Posts by hillary

17

Catie Couric falls on her smug ass...yay!

by Gregor in

that's all.

hillary_step

lol....

Gregor,

A number of years ago I was at a party in NY and was speaking with George Maharis, an ancient now forgotten actor, and this diminutive woman kept interrupting the conversation, literally cutting across the both of us with inane chatter ( I think the 'champers' had got the better of her). I glared at the top of her head a few times but it made little difference. I excused myself (nothing more boring than a drunk) leaving poor sod George to deal with her and sidled over to my wife who had seen the goings on. She said, "That is Katie Couric". I replied, "Who the Hell is Katie Couric?".

When I first read your post I thought, "Who the Hell Is Katie Couric?".

As you can tell, I am a slow learner, but thanks for the memory...lol

HS

6

Scientists discover fossil snake with two legs

by betterdaze in

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7339508.stm .

ancient serpent shows its leg .

by jonathan amos .

hillary_step

Nathan,

Anyone want to start a pool on how long it will before before Lebanon begins accusing Israel of stealing the other legs?

About as long as it takes a Creationist 'scientist' to suggest that both legs are on one side of the body, the other two are missing, and that this was actually Noah's cat who lost his fur due to a vitamin deficiency that stems from a lack of faith. HS

10

All You Need To Know About Life But Were Too Scared To Ask

by hillary_step in

jw
friends

here is a view of modern life, consumerism gone wild, cancer by the bucket, an avalanche of oil and goodbye, i am dead.

all you need to know about life on one screen.

http://www.chippynews.com/worldclock.htm.

hillary_step

Here is a view of modern life, consumerism gone wild, cancer by the bucket, an avalanche of oil and goodbye, I am dead. All you need to know about life on one screen. ;)

http://www.chippynews.com/worldclock.htm

The only thing missing is the growth of Minimus questions.

HS

384

A STUNNINGLY simple question about JOHN 3:16 "For God so Loved the world."

by Terry in

on what basis did god so love the world?.

the world of mankind had been condemned to death by god's curse in eden!.

god viewed mankind as "dust on the scales".

hillary_step

FiFi,

You make a mockery of what a christian is supposed to be with your unsupported accusation. You know nothing of this man and yet you stand as his judge. And yet the very book you use to support your beliefs condemns a man for doing this. Who really is displaying the characteristics of a hypocrite here?

lol....You are getting very good at this.

It has always been fascinating to see just what drives religious people from the reasonable to the Perry. In my experience, the more insecure the person is, the more strident and virulent their beliefs. There are many reasonable Christians on this Board who are about as distant from Perry's idea of a Christian as one can imagine. Of course, Perry in his deluded insecurity would no doubt not view them as 'true' Christians.

God has spoken to him, what more is there left to say but see "See the Perry, who takes away the sin of the Terry".

HS

17

Understanding.

by Narkissos in

jw
friends

i was thinking that understanding -- in the sense of self-, community- or world-understanding -- might be the main stuff people are looking for, and willing to buy, in religion and philosophy.

even before hope, comfort, practical help or the sense of belonging.

a "vision" (in greek theoria) that "makes sense" of "reality" as it is perceived and construed.. it seems to me that such understanding (or intelligibility) has little to do with "truth".

hillary_step

Narkissos,

I have no idea why this thread put me in mind of John Donne, but then I warned you that I think with my heart. ;)

HS

G O and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the devil's foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy's stinging,
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.

If thou be'st born to strange sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand days and nights,
Till age snow white hairs on thee,
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me,
All strange wonders that befell thee,
And swear,
No where
Lives a woman true and fair.

If thou find'st one, let me know,
Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we might meet,
Though she were true, when you met her,
And last, till you write your letter,
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two, or three.

17

Understanding.

by Narkissos in

jw
friends

i was thinking that understanding -- in the sense of self-, community- or world-understanding -- might be the main stuff people are looking for, and willing to buy, in religion and philosophy.

even before hope, comfort, practical help or the sense of belonging.

a "vision" (in greek theoria) that "makes sense" of "reality" as it is perceived and construed.. it seems to me that such understanding (or intelligibility) has little to do with "truth".

hillary_step

Narkissos,

Where I think Plato was right (after all) is in his basic intuition of the "intelligible" as form (idea): "understanding," I believe, is all about re-cognising recurrent patterns in the ongoing flow of phenomena -- from the shape of waves and mountains to melodic themes, harmonic configurations and rhythmic sequences in music. Without such recognition we are mentally lost, and literally speechless, whereas the mere identical repetition of known and expected forms would leave us bored and unsatisfied. We wouldn't be conscious of change weren't it for the unchanged -- even though what we construe as "unchanged" may just be changing at a different pace, or tempo.

In this sense our 'understanding' is based on an interpretation of the flow of knowledge, not neccessarily the reality. Where some see a poetic cradle for piled up clouds, other see rock and minerals. Inside the tangible world, with all its connotations as you note above, this imperative provides an impetus for living and the prime cause. My issue is that nothing in the universe is ever unchanged. Everything has a fuse of finite within it, and nothing stands still. Hence 'understanding' will always be changing or be left behind. This is what fascinates me about life, and why mortality is rather attractive in some ways.

