How many of you know that Thalberg and Thalbergmad are two different people?

[cziffra]

Please, as if you even understand the definition of free speech or truth.

[ahinton]

Spoilsport.

Just having a bit of fun with Sister Susan.

Thal

As I was with you and others (including Susan, who seems to have quite a well-established habit of asking for it). I don't want to spoil anyone's fun, but it was getting terribly repetitititititive, wouldn't you say? Anyway, Thal, old boy, at the risk of repeating something myself, let me assure you that you're not going to burn anywhere unless you accidentally drop a lighted cigarette into your lap as you drop off to sleep in an armchair...

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

Mr. Hinton will give you detention if you're not careful.

No, he won't - but he might sell him some. My point in this context is that none of that banter (which might be fun for five minutes but does then rather tend to get tedious) has any real connection with the thread topic (unless I've missed something here).

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

I will then torch Tesco's.

Why Tesco? Should it be presumed that you have shares in Sainsbury's?

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

As if you are the epitome of one who stays on topic.

I don't claim to be the "epitome" of anything, but I am certainly not in the habit of taking threads off-topic; the nearest I get to that might be in responding directly to another contributor's off-topic material (as indeed I did here).

You can't have both, so make up your mind.

I "can't have both" what? In any case, who says what I can and cannot have?

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

Unlikely, my prediction is nearer to 200.

Thal

And even then, you're probably being somewhat optimistic; even the fact that those last words on the cross supposedly totalled no more than seven seems to make little influential difference, does it?...

Best,

Alistair

[pianowolfi]

I believe that Thalberg and Thalbergmad are two different persons. One will go to hell because he believes that cuckoo clocks are Swiss and the other will not go to hell because he doesn't believe this. That's how it is after all.

[cziffra]

I don't claim to be the "epitome" of anything, but I am certainly not in the habit of taking threads off-topic; the nearest I get to that might be in responding directly to another contributor's off-topic material (as indeed I did here).
I "can't have both" what? In any case, who says what I can and cannot have?

Best,

Alistair

It doesn't matter who it was directed at, it's that you said it at all.

And you can't one minute be like "oh you keep going off track" when 50% of your own posts (atleast in this board) a completely off topic.  Hypocracy irks me.

[ahinton]

freedom, to me, means that God decides our fates.

Even supposing that this were true, that must mean God's "freedom", not ours.

excepting, of course, our justice system which is not based on antiquated laws even though one of the first acts of congress here in the usa was to publish a bible.  as i see it - 'the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...'  is not in the european constitution.

Maybe not, but that doesn't necessarily mean that at least a reasonable number of Europeans from many countries do not espouse such a concept. When that Bible was published in US, the historical climate was vastly different to what it is now; the immense cultural, racial, scientific, etc. changes that have taken place since then have meant, among many other things, that the relevance of Bible and the pursuit of Christianity have had to take their places in a far larger general mix than would have been the case in the years immediately following independence.

it is a rigid structure and will become more and more rigid - as i see it.  'all men created equal?  why then picking and choosing by who is following the eu prescriptions for success.  this is not freedom.  all children of the age of 6 must be fingerprinted.  they keep files on every person?  sounds like the only thing left is to tally everyone in each country and set everything in motion.

Sorabji used to say that fascism is everyone else's idea of fascism other than you own; democracy is no different to this. Had you not noticed that? Please do not seek (even if only by implication) to exonerate US from marketing the kinds of terror and security threats that prompt knee-jerk reactions in the form of imposition of greater controls. In any case, what you write about all children over the age of 6 is untrue; Herod doesn't run the place yet.

if you want to be free - follow christians.

Why?

they are the only way to true freedom.

On what grounds? I find that smacks of arrogance.

and they will die for what they believe.

And non-Christian (and anit-Christian) suicide bombers won't?...

it's not about guns so much as inalienable rights.  when people are free and happy - they don't care about guns.  but, if people see other countries arming themselves to take more and more power - it just doesn't look good.  i mean, they don't have a basis for their constitution that protects people's rights.  it just takes them away.

Some of this is true, but it is well known that one has only to spread a climate of fear in order successfully to follow on with imposing controls upon people and expecting to get away with it; that kind of "police state" activity is just as likely to rear itself from time to time in European "democracies" or the American one as it is elsewhere.

we have about three different 'systems' going on.  iran - attempting to control syria - and vicariously lebanon.  russia and china in the east.  and europe.

