Xtian Assumptions

[Swatopluk]

Oh!! I always thought Caesar moonlighted as a surgeon 

Well, he was always surging.

[Swatopluk]

Isn't Liberty great?

[Griffin NoName]

Had to add that to my Favourites!!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Curious how the name is completely Orwellian.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Curious how the name is completely Orwellian.

I thought so too.

[pieces o nine]

The only correct way to use free will is to completely renounce it and become exactly the kind of mindless, obedient puppet which god created free will in order to not have...




It's part of the same philosophy as:
• The only correct use of the intellect is to completely renounce it and operate by faith alone...
• The only correct use of natural euphorics and painkillers is to renounce them entirely as the soul-killing creations of the devil...
• The only correct use of human gonads is to ignore them completely...
• If ^ is impossible, they are to be kept out of sight at all times and used only without joy during godly incidents of the most depraved sin known to man, a sin so terrible it must be reserved solely for the One You Love...

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

The only correct way to use free will is to completely renounce it and become exactly the kind of mindless, obedient puppet which god created free will in order to not have...

I was thinking on that one today after I met one of those funny individuals in a shirt/tie I met in the parking lot of a walmart today who wanted to "share" some "scripture" with me today. I politely sent him on his merry way, but later I couldn't stop thinking if I could (or should) have engaged him. The only thing I could think of is asking "How likely do you think it is for me to change your beliefs?" before starting. Perhaps an honest answer could give a glimpse if any further conversation is worth the effort.

[Swatopluk]

Not religious but to a degree even more Orwellian and restrictive.
http://coreyrobin.com/2012/03/08/lavatory-and-liberty-the-secret-history-of-the-bathroom-break/

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

One shudders to think about that one, Swato...

[pieces o nine]

^ That attitude lives and thrives wherever very wealthy men have convinced blue, white, and pink collar workers that *all* of amurka's ills stem from the damned unions and their unreasonable demands (in a few cases, perhaps), not from the 2007 average of four hundred times more per hour than their employees.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Or all that pensions/benefits weight that belongs 55%+ to management, or how those poor people don't pay taxes and have [gasp!] a fridge and a TV in 70-80% of cases!

The more I know about these people the more I consider Robespierre's approach to the problem.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

I was doing some thread necromancy over at Topix, and someone uncovered this one, what I wrote about a year or so ago.   Enjoy.

-------------------------------

But Wait! I have an even BETTER plan, regarding Noah's Story.

Since murdering a person pretty much is usurping his free will anyway, here's the New And Improved Noah's Story:

-----

God: "Noah! We Need To Talk."

Noah: "Okay, God, what's this all about, anyway? If it's about last night, I can explain---"

God: "Nevermindaboutthat! I Have Decided. I Am Going To Destroy The World!"

Noah: "Destroy the---wait, what? You just built it only two thousand years ago...!"

God: "Oh, I Know. And It Is Barely Paid For. But People Have Become Evil: I Wish To Start Again."

Noah: <gulp> "Even me, Lord? Have I not slaughtered enough virgin animals?"

God: "Oh, Noah, Noah, Noah: Your Slaughter Is Most Pleasing To Me, So Obviously, You Will Be Spared. But, Nobody Else!"

God: "What about me sons? They helped with the raising and the killing, after all."

God: "Oh, Okay-- Including Your Sons."

Noah: "And the missus? Hard to make more sons without a misses."

God: "True. Okay-- The Missus Too."

Noah: "How about me son's wives? They aren't **that** bad."

God: "Okay-- But No More! I Will Destroy All The Rest--By Drowning."

Noah: "Okay. That's an excellent plan, I'm sure. But won't all the animals drown too? And the plants? What about barley and hopps? You canna make good beer without those. And I have a fresh crop of baby animals I was plannin' on sacrificing to you, Oh Lord-- what about those?"

God: "You Have A Point. So, What To Do, Then? Make Some Sort Of Boat?"

Noah: "Well, a big boat does sound like a really good idea, but how about this: since you're planning on drowing'em anyhow, why not just CHANGE everyone?"

God: <intrigued> "Hmmm. Keep Talking."

Noah: "I know free will is a big thing with you, but drowning someone is pretty much against their free will anyhow, right?"

God: "Right. I Think I See Where You Are Going."

Noah: "I mean, why not just Fix the problem, instead of washing it under the carpet, so to speak? You could simply change all the minds of the adults into good, decent people-- sure, they'd not have free will but so what? This way, they would raise their kids to be good, instead of evil, and you'd not have to drown the babies, too. Then, when the time was right, you simply kill the adults without free will, say from a nice disease or old age or somethin'."

God: "Okay. I Like That Plan. I Had Not Thought About The Drowning Babies. Good."

Noah: "And no mess to clean up for afters, either."

God: "True. Okay-- Let It Be So."

-----

And so it was. And all the world lived Happily Ever After.

[Swatopluk]

There is wee problem with the Noah story as told in the Bible most people are unaware of.
Noah must have been a gazillionaire. There is consent that the Ark was built in Mesopotamia somewhere between Ur and Babylon.
But timber was extremly expensive in that region. Large pieces of wood were so luxurious that only temples and the kings's palace could use them in architecture at all. Given the size of the Ark (the Bible gives exact numbers) it would have used up far more timber than all of Mesopotamia has in use at the time. So, Noah would have had to first dismantle all religious and royal buildings to get the first stacks of wood and then import several times that from Lebanon. That would have taken an army of workers and another army to protect them and the building material on the way. Even if he had been supreme ruler of the land he would have not been able to afford it (and kings have been demoted for lesser misconduct). And it would have taken several years. In comparision the rounding up of the animals would have been easy. Building a zoo would not have drawn that much suspicion and it could have been additionally justified with the intended breeding program.

The epic of Gilgamesh is far more logical there. Utnapishtim was king, he used reed not wood as building material, and he conducted a campaign of disinformation with support by one of the gods. He even had a plan for the workers, so he could make off with the boat unimpeded (the gods provided a neat extra diversion, a shower of plenty, so no one had any suspicion that doom was just hours away).

[Griffin NoName]

Maybe Noah used Faux Wood

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

And it is termite resistant!!!