Hi Gumby,
How have ya been bud?
And here I was startin to think you was a smart bastard!
Donkeys aren't too smart - surely you know that?
Mule
Posts by donkey
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4On Not Mourning the Pope - Thoughts over the grave of John Paul II
by donkey init seems only a year or so since every talk-show host and pundit in the country was telling us that ronald reagan had personally demolished communism in eastern europe.
now we come to the end of an entire week when the mass media behaved as if we all lived in a catholic country and were united in mourning the dear leader, in which this historic achievement of freedom was credited to "the polish pope.
" that isn't necessarily a contradiction: the two men might possibly have shared the work.
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donkey
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4
On Not Mourning the Pope - Thoughts over the grave of John Paul II
by donkey init seems only a year or so since every talk-show host and pundit in the country was telling us that ronald reagan had personally demolished communism in eastern europe.
now we come to the end of an entire week when the mass media behaved as if we all lived in a catholic country and were united in mourning the dear leader, in which this historic achievement of freedom was credited to "the polish pope.
" that isn't necessarily a contradiction: the two men might possibly have shared the work.
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donkey
It seems only a year or so since every talk-show host and pundit in the country was telling us that Ronald Reagan had personally demolished communism in Eastern Europe. Now we come to the end of an entire week when the mass media behaved as if we all lived in a Catholic country and were united in mourning the Dear Leader, in which this historic achievement of freedom was credited to "the Polish Pope." That isn't necessarily a contradiction: The two men might possibly have shared the work. And it's perhaps thinkable, though not apparently mentionable, that the Polish workers and Warsaw's dissident intellectuals might have had some part in the victory. I can even remember visiting one or two of the latter, such as Jacek Kuron and Adam Michnik, who operated in a mainly secular and partly Jewish milieu, and who thought of Cardinal Glemp of Warsaw as one of their main enemies. But I'll have to postpone this reflection to another time, when we are less servile and less saturated with the notion of deliverance from on high.
What strikes one now is the similarity between the predicament of the Vatican and the predicament of the Kremlin about 45 years ago. Between the death of Stalin and the end of Khrushchev, the crucial question was: How much heresy and revisionism and autonomy can be permitted, without endangering the entire ideology of the regime? We know now how that issue was decided in the material world. Is the supposedly spiritual world immune from similar strains?
Without, it seems, quite noticing what they are saying, the partisans of the late pope have been praising him for his many apologies. He apologized to the Jewish people for the Vatican's glacial coldness during the Final Solution, and for historic filiations between the church and anti-Semitism. He apologized to the Eastern Orthodox Christians, and to the Muslims, for the appalling damage done to civilization by papal advocacy of the Crusades, and by forced conversion and massacre in the Balkans during the church's open alliance with fascism during World War II. He apologized to the world of science and reason by admitting that Galileo should not have been condemned by the Inquisition. These are not small climb-downs, and they do not apply just to the past. They are and were admissions that the Roman Catholic Church has been responsible for the retarding of human development on a colossal scale.
However, "be not afraid." The God-given right of the papacy to make and enforce absolute judgments is not at all at stake. Popes may have been wrong on everything, but they were right in general. By the time the church apologizes for saying that condoms are worse than AIDS, or admits that it was complicit at best in the mass murder in Rwanda, another few generations will have died out. This is almost exactly the sort of stuff with which Communists and their fellow travelers once had to content themselves. There had indeed been "spots on Stalin's sun," as one hack so prettily phrased it. But the leading role of the party was still a sure thing.
Sensing, perhaps, that so many admissions and confessions might sow doubt and unease, Pope John Paul threw himself into the sort of reinforcement that unifies and heartens the flock, or the base. The special sign of this was the mass production of saints and the removal of all obstacles to near-instant canonization and beatification. This is especially handy for beefing up the faith in outlying regions, where a local hero is considered good for morale. Alas for those who value consistency, some of those canonized were at odds with the larger purpose served by the famous apologies. Cardinal Stepinac of Croatia, for example, had been a clerical ally of the Nazi puppet regime of Ante Pavelic, and had known full well of the vile treatment of Orthodox Christians and Jews under this dispensation. Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer, the creepy founder of Opus Dei, was celebrated for his closeness to Gen. Franco. To make saints of such riffraff is the most obvious form of opportunism.