That's an extremely simplistic - not to say substantially exclusive - overview.

without larger and larger 'conglomerations' - each one is threatened.  that is why i think sooner or later - the americas will unite.  but, the dangers to our borders will be the same as the dangers to europe and iran and russia and china.  sooner or later - all hell - in the middle-east.  armaggedon.

The first part of this is probably true, or at least is quite widely feared to be so; one could indeed argue that the ongoing expansion of the EU is symptomatic of this. Whether the "Americas" will unite is quite another matter; if you mean that the US will unite with (aka take over) Mexico and the countries of Central and South America is very debatable and pretty unlikely in the foreseeable future (and would such unity include Canada, in your view?). As to "armageddon" in the Middle East as though the greatest world conflict ever witnessed will eventually be centred there, this is utter nonsense; it is, of course, true that the Middle East is an area of considerable political instability and has been so for a good many years, but we already know this and, whilst the various conflicts of economic, political and religious interest across that area are unlikely to be resolved during our lifetimes, that does not lead to a recipe for "armageddon".

of course, it may be 233 years from now.  i don't know.  as i see the hebrew calculation of how many years since the beginning of time to Christ = 3760 + 2007= 5767

I'm not even going to dignify that nonsense with a response.

6000-5767 = 233 years

No one is quibbling with your arithmetic - just the principles on which it purports to be based in this context...

a lot can change in world governments.  it's just that our world is so unstable right now - that anyone could push a button and literally destroy the world.

Whilst this is true, you would do well to remember that such capability has existed since some time before you were born, yet it is not necessary to be complacent in order to point out that you're still here writing to us about it and we're still here reading it...

with the possibility of nuclear warfare - timing isn't really a big issue

Ah! Timing isn't really a big issue! Methinks that thou lapseth into sense here! - but then timing wouldn't be any kind of issue at all to someone who clings to the fatuous notion that the world is a mere 6,000 years old, would it?!...

the destruction of the world as we know it.  it isn't like - 'oh we have 200 more years.'  do we?

I have noidea. Nor do you. Nor dies any of the rest of us folk who don;t happen to possess any of those buttons to press.

if God said He could 'cut short the time...'  then - it may just be He will do that.  that means - we have to live as though Jesus will return tommorrow.

No, dear Susan - only those of you who fancy doing a whip-round to purchase Jesus that return plane ticket will have to live like that (where, in any case, would He fly into? - somewhere in the Middle East? - Rome? - Philadephia?...)

Susan - you did promise us, almost as though in the manner of some kind of New Year's resolution, to keep off all this stuff here, expecially in threads in which it has no place; maybe this fact has since slipped your mind...

Right now, Monsieur "Cziffra"; please note the above as a typical example of my off-topic contributions which are specifically couched in direct response to the off-topic contributions of others.

And now how's about getting back on topic, folks?...

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

Yeh, he should have been a headmaster.

Thal

To paraphrase whichever one of the Marx brothers it was, I wouldn't go near a school that would have me as a headmaster.

To be abit more serious, however, I really don't think that would have worked at all; I don't even teach! Not only that, I've never been an employee either. Pretty poor qualifications for such a post, methinks...

Best,

Alistair

[alwaystheangel]

i'm not saying large animals didn't exist - but some of them are pretty far fetched.  have you actually watched someone uncover the entire dinosaur skeleton.  it's a piece job.

I have seen several.  Drumheller, Alberta. Dinosaur National Park, Alberta.  There are hills full of some of the most spectacular dinosaur bone deposits, maybe a bone or two missing if any at all. they are really something else.  you can see the entire things just laying there

[ahinton]

you don't believe in free speech or truth?

That's rich! Do you? You seem more inclined to believe only in Christian-oriented speech...

if you want to hit the european union - do not buy the euro.  no matter how much it raises above the dollar.

What nonsense! Has it not occurred to you that the euro is presently the currency of only 12 of the 27 member states of the EU?

i will eat the dollar until i die.  the euro can go home.

