Posts by dgp

55

No atheist in A fox hole.

by jam in

first of all iam a agnostic.

i,am curious, you who are atheist.

what or how do you deal with a life or death situation.

dgp

I think that no one should believe in God only because you were so afraid of death that you wished it were not the end. That belief in God is based on fear, not on faith.

When I was a believer, I received as a present a sonnet, originally in Spanish, whose translation I will share here. I think this is the real behavior a Christian should have. Believer because of the foxhole, no real believer.

If I were God, a Christian who could only do the right thing because he feels he will have a reward would not be better than the atheist who dies thinking there is no tomorrow.

To Christ Crucified

Heaven that you have promised me, my God,
Does not move me to love you.
Nor does hell so dreadful move me
To leave all that offends you.

You move me, Lord. It moves me to see you
Mocked, nailed to that cross.
It moves me to see your body so wounded.
Your dishonour moves me, and your death.

You move me to your love in such a way
That —even if there were no heaven— I would love you;
And —even if there were no hell— I would fear you.

You do not have to give to gain my love;
For —even if what I hope for becomes hopeless—
In the same way I love you, I would love you still.

—Translated by Stacy Shoop, 1996
(reproduced here with permission)

20

Who is more likely to die at Armageddon?

by Terry in

jw
friends

dgp

I am supposed to be walking birdfeed anyways, because I have refused to listen so many times and then I chose not to join despite my receiving a Bible and "What We Really Want You to Believe the Bibles Teaches", so I'm having fun while it lasts.

23

NY Times-- the secret is out, reporters confess that they let politicians edit their stories!

by moshe in

in order to have access to politicians, they agree ahead of time to submit their stories for "editing" before publication!

perhaps the tabloid news media is reporting the facts after all.. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/us/politics/latest-word-on-the-campaign-trail-i-take-it-back.html?_r=1.

latest word on the trail?

dgp

One thing that sets America apart from perhaps any other country - at least, to my knowledge - is the fact that they declassify information after some time. Censorship really happened, but at least later historians can know what really happened

I think this editing is a violation even to that spirit. What kind of national security interest is at stake if you say that Mitt Romney said something stupid? Does he even have formal political power? I don't know, but it is my impression that he doesn't. My impression is that letting your notes be edited by Romney is even worse - in a sense - than letting them be edited by Obama; at least Obama would have real power to squeeze you.

The practice of embedding a journalist means the journalist isn't free to report and is there as a public relations person. In my opinion, we should not deceive ourselves and think otherwise. Can this journalist choose where to go?

It may be interesting to mention that in Mexico sometimes it is the drug barons that get the news first, and then they decide what gets published. I wonder if that also happens elsewhere. I can't think that it's only politicians who do it.

32

Why womenz are dumber than menz

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

the glorious insight of the old farts at bethel :.

why womenz are dumber than menz (and should not be trusted...).

in fact, (unwritten but implied) they should be beaten)!.

dgp

Bookmarked.

23

NY Times-- the secret is out, reporters confess that they let politicians edit their stories!

by moshe in

in order to have access to politicians, they agree ahead of time to submit their stories for "editing" before publication!

perhaps the tabloid news media is reporting the facts after all.. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/us/politics/latest-word-on-the-campaign-trail-i-take-it-back.html?_r=1.

latest word on the trail?

dgp

If I were a public figure and said "The f*ck I will raise taxes", only to raise taxes later, of course I would want to be able to "authorize" people quoting me as "the source".

47

The Story of a Modern Famine - 1984 Ethiopia

by jgnat in

an athiest argument for an uncaring or non-existent god is suffering, say, as in starving children.

i consider this a strawman argument but there you go.. the apologists defence is that humankind has been given all the tools for health and prosperity, and has failed in their duty.

the resultant victims will receive their reward in the afterlife.

dgp

Myelaine:

...this scripture doesn't suggest punishment for disobedience so much as God withdrawing His divine protection and blessing over the land and the people...which, when restored because of an act of the people...results in healing.