Seeking to cloud a difficult situation with even more of the fragrance of obscurantism, the pope also resorted to an almost wholesale appropriation of the cult of the Virgin. He openly announced that the bullet that hit him was prevented from taking his life not because of the skill of his physicians, but because its trajectory had been guided by Our Lady. She let the assassin fire and hit, in other words, and only then took action. (This reminds me of Bertrand Russell's comment on the practice of placing covers on the baths in convents so as to avoid offending the sight of God. The creator can see through the roof of the convent, and down into the bathrooms in the basement, but is hopelessly baffled by a sheet of canvas.) Sites such as Fatima, which had been frowned upon by serious Catholics for some years, became objects of adoration and pilgrimage and hysteria. The veneration of the Virgin, and the endlessly repeated mantra of "Totus Tuus" ("Everything for Thee") seemed to many veteran believers to depose Jesus in favor of a Marian idolatry, and even to violate the commandment against graven images.
Finally, if the pope is to have so much credit for the liberation of Eastern Europe, he ought to accept his responsibility for the enslavement of the Middle East. He not only opposed the removal of Saddam Hussein in 2003, but the use of force to get him out of Kuwait in 1991. I have never read any deployment of Augustinian argument, in the latter case, that would not qualify it as a just war. Moreover, the pope made a visit to Damascus not long ago, and sat quietly outside the Grand Mosque while the Assad regime greeted him as one who understood that Muslims and Catholics had a common enemy?in the Jews who had killed Christ. (That he may already have been senescent at this point is not an answer: It is a problem, though, for those who believe that he was Christ's vicar on earth.)
Unbelievers are more merciful and understanding than believers, as well as more rational. We do not believe that the pope will face judgment or eternal punishment for the millions who will die needlessly from AIDS, or for his excusing and sheltering of those who committed the unpardonable sin of raping and torturing children, or for the countless people whose sex lives have been ruined by guilt and shame and who are taught to respect the body only when it is a lifeless cadaver like that of Terri Schiavo. For us, this day is only the interment of an elderly and querulous celibate, who came too late and who stayed too long, and whose primitive ideology did not permit him the true self-criticism that could have saved him, and others less innocent, from so many errors and crimes.
Christopher Hitchens - a nasty Englishman wrote this last Friday.
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Evidence for evolution, Installment 3a: Mitochondrial DNA and Neandertals
by seattleniceguy inokay, everyone, buckle your seatbelts and put on your thinking caps.
in this week's installment in my continuing series, we'll be examining two (count 'em!
) pieces of the evidence and how they relate to each other.. you can check out my previous articles here:.
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donkey
SNG,
Nice presentation. I have made some similar ones in the past. You should also check into Male-Chromosonal Adam so as not to be accused of being sexist!!!
At any rate the really cool piece thing about both ME (Mito. Eve) and YCA (Y-Chromosonal Adam) are the implications against the need for Jesus to redeem us from Adamic sin. The whole concept of Jesus being a ransom to redeem mankind from adamic sin is kapooof when one considers the strong science of ME and YCA. No chrsitian can argue successfully against it without compromising his/her own biblical beliefs or without admitting she/he does not accept the bliblical accounts. This then becomes massively faith destroying to a literal believer IF THEY THINK ABOUT IT.
BTW: YCA has to be traced back to Noah (4.300) years ago according to bliblical chronology vs YCA existing at least 60,000 years ago. This is the best the bible sloths can do as ME is a 175.000-250,000 year duration and that one is brought under dispute because some Danish scientists found some man who they claim had mTDna inhertited from his paternal line and of course every chrisitan crackpot hangs onto that when they discover it.
Donkey
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21
Hello to old friends
by donkey ini don't come to the boards much any more but was reading today and wanted to say hi to all from the past and convey my best wishes to you all.
i miss many of you - especially some of those to whom i was close.
i have been a loner for the past year and have hardly been in contact with anyone from the xjw community.
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donkey
Thanks Tales and Sunspot,
I only stopped in to say "Hi" and I don't think I have any intentions of posting regularly for certain reasons (same applies to all xJW sites) and I also don't want to offend others here with my views and opinions as it is pointless debating with people if they have parochial views since no one will benefit from the exchanges and it just builds frustration and resentment for many.
I think one of the things that helped me to move on was when I hurt someone whom I cared about on the boards and I just don't want to hurt any more people by letting them get close to me either. I still care for that person and also for some others a great deal but on the whole they are much better off without me because I cannot give them what they deserve.