You probably would die - of some dire gastric affliction - if you did this. The euro is already in its own home. A dozen states have joined the EU in the past few years - that's the same number as have the euro as currency. It is rather longer than that since any EU country has dropped its own currency and adopted the euro in its place. In other words, the euro is far from EU-wide, let alone Europe-wide. In any case, the depletion of your dollar is not only against the euro; it went through the two-to-a-pound mark a little while ago and has been hovering around there ever since.

now - what were we talking about?

You may well ask!...

yes. thalberg and thalbergmad are two very different and unique individuals.

Whoopee! Back on topic! Well done, Susan...

one is an easy sell.  the other a hard sell.  as i see it - neither will go to hell.  and you won't either cziffra

Sister Susan has hereby decreed that at least three pianostreet members will not end up subjected to hell fire and eternal damnation - something for which they and the rest of us here must all be eternally grateful...

it will eat you in the butt.

There's a whole lot of most unpleasantly indigestible eating going on here...

ok - this is how i see it.  the euro goes way above the dollar (as it is doing now). gas prices rise.  people figure the only way they can save is to buy into the euro.  wRONG.  remember valley forge.  fight for the dollar and send those euros packing east.  do you think china will buy them?

No currency is so stable that it can continue to withstand the vagaries of commerce, the money markets and world politics - not the dollar, nor the pound, nor the euro, yen, etc. People who seek the kinds of solution you write about here are short-term currency speculators who speculate purely for their own personal or corporate gain.

i feel so strongly about this - i almost feel i need a cigarette.  but, i don't smoke.

You're not allowed to do so in PA now, are you?!...

what happens to our world is being determined right now.

Hasn't that always been the case?

especially if the time is now.

It usually is.

but, if it is 200 years from now

How can it be 200 years from now?

- why become lax.

Well, after all that dollar-eating and butt-eating, a suitable laxative might not come amiss...

why hand the dollar over like our forefathers fought for nothing.

I only hand over dollars when I'm in America and whoever I'm buying something from won;t take my credit card.

i want to die on a sword.

I never knew that you had a death-wish, Susan; isn't that somewhat incompatible with your beliefs? Anyway, for all that some of what you write in this forum is profoundly dubious at best and grossly fatuous at worst, I'm quite sure that no one here wants you to die, either on an ancient weapon or by means of a modern one.

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

I believe that Thalberg and Thalbergmad are two different persons. One will go to hell because he believes that cuckoo clocks are Swiss and the other will not go to hell because he doesn't believe this. That's how it is after all.

Maybe, but it would not surprise me if both are well aware that fake Swiss cuckoo clocks are manufactured in Taiwan and exported at knockdown prices with which the Swiss manufacturers could not hope to compete.

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

And you can't one minute be like "oh you keep going off track" when 50% of your own posts (atleast in this board) a completely off topic.

As I wrote earlier, when I write off-topic material, it is almost invariably in response to off-topic material by others.

Hypocracy irks me.

It might do so even more if you spelt it correctly...

Best,

Alistair

[cziffra]

As I wrote earlier, when I write off-topic material, it is almost invariably in response to off-topic material by others.
It might do so even more if you spelt it correctly...

Best,

Alistair

A) does it matter
B) OH NOES HE SPELT A WORD WRONG HE OBVI IS WRONG ABOUT WHAT HE'S SAYING.  riiiight. 

[persona]

Interesting fact: I know one of them asked me to get a CD, but I'm not quite sure which one...

[pianowolfi]

Maybe, but it would not surprise me if both are well aware that fake Swiss cuckoo clocks are manufactured in Taiwan and exported at knockdown prices with which the Swiss manufacturers could not hope to compete.

Best,

Alistair

Yes this is right but the origin of this kind of clocks, where they were invented is NOT Switzerland but Germany. ARRGHH    (lol )

[ahinton]

A) does it matter

I presume that you intended to append a question mark to that; on that basis, if indeed it does not matter, there was clearly no need for you to question it, was there?!...

B) OH NOES HE SPELT A WORD WRONG HE OBVI IS WRONG ABOUT WHAT HE'S SAYING.  riiiight. 

That was neither what I wrote nor what I implied.

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

i feel so strongly about this - i almost feel i need a cigarette. 

Yeh, well i had to after reading all that nonesense and i gave up 2 years ago.

Thal

[thalberg]

Hmmm......I think I see a way to inflame Alistair....but I promised I wouldn't make a second attempt, so I won't.

