Of course not. It takes me, the cpu, energy, Hakeem Olajuwon, light, Clutch, your mind to perceive it, etc. etc.
Your post only has being, since your mind made it so. If your mind thought it was a picture of a donkey, the picture of a donkey would appear. We have been programmed to think of it as a post with words in it.
What if I cannot see the forest? What if people are the forest (person = tree = many persons = many trees = forest! Wow!) and I am the fire that will consume them all? Not in a bad way, you know...just in a "burn everyone" kind of way. Then I guess your phrase is true that only I can stop forest fires because only I can douse the flames of my existence. Or maybe I could still be a fire but just stand motionless instead of burning everyone? Or maybe the forest is my hair and the fire is a haircut. I didn't answer the poll question because I follow a lot of religions. By "follow" I mean read/learn/hear about. But I am not one of those quasi-religious types who says they are not religious but follow the teachings of one or many religions. I know that "follow" in the poll means some kind of active worship and I don't have that. I also don't actively reject. I am not agnostic, either, because that is a cop-out (not sure if I believe that but I want people to yell at me). I also know that I might not exist. I certainly feel that none of you exist. You are twice removed from my physical reality so I have no reason to think that each assemblage of letters comes from real people. I do believe in typing a bunch of nonsense for no reason other than the fact that I can because I may or may not actually be doing it and wasting people's time. So, religion is cool and fascinating and church is both fun and fascinating and it hurts my knees with all the up and down. So my answer is yes and no. Maybe. Never. Nap time.
or...the sky really is blue to 95% of the world's population because all of the factors that makes us see it as blue are present. or...the post is not a donkey because my keyboard isn't designed to make donkeys or things that look like donkeys. though, they are designed to spell donkey. this planet existed before i was here. it will likely exist after i go. it was, is and will be, with or without my mind here to interpret it.
I would have liked having you by my side in WWII. You remind me of Capt. Winters. (Sorry been watching Band of Brothers)...
interestingly enough, there are more parallels than you might think between mormons and muslims. i actually wrote my senior thesis on it. we all come from the god of abraham right? right. so somebody's got it right. jews, christians, muslims... hakeem has got to be the coolest guy ever....
I really enjoyed reading this post, Rimmy. I'm not the least offended by the agnostic crack, because I only use it for lack of another term that might fit, currently undiscovered by me. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from Pulp Fiction, a flick loaded with great quotes. This one: Jules: "There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you. I been sayin' that **** for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded thing to say to a mother****er before you popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some **** this mornin' made me think twice. Now I'm thinkin': it could mean you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here, he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could be you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that **** ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be a shepherd." Keep D&D Civil.
That's a great part of the movie, but it has always annoyed me that he made something up and pretended like it was in the Bible. That should be worth a couple of decades in Purgatory, at least, right? The real Ezekiel 25:17, in context: No lost children, no shepherds, no valley of darkness.
Let me just say I have nothing against anyone's religion. You have to adapt your sense of reality in some way to find any comfort in this world. If you spent everyday facing up to the cruelty of life on this planet, you wouldn't have much chance for hapiness. I just happen to chose dissociative hedonism. The difference is that I don't have to maintain a myth and don't have to vigorously promote a myth to others or enforce it upon others to maintain my sense of validity. I accept the nature of existence as best I can observe it and try to make the best out of it. It's not exactly existentialism or solipsism or hedonsim or rationalism or humanism. I think I'll call it Dubism. I think I'm going to gel up my hair and get a local access channel show and start asking for donations. We will promote politeness, freedom, equality, population reduction, simplified living and robots. Our patron saint will be Kurt Vonnegut,
Not so fast - the "spraying microphone" gag still eludes scientologist Tom -- a true master would have 'diverted' the water back at the prankster.
To drag humankind on to the next plane of self actualization. To evolve. (Or to placate the masses and make them submissive to me! whichever)
I have no religion. I appreciate the positive impact religion has on alot of people, but it's not for me. I used to think that there may be some power that created the universe, but I've since discarded that belief as pure conjecture and useless. I think that religion is untruthful and controlling, but it serves purpose. I'm also reading "Antichrist" by Nietzsche, and it's absolutely brilliant stuff. Pretty much echoes alot of my feelings on Christianity.
If you read the quote you gave us, JV, and modernize the language a trifle, leaving out the Philistines, it's pretty darned close to Tarantino's script. Call it a loose translation, if you will. Keep D&D Civil.
