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Sunday, 19 May 2013

  • "True" Christianity.


    I just read a blog about whether people are "true" christians and this was my commentary.  I think it says everything that needs to be said about the matter:

    “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 

    - Jesus 

    “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." 

    - Jesus, a few lines down in the same chapter of the same gospel telling people to ignore something from the old laws before the earth ended or anything was "finished". 

    Jesus wasn't a "true" christian.


Friday, 17 May 2013

  • The IRS "Scandal".


    Left this comment on someone's site:

    "Tea Party activists were treated unfairly by a whopping two of the IRS' one hundred and six thousand employees.  And lets remember they were merely held to the standard of the law.  It's not like IRS had them assassinated or crashed their bank accounts on a whim or something.  Be angry about it but it's not the apocalypse, nor is it the scandal of the century.  And nor, should I ad, is there the slightest indication that obama had anything to do with it."

    Apparently the IRS uses computers to manage it's data just like google and youtube and some shmuck added tea-party-sounding keywords to the algorithm that figures out which organizations to audit next.  Which of course means america is dead, democracy is a sham and obama is coming to eat your children.

    ::yawn::

Thursday, 16 May 2013

  • The Pope Is Destroying The Church By Being Christlike.




    Basically here's what happened - the old pope signed documents telling priests to cover up for child rapists (basically the most evil thing you can do) and as a result was the first pope to resign since the middle ages.  Now the new guy is going around being as christlike and decent as he can possibly manage (washing the feet of prisoners, foregoing a foot of bullet-and-bomb-proof plexiglass (the former pope had so much faith) when in public, actually caring about the poor and not doing so in a "kiss my ring" patronizing way.  He's like the obama of catholicism, an unusually genuine and good leader made possible by an inordinately corrupt/incompetent predecessor, who is trying to make up for all the damage his predecessor did.



    So anyway, this is a natural reaction to scandal BUT it's another nail in the coffin of the catholic church, and my reasoning is this - the whole reason the catholic church exists at all is because of the myth that they have some kind of special voodoo power you can't get anywhere else.  The pope is ordained by god as jesus' successor and has a special ability to infallibly interpret the word of god and is basically on a higher spiritual plane than you, so you need to follow him (and not just on facebook) to figure out things you literally can't figure out on your own.  And furthermore you need priests because without them you can't be absolved of your sins or baptized so you can get into heaven or avoid hell.  You need a priest to sign off on you getting off because fornication and masturbation are sins and you can only bust a nut in your wife's vajayjay and only a priest can marry you in the eyes of god.  So you can't be moral without them, you can't avoid hell or get into heaven without them, you can't have any truth without them and you can't even have an orgasm without them (especially if you're a ten year old boy).  I know, low blow.  But wait, there's more.

    The very notion of a reform pope who is better than the last one (especially following the pedophilia cover-up scandal) demolishes this notion that the office is infused with some kind of mystical superiority that us mere mortals must clamor to if we want to be moral or live a righteous life.  The church is no more infallible than the white house, and this is just the latest administration.  There is nothing special about the pope unless he happens to be a special guy, just like there isn't anything inherently special about the president, and the office he holds only has as much influence as we give it.

    I think people are realizing more and more that they don't need a pope or a particular church, that they can for the most part work things out on their own through reading books by biblical scholars, learning about modern science and history, engaging others in discussion and debate and so on.  And it seems to be working because at least in the west we haven't set anyone on fire in the name of god for maybe two or three generations...

    But I can't see any other result but that the catholic church will continue to fracture, as all the major churches have.  Christianity has gone from a spiritual north korea where you are only allowed to worship the dear leader to a spiritual 32 flavors, where they have something to suit every taste (and type 2 diabetes!).

    Your thoughts?

  • Wow... Just wow...


    I've been looking into the post-presidential activities of recent presidents and the disparity is unbelievable.  All the democrats without exception spent the rest of their lives in service to others and accomplished so much while the republicans just sat on a beach somewhere.

