Zerker on 14/4/2006 at 15:32
Yay for Three-Way Viking tie! (Though nothing scored particularly high). I picked the not a Viking tiebreaker, though.
<table border='0' cellpadding='5' cellspacing='0' width='600'><tr><td><img src="http://images.quizfarm.com/1104366254teething.jpg"></td><td> You scored as <b>Not a Viking at All</b>. Thou art not a viking. Give it up. Please.<br><br><table border='0' width='300' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='0'><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Somewhat-Viking</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='63' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>63%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Not a Viking at All</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='63' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>63%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>No So Much of a Viking</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='63' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>63%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Total Viking</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='58' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>58%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Iffy Viking</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='54' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>54%</font></td></tr></td></tr></table><br><a href='http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=1036'>How Viking Are You?</a><br><font face='Arial' size='1'>created with <a href='http://quizfarm.com'>QuizFarm.com</a></font></table>
Nicker on 14/4/2006 at 18:22
[rant]
Well Convict, since TGGP chose this thread to reiterate his Christian supremacist views and mock other beliefs, I felt it appropriate to ask him to serve up some real proof of the superiority of his religion.
I have no problem with most Christians, as individuals. They are mainly humble, honest, gracious and generous folks, like most humans. I was one for many years (though I could have done better in the humility department). But when they display arrogance about their mythology they are begging to be taken down a notch. To laugh about the irrationality of belief W while clinging to the equally irrational belief C is at best ignorant and at worst disingenuous. It is also dangerous for believers of W and all the other letters of the alphabet.
In my opinion, mob Christianity (the sort of fear mongering and hellfire propaganda that stampedes entire populations) is responsible for holding Europe in an enforced adolescence, from the Council of Nicea to the Renascence. Since then it’s grip has only loosened reluctantly. Even now it tries to push back rational thought (ID in schools), to deny the equality and value of women, and to pervert the conduct of secular governments. Christianity is not alone in these and many other crimes against reason. All the major organized religions try their damnedest to do the same. (I know my own reasoning is often dismal but that is beside the point.)
No one alive can know what lies beyond death. It is a dark and frightening tunnel with no light at the end of it. To die after living a life, possibly without meaning, is just too much for our fragile egos. There must be something more and if there isn’t then we must invent it. How about a God who loves us and a place where we can live forever. Sounds great!
Belief in an afterlife, which condemns infidels and rewards the faithful, is both universal and possibly the most destructive idea ever. It is born of a deeply fearful ego and it creates in the individual and in a society, a pathological disregard for the value of life. The life of here and now. It creates martyrs and heretics. Fear of hell is a powerful motivator.
Cynicism masquerading as hope, it has spawned countless acts of terrorism, murder, mayhem, cruelty, savagery and genocide. It has inspired, countenanced and justified the Crusades, the Inquisition, witch burnings, colonialism, the near extermination of the Aboriginal populations of North and South America, the evisceration of Africa. Today it motivates the bombing of mosques, synagogues, temples and churches topped off with the bombing of the funerals for the victims. It breeds the very evil it claims to war against.
So yeah, I am shit disturbing; because this cancer begins with a certain blithe and sneering contempt for the “other” and proceeds through their dehumanization to their demonization and eventual destruction. (Followed by the inevitable revenge from the “other”, then the payback, then the reprisal attack, then the retaliation…)
Perhaps my methods are primitive and reactive. Perhaps my persistence comes from being victimized by religious zealots who have threatened my loved ones and destroyed my sacred places, with a self-satisfied smile. There is a special menace exuded by the servants of the Prince of Peace as they teach you about His mercy with their fists.
[/rant]
Gingerbread Man on 14/4/2006 at 21:53
On the one side we discover how Viking we are. On the other, someone has been threatening Nicker's loved ones and setting fire to his "sacred places"
So it's probably not a derail in the strictest sense.
jstnomega on 15/4/2006 at 01:41
$ = the sole universal faith
Frikkinjerk on 15/4/2006 at 05:54
Hey! I scored Buddhism - which just happens to be my religion! Cool test. :thumb:
<table border='0' cellpadding='5' cellspacing='0' width='600'><tr><td><img src="http://images.quizfarm.com/1110082346Buddha.jpg"></td><td> You scored as <b>Buddhism</b>. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Buddhism. Do more research on Buddhism and possibly consider becoming Buddhist, if you are not already.
