PigLick on 24/5/2017 at 11:36
Yes, I do. But you need to send me $9.95 to hear about it.
heywood on 24/5/2017 at 14:40
You're not going to get rid of religion. It seems to be inherent to human nature. Cultures that developed in complete isolation from each other developed different religious beliefs and practices, but every culture adopted some form of religion.
While it is true that the percentage of atheists and other non-religious people has increased over the last half century or so, most of that increase can be traced to the adoption of state atheism in the Soviet Union and China, and most of the worlds atheists are in China. The persecution of religion came and went over the lifetime of the Soviet Union, but religion always bounced back after the state lightened up. In China, eliminating religion was one of the goals of the cultural revolution that killed 30 million people. Since then, the Chinese state has continued to persecute organized religions and generally suppress the open practice of religion. If they liberalize, religion will probably bounce back there too.
I think state atheism has the same negatives as state religion.
SlyFoxx on 24/5/2017 at 14:46
Prayers sent to my English brothers and sisters.
Sliding off topic a bit...
Now I'm a Christian but I don't do church but I tend to tow the party line so to speak. The rules and suggestions are spelled out and pretty simple to understand. They're just really hard to do sometimes. Here's where a lot of people go wrong and why a lot of people hate capitalism.
1) God owns it all. You are just a steward of a tiny piece of it.
2) God does not need your money. I think a lot of preachers haven't figured this one out. He made you in His image. God is generous. Just look at this nice big ball we ride on and up into space where (and of course this is when my cat jumps on my shoulder like he's a 16 pound scarf....one second...) it appears we have an endless supply of wonder to compel us to move forward, to learn, to seek and yes to struggle. Too much struggle is bad. Too little is even worse. God wants us to be generous because it is good for us to be that way. Generous people are liked, they're happy. They tend to prosper. They know how to SERVE. Service is the key to prosperity. You serve enough people well and rewards will come your way. Service mingled with generosity is the key. There's nothing wrong with piling up cash as long as you're doing both. Many a good business do the two. Now we can move on to the next point where many a business does not. But, many many people are greedy enough to let them.
3) Many get behind the prosperity eight ball because they don't practice this one suggestion from God. It's not a salvation issue. It's just biblicaly dumb. Proverbs 22:7....the borrower is slave to the lender... Now you're behind the eight ball and it is hard to serve two masters. Broke people have a hard time being generous. Now sometimes life or God if you will, just deals you a shitty hand. But most people are behind because "they want it." "I work hard, I DESERVE a new X" No you don't quit yer whinging. You're like a kid in the food mart screaming for a box of Lucky Charms when mom is saying Corn Flakes.
Trust me here. Visa, Discover, Master Card and AmEx, Well Fargo..... have a better plan for your money then most of you. Budget every month. Live on less than you bring home and stay away from consumer debt.
People get out of school (with kilo bucks of debt) go buy a new car (more kilo bucks of debt) and then park it in the driveway of their new house (really more kilo bucks of debt) and wonder why the fuck they're not wining. Hey stupid! You might look good but you've got nothing left at the end of the month because Wells Fargo had a better plan for your money than you...'cause see...THEY'VE got it all! But it took two to tango. Greed on both parties part. Debt is the most successfully marketed product in the world today. So learn to delay pleasure and get it when you can afford it.
There's nothing wrong with capitalism or religion. It's just many don't know how each is supposed to work. Or they know and are selfish enough to not follow the plan correctly...looking for a shortcut. There are no shortcuts. If it's worth doing, you've got to put in the time, the effort...you have to struggle a bit. I've been doing it for 50 years and I'm doing great and I never once fucked anybody over to get here. If you manage God's stuff well, he'll usually give you more to manage.
Krush on 24/5/2017 at 15:13
Quote:
this was probably an attack by Islamists, and it was probably perpetrated by someone who was born here, not immigrants.
But the guy's parents were probably immigrants. Just like the Boston Marathon bombers. Just like Omar Mateen who shot up the gay club in Orlando. Just like Khalid Masood, who attacked the British Parliament.
So, the parents just "come here for a better life" as people like to say. But then their children grow up and murder us. The obvious response is to stop immigration now, so we have fewer second-generation immigrants murdering us.
I keep thinking Islam is going to cross some line that wakes you guys up, but apparently 12 year old girls getting a faceful of hot shrapnel wasn't the line. Oh well, you'll get another chance soon enough.
Gryzemuis on 24/5/2017 at 15:50
Quote Posted by heywood
You're not going to get rid of religion.
I am afraid you are correct.
But waiting until everybody gets enlightened is gonna take forever. Especially if religions are very active in keeping their nonsense alive, and spreading it even.
Quote:
It seems to be inherent to human nature.
Religion is strongly linked to stupidity, cluelessness and ignorance. The higher educated a population is, the less religious it becomes. Claiming that religion is inherent to human nature is the same thing as claiming that shitting over your own shoes is inherit to human nature. There's this process of improvement, education, science, enlightenment that humans have been going through over the last millennia. We just need to find a way to include all of humankind into this process.
Quote:
The persecution of religion ....
I'm not suggesting we persecute religion. That's the same as punishing stupid people for being stupid. Or trying to enforce prohibition. Or trying to make everyone stop smoking. Not gonna work. But we can try prevent it from spreading. Just like we don't allow children to drink or smoke. Make sure children do not consider "The Great White Bearded Guy, Up In The Clouds" to be anything else but a ridiculous idea.
Quote Posted by SlyFoxx
The rules and suggestions are spelled out and pretty simple to understand.
Dude, you do realize that Gods do not exist. And thus that their rules and suggestions have no extra value over any other rule-set that someone wrote down. Right ?
Thor on 24/5/2017 at 15:55
Quote Posted by Tony_Tarantula
At this point I've become somewhat cold to this kind of thing, because the only thing we're going to get out of this is sanctimony as everyone rushes to show off how much they care.
Europe has made their bed, let them enjoy sleeping in it.
More like America made the bed for Europe. Europe just accepted it like a good whore.
Krush on 24/5/2017 at 16:00
I don't see how America forced Europe to take in millions of migrants. Why are Poland and Hungary different, with their strong fences?
bjack on 24/5/2017 at 16:01
Sensless violence. Murder, mayhem, and survivors suffering probable long term mental/emotional issues. Awful. Sickening. :(
So many fingers pointing to all sorts of things as causes. The cause is evil. Pure and simple. Evil.
The solution? I don't have one, at least that wouldn’t just breed more evil in a different form.
My reaction is to keep alert, stay away from huge venues, “get in and get out quickly” from banks, stores, malls. One goal of terrorism is to make people like me “stay away”. It is working, to some extent.
I sincerely hope that from this point forward there are zero terrorist attacks in Europe, or elsewhere for that matter, but I fear that will not be the case. Expect more of the same. ISIS is at war with you and pretty much the rest of the Earth. Their sleeper cells are cells of one person. Even if it proves that this guy acted alone and had zero contact with ISIS, he was very likely inspired by their extreme radical approach. Really what difference does it make if a person acts on orders or acts on inspiration? The end result is the same. Dead people.
Depressing, unnecessary, evil.
SD on 24/5/2017 at 16:49
Quote Posted by Krush
I keep thinking Islam is going to cross some line that wakes you guys up, but apparently 12 year old girls getting a faceful of hot shrapnel wasn't the line. Oh well, you'll get another chance soon enough.
And no doubt you'll get a chance to show that you are a complete prick again too.
Krush on 24/5/2017 at 17:06
:rolleyes:
