Posts by CyrusThePersian

10

The Subtle, Lethal Poison of Religion

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

the subtle, lethal poison of religion.

on sunday the new york times reported on the recrudescence of "faith-based" teaching in russian public schools:.

a teacher named irina donshina set aside her textbooks, strode before her second-graders and, as if speaking from a pulpit, posed a simple question: .

CyrusThePersian

Religion may have at one time had a purpose, as a kind of "glue" to hold societies and cultures together, but today that is no longer relevant.

Today religion merely poisons peoples' minds to different cultures. In the past that was OK to some extent because of great distances between peoples. Today however, xenophobia as fostered by religion simply is no longer tolerable in a global society. This can be plainly seen in the hostile stance between Muslim and Christian fundamentalists.

Christopher Hitchens is right, (even if his writing style may come across as a little bombastic) Religion has seen its usefulness come to an end. The sooner we as a society can shuck off this anachronism the better.

CyrusThePersian

47

post the OT scripture that you find most disturbing.

by oompa in

i am too tired to find mine right now, but it involves men laying in wait to attack and rape sisters going to dance at a circuit assembly.

i think the purpose was to find even more wives for the tribe of benjamin.

great plan god.. ot stuff always weirded me out more than nt stuff, until i found out we have a totally fraudulant nt version, compete with the name jehovah spuriously inserted 237 times, along with many other spurious verses.

CyrusThePersian

Those are some good ones. Here is mine:

"...there were small boys that came out from the city and began to jeer him and that kept saying to him: 'Go up you bald head! Go up you baldhead!' Finally he turned behind him and saw them and called down evil upon them in the name of Jehovah. Then two she-bears came out from the woods and went tearing to pieces forty-two children of their number."- 2 Kings 2: 23, 24

Such a loving and merciful God! Let us worship and adore him!...before he barbeques our a$$

CyrusThePersian

21

The State of the US Dollar

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

is this the wile e. coyote moment?lots of buzz suddenly about the possibility of a sharp fall in the dollar.

the canadian dollar is back at parity with the greenback; there are rumors that the saudis are planning to diversify into euros, and maybe even that the chinese might break the dollar peg.

a nice summary at barry ritholtzs blog the big picture.. i could say that i saw this coming; the problem is that ive been seeing it coming for several years, and it keeps not arriving (and i dont know if this is really it, even now.

CyrusThePersian

Even though it seems ironic to us poor yokels, haven't you noticed how U.S. industrial big shots seem to jump for joy at the prospect of a weak dollar? Not only are their goods cheaper and therefore easier to sell in foreign markets, but foreign goods are more expensive in U.S. markets-a win-win situation! (for them not for us, for us it means higher prices for foreign made stuff that's not made in the U.S., like computers and other electronics, clothing items and other goods.)

The key is whether the fluctuation is long term or not.

CyrusThePersian

21

The State of the US Dollar

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

is this the wile e. coyote moment?lots of buzz suddenly about the possibility of a sharp fall in the dollar.

the canadian dollar is back at parity with the greenback; there are rumors that the saudis are planning to diversify into euros, and maybe even that the chinese might break the dollar peg.

a nice summary at barry ritholtzs blog the big picture.. i could say that i saw this coming; the problem is that ive been seeing it coming for several years, and it keeps not arriving (and i dont know if this is really it, even now.

CyrusThePersian

A short term, slightly weakened U.S. dollar could actually be good for the economy because U.S. made industrial goods will be cheaper in foreign markets (think American cars being cheaper in Germany than German cars) so you could see an upsurge in American industrial output.

In the long term though, a weak dollar could scare off foreign investment, which American industry is dependent on. So I don't think the issue is so much a weak dollar as it is how long it remains weak and how weak it gets.

CyrusThePersian

31

How many of you have food stored in case of an emergency??

by Lady Liberty in

jw
friends

good evening everyone,.

another topic here made me think of the mormons who are counseled to have a years worth of food on hand in the event of an emergency.

food, water, money and gas are all things suggested to save.

CyrusThePersian

Just a quick question.

Has there ever been a documented case of anyone having saved their lives by having a huge stockpile of groceries in a disaster?

...or actually needing a year's worth of supplies stuffed under their beds?