In Buddhism, there are Four Noble Truths: (1) Life is suffering. (2) All suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality and the craving, attachment, and grasping that result from such ignorance. (3) Suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment. (4) The path to the suppression of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right-mindedness, and right contemplation. These eight are usually divided into three categories that base the Buddhist faith: morality, wisdom, and samadhi, or concentration. In Buddhism, there is no hierarchy, nor caste system; the Buddha taught that one's spiritual worth is not based on birth.<br><br><table border='0' width='300' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='0'><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Buddhism</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>100%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Satanism</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='88' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>88%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Paganism</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='75' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>75%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Hinduism</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='58' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>58%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Islam</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='46' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>46%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Judaism</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='42' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>42%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>atheism</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='38' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>38%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>agnosticism</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='38' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>38%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Christianity</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='33' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>33%</font></td></tr></td></tr></table><br><a href='http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=10907'>Which religion is the right one for you? (new version)</a><br><font face='Arial' size='1'>created with <a href='http://quizfarm.com'>QuizFarm.com</a></font></table>
Convict on 15/4/2006 at 06:29
Can I ask about your religion and the 4 truths listed there frikkinjerk? If your sister was raped, for example, and you understandably felt suffering (as would your sister), how would Buddhism deal with it? If "Suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment" then does that mean that you should not care about your sister?
Hope that doesn't make me a frikkinjerk
Frikkinjerk on 15/4/2006 at 06:57
Quote Posted by Convict
Can I ask about your religion and the 4 truths listed there frikkinjerk? If your sister was raped, for example, and you understandably felt suffering (as would your sister), how would Buddhism deal with it? If "Suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment" then does that mean that you should not care about your sister?
Hope that doesn't make me a frikkinjerk
Short answer: No, it doesn't.
In the hypothetical here that you've given there is already suffering. You would seek to minimize, and ultimately overcome, persistent suffering from this incident by abandoning the negative feelings, like anger or hatred, that might arise and continue to cause you pain. Holding on to anger and hatred only causes the self pain. If you're holding on to feelings that you can do nothing about then you're suffering from your own ignorance, and not from external forces. You also can't undo the ugly thing that was done to your sister, only show her compassion. Equanimity (of mind) is stressed in such a scenario as you have come up with, but Buddhism is ultimately concerned with compassion for the victim here.
SD on 15/4/2006 at 12:37
That's a quality answer, FJ.
I've always admired Buddhism for its willingness to look inside the human mind for strength and guidance, rather than look outward to some mythological deity for succour and support.
As humans, we all possess the mental and physical strength to overcome whatever problems may arise in our lives, and recourse to a "higher being" (I would argue) is for the weak-willed.
Dr Sneak on 15/4/2006 at 13:15
Quote:
Belief in an afterlife, which condemns infidels and rewards the faithful, is both universal and possibly the most destructive idea ever. It is born of a deeply fearful ego and it creates in the individual and in a society, a pathological disregard for the value of life. The life of here and now. It creates martyrs and heretics. Fear of hell is a powerful motivator.
Cynicism masquerading as hope, it has spawned countless acts of terrorism, murder, mayhem, cruelty, savagery and genocide. It has inspired, countenanced and justified the Crusades, the Inquisition, witch burnings, colonialism, the near extermination of the Aboriginal populations of North and South America, the evisceration of Africa. Today it motivates the bombing of mosques, synagogues, temples and churches topped off with the bombing of the funerals for the victims. It breeds the very evil it claims to war against.
Oh Lord, if there were no religious faith whatsoever, people would still fly at each other's throats over some thing or another. Just read up on some of the crap that's happened at soccer events!:rolleyes:
SD on 15/4/2006 at 13:36
Quote Posted by Dr Sneak
Just read up on some of the crap that's happened at soccer events! :rolleyes:
waht
Wars aren't waged over football games. People aren't blowing themselves up in Hoxton because they're angry that Chelsea won the league again. People's feelings over religion get a hundred times more intense than their feelings over sport.
(Oh, and your post is in especially poor taste considering what today is the anniversary of.)