Henry Miller once wrote that he thought the world of humankind divided itself neatly into two schools, those who think with their heart and those who think with their heads. I seldom use my head, hence my past struggles for a need to understand all, and a need to understand the mystery in an intagible world that I noted in my first post.

I know that in my mid fifties my time is short, in geologic time almost non-existant. Should I live another ten healthy years, that is 120 months. These days I try to focus not on understanding whether the intagible exists but whether what is tangible actually exists. ;)

HS

384

A STUNNINGLY simple question about JOHN 3:16 "For God so Loved the world."

by Terry in

on what basis did god so love the world?.

the world of mankind had been condemned to death by god's curse in eden!.

god viewed mankind as "dust on the scales".

hillary_step

Terry,

What made Perry so lovable to God that a much better person (Jesus) got beaten up, tortured and killed in your place? How can you be happy about that?

...and what of the 'many called but few chosen' fiasco.

Why has Perry been called and chosen and others not? Because he is more intelligent than most? Obviously not. Because he has a bigger heart than others. Definately not. Because he is more deluded than most. Ahh....that argument might have legs.

HS

17

Understanding.

by Narkissos in

jw
friends

i was thinking that understanding -- in the sense of self-, community- or world-understanding -- might be the main stuff people are looking for, and willing to buy, in religion and philosophy.

even before hope, comfort, practical help or the sense of belonging.

a "vision" (in greek theoria) that "makes sense" of "reality" as it is perceived and construed.. it seems to me that such understanding (or intelligibility) has little to do with "truth".

hillary_step

Burn,

The one thing that I can guarantee is that you will die and disappear from this world no closer to 'understanding' than you were when you arrived. It is the human condition. Millions of people, many better minds than our own, have strived after this particular wind.

I am pragmatic and no longer waste life hoping for an understanding to emerge from my mental tussles, especially when there is a good Scotch and Miles Davis on the rack. That is what happens when you hit your fifties, you are reading your future....lol

HS

17

Understanding.

by Narkissos in

jw
friends

i was thinking that understanding -- in the sense of self-, community- or world-understanding -- might be the main stuff people are looking for, and willing to buy, in religion and philosophy.

even before hope, comfort, practical help or the sense of belonging.

a "vision" (in greek theoria) that "makes sense" of "reality" as it is perceived and construed.. it seems to me that such understanding (or intelligibility) has little to do with "truth".

hillary_step

Narkissos,

A thought provoking post, as ever.

Understanding? Well, there is a mystery at the root of all existence that philosophies, religions and in some ways our modes of life unsucessfully seek to grasp. A certain sense of security comes from gaining an understanding of world around us and that sense of security is reflected in our belief system. the ancients viewed the tsunami that wiped out their villages as God in a bad mood. We know the mechanics behind the tsunami, and learn to cope without giving flesh to our insecurities. I have found that the more insecure a person is, the more vigorous and strident they become in their beliefs. I think even in our JW lives, as we looked around our congregations we could see this principle enacted continously.

We will all pass from view quickly enough and become part of this planet entombed in rock, our bones melded and hardened by time as have the millions before us. The best we can hope for is that in tens of thousands of years time we will be stood upon by more graceful feet and in a more gentle time than our own, warmed as we will be by the furnace of melted rock that thumps away at the heart of our planet. I find a sense of understanding and even peace acknowledging this reality. Most of my own personal insecurities, and indeed my need for understanding died with my religion.

HS

384

A STUNNINGLY simple question about JOHN 3:16 "For God so Loved the world."

by Terry in

on what basis did god so love the world?.

the world of mankind had been condemned to death by god's curse in eden!.

god viewed mankind as "dust on the scales".

hillary_step

Perry,

Hillary! Mr. Sunshine himself.

Ad hominem

Do you miss those committee meetings you held when you were an elder where you could control people? You won't find that environment here bubba.

Ad hominem, though I have to admit that the ramblings of a religiously fundamentalist loonie trying hard to convince athiests and critical thinkers that they are missing the unhealthy religious life that they left behind and in which you are still imprisoned, is ironic to say the least. In your deluded mind, where questions that have no basis in philosophical reality take root, you actually think that they give you some sort of moral superiority over others. You are far closer to the sentiment that you express above than I have ever been Perry, not that I would ever expect you to understand how, just as I would not expect a JW elder in full flight to understand any criticism of his religion.

Would you care to answer a stunningly simple question that many have been contemplating?

It seems strange that you would demand answers to one of your own questions, inane as it is, be answered , when other much more valuable and pertinent questions posed to your good self are repeatedly ignored. Why are we not suprised.

Terry has eaten you for breakfast Perry, one day you might understand just how.

Why would a man who loves fishing, go fishing?

To get away from your foolish, inane and philosophically naieve questions?

The answer isn't what many think.

As if you would have clue what you are talking about Perry. Your mind is a jumble of shrapnel trying to unite itself back into a bomb that even when united, only blows off your own foot.....again ;)

HS

hillary_step

Posts by hillary_step