Wise words. Many people here have paid a high price to win freedom of speech.
Not having a position to defend is the ultimate freedom.
Enjoy your Christmas Shelby.
Peace…
THE GLADIATOR
JoinedPosts by THE GLADIATOR
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20
Right or Wrong... Isn't it Wonderful...
by AGuest into even be able to have an opinion, belief, thought, position, perception... including one(s) that might differ from others'... and to state it?
while that may not be complete freedom... it's darn close, imho.... just sayin'.... peace to you all!.
a slave of christ,.
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37
They all look alike now.
by AK - Jeff infunny the way our minds unwind and refocus after leaving a high control religion.. when i first left the jdubs i saw them more closely to what the entire world sees them i suppose, but not truly clearly at those early stages.
they still looked to me to be 'good people' but misguided.
as time went on, though the misguided feature remained, the 'good people' supposition faded.
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THE GLADIATOR
AK - Jeff “If we see a nation conduct a lottery, but there is never a winner, then why would we continue to wager for the chance we might be the first winner someday? ”
Thanks for your reply, I would have replied sooner but have been busy solving the global funding crisis. This is a logical conclusion but what if there is no reward for any one and we just seek to know if there is any meaning to our limited existence? Or perhaps we are just curious to know if there is a part of the equation that we as humans have missed.
I have no answers. All I know for certain is that I shall live until I die. I say shall and not will because this is not my will. Leaving a top floor window open is not the same as jumping out of it, which would be an act of faith.
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They all look alike now.
by AK - Jeff infunny the way our minds unwind and refocus after leaving a high control religion.. when i first left the jdubs i saw them more closely to what the entire world sees them i suppose, but not truly clearly at those early stages.
they still looked to me to be 'good people' but misguided.
as time went on, though the misguided feature remained, the 'good people' supposition faded.
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THE GLADIATOR
AK - Jeff “It is not 'good people' who stand by praying to an imaginary god while allowing a child to bleed to death …”
This is true. Of course what is ‘good’ among humans is often subjective. Cognitive dissidence causes otherwise ‘good’ people to behave in bizarre ways believing that they are acting in the long term interests of another.
When religion or belief in God causes people to act in a harmful way there is ‘good’ reason to be alarmed. On the other hand belief in God is not in itself harmful. What matters is how believers think their God wants them to act. If they seek to emulate a God of true love and kindness then there can be positive results. If they seek to emulate an evil God the reverse is true.
It is sometimes wise to judge people on how they act and allow the reason for their actions to remain their own business. I expect people to treat me in a fair and reasonable way. They can do this because they respect me, love me, fear me or hope to get something from me. Or because they respect God, love God, fear God or hope to get something from God. It matters not. Only their actions are of importance in my logical world.
AK - Jeff “It is good to know that there is no god, no sin, no hell, no heaven. Imagine the time when all will know this, it's easy if you try.”
This is true for you but many people prefer to live with a belief that these things exist. Personally I prefer not to know what is responsible for the force that has resulted in life on earth and concentrate on getting the most out of my short life by living in the moment. I could well be a cl oset atheist but I am not in a hurry to yank the door off. To me ignorance is bliss!
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Religious People Live Longer
by mankkeli inregular involvement in religious activities goes hand in hand with better physical health and a longer life, according to a statistical analysis of 42 independent studies published since 1977 that have addressed this issue, states science news.
religious involvement, especially the public type, showed a statistically significant relationship to higher survival rates, the scientists say.
several reasons have been proposed for the findingsthe shunning of risky behaviors, marital stability, less depression associated with matters beyond direct control, greater social contacts, and positive emotions and attitudes.
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THE GLADIATOR
‘It’s not the destination but the glory of the ride.’
‘I only know that I shall live until I die.’
Sometimes corny clichés tell it like it is.
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Man-oh-man-oh-MAN... I am SO ready...
by AGuest into get back to work (peace to you all!).
yeah, yeah, i'm sure a couple/few of you here are ready for me to go back, too (lololol!).
kim kardashian's and company's just gonna have to forgive me... but my brain is about to go bonkers.
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THE GLADIATOR
AGuest "Walking the puppies is fine (and I will miss that!) "
Too much information!
