the_classicist

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Posts by the_classicist

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  13

  Marines

  by mariposa in

  1. social
  2. humour

  i thought this was too funny.... marines are taught:.

  1) keep your priorities in order, and.

  2) know when to act without hesitation.. a marine was attending a college course between missions in iraq and afganistan.

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  the_classicist

  Reminds me of a Chick tract...
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  77

  You Libs keep 'dancing around the issue'

  by Shining One in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  since so many of you keep avoiding the primary issue in two other threads, chew on this one!

  terry said this: .

  >life is at the basis of reality for humans.

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  the_classicist

  Pascal's wager.

  Although I'm sure you've heard this rejection before, I'll state it anyways: Even if you chose to follow Pascal's wager, which religion? There is no way to know which is right and if you choose the wrong one, you're damned anyways (unless a universalist god is the "real" one).

  Nevertheless, the wager itself deals with a subject that is totally irrelavent to the human condition as the proverbial teacup orbiting Mars. You expect me to base my whole life on a notion that can never be proven while alive and I have to wait until death to see whether it is true or not? Of course, if I'm right and follow Pascal's wager anyways, I will have wasted my entire and only life. Even if I'm wrong, doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to go to hell, since, as stated before, any religion that has beliefs in the afterlife could be wrong and all possibilities do not lead to hell.

  The most rational thing to do, therefore, is to wait and see if this cosmic comedian decides to show himself to us. If a god did create us, he must've "endowed us with reason." Reason dictates that we shouldn't believe, much less base our lives around something, without any proof (doesn't seem very smart to believe that you have invisible beings around you all the time, without any proof at all, does it?); since all our proofs about the universe around us come from sensation (ie., sight, etc.) and invention (ideas, like math, etc.), to use Lockean terms, it stands that god's existence can never be known by humans.
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  13

  The Orthodox kissing icons, is it paganism?

  by greendawn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you think the orthodox that kiss the icons are in fact worshipping idols?

  their claim is that they are simply showing respect to the saint pictured in the icon and that it is by no means an act of worship.

  it's only a little more than having photos of your beloved ones to be reminded of them.

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  the_classicist

  [quote]My mother in-law though prays in front of her icons, lights candles and leaves out food for them and yes, kisses them.[/quote]

  Augustine, in his Confessions, relates how it was customary amongst the women of North Africa to carry wine and bread to the tombs of the saints and leave them there. His mother did this, and when they went to Italy, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, told them to discontinue the practise as it was too pagan. To think, that was the 4th century and while the two things aren't directly related, it shows a common sociological approach to religion that would be interesting to study.
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  35

  Add your own oxymoron

  by Kenneson in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  according to webster's an oxymoron is a combination of contradictory or incongruous words.

  here's an opportunity to add some of your favorite ones.

  i'll start it off.. why are a "wise man" and a "wise guy" opposites?.

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  the_classicist

  Business ethics
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  13

  The Orthodox kissing icons, is it paganism?

  by greendawn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you think the orthodox that kiss the icons are in fact worshipping idols?

  their claim is that they are simply showing respect to the saint pictured in the icon and that it is by no means an act of worship.

  it's only a little more than having photos of your beloved ones to be reminded of them.

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  the_classicist

  From the Second Council of Nicaea (787 CE), which was in response to Iconoclasm: "The more frequently they are seen in representational art, the more are those who see them drawn to remember and long for those who serve as models, and to pay these images the tribute of salutation and respectful veneration. Certainly this is not the full adoration in accordance with our faith, which is properly paid only to the divine nature, but it resembles that given to the figure of the honoured and life-giving cross, and also to the holy books of the gospels and to other sacred cult objects. Further, people are drawn to honour these images with the offering of incense and lights, as was piously established by ancient custom. Indeed, the honour paid to an image traverses it, reaching the model, and he who venerates the image, venerates the person represented in that image."
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  23

  counsel to youth

  by bluebeads in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  -> no higher education...i mean what the hell is wrong with these ppl?.

  i'm 19, i'm a publisher and screw that i' am going to university!!

  just finished my 2nd year.

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  the_classicist

  "So how many years do you have left?"

  "What are you doing again?"

  i tell them what i'm going to become...

  "What is that?"

  Sounds like my parents! Except I get most often, "So, what are you going to do with that?"
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  23

  do other religions shun?

  by aoxo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was wondering if other religions like catholics or baptists shun ex members like the jw's are supposed to shun their ex members.

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  the_classicist

  Catholics used to. Early Christians, at least from the evidence in Paul, did. Other Protestant groups probably used to do so.
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  23

  Are Americans the prudes of the world?

  by free2beme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i went to europe, i saw nudity in commercials, and other sexual topics used to advertise products.

  as an american, i was shocked to see such things in places that seemed out of place of such tools of such an extreme nature.

  i tend to feel, even to this day, that public nudity in advertising is something that is over the top.

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  the_classicist

  I think anyone who considers nudity pornography is far too puritanical. Canada has some of this, but moreso in the US (for example, nudity=14A movie in Canada, nudity=R in USA).
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  32

  Dinner with moderate Muslims

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife has a classmate that recently married a pakistani man.

  he's here only on a student visa and is faced with returning to pakistan as soon as he graduates.

  he has an application for greencard pending but the wheels turn slow.

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  the_classicist

  Well, of course he said he was a moderate Muslim. Can you imagine if in the restaurant he said, "I am a Muslim fundamentalist" ; by Pakastani standards, he's very moderate.

  On a side note, the great thing about Pakastani Muslims is that they will make samosas with ground beef; Hindu and Sikh-owned Indian restaurants will not. If you've never had a meat samosa, you've missed quite a lot.
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  46

  WHAT DOES THE WORD...."SOON"....MEAN???

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  the watchtower magazine has used the word "soon" on many an occasion to point out to its readership how near armageddon really is.. a word that can mean anything, in effect, actually means nothing.

  consequently, let's examine what "soon" actually means by definition and use.. there can only be three stages of time:.

  wouldn't you agree with that?

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  the_classicist

  Jesus, or at least the author of Matthew, said he was "coming soon." Then when all the Christians stopped working, and doing other things because of apocalyptic expectations, Paul came out with a new spin on "soon." Call me crazy, but 2000 years later isn't what I would call soon.