Okay let's all get back on topic.  I'll make a list of information about myself, and Thalbergmad can respond with information about himself.  Then people will see the differences and can discuss them, thereby getting us back on topic.

Thalberg (me)
I am 30 years old.  American. Single. A little over 6 feet tall.  Three piano performance degrees (bachelors, masters, doctorate).  Have a Boston piano.  Love Bach.  One day dream of owning a zero gravity recliner.  Have a major addiction problem with cookies.  Hoping to change careers soon. 

[thalbergmad]

Thalberg (me)
I am 30 years old.  American. Single. A little over 6 feet tall.  Three piano performance degrees (bachelors, masters, doctorate).  Have a Boston piano.  Love Bach.  One day dream of owning a zero gravity recliner.  Have a major addiction problem with cookies.  Hoping to change careers soon. 

I am 41 years old. English. Single. Under 6ft tall. No piano degrees, Crappy Japanese piano. Hate Bach (apart from transcriptions). Dream of owning a left handed Mastertone 5 string banjo. Have a major addiction to cream eggs. Too old to change career.

Thal

[pianowolfi]

Thal what ever your piano may be, if it is crap you deserve definitely a better one. 

[thalbergmad]

Thal what ever your piano may be, if it is crap you deserve definitely a better one. 

Indeed, but i have no space left and i don't want to put a nice piano in my garage where the old one is, incase it is infested with earwigs.

My organ takes up a lot of space in my living room.

Thal

[persona]

Hoping to change careers soon. 

What do you mean change careers??? Piano is my all-time dream career!!

And also... I see no one replied about the CD... I guess that's more music for me then.

[rach n bach]

Hmmm......I think I see a way to inflame Alistair....but I promised I wouldn't make a second attempt, so I won't.

Just don't try too hard.  I haven't seen Alistair mad yet, but I bet it would be a beast to handle.

Okay let's all get back on topic.  I'll make a list of information about myself, and Thalbergmad can respond with information about himself.  Then people will see the differences and can discuss them, thereby getting us back on topic.

But the very nature of this topic is bound to wander.  We were simply trying it out.

Thalberg (me)
I am 30 years old.  American. Single. A little over 6 feet tall.  Three piano performance degrees (bachelors, masters, doctorate).  Have a Boston piano.  Love Bach.  One day dream of owning a zero gravity recliner.  Have a major addiction problem with cookies.  Hoping to change careers soon.

So you two really are different... you had me fooled.

All the best,

RnB

[pseudo.naivete]

try to disprove the bible and we'll see who is mad.

What exactly would you qualify as proof for Bible's fallacy?

Let's define rules first. I will guess that you would propose the following as the premises:


1. You get to pick and choose which parts are to be taken symbolically and which are to be taken literally, without any actual context-derived rules from the Bible itself that would define the correct way of interpreting in each instance.

2. Science is a global conspiracy whose holy mission is to disprove God's existence, therefore we can't trust science if the scientific method produces results that contradict with the Bible, because its just Satan trying to lie to us.

3. Whatever happened to the documents of New Testament in between Jesus' death (or the time they started composing the documents about the times of Jesus' life few hundred years after) and the present day, was without doubt overseen by God so that man couldn't have contaminated the Holy Scriptures in the process with their own earthly motivations.


Did I get that about right?

[thalbergmad]

My word, you will get a lengthy response to that one.

Thal

[cziffra]

I presume that you intended to append a question mark to that; on that basis, if indeed it does not matter, there was clearly no need for you to question it, was there?!...
That was neither what I wrote nor what I implied.

Best,

Alistair

You're like pianistimo with a command of the english language.

[ahinton]

You're like pianistimo with a command of the english language.

Really? Here's some "proof" of your assertion:

Pianistimo plays the piano; I can barely do so.
Pianistimo is a woman and a mother; I am neither.
Pianistimo is an American; I am a Scot.
Pianistimo almost never uses capital letters when posting. I use them when appropriate.
Pianistimo writes much about God / Jesus / the Bible; I only ever do so in response to her.
Pianistimo sometimes writes incomprehensibly; I don't quite match her talent for that.

OK - so the non-linguistic similarities are to be found where, precisely (outside your own imagination, that is)?

Best,

Alistair

[cziffra]

Essentially your uncanny ability to "beat around the (burning) bush"

OMG !! LOL !! I made a joke in the style of ahinton!