Anyhow, glad you are getting back to normal and are free of pain.
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The REAL atheist meaning of life . . .
by nicolaou inthere isn't one and that's a really good thing.
let me illustrate;.
you are an artist, you pick up a new canvas and place it on your easel.
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THE GLADIATOR
Life is not a blank canvas. It is a living canvass, which although we paint on, we are part of the canvass, part of the picture. We are both the artist and the painting. There is no final result because it is a living canvass.
We will not see the final painting because there is no final canvass. The painting goes on and artists keep appearing. We are one and the same.
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Do you hate God
by Star tiger ini beginning to think that this would be a good way of thinking, a totally righteous being would not let all the shit that is happenning to people prevail, this being cannot have the best interests of man as his first priority, it's all about ego and no matter how the human familty suffers, he hates pretty much everyone, as the tv show says, your fired, let's get a better god, one who at least gives everyone a chance!!.
i welcome comments from god apologists, to at least have an argument as to why they put they're faith in someone that does'nt give a shit about them!.
star tiger.
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THE GLADIATOR
Life's too short to waste time hating someone in a high place who leaves us alone.
Besides, at times I have found it more useful to have friends in low places.
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Why Women Are Treated Second Class In This Organization?
by AvocadoJake inthe best bible scholars have been women in my realm of this religious world.
the women study their husbands watchtowers, prepare the parts, write their talks, put their ties on, get the shave cream out of their ears.
it must be hard and you must have the patiences of job, to be able to listen to, the many arrogant men and how you will (if you are a female annointed.
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THE GLADIATOR
The Watchtower Society has based its structure on the old testament patriarchal system. This second class position for women is repeated by Saint Paul and has been perpetuated by fundamentalist Christians. The bible is all about heavenly kings, priests, father and son duos. Heaven is an all male club. Even female members of the annointed class become male when they get to heaven.
Mind you Muslims loyal to the Koran have an even worse view of woman. Allah and Jehovah were not enlightened gods. Probably the result of poor parenting!
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Is it God, the Bible or just the Dubs?
by Slidin Fast in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:revision>0</o:revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:totaltime> <o:pages>1</o:pages> <o:words>181</o:words> <o:characters>850</o:characters> <o:company>shu</o:company> <o:lines>19</o:lines> <o:paragraphs>7</o:paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>1024</o:characterswithspaces> <o:version>14.0</o:version> </o:documentproperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><!
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[endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]startfragment.
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THE GLADIATOR
startingover " I personally base my beliefs on reality no matter where it takes me."
To do that takes integrity and courage.
To be a seeker of truth regardless of where it leads, is the road less travelled.
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Is it God, the Bible or just the Dubs?
by Slidin Fast in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:revision>0</o:revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:totaltime> <o:pages>1</o:pages> <o:words>181</o:words> <o:characters>850</o:characters> <o:company>shu</o:company> <o:lines>19</o:lines> <o:paragraphs>7</o:paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>1024</o:characterswithspaces> <o:version>14.0</o:version> </o:documentproperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><!
[endif][if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves /> <w:trackformatting /> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:donotpromoteqf /> <w:lidthemeother>en-gb</w:lidthemeother> <w:lidthemeasian>ja</w:lidthemeasian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>x-none</w:lidthemecomplexscript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark /> <w:enableopentypekerning /> <w:dontflipmirrorindents /> <w:overridetablestylehps /> <w:usefelayout /> </w:compatibility> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont m:val="cambria math" /> <m:brkbin m:val="before" /> <m:brkbinsub m:val="--" /> <m:smallfrac m:val="off" /> <m:dispdef /> <m:lmargin m:val="0" /> <m:rmargin m:val="0" /> <m:defjc m:val="centergroup" /> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440" /> <m:intlim m:val="subsup" /> <m:narylim m:val="undovr" /> </m:mathpr></w:worddocument> </xml><!
[endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]startfragment.
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THE GLADIATOR
Tammy Qcmbr's Suggestion to solve your x factor problem is good.
An easier way may be to type using Microsoft Word. Go to Tools Auto Correct options. Paste in your missing X and set the computer to type X whenever you press #. Some other programmes also have an auto correct option.