Toadfish Monastery

I also want to note that I think it's very easy to assign inappropriate blame at religion's door when simple monkey nature (often disguised as religion) is really the answer..

I  unapologetically see them as the enemy. They want to strip me, and people in general, of our rights and liberties. That makes them my enemy, end of story.

Quote from: Aggie on October 10, 2011, 10:56:09 PM

Quote from: Scriblerus the Philosophe on October 10, 2011, 10:08:10 PM
Personally, I think that Christianity has the potential to be a very positive faith. Except that it, like all religions I think, got hijacked by both the elite who used it as an excuse to maintain an oppressive status quo, and simple monkey behavior, becoming a tool to Otherize people and suppress contrary ideas/behaviors. And the hijacked version (didn't require actually interpreting scripture in context and with regard to the larger whole, or really, actual thought) is what spread and has been and still is a force of terror instead of the good that I think Jesus, assuming he existed, might have intended it to be.

I think one can argue that the early version of Christianity (i.e. in Jesus's time and for a few decades / centuries after) was potentially very destructive to the established society.  Leave your family, give all your possessions to the poor, stop your business activities and give yourself over to God, all that jazz.  This would seem to be a good motivator for the institutionalization of Christianity under Constantine I.  Institutionalizing anything almost necessarily makes it nothing more than a tool of those with a vested interest in maintaining the institution, and in most cases, those at the top of an institution tend to be there for love of power.  The fact that an institution is promoting 'good' doesn't matter much and IMHO makes it easier to have all involved buy in to tolerating atrocities in the name of 'good'.   

_{McLuhan's assertion that "the medium is the message" applies here (and damned near everywhere else I've looked).}

Whether that early version was a good thing on an individual basis is another matter. I would tend to agree with it in the broad strokes, personally speaking, but that sort of approach is as destructive to today's society as it was back then.  

_{I take a rather dim view of today's society, though...}  

I suppose you have me there. I need to look into that a little more thoroughly, though.

Quote from: Sibling Zono (anon1mat0) on October 11, 2011, 04:55:36 AM
There is one argument that may or not have something to do with the subject, considering that the root knowledge of the industrial revolution was already present in the old world, some historians argue that technological advancement can't occur without social advancement, that is, that a potential industrial revolution didn't take place in Greece and Rome, because cheap slave labor was too readily available and the dominant classes feared what those idle hands could do. The critical social changes happened during the renaissance and -more importantly- during the illustration.

There's some merit to the concerns of what newly idle hands would be doing, though I kind of think there are some ridiculously large leaps and bounds technologically that they would have had to make.

Quote from: Sibling Zono (anon1mat0) on October 11, 2011, 04:55:36 AMHere comes the kicker, some historians claim that Xtianity is the base for the human rights defended during the illustration, and following the previous train of thought, the industrial revolution.

Now, I do recall that many voices during the illustration were decidedly anti-church (considering 'divine rule' as an endorsement of monarchic systems), yet xtian apologists say the contrary.  Is there any reasonable argument that can place Xtianity at the forefront against slavery and/or serfdom?

lolNO. That's totally ignoring Buddhism and previous philosophies that contained elements of what I would argue are basics for human rights, not to mention the huge influence OF those philosophies on Christianity.

LAEM.



Also, I forgot:
d) there are fewer and fewer non-crazy fundie churches and the ones that still exist have less and less influence overall.

Happy birthday to Qwerty and everyone else I missed~

Mangoloso, which is mango chunks covered in chilli powder and sugar and ooooooooooooooooooooooooh my god.

Quote from: Sibling Zono (anon1mat0) on October 10, 2011, 02:44:22 PM

Quote from: pieces o nine on October 09, 2011, 08:56:02 PM
How about a bit in the sermon from local pastors about the incompatibility of hate groups and 'real' Christianity.

[snip] silence in the face of hate group incursion is not the way to "ignore" them into going away.

It implies consent.

I had a similar argument with my evangelical mom, she claims that not all Xtians are fundies and that not all Xtianity can be labeled as fundies because of them, but how often do you see/hear them making clear that that isn't xtianity? In the best cases, the people that do, do so reluctantly only after being questioned about it, usually with a circumspect look that could be embarrassment or some sort of closeted support.

Funnily enough I have heard far stronger reactions from some muslim clerics regarding fundamentalist Islam, than priests and pastors regarding fundamentalist xtianity.

Ah, well, I kind of agree with her, having known Chatty.

