You’d never be able to start any new relationships either.
On the other hand, if you choose the other option, almost all your relationships would end prematurely…
Yeah, it’s not bad at all.
The other day we had a huge rainstorm while I was at work. There was a heavy downpour for at least half an hour. When I went outside, I had to waid through two or three inches of water.
So basically would you rather live a normal life or be Dory?
I’ll take the normal life, please. A dream life is worthless if you can’t remember it. I am lucky to not live in poverty but otherwise I’ve dealt with plenty of crap and I’d still rather that than forgetting everything good that happened.
Some people’s normal lives, I guess. I meant (significantly) more than average suffering (for a first world country) though.
Would you rather forget everything that happened more than 24 hours ago but otherwise live your dream life, or have a normal memory but experience suffering often in your life? You’d retain all the memories you have up to this point, either way, but if you chose to have a short memory, you’d forget anything that happened from hereon.
Shit, that’s a hard one, since your memories define you so much. What kind of suffering are we talking about?
From poverty to losing loved ones to more minor problems. Maybe illness of some kind too (though nothing too debilitating). You’d have all your basic needs met, though–you wouldn’t be homeless and rummaging through garbage bins, for instance.
Post scenarios and discuss your answers.
I’ll start off with;
Would you rather be fluent in every language or be able to play every instrument?
Wow, I guess I’m the only one who would pick omnipolyglotism in a flash. Learning French has opened up quite a bit of the world for me, so it’s definitely something I would benefit from and enjoy. Being able to play every instrument might get me the girls, but so can a cute accent. 😉
Would you rather forget everything that happened more than 24 hours ago but otherwise live your dream life, or have a normal memory but experience suffering often in your life? You’d retain all the memories you have up to this point, either way, but if you chose to have a short memory, you’d forget anything that happened from hereon.
Again, the main difference between Catholicism and Christianity is that Catholicism revolves around a Church that operates no differently than a secular government. Church and state are merged in Catholicism. Christianity, according to the Bible, is incredibly submissive and is inherently passive. Given the contradictions between Hitler’s own speech, it’d be unwise to call him a “Christian”, in fact, he’s often inaccurately referred to as an atheist.
I find it interesting that you declare the Catholic Church to be not Christian based on the New Testament, which was, as it happens, assembled and defined by synods and councils of the Church:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synod_of_Hippo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Councils_of_Carthage#Synod_of_397Note how the Council of Carthage, in addition to listing the agreed-upon books of the Bible, recommends that the martyrs be honoured on their feast days, and clearly mentions priests. In other words, when the New Testament was assembled, certain Catholic teachings were the norm throughout the majority of Christendom.
Those were ecumenical to a degree, not exclusively Catholic, and were before the Catholic Church had its monopoly on biblical interpretation. Ironically, the Catholic Church throughout European history was the greatest enemy to those who actually wanted to read the Bible.
What do you mean by “not exclusively Catholic”? I could do my research, I suppose, but I don’t really have the time at the moment.
Just to be clear, I was always against Lutheranism and Calvinism as well. Lol.
Fair enough.
Sure, but I was thinking of Hitler himself, who was raised Catholic. I don’t really consider the individual soldiers in the German Army; I’m sure most of them weren’t aware of what they were fighting for. As for most of Hitler’s SS thugs, I don’t know what their religious identities were. The problem I have with your definition of Christianity is that there are sects that elevate the Pope or Joseph Smith, for example, (I hope Ender can elaborate on his views) to the level of near-divinity. The Pope takes the title of “Holy Father”, which is only used in the Bible to refer to God himself.
Joseph Smith is certainly not elevated above humanity in Mormon teaching.
Again, the main difference between Catholicism and Christianity is that Catholicism revolves around a Church that operates no differently than a secular government. Church and state are merged in Catholicism. Christianity, according to the Bible, is incredibly submissive and is inherently passive. Given the contradictions between Hitler’s own speech, it’d be unwise to call him a “Christian”, in fact, he’s often inaccurately referred to as an atheist.
I find it interesting that you declare the Catholic Church to be not Christian based on the New Testament, which was, as it happens, assembled and defined by synods and councils of the Church:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synod_of_Hippo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Councils_of_Carthage#Synod_of_397
Note how the Council of Carthage, in addition to listing the agreed-upon books of the Bible, recommends that the martyrs be honoured on their feast days, and clearly mentions priests. In other words, when the New Testament was assembled, certain Catholic teachings were the norm throughout the majority of Christendom.
Granted, Protestants reject the Deuterocanon because the Jews didn’t include it (well, not all Jews, anyway), despite retaining all the New Testament books, neither adding nor removing any.
To reject the Church as having strayed from the truth is one thing, but to say that it is not Christain because its base structure is misaligned with the Bible doesn’t seem to be a very tenable position, considering that the New Testament canon was defined within that structure (the canon was assembled by a council of bishops, and had to be ratified by Rome, etc.).
“Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey
The Crusades are a go-to thing to complain about.
For good reason.
Indeed, but they’re unfortunately a go-to example of “look how bad the Church is/used to be”, when really the atrocities committed during them were not approved of by the Church, and the Church was quite arguably justified in calling for them.
After listening to all three albums, I must say, there isn’t a lot of room for improvement, aside from things that are just due to the genre and that I haven’t gotten used to (like what sounds like too many layers of guitar to my ears, but I have limited exposure to that sort of thing). I noticed that “Alterations” seems to have a better balance between the drums and guitar.