    All of the former presidents sold an autobiography and made political appearances in support of other candidates etc, but in terms of altriustic acts Nixon I'm skipping just to be fair, Ford spoke out in favor of gay rights and that's all I can find that he did for anyone else.  Reagan did absolutely nothing except make political appearances for the GOP, though to be fair he had alzheimers which effected him shortly after leaving office so we'll give him a pass.  George HW Bush, apparently the most altruistic republican former president in living memory, spent six years as a trustee for the eisenhower fellowship fund that helps people get into government, business etc.  He and his son both made appearances for disaster relief once or twice at the urging of former president clinton (by the way that sentence sums up George Bush Jr's altruistic activities).  So what about the democrats?

    Well, here's the post-presidency section of carter's wikipedia page:

    Holy fucking shit.

    What about Clinton?

    His post-presidential activities (most of them altruistic) are the only ones so far that are so numerous they require their own page on wikipedia.  I heard the other day his foundation (in conjunction with other groups) is on the verge of eliminating polio (the second disease in human history to be eliminated from nature, the first was smallpox). 

    No republican has won a nobel peace prize in over a hundred years - three democrats have won them in that time.  Does anyone think obama is going to sit on a beach when he leaves office?

    I knew GWB spent all his time painting nude self portraits but I honestly didn't expect his fellow republican presidents to be so devoid of altruism.  Even the ones that didn't leave office in disgrace.

    Even the bible says "by your fruits shall you know them..."

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

agnophilo

  • Visit agnophilo's Xanga Site
    • Name: Mark
    • Birthday: 2/4/1986
    • Gender: Male
    • Member Since: 7/23/2008
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About Me

  • I enjoy theology, philosophy (I prefer a blend of eastern philosophy such as buddhist/taoist philosophy with western secular philosophy, that's where it's at for me). I like science and learning and am interested in almost anything. I care for a disabled parent. I am an atheist, but I'll respect other peoples' beliefs so long as they're not intolerant or narrow-minded. But yeah, I'm up for discussion about anything and everything. If you want more info about something I've said feel free to ask. I love discussing philosophy and explaining scientific principles. I'd like to be a teacher one day maybe.

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Chatboard (62)

  • iheartsurrealism
    Thanks for the add, yo!
  • agnophilo
    @Ambrosius_Augustus_Rex - That's about on par with the craziness I saw on her blog.
  • Ambrosius_Augustus_Rex
    @agnophilo - No I was defending Zimmerman actually. She was saying that TM was publicly executed and that Obama was behind it or some rot. It just didn't make any sense.
  • agnophilo
    @Ambrosius_Augustus_Rex - Let me guess, it was defending him?
  • Ambrosius_Augustus_Rex
    @agnophilo - She didn't like my entry about Trayvon Martin.
  • agnophilo
    @Ambrosius_Augustus_Rex - What was her beef with you?
  • Ambrosius_Augustus_Rex
    @agnophilo - I tried talking with her, and it didn't go so well.
  • agnophilo
    @Ambrosius_Augustus_Rex - Your comment was truncated (xanga does the same with picture comments), but I think I got the jist. And I agree, she sounds to me like a case of narcissistic personality disorder, but then I can't say for sure without spending more time talking to her, which I have no desi
  • Ambrosius_Augustus_Rex
    @agnophilo - She strikes me as someone who is at least moderately insane. Have you read her bio?"I am a veteran columnist, radio producer, AM and FM talk radio host, FM radio and night club DJ, musicologist, corporate trainer, educator, and administrator... I am an interpersonal and orga
  • agnophilo
    @Ambrosius_Augustus_Rex - If memory serves she had a blog about the BBC mis-reporting the collapse of one of the twin towers before it happened, which suggested they were somehow "in on it". I questioned this logic and I believe she went psycho on me or blocked me or something.