LOL @ Bill O

[byco42]

I read that as him saying to them basically that blaspheming him is as bad as doing it to the holy spirit, since they are one and the same according to christian teaching.

That's not it at all. Look it up if you want to clarify.

they were probably thinking "jesus, this guy is pretentious."

They thought that right up to the point where He died on the Cross.

 

[redandguilty]

...and when I see "Pharisees" and "scribes" I think of the opposite of people that are "spiritual, but not religious." There are plenty of people that are religious, but not spiritual.

 

[Michchamp]

there used to be "demons" 2,000 years ago, but now that would be a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, and no one - not even Byco or KAWDUP or even the Pope himself - would go see a doctor who diagnosed mental illness as a "demon possession" so take that into account.

Still... read the Bible and understand that it's a factual account of history, and live your life accordingly.

 

[Michchamp]

there used to be "demons" 2,000 years ago, but now that would be a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, and no one - not even Byco or KAWDUP or even the Pope himself - would go see a doctor who diagnosed mental illness as a "demon possession" so take that into account.

Still... read the Bible and understand that it's a factual account of history, and live your life accordingly.

sorry. what's gotten into me? I must've been compelled to write that by the devil. He tricked me.

I'll be sure to splash some extra holy water on my face at mass this Sunday.

 

[tinselwolverine]

Oh, hey, that's right; it's what we used to call Holy Week.

When I was a teenager, I made sure to pull out the Jesus Christ Superstar album and I made sure I listened at some time during Holy Week.

It was the with that one chick who sang a couple of songs on the Saturday Night Fever album sang Magdaline.

 

[redandguilty]

Oh, hey, that's right; it's what we used to call Holy Week.

When I was a teenager, I made sure to pull out the Jesus Christ Superstar album and I made sure I listened at some time during Holy Week.

It was the with that one chick who sang a couple of songs on the Saturday Night Fever album sang Magdaline.

"We neeeed a more permanent solution to our problemmmm."

A go-to lyric when I have a cold and wake up with more resonance in the lower range of my voice than I'm used to.

 

[tinselwolverine]

Oh, hey, that's right; it's what we used to call Holy Week.

When I was a teenager, I made sure to pull out the Jesus Christ Superstar album and I made sure I listened at some time during Holy Week.

It was the with that one chick who sang a couple of songs on the Saturday Night Fever album sang Magdaline.

Oh, duh...that's right...Ian Gillan, of Deep Purple and Black Sabbath sang Jesus on the album I used to listen to.

Blows every other rendition of Gethsemane I've heard out of the water.

Almost makes me want to believe.

Happy Holy Week everybody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WntXfBFMRuE

 

[Michchamp]

Oh, hey, that's right; it's what we used to call Holy Week.

...

Heh. I only know because there's a Polish Catholic church in my neighborhood (at one time it had the largest polish-catholic congregation in the US).

their typical congregation is mostly made up of Mexican Catholics now (they have masses in Spanish and English) but they still do the Palm Sunday parade through the neighborhood in Polish. The police escort this huge mob of people around, and they read something (not sure what) in Polish through loudspeakers.

It woke me up from a pleasant Sunday afternoon nap last year.

This year I was at the gym, and the wife texted me a picture and said "Who are these people? They speak Polish real loud!"

I explained it was palm sunday.

she's orthodox, so they do everything a couple weeks later. She's not really religious though, but she trots it out during arguments as a counter to my uncompromising militant atheism.

 

[tinselwolverine]

she's orthodox, so they do everything a couple weeks later. She's not really religious though, but she trots it out during arguments as a counter to my uncompromising militant atheism.

I kinda got the feeling she was not amused when we started laughing about the "Religion is Retarded" t-shirts.

My wife wasn't amused either.

My wife and I did have a quasi-religious (Jewish) wedding, so I guess I can't claim to be an uncompromising militant aethiest.

Although I do respect uncompromising militant aethiesm in the context of it being as rigidly dogmatic in its construct as any religion.

