The C.C.O.I. (Christian Cult Of Ignorance) and Willful Ignorance

This is a private debate thread, but I suppose you can join in. (for a minute)

Coyote writes: And why should we accommodate global development at the expense of our standard of living?

Good question, and one I might ask myself. Jar? Any comment?

I don't believe anyone has said that Global Development must affect our standard of living negatively. But even if it were true, we have nothing to say about what the rest of the world does. They can develop regardless of what we do.

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

jar writes: we have nothing to say about what the rest of the world does. They can develop regardless of what we do.

Sometimes I think that we helped construct our own competition. I suppose that we had no choice, however.

As A supposed Christian Nation, what should we do? WWJD? Would Jesus advocate a competitive economic climate? Do the "least of these, my brothers" have to pay retail? Is it wrong to think of ourselves before we think of others? I watched an interesting movie last night. Where In The World Is Bin Laden? It was actually an eye opening movie in that it showed a very human face to the Muslim people. It made me wonder why we spent ourselves nearly bankrupt in order to capture one guy....and why we are still spending money in Afghanistan, a country that historically has proven impossible to conquer.

Phat writes: Sometimes I think that we helped construct our own competition.

There is a reason why you often see several different fast food franchises right across the street from each other.

Phat writes: As A supposed Christian Nation, what should we do? WWJD? Would Jesus advocate a competitive economic climate? Do the "least of these, my brothers" have to pay retail? Is it wrong to think of ourselves before we think of others?

Of course absolutely nothing in that is related to the issue. India and China can decide to compete regardless of what we think.

Phat writes: I watched an interesting movie last night. Where In The World Is Bin Laden? It was actually an eye opening movie in that it showed a very human face to the Muslim people. It made me wonder why we spent ourselves nearly bankrupt in order to capture one guy....and why we are still spending money in Afghanistan, a country that historically has proven impossible to conquer.

Again, totally irrelevant to the issue being discussed. We spent the money. Period. It's gone.

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

Hi Jar. More Bible questions again.

jar writes: Prayer if done properly is a form of contemplation. It is an intimate time of reflection and should be used as such. It is not some wish list or request line. The key is that YOU must hear, that you put aside the outside voices and honestly listen to yourself, look at what YOU are saying, question what YOU are saying, rebut what YOU are saying. Prayer should be a moment when YOU listen to YOU and when YOU honestly question what YOU say and do.

There are some things that are hard for a person to do. One of them, for example, and relating to the pressured U.S. Middle Class, is to allow the rest of the world to reclaim what we took during the aberration.

jar writes: The various Bibles are a big ass resource written by a blue brazillion different authors and redacted by a gaggle more then translated by another band of merry (need I say Gay) men.

Do you believe that the Biblical Authors wanted to be truthful as best as they could and wanted the story of Mans understanding of God to be told? Or do you believe that they cheaply wanted to merely earn a living?

Do you believe that the Biblical Authors wanted to be truthful as best as they could and wanted the story of Mans understanding of God to be told? Or do you believe that they cheaply wanted to merely earn a living?

Again, that is a false dichotomy.

The Bible is not just about God. The stories have many purposes. The various authors wanted to tell a story, entertain, enlighten and educate, document laws, create an identity, preserve an identity, a variety of different purposes.

The same is true of the editors, redactors and translators. The goal of Constantine's Bibles was to be uniform, large, imposing and impressive so that each new church had one.

The creators of the King James Version had similar purposes with the added need to walk a line between offending Protestants and Roman Catholics, to tone down the anti-pope rhetoric and again, to provide one unified Bible for all the churches. It was meant to be a politically correct Bible.

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

jar writes: The Bible is not just about God. The stories have many purposes. The various authors wanted to tell a story, entertain, enlighten and educate, document laws, create an identity, preserve an identity, a variety of different purposes. The same is true of the editors, redactors and translators. The goal of Constantine's Bibles was to be uniform, large, imposing and impressive so that each new church had one. The creators of the King James Version had similar purposes with the added need to walk a line between offending Protestants and Roman Catholics, to tone down the anti-pope rhetoric and again, to provide one unified Bible for all the churches. It was meant to be a politically correct Bible.

OK, but many of us want to know God. We are told that He is found in the Bible(s). I myself prefer to ask questions about God philosophically and to use reason to arrive at a logical understanding. The idea that Bibles were political leads me to throw them aside entirely when attempting to find mans attempts to define and explain our ideal of communicating or understanding God without limiting Him through our own desired definitions.

Any God that can be contained in one Book cannot be very big.

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

Can we even agree on what God should be?

For instance, which traits would seem logical and preferable?

Omnipotence? Favor for humans? (or at least affinity)

Ralational? Approachable? Understanding our limited ability to comprehend?

I doubt it.

What GOD is does not depend on what we imagine.

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

Well can we at least try and agree on what God likely is?

LOL

Sure. Make up any God you like.

But that has absolutely nothing to do with what GOD actually is.

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

jar writes: LOL Sure. Make up any God you like. But that has absolutely nothing to do with what GOD actually is.

Is it thus likely that no human story or description of God or god is even likely to be similar to the reality?

Who knows? How could someone tell?

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Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

Fair enough. You have persuaded me of the logic that shows how nobody can really prove God. Behavior matters more than profession.

Switching topics a bit.... "Why Atheists?"

You have hinted that you believe that Heaven, if Heaven exists (or the next good place after our physical deaths here on earth) will probably contain many more atheists than it will Christians.

What evidence do you have to make this assertion?

I don't believe that I have any more of a chance to make it than anyone else, but I also believe that I don't have less of a chance either.