I think there are a couple parts to that answer:
a) Fundies isolate themselves, socially and religiously, from non-fundies. Quite a number of them act like cults (because, well, they are) in that they discourage people from having contact with former friends and family who are not part of their organization. When a preacher has something to say about fundies, they're not talking to fundies or even people who necessarily know folks like that.

b) That annoyingly over evolved persecution complex Christianity as a whole often carries? is multipled by a factor of ten in fundies. Any criticism of them is interpreted as a dire threat to their existence and ad hominem attacks on their person. It's hard to debate or denounce people like that, because they will respond with a nuke.

c) Congregations and pastors who are not in fact fundies may still have common interests with those who are, and it's a bad idea to talk shit on your allies, in potential or otherwise.

Quote from: Swatopluk on October 10, 2011, 08:39:57 AM
Maybe post a note to customers: This shop does not support the Klan or similar organisations. Any related material has been placed by third parties without knowledge or consent of owners, management or personnel of this shop.

This. Quick, easy, professional.

As I understand it, a number of tribes had converted prior to Charlemagne - simply to Arian Christianity rather than the orthodox Latin variety.



Personally, I think that Christianity has the potential to be a very positive faith. Except that it, like all religions I think, got hijacked by both the elite who used it as an excuse to maintain an oppressive status quo, and simple monkey behavior, becoming a tool to Otherize people and suppress contrary ideas/behaviors. And the hijacked version (didn't require actually interpreting scripture in context and with regard to the larger whole, or really, actual thought) is what spread and has been and still is a force of terror instead of the good that I think Jesus, assuming he existed, might have intended it to be.

It is an ungodly 3:34 PST and I have been awake pretty much continuously since 7am yesterday, except for a two hour doze when I got home. This is entirely my fault, as a I have a paper due in, oh, four and a half hours, which is not all the way written as of yet, and I went to a wicked awesome show instead of staying home to finish. While I regret nothing and function fine off little sleep once I get going, this morning sucks and i fully intend to take a nap in the library. There are many comfy couches on which to do so, all over the building.


Last quasi-whiny post.

That did not work at all. The seal did, but I think the pantry's too warm. I went to look at it yesterday and the beer bottle I had been using for the vent had over flowed and it was generally a disaster (no vinegar survived, either). D:

Not sure where I can put the damn thing if I try again, since it's still summer here and there's no place really cool enough in the house, and I'm wary of burying it in the yard for fear of the jar asploding.

Ah, bathroom grade silicone is what we have.

I'll double check the container and yeah, the seal itself for weirdness, and I'll see if we have any epoxy.

Seriously though, thank you (all) for your suggestions! :3

New setup.

Quote from: Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith on September 04, 2011, 11:58:32 PM

Quote from: Scriblerus the Philosophe on September 04, 2011, 10:38:56 PM
It was doing fine until I didn't seal the vent, lol.

Speaking of which, I just did. I used plumber's putty to seal it over, and I'm hoping it a) works, since it says not to use it on plastic and I'm doing it anyway and b) that it doesn't contaminate the taste. I'm going to fill the jar with water tonight and check tomorrow before I go buy more peaches (they're 88¢ a pound right now).

Any good-quality of duck tape ought to do better-- the good quality ones use natural rubber-based glues on the back, which is nominally waterproof for awhile-- certainly long enough for your project.  Some plumber's putties are dependent on fresh water flowing away the out-gassing, which can stink.  One reason why I don't use the stuff myself (I use RTV silicone and let it cure-out before food-grade water is used-- and I do not use the anti-mildew stuff, ever-- that kind has poison in it).

Good old garden-variety clay might work, at least until it dries out, if you've any about the place.

I used duct tape initially - not sure of the quality, but it didn't work at all. D: I contemplated using silicone - we have some around, but decided against it and no, we haven't got clay around, unfortunately.

I just looked around for beeswax here in town via the interwebz, and saw nothing. D:

The plumber's putty seems like it'll work fine, at least for now. I filled up the jar I'm going to use with water and left it overnight to see if it would contaminate the contents, and it doesn't look like it will.

It was doing fine until I didn't seal the vent, lol.

Speaking of which, I just did. I used plumber's putty to seal it over, and I'm hoping it a) works, since it says not to use it on plastic and I'm doing it anyway and b) that it doesn't contaminate the taste. I'm going to fill the jar with water tonight and check tomorrow before I go buy more peaches (they're 88¢ a pound right now).

Wish that had occurred to me before I dumped it. D:

Ah well.