 

[byco42]

there used to be "demons" 2,000 years ago, but now that would be a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, and no one - not even Byco or KAWDUP or even the Pope himself - would go see a doctor who diagnosed mental illness as a "demon possession" so take that into account.

Still... read the Bible and understand that it's a factual account of history, and live your life accordingly.

I'm going to give God the benefit of the doubt in that He can tell the difference between a case of demonic possession and a paranoid schizophrenic, then and now.

 

[Michchamp]

for the record, I'm not really militant. I was just kiddin'

 

[KAWDUP]

Okay, now I'm really getting confused...are we talking about Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

Have you never heard of the Holy Trinity? Three persons in one God.

In response to your question. What's the difference?

 

[KAWDUP]

for the record, I'm not really militant. I was just kiddin'

You're not militant, are you? All evidence to the contrary.

BTW in answer to what you said about bitter agnostics. Agnostics tend to be fallen away Catholics. For many of them, whatever has caused them to "fall away" usually comes with some bitterness.

I actually had you in mind for the bitter part, but I knew you weren't just fallen away - you renounced it entirely, and became part of the definition of the religion of atheism.

 

[KAWDUP]

Keep in mind the militant comment was tongue in cheek. I meant that as a joke. You tend to fly off the handle at such jokes in the past - so I felt the need to state it up front . . . er after the fact really.

 

[Michchamp]

well, there may be some for whom atheism takes on some semblance of a religion, but not me.

I think the key part of the definition is belief in some deity or some supernatural force that can't be proven, which is what I don't have, and technically no atheists should. some may claim this or that, but really they're confused. and beyond that, I don't go to meetings, I don't look to any one for a set of beliefs or behavioral guidelines, I don't look to anyone else for a set of ethics and morals (which is of course not to say I don't have them, which is a common and unfortunate slur from religious people, that if you don't follow their religion, you are essentially amoral) so, no, it's not a religion.

 

[Michchamp]

Keep in mind the militant comment was tongue in cheek. I meant that as a joke. You tend to fly off the handle at such jokes in the past - so I felt the need to state it up front . . . er after the fact really.

okay.

well, I just think the very nature of agnosticism seems to make any sort of "militant" behavior impossible. Like are you going to force people to come to the same lack of conclusion you did?

the phrase "militant agnostic" is an oxymoron.

"Hey, don't believe there is a god, but don't deny the possibility that one exists either, OR EITHER WAY I'LL FIGHT YOU!"

 

[tinselwolverine]

okay.

well, I just think the very nature of agnosticism seems to make any sort of "militant" behavior impossible. Like are you going to force people to come to the same lack of conclusion you did?

the phrase "militant agnostic" is an oxymoron.

"Hey, don't believe there is a god, but don't deny the possibility that one exists either, OR EITHER WAY I'LL FIGHT YOU! "

That's pretty funny.

 

[turok]

Dunno of any agnostic or atheist dirges that would motivate or rally the "troops" to "battle"...like for example...when I sang "Onward Christian Soldiers" along with my classmates in parochial grade school.

Or did I miss any that the late Madalyn Murray O'Hair might have composed?

 

[Michchamp]

Dunno of any agnostic or atheist dirges that would motivate or rally the "troops" to "battle"...like for example...when I sang "Onward Christian Soldiers" along with my classmates in parochial grade school.

Or did I miss any that the late Madalyn Murray O'Hair might have composed?

I don't know of any either.

I also don't think any atheist organizations collect tithes, or takes any public positions other than insisting public schools, courts, parks, and spaces should be free of any particular religious bias - something which benefits everyone regardless of their creed or lack thereof. so calling it a "religion" seems a bit of a stretch.

Cause, you know... if you want to promote your own religion, there's no law that can stop you from doing so on your own property... unless the christians on the local zoning board would use their own religious biases to deny your right to practice yours.

 

[redandguilty]

I don't know of any either.

I also don't think any atheist organizations collect tithes, or takes any public positions

Do atheist governments count as organizations?