[pianistimo]

now, it's cziffra's turn.  tell us about yourself (alistair already covered me).

ps  capital letters are useless when you want to type fast.  they just slow you down.

(i didn't say anything off topic.  but, do you know who changed me?  alwaystheangel.  she just says one thing and then leaves.  makes me think she could be a one of those lady ninjas on jackie chan's movies).  if you keep egging a woman on - she will talk until you agree.  if you just leave - there is nothing to convince anyone of.  that is why it takes a woman to beat a woman.
 

[cziffra]

I am big sexy

[pianistimo]

how big?  let me rephrase that.  (i do have a fairly good command of english, btw)  how big are your feet?  and what are your sexy attributes?  i mean, relying on big alone has been done for millenia.

ok.  for starters - what do you consider sexy about the way you play the piano?  is there something inimitable about your style.  has anyone stopped breathing in your presence?  started shaking uncontrollably.  forgotten what to say?  backed up two steps?  then, moved forward carefully.

and, what composer usually brings you the best reactions from pretty much the entire audience? 

how do you walk to the piano when you are going out on stage?  #1 semi-oblivious - humming the first bars in head  #2 stride - large steps  #3 medium steps  #4 small steps - occasionally trip.

if you forgot a section of your piece - would you a) start again b) improvise c) skip two bars  d) skip 1-2 or 3 pages. 

are endings important to you?

[thalberg]

What exactly would you qualify as proof for Bible's fallacy?

Let's define rules first. I will guess that you would propose the following as the premises:


1. You get to pick and choose which parts are to be taken symbolically and which are to be taken literally, without any actual context-derived rules from the Bible itself that would define the correct way of interpreting in each instance.

2. Science is a global conspiracy whose holy mission is to disprove God's existence, therefore we can't trust science if the scientific method produces results that contradict with the Bible, because its just Satan trying to lie to us.

3. Whatever happened to the documents of New Testament in between Jesus' death (or the time they started composing the documents about the times of Jesus' life few hundred years after) and the present day, was without doubt overseen by God so that man couldn't have contaminated the Holy Scriptures in the process with their own earthly motivations.


Did I get that about right?

Pseudo, I'm a Christian, and I must say, you did in fact get this right.  I'm very impressed.  So my question is, if you understand these truths, why are you not a Christian, too?

[thalberg]

I am 41 years old. English. Single. Under 6ft tall. No piano degrees, Crappy Japanese piano. Hate Bach (apart from transcriptions). Dream of owning a left handed Mastertone 5 string banjo. Have a major addiction to cream eggs. Too old to change career.

Thal

Hmmmm.....cream eggs.  Those sound good.  Cadbury or some other?  Please send me a link to a web page displaying your favorite kind of cream egg.  Do we have them here in the States?

[pianistimo]

perhaps i do change topics easily - but cream eggs makes me think again about dinosaur eggs - which makes me think about alwaystheangel's 'proof' that drumheller and other places have ALL authentic bones that are put together.  this is one article among many on several species that were imagined and not real.  now, don't get me wrong - i believe some dinosaurs truly lived.  but, i believe they coexisted with man and were called 'behemoth' in the bible.  why do i think this?  because human settlement remains have been found under the dead sea (preserved by the salt or something) that are as deep in the ground as some dinosaur bones.  it's been attempted to keep 'hush hush ' because people might figure out the ramifications of the depths of human settlement.  but, christians are not stupid.  you can look up this finding under dr. ballards sea explorations.  here is the link about a bird which was supposed to be a 'link' of some evolutionary kind:

https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v410/n6828/abs/410539b0.html

many people believe that 'thousands or millions of years are necessary to produce fossils or have things in certain layers of strata.'  it was found that when saint helena blew - 1/2 the mountain ended up someplace else.  that's a lot of layers of sediment.
also, fossils have been found in the midwest of various things that were given the right conditions - and these things were only 30 years old or less.  fossilization doesn't take as long as people sometimes say it does.  what we are looking at determining is when something became extinct (to date it).  how do we know that saber tooth tigers weren't another type of tiger that lived through to the noatian flood.  in fact, if God said to bring every type of animal into the ark - genesis 7:14 'they and EVERY beast after its kind, and ALL the cattle after their kind, and EVERY creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, all sorts of birds.

this to me indicated that although massive amounts of these animals died - they may have had some kind of genetic problem or were killed off (natural causes) shortly after the deluge when there were very few of them again.  for some of them - their natural habitat's weather changed dramaticallY (pole shift?  whatever!) - as palm trees and various grasses were found in the mouths of animals that used to live at what are now our poles.  the wooly mammoths are found in alaska.  not arguing the fact of them existing.  simply WHEN they existed. 

perhaps the pole shifts were more dramatic than previously thought?  with the amount of water covering the entire earth - could a pole shift happen more easily?  just wondering. 

