairman? Over there by the water pitcher. Hello, my name is--that's it. Thanks. Now a marker, please? Hsieh hsieh.)
In Chinese the candidate is usually alluded to as Tao. That's not a name. It just alludes to 'the way' or 'the path'--as in 'The best path to follow in life is one that doesn't mess you up with the UR.'
Let me admit right up front that the UR doesn't display any of the charisma most people seek in a god. By most definitions my candidate doesn't even qualify as one. UR generally shuns anthropomorphic representations and foregoes color, booming voice, lightning bolts and pizzazz. No human incarnations, no punishments, no promises. Just being.
Being, though, is everything. My candidate is the ground of all being, the unity that lies behind all differentiations. The UR is like the ocean: great because it lies low. All streams feed it. At the same time the UR is the ultimate source of energy. All things emerge from it.
UR thus has two sides, yin and yang, the absorbing and emerging aspects of the universe. It's as if the entity breathed, inhaling and exhaling. These two states complement and balance each other. The end of one contains the beginning of the other.
The only representation one encounters consistently is admittedly rather abstract.
Ultimate Reality (Tao)
Qualifications for office:
- limitless, unbounded
- source of all being
- embodiment of all opposites
Strong suits on the stump:
- no temper fits
- impossible to corrupt
- on both sides of every issue
Possible shortcomings on the stump:
- no personality
- eschews speeches
- indifference to how anyone votes
Possible disqualification:
- not a god?
Thank you, Mr Chairman, colleagues.
___
Edited by Archer Opterix, : ongoing quest for literary perfection.
Edited by Archer Opterix, : the journey continues.

Archer
All species are transitional.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 174 by ringo, posted 01-29-2007 10:36 AM ringo has seen this message but not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 235 by Archer Opteryx, posted 02-13-2007 2:12 PM Archer Opteryx has not replied
 Message 237 by Malachi-II, posted 02-23-2007 5:12 AM Archer Opteryx has not replied

  
Archer Opteryx
Member (Idle past 3598 days)
Posts: 1811
From: East Asia
Joined: 08-16-2006


Message 235 of 364 (384934)
02-13-2007 2:12 PM
Reply to: Message 234 by Archer Opteryx
02-09-2007 9:33 AM


the last word?
Wow. The committee got quiet all of a sudden.
Does that mean my nominee wins?

Archer
All species are transitional.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 234 by Archer Opteryx, posted 02-09-2007 9:33 AM Archer Opteryx has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 236 by kuresu, posted 02-13-2007 2:26 PM Archer Opteryx has not replied

  
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