yes! i always liked wes clark! the states has turned out some great generals, actually. i also think of eisenhower, and that speach he gave to the american public at the end of his term. where did i see that recently? oh yes! "why we fight".
tetra
tetrapod.sapien
JoinedPosts by tetrapod.sapien
-
12
Martin Luther King: Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence
by SixofNine inyesterday being mlk's birthday, we probably all heard snippets of his deservedly famous "i have a dream" speech, on the news, or at news websites.
i had never taken the time to read or listen to it all, so when i found the text along with a you tube of him speaking, i blogged it.
but i came across this one today, and it made me think; this is the mlk speech that an america stuck in iraq needs to hear the most.
-
-
-
104
Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion
by Abandoned ini started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.
i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.
he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.
-
-
tetrapod.sapien
and you know, i can think of reasons to believe in all religions. even jehovah's witnesses, and still be an atheist. you wanna know how? ("no tetra, tell us please") well, when i dissosociated myself, i said "i am no longer one of jehovah's witnesses". but there are two things wrong with that statement. one, jehovah doesn't exist. i am an atheist to jehovah-concept. so i didn't truly disavow myself of anything. and second, i am still the same person. and that person was once a jehovah's witnoid. i still have memories of it, therefore it is still part of me, and me part of it.
see? atheism is becoming an overtly obvious title to use. of course i am an atheist! we all are! i don't know many people who believe in Zeus!
"how many god's do you reject frank?" oh, gee, well about 3228 jim." "HA! philistine! i reject over 4000!" "wow jim, i didn't know there were so many."
so, if you believe that you are a part of the cosmos, and all religions that humans have been part of are part of that cosmos, even if just in the minds of people, then you and all those religions are part of the same organizational structure: the cosmos. so, you believe in the cosmos, you "believe" in all religions, even if they only have subjective relation to the "manifestly real".
i also have other definitions of god that would make me a gnostic, a buddhist, and a sub genii. and that's because god is just a word. like "being", or "knowing" or "remembering".
is dawkins right? is god a delusion?
joe hoba the smiting omnimax god? delusional, you bet.
it's sad that more people are not aware of it to even that simple place. there's so many more places to go once you understand that!
tetra
edited to add: thanks man. i bet i would enjoy talking with you too. and i agree with your comments about religion causing more harm that otherwise. totally! i don't mean to sound like i am pro religion because i can believe in them all. or even just the best of them all. i mean ultimately i want us to evolve away from this concept. either that, or totally revolutionize our definition of god from objectively literal, to subjectively luminous. either way, i don't see much of a place in our future for religion.
and i agree with you about karma too. and i think karma can actually exist with out willing into existence a designer. a conscious one. i am perfectly comfortable with karma working as a cosmological meta-process. anyways, that's for another time. peace bro! .t.
-
104
Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion
by Abandoned ini started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.
i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.
he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.
-
-
tetrapod.sapien
abandoned,
first of all, good on you for being honest with your own sense of rationality. that is the way rational people should be!
secondly, i am surprised that dawkins, of all people, has invented a label called "einsteinian deism". is this true? dawkins should be aware that einstein was a pantheist in the tradition of baruch spinoza, and would have done well to leave the label pantheism. in other words, there was no intelligent anthropomorphic scientist, but that all things are god. god is nature, nature is god. the universe is not really anthropomorphic (except in the most enlightened instances;). and yet, when i hear "deism" i immediately see a human face. and so i think it's a poor label for him to use in conjunction with einstein's name.
i have read most of dawkin's books, and i agree that atheism is not the only logical conclusion. people who say this, are using a definition of god that is somehow objective, as in: "i am sepparate from the universe, therefore so will god be." you know, some kind of abrahamic god. i was guilty of this for a long time myself. check out my first thread on this board. but i believe that it is logical, actually, that as one comes to understand the hyper-relatedness of all things including one's self, that a pantheistic reverence should come from her place of skepticism and atheism.
for example. atheism taught me that for all intents and purposes, we're all gods, when you consider our evolutionary past, the evolution of our minds, and the sheer potential we have. it is not self gratuitous. it is self organization. it's a technical point, if nothing else. but then, with that understanding of evolution comes the understanding that all living things are equal. technically, we are no pinnacle. so, if we are gods, and all other living things are gods, then so would the entire evolving cosmosbe god. God. see? but here we are no longer just atheists, but *also* pantheists, at the very least. we believe. and with belief comes reverence. all with only the evidence we have on hand. as jung believed, we can only believe what we know.
why is it a logical problen *at all* to be both atheist and pantheist?
and i mean, you might be part of some other people's spiritual practices and not even know it. i have met an ultra liberal rastaman who asked me: "do you like reggae?" and i was like, "of course. i love it." and he said: "then that's all. you be rasta." and i was like: "what about jah selassie?" and he said "you already know 'im. you said yourself, "i love it". and love is all."
damn, baptised on the spot, what can i say? i didn't have a choice. but then i thought, even though it is not one of *my* beliefs (jah), it was part of someone elses. jah exists in his mind, and his mind exists in the universe, and i beleive in my connection with that universe. who can dispute we are woven into it? so i do believe in a very metaphorical, subjective jah. even if it is just an archytype. does that make me rasta? i guess so. then again, who cares?
anyways, sorry for rambling. you'll do fine i am sure. may the force be with you.
jah one love, hehehe
tetra
-
12
Martin Luther King: Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence
by SixofNine inyesterday being mlk's birthday, we probably all heard snippets of his deservedly famous "i have a dream" speech, on the news, or at news websites.
i had never taken the time to read or listen to it all, so when i found the text along with a you tube of him speaking, i blogged it.
but i came across this one today, and it made me think; this is the mlk speech that an america stuck in iraq needs to hear the most.