[pianistimo]

here is a site for the 'royal tyrrell museaum' in alberta.  take a look at the first skeleton exhibited.  where are the places for the lower jawbone and teeth?  gone.  ok.  but why change the nose area and not attempt to reconstruct the lower jaw?  did this thing eat?  look at the legs - especially the bent hind legs.  compare it to a hippopotamus.  could the animal have been similar to a hippo?  click both links to compare:

https://www.tyrrellmuseum.com/events/index2.php?strSection=4

[pianistimo]

google for yourself (as the image is not showing) 'hippo skeleton' under images.  you'll see distinct similarities.

here is some interesting reading for those that believe catastrophe can happen in a small amount of time and not necessarily over a much longer time:

https://survive2012.com/pole_shift_5.php

this man does not appear to be christian per se.

[thalbergmad]

SPAM

[pseudo.naivete]

So my question is, if you understand these truths, why are you not a Christian, too?

The thing is that I consider all of them to be voluntary self-deception used as an excuse to use the Bible as an authoritative reference for which is "The Correct" conceptual framework through which the world appears to be in order despite all the complex mechanics of nature, mankind and human individuals themselves, instead of having to go through the great burden of actually constructing a complete and coherent picture of the reality by one's own means. It is also contains a somewhat straight-forward moral doctrine (although awfully redundant, and in some older books a very questionable to say the least) for people who don't have the innate capability to evaluate the relation of freedom and responsibility between an individual and their environment.

In my opinion institutionalized spirituality is fundamentally a bad thing, because it assumes and then imposes the same kind of conceptualizations about spiritual matters to all individuals as if their spiritual side was homogenous and could invariably be fit within the exact same, extremely rigid model of "what makes the clock tick", which in my opinion is a laughable one with all it's dichotomies which are just another failed attempt at understanding "good" and "evil" - which are concepts created by us humans, for us humans - from our mere human perspective.

I can somewhat sympathize with what makes pre-packaged spirituality so compelling, especially in the present day world when there's less and less time for your own thoughts, but I can't relate to the self-induced blindness to where the actual evidence leads us to look. Basically (and I'm speaking in general, drawing conclusions from my experiences and understanding of human motives) its a simple trade of faith and obedient lifestyle in exchange for eternal life. Like the world or life was going anywhere just because *you* happen to cease to exist. I also don't feel the need to live forever, in fact the mere thought of that would probably make me panic on my death bed. People who haven't learnt to appreciate life and existence during their lives, haven't gotten fulfillment from what they've spent their time doing on Earth, are more likely to "invest" in the afterlife. By the same token, people who take the afterlife seriously may never even try to attain true happiness/enlightenment or whatever personal dreams they'd have to fulfill to feel truly deserving of having existed.

I think religions, which introduce a strict set of dogmas and static conceptions of the world we live in, are divertion from the true essence of life and existence, although I must say that Christianity is probably from the most unfruitful end of possible choices if we rank them according to the depth and nuance they offer.

Like someone insightful said (in essence); "Listen to those who seek the truth, avoid the company of those who claim to have found it."

[thalbergmad]

google for yourself (as the image is not showing) 'hippo skeleton' under images.  you'll see distinct similarities.

here is some interesting reading for those that believe catastrophe can happen in a small amount of time and not necessarily over a much longer time:

https://survive2012.com/pole_shift_5.php

this man does not appear to be christian per se.

Your perpetual efforts to prove the Bible are both boring, one dimensional, predictable and laughable. Do you really think that posting links to questionable dinosaur reconstructions are going to convince people that they did not exist millions of years ago?. To envoke a fairy story like Noahs Ark in a discussion, is probably your funniest yet.