It's your opinion and it deserves respect. However, I find that this would suggest that bad things don't happen to good people. And that is not true.

15

I'm coming out...

by loosie in

jw
friends

of anonymous status.

my friends are out so i am ready to reveal who i am inacase anyone here knows me, you can pm me.

my name is luci spencer or you may have known me by luci davenport.

dgp

I congratulate you as well, Ms Luci.

Live happy and free!

47

The Story of a Modern Famine - 1984 Ethiopia

by jgnat in

an athiest argument for an uncaring or non-existent god is suffering, say, as in starving children.

i consider this a strawman argument but there you go.. the apologists defence is that humankind has been given all the tools for health and prosperity, and has failed in their duty.

the resultant victims will receive their reward in the afterlife.

dgp

I think so :-).

After you read the book, it would be interesting to talk about "the Minister of the Pen", or whatever name he is given in English.

47

The Story of a Modern Famine - 1984 Ethiopia

by jgnat in

an athiest argument for an uncaring or non-existent god is suffering, say, as in starving children.

i consider this a strawman argument but there you go.. the apologists defence is that humankind has been given all the tools for health and prosperity, and has failed in their duty.

the resultant victims will receive their reward in the afterlife.

dgp

My opinion is that the results of criminal actions are not proof of the existence or non-existence of God.

Just for the sake of clarity, I don't believe there is a God. The argument would need to be that God sees evil, yet he doesn't do anything about it. It expects God to be some kind of Jupiter Tonans who would send his lightning to punish the disobedient or the evil. I don't buy this, just as I don't think the Lord responds to your prayers.

I think expecting God to act, in one way or another, are the sides of the same coin.

I understand JGNat's general point. But, as an aside, I would say that genocidal Mengistu should be considered the major cause of that famine. Let us not take some of the responsibility away from Mengistu and blame it on God instead (I'm not saying JGNat said that).

The famine was the result of natural causes, first, but, above all, the result of the man-made, entirely avoidable disaster of planned economy. We should not blame God for it even if it existed; it's the "brainchild" of men. Just think of Venezuela, the owner of the largest oil reserves in the world, that is now importing oil products from the United States. Some very stupid things had to happen for Venezuela to become an importer of oil products.

It would have been great if Mengistu had been fulminated by a lightning at that time. But I think human action would be better: he is said to live a luxurious life in Zimbabwe. Mugabe should tell us why he protects that criminal.

You guys would all enjoy Ryszard Kapuscinki's "The Emperor".

( http://www.amazon.com/The-Emperor-Ryszard-Kapuscinski/dp/0679722033/ref=la_B000AQ4HEY_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342996774&sr=1-2 ).

23

NY Times-- the secret is out, reporters confess that they let politicians edit their stories!

by moshe in

in order to have access to politicians, they agree ahead of time to submit their stories for "editing" before publication!

perhaps the tabloid news media is reporting the facts after all.. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/us/politics/latest-word-on-the-campaign-trail-i-take-it-back.html?_r=1.

latest word on the trail?

dgp

My opinion is that it's not only the campaign stuff that gets edited. If the New York Times dared to publish an article on this, it must be a lot worse than they are admitting.

It would be easy to blame only the politicians. I think journalists are the real culprits here. They are supposed to tell us the umcomfortable news, not to become part of anybody's public relations department. By giving in, they betrayed the public's right to know.

In countries that are a lot less free than the United States, similar things happen; but journalists are criticized for that. Often, some media are "banned" from interviewing politicians or public officials on the grounds that they "misinform". Well, at least these journalists cannot be said to have submitted to somebody else's interests.

I think we should also take note that few people want to speak their true minds these days. I think it would be too easy to say it's out of fear of being misunderstood or hurting others. I think it's more a desire to always appear correct and always say the right thing; it doesn't matter if you're telling a lie. Language is the tool to deceive, not the tool to inform.

Personally, I prefer the blunt person to the euphemistic one.

As to debates, in Latin America that happens all the time. One has to look at what they don't say, not what they say. You know they have it rehearsed.