CyrusThePersian

16

Roller's back in town!

by RollerDave in

jw
friends

the beer's not cold yet, and here i am typing away.. this is a long one, but if you like my stories, that's good.

if you don't, there's always that 'back button'.

it's not too late to escape.... lol.

CyrusThePersian

It sounds like you had a good time. From your description, you had a normal holiday-some good, some bad, some just plain weird! (Photos of toilets?)

Incidently, the geodesic dome was invented by R. Buckminster Fuller, a man I got to meet very breifly back in the seventies when he was touring college campuses. The main thing I remember about him was his glasses, which I swear were a half inch thick! Along with the geodesic dome, he invented the concept of prefabricated permanent housing and came up with the concept of the minivan back in the thirties!

CyrusThePersian

51

Prove to me Jesus existed...............

by passive suicide in

jw
friends

here's a thought guys......prove that jesus existed at all..using anything besides the bible....or the writings of josephus (which have been proven tampered with by the early christian church).

you are all arguing a moot point...not only has the 'organization' been deceiving you.....but the bible itself is a made up, bit of pap, used to enslave man to his own dismay....prove me wrong.

use historical accuracy.....i'm waiting......

CyrusThePersian

Hi

Even though I'm an atheist, I subscribe to the possibility that there may have been a real person, possibly an itinerate Jewish preacher who lived in the time of Tiberius Ceasar, at the core of the Jesus mythos.

The evidence (not PROOF mind you) is in the scriptures themselves. There are events in Jesus' life that are difficult to explain, but the gospel writers have a go at it anyway. I'll give you two:

JESUS' BAPTISM

Why was the almighty son of God baptised by John the Baptist?? This baptism was for the confession and washing away of sins. (Matt. 3:5)Why would Jesus, the perfect son of God, need such a service? Explanation: the real Jesus may have been at one time a disciple of John the Baptist. After John's imprisonment, Jesus struck out on his own and aquired his own disciples. Some of these probably knew of his status as a disciple of John and so a convoluted explanation had to be thought up to explain his baptism.

JESUS' EXECUTION

Why was the son of God humiliated and executed as a common criminal? This one was a toughie. They finally came up with the idea that it was necessary for Jesus to die, mostly using Isaiah's"Suffering Servant" analogy (which by the way had nothing to do with Jesus, but was about the nation of Isreal).

Anyway, here's two, there are others. When I get back from work, I'll post some others.

CyrusThePersian

15

Letter To My Parents - Please Offer Critique! Thanks!

by deaconbluez in

jw
friends

dear mom & dad,.

heres the stuff that i said i would send concerning the 587/607bce issue, as well as some other stuff that you requested dad.

the archeological/astronomical stuff is probably going to come across as very boring, but it is truly a help in settling the 587/607bce issue.

CyrusThePersian

Unlike most of the people here that commented, I like your letter. Then again, though, I'm a detail guy. As to whether you should shorten it, it depends on your parents. Are they the types that like to delve into deep research, or do they just skim the top?

If they like to crack the books and do research, leave your letter alone. If they're skimmers, you might want to shorten it along the lines of Alleymom's brilliant K.I.S.S.approach, which uses nothing but the society's own publications to disprove 607 BCE as the date of Jerusalem's fall.

CyrusThePersian

89

Describe In 1 Word How You Now Feel About Your Life Right Now

by minimus in

jw
friends

CyrusThePersian

AWESOME!

1

British Centre for Science Education

by IT Support in

jw
friends

this is a new web site "dedicated solely to keeping creationism and intelligent design out of the science classroom in publicly-funded schools in the united kingdom.".

they have a lot of interesting information on intelligent design and a uk organization truth in science that promotes intelligent design.. thought it might be of interest.. http://www.bcseweb.org.uk/index.php/main/homepage.

.

CyrusThePersian

Thanks for posting this. I was not aware that creationism had made such inroads in the UK.

I had always thought that the Brits were too enlightened to fall for the creationists' claptrap. Anyway it's always good to see that some people are standing up against pseudoscience.

I live in Tennessee, which is the site of the very crucible of the creation-evolution debate, the Scopes Monkey Trial, which occured not far from where I live. For that reason, i am always interested in people's fight against putting religion, in any form it may take, in the classroom.

Thanks!

CyrusThePersian