Yes, certain events such as Mt St Helens can happen extremely quickly, but only produce localised effects. Others take place over thousands and millions of years.

If i were you, i would try to avoid using that bronze age rubbish to try to describe the history of the Earth.

Thal

[thalberg]

The thing is that I consider all of them to be voluntary self-deception used as an excuse to use the Bible as an authoritative reference for which is "The Correct" conceptual framework through which the world appears to be in order despite all the complex mechanics of nature, mankind and human individuals themselves, instead of having to go through the great burden of actually constructing a complete and coherent picture of the reality by one's own means. It is also contains a somewhat straight-forward moral doctrine (although awfully redundant, and in some older books a very questionable to say the least) for people who don't have the innate capability to evaluate the relation of freedom and responsibility between an individual and their environment.

In my opinion institutionalized spirituality is fundamentally a bad thing, because it assumes and then imposes the same kind of conceptualizations about spiritual matters to all individuals as if their spiritual side was homogenous and could invariably be fit within the exact same, extremely rigid model of "what makes the clock tick", which in my opinion is a laughable one with all it's dichotomies which are just another failed attempt at understanding "good" and "evil" - which are concepts created by us humans, for us humans - from our mere human perspective.

I can somewhat sympathize with what makes pre-packaged spirituality so compelling, especially in the present day world when there's less and less time for your own thoughts, but I can't relate to the self-induced blindness to where the actual evidence leads us to look. Basically (and I'm speaking in general, drawing conclusions from my experiences and understanding of human motives) its a simple trade of faith and obedient lifestyle in exchange for eternal life. Like the world or life was going anywhere just because *you* happen to cease to exist. I also don't feel the need to live forever, in fact the mere thought of that would probably make me panic on my death bed. People who haven't learnt to appreciate life and existence during their lives, haven't gotten fulfillment from what they've spent their time doing on Earth, are more likely to "invest" in the afterlife. By the same token, people who take the afterlife seriously may never even try to attain true happiness/enlightenment or whatever personal dreams they'd have to fulfill to feel truly deserving of having existed.

I think religions, which introduce a strict set of dogmas and static conceptions of the world we live in, are divertion from the true essence of life and existence, although I must say that Christianity is probably from the most unfruitful end of possible choices if we rank them according to the depth and nuance they offer.

Like someone insightful said (in essence); "Listen to those who seek the truth, avoid the company of those who claim to have found it."

My question was really a joke---it was abundantly obvious that you saw those three tenets as voluntary self-deception. 

That said, you did give a very good answer to my question.

[shortyshort]

Pianistimo sometimes writes incomprehensibly; I don't quite match her talent for that.

Are you sure about that? 

[ahinton]

Are you sure about that? 

Since you ask - yes. Sometimes her very sentence structure alone - or what substitutes for it - can tend to make reading parts of her posts harder than would otherwise be the case; in addition, her occasional tendency to flit from topic to topic without much obvious connection between clauses, as well as what strikes me as rather strange and oddly expressed religious material, doesn't exactly help matters much. For the record, I should perhaps add that my concern for sentence structure here is for the sake of no more than a desire for clarity of expression and consequent comprehensibility.

Best,

Alistair

[rach n bach]

Since you ask - yes. Sometimes her very sentence structure alone - or what substitutes for it - can tend to make reading parts of her posts harder than would otherwise be the case; in addition, her occasional tendency to flit from topic to topic without much obvious connection between clauses, as well as what strikes me as rather strange and oddly expressed religious material, doesn't exactly help matters much. For the record, I should perhaps add that my concern for sentence structure here is for the sake of no more than a desire for clarity of expression and consequent comprehensibility.

Best,

Alistair

Speaking about sentence structure... is that not a bit of a run-on? 

[ahinton]

Speaking about sentence structure... is that not a bit of a run-on? 

A run on what, precisely? Which bit seems hard to understand?

Best,

Alistair

[living_stradivarius]

Apparently this forum loves masturbating to itself.

[tds]

Apparently this forum loves masturbating to itself.

btw, do we all know what masturbation means?

[thalberg]

Thalbergmad, I asked you to post a link to your favorite cream eggs and you ignored me.  What's up with that?

[thalberg]

Thalbergmad, I asked you to post a link to your favorite cream eggs and you ignored me.  What's up with that?

You are still ignoring me.........