-
-
tetrapod.sapien
WHOA. that was a wicked quote man. thanks, seriously. i had never heard it.
tetra
-
56
My Wife Just Left Me Because of the Evil Watchtower
by rassillon inthis is very difficult to write because i am crying.
i am normally not the kind of person you will ever see cry because things don't affect me that much but this has got to be the hardest things i have ever went through.. i just got through discussing with my wife my feelings.
i guess it has been hard to hid some of the things that i have felt since i have learned that many of the wt teachings are false.
-
-
tetrapod.sapien
hey (((bro))),
hang in there man. i've been through the same myself pretty much. it is a bumpy ride, i will not mince words. but you can do it. you'll come out on top one way or the other.
she deffinately needs time right now. but on the postive swing: you may have just done the best thing you ever could have done for her, you never know.
feel free to pm me if you ever need to talk.
take care,
tetra
-
11
Prison Bars around the Mind!
by Gill ini found the story of the abducted young boys very moving this weekend.
it must have been an absolute miracle for shawn hornbeck's parents to find him again.. i understand that young shawn had relative 'freedom' at times when his captor was at work.
i understand that many people will not understand why shawn did not run away at those times.
-
-
tetrapod.sapien
gill,
that was a nice read. thanks. it's so true about the mind prison that people all around us could be in.
tetra
-
22
What do you think of this?
by mrsjones5 inmy son, joshua - the 3 year old, loves the us flag (he has a couple mini ones), any map of the united states (even the little weather map in the newspaper), the statue of liberty (likes to pose as such and is fixated on looking a picture of said statue) and is now starting to take an interest in the federal buildings in d.c.. we really don't know that to think about this other than keeping him supplied with maps, flags, and pictures of the statue of liberty.. what do you all think?.
josie.
-
-
tetrapod.sapien
he sounds like a smart kid!
when i was a little kid, i was obsessed with RAMBO, and WWF wrestling, much to the humor of my parents. they let me paste clippings of sylvester stalone (sic) blowing people away all over my walls. i'd spend hours in my room practicing for the WWF "try outs". you know, i'd wear my ginch on the outside of my longjohns, and hang out on top of the couch waiting to elbow drop my little sister "from the top rope" when she passed by unexpectantly.
and look at me! i turned out fine! lol!
tetra
-
-
-
tetrapod.sapien
oh, and taxes are on my mind as well.
i resent the fact that some people in suits, living thousands of miles away from me, insist that i am a member of their tribe by birth, and that i must pay them money in order to go about my life without apes with guns around their hips coming and hassling me.
i mean, where do they get off? i was born on this piece of dirt, and now i must pay the so-called "owners" of this piece of dirt, money?! puh-leeze!
i understand where the taxes i pay go. health care, police service, roads, utilities, arms, guns, war, control, .... the thing is, i do not want any of those things. and you know what? i don't think i need any of them either.
i simply do not wish to:
a) be a member of their tribe any more.
b) pay the dues that members of their tribe are forced to pay.
simple, right? well, no, actually. according to them, i have no choice. sounds like slavery to me!
tetra
-
-
-
tetrapod.sapien
the legalization of marijuana is on my mind today.
i find it silly that we think that marijuana is more harmful than alchohol, cars or cigarettes.
i think it's sheer hubris on the part of humans to think that we even have the right to outlaw a plant, or what other humans do with that plant. it's a plant for god's sake!
the propaganda machines, like the DEA, extend their laws and beliefs across their border. now they are extraditing canadian citizens for selling seeds to american growers. they also front money for "research" insitutions that only churn out more propaganda to a public that has the appearance of not being able to decide for themselves. and *that* is exactly what i believe they want.
and did you know that technically marijuana is a psychedelic drug? yes, it is. psychedelic drugs are non addictive. they do more than just alter a person's mind. they help expand it. i feel that making psychedelic drugs illegal is the same as making books illegal, and that it says a lot when a person's government does not want their citizens expanding their minds. it reeks of control to me.
and further still yet, i believe that what people do to their bodies is not something that governmental law has the right to cover. drugs that are illegal remind me of sexual practices that used to be illegal.
and tha's all folks.
tetra
-
8
This video is what's wrong with the whole world
by Morocco indisclaimer: this isn't a racial thing, i am white but i have african-american friends.
this is a human thing.
to me this video speaks volumes about why war and violence exist.
-
-
tetrapod.sapien
community sanctioned child abuse. and so is little league hockey in some cases.
of course, this happens in so many ways, all over the place. youtube is just making some of it available to watch.
and pleasuredome is right on. bleeping the swears out, and showing the idiocy is a good picture of how far some people have their heads up their a$$e$.
tetra