Regards,
Donkey -
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Hello to old friends
by donkey ini don't come to the boards much any more but was reading today and wanted to say hi to all from the past and convey my best wishes to you all.
i miss many of you - especially some of those to whom i was close.
i have been a loner for the past year and have hardly been in contact with anyone from the xjw community.
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donkey
Gumby - you too can find happiness if you are conscious of your spiritual needs (Matt 5:3)!! LOLOL
Tales - thanks. I hope you are doing good too.
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Hello to old friends
by donkey ini don't come to the boards much any more but was reading today and wanted to say hi to all from the past and convey my best wishes to you all.
i miss many of you - especially some of those to whom i was close.
i have been a loner for the past year and have hardly been in contact with anyone from the xjw community.
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donkey
Hi and it's nice to "see" you guys..
Orange and Ona (I grouped the O's together) - yes much water has flowed under the bridge and I hope the bridge is as sturdy as ever and you are both doing great. Thanks for thinking of me.
Brummie - I have not ever had an xJW forum. I have hosted some other forums but they are related to secular matters and none are currently active as I decided to spend my time on behavioral finance and have been engrossed in this for some time now. BTW this is why I have been a loner for a while now as the only way I am currently able to find fulfillment involves non JW/xJW interests and my circumstances mean I have few friends in real life.
seeit - thanks for the IM on the other site. We have not engaged in much conversation but you have always been wonderfully nice to me.
Flyinghigh, no I am not a recluse. I just have difficult family circumstances and trying to fit into the xJW community is next to impossible for me. Perhaps this is why I went from being my true self to being a "hostile" participant on the boards as it was self serving destruction and I needed to break away from the xJW community or otherwise I would have to break away from my family. I currently co-exist with my family but share no part dubdom whatsoever (I am further away from the cult than ever before in my life). At any rate it's good to see you and I hope all is well with you.
((((Wildhorses and Myself and OutnFree))))) - wow you are 3 of the original people I knew here. How have you all been doing? I hope each of you are doing well. Please send me a message if you want my email address and I would be happy to stay in touch.
Donkey
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Hello to old friends
by donkey ini don't come to the boards much any more but was reading today and wanted to say hi to all from the past and convey my best wishes to you all.
i miss many of you - especially some of those to whom i was close.
i have been a loner for the past year and have hardly been in contact with anyone from the xjw community.
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donkey
Trust me to pick April 1 to say Hi...it never dawned on me until I read a thread by Sassy!!
Hi KLS and JH. It seems as if many of those I knew here have moved on, but it's nice to see folks like you guys keeping the boards going :)
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Hello to old friends
by donkey ini don't come to the boards much any more but was reading today and wanted to say hi to all from the past and convey my best wishes to you all.
i miss many of you - especially some of those to whom i was close.
i have been a loner for the past year and have hardly been in contact with anyone from the xjw community.
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donkey
I don't come to the boards much any more but was reading today and wanted to say hi to all from the past and convey my best wishes to you all. I miss many of you - especially some of those to whom I was close. I have been a loner for the past year and have hardly been in contact with anyone from the xJW community.
Regards,
Donkey -
29
Imprisonment without charge ... ever justified?
by Simon inis this ever a good thing?
even if people imagine that its justifiable does it ever have the intended effect?
experienced officers from northern ireland describe the internment without trial there as the biggest recruiting sargeant for the republican movement and a big mistake by the uk government.
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donkey
Set all US detainees free in Manchester England NOW!!!
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DNA - belief destuction
by donkey inthe single largest reason to decimate my belief in jw?s and all biblical faith occurred when i discovered some facts about our cells.
specifically a part of the cell called mitochondria.
mitochondria are sometimes described as "cellular power plants" because their primary purpose is to manufacture adenosine triphosphate (atp), which is used as a source of energy that the cell uses.. as humans one inherits one?s mitochondria only from one's mother, this finding implies that all living humans have a female line of descent from a woman whom researchers have dubbed mitochondrial eve.
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donkey
I believe God gives everyone who is willing to believe in Him and who is truly seeking Him all the evidence they need to put their faith in Him. If you are such a person, and you have not yet found such evidence, I believe you will
How can i seek that which I don't know exists? What EVIDENCE does he give?
Please say its not stuff like: "I was going to walk under the tree but I felt an urge to turn around. The tree fell down at that instant. If i had continue walking I would have been killed. That is REAL evidence".
That is the typical evidence we are given by believers in christianity and junk like Tarot an the occult. "My card said I had a brother who was sick, it was my cousin Peter but we were as close as brothers - see Tarot works!!"