I think I like The Way almost as much as Alterations. After a couple more listens, I wouldn’t be surprised if I liked it at least as much. Withering seems to have some harder metal, which I’m not as much a fan of compared to the other stuff, but I still enjoy it.
LOL! Hey, I don’t get marked on this stuff–at least my perfectionism is somewhat selective.
Better.
You could say I’ve worked nights if homework counts… This past year, there have been several nights during which I did homework from 4 pm to 4 am and got up at 6:30 (sometimes multiple nights in a row), plus a couple all-nighters.
I wouldn’t say homework counts. What high school gives 12 hours worth of homework?
I’m in a program that involves a much heavier workload than average. That, combined with the fact that I am an extremem perfectionist (and didn’t manage my time as well as I could have earlier in the year), equals tons of time doing homework.
I’ve been told that first year university is significantly easier than grade 11 in this program. I’ve already done a university-level research project in biology, plus a couple fairly long essays (3000 and 2000 words) in social/history. I’ve got a 4000-word one coming up next year too that I should probably research a bit before school starts. It’s nohing I can’t handle, but when I’ve got two or three projects like that to do at once, on top of work and stuff, life sucks.
But it’s mostly my perfectionism that makes things take so long, compounded with the fact that I get stuck in a perpetual cycle of sleep deprivation leading to homework taking longer leading to more sleep deprivation…
The Way, Withering, and Alterations, all by a certain Jacob Martin…
While I was playing them, my brother asked me how long the song was. I said two minutes, and he asked me why all the songs sounded so similar. I had to explain that I was listening to a CD, and it was because they were all the same genre, by the same artist…
I guess I’ve taken the first step to joining the old fogey’s club with the rest of you. 😄
Kids don’t know what CDs are anymore?!
He knew what a CD was, but I dont think he was familiar with the concept of an album…
You know what “literally” means, right?
moviefreakedmind said:
Until a group of insane Christians occupy territory the size of small countries and start flying planes into buildings, let’s stop with the ISIS comparisons.Yes, because the Crusades…never happened
One of the main causes of the Crusades was the danger pilgrims to the Holy Land faced due in large part to its overlords at the time. Also, the Moors and whatnot were making incursions into Europe and threatening Europe as a whole. The Crusades themselves were entirely justified. A lot of the stuff that happened during them was far from it, but it’s not like mass rape and pillaging was sanctioned by the Church. Of note as well is that a sizeable percentage of the crusaders were the criminals and low-life of society, if I remember correctly from what I’ve read.
Becoming a priest, nun, or monk is a choice. Celibacy is not imposed on anyone, but those who choose it seem to get by just fine. Black people, on the other hand, do not choose to be black.
Obviously I was exaggerating for effect. But you’re exactly right, being celibate is a choice. So God creates heterosexuals and homosexuals, and he tells heterosexuals they have a choice about having sex or not having sex, and either choice is ok as long as they’re married (or not priests). He tells homosexuals they have no choice.
Sounds reasonable.
Ah, that’s what you’re getting at. A person’s vocation (whether it be marriage, the priesthood, lay celibacy, or the religious life) is pretty much predetermined by God. It is the decision of the individual to follow it or not. In the case of gays and lesbians, their vocation is celibacy. That being said, there is an obvious difference, since someone called to the priesthood can still marry (a sin if they deliberately reject their vocation) can remain married without any further sin, but the same is not true according to Catholic teaching if a gay man marries another gay man and remains married.
The idea that our lives shouldn’t be difficult and sometimes painful is not one that I subscribe to, however, and I’m afraid that while I have sympathy for people who suffer this way, I don’t think remaining celibate is the end of the world. If someone imposed celibacy on me, it would be a bummer, but I could live with it just fine. I have many fulfilling relationships that do not involve sex and never will, and I would be willing to keep it that way if that is what God wants. If I didn’t want what God wants, I wouldn’t be Catholic…
Hang on. Tell me if I’m misunderstanding you, but you’re saying that God chooses certain people to be homosexual and it’s their duty to be celibate?
If I’ve understood you correctly, I think this is a perfect example of how religion brainwashes people (who are otherwise intelligent, like yourself) into justifying hate. I know, I know, you don’t hate the sinner, you hate the sin, but this is absolute lunacy.
In addition, I’ve always found the idea that any one religion knows what God wants to be extremely arrogant (let alone completely unlikely).
It’s the duty of everyone that God calls to be celibate, whether or not they’re gay. No one’s forcing it on them, though (and I have no belief that gays don’t go to heaven if they don’t choose celibacy)… There are a lot of sacrifices that my religion demands. To quote Jesus, "Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” I don’t view it as being an unfair demand, just a different one.
That being said, I understand perfectly why you see it as being unfair. I wouldn’t expect you to understand why sacrificing such important things for a deity makes any sense, because from an atheistic/agnostic perspective, it’s stupid. But to say that gays have an unfair restriction placed on them is also only half true.
But I’m sure you know my personal views. I don’t think any of this stuff should be imposed on anyone.
I was like -50 years old!
You could say I’ve worked nights if homework counts… This past year, there have been several nights during which I did homework from 4 pm to 4 am and got up at 6:30 (sometimes multiple nights in a row), plus a couple all-nighters.
Frink and I have something in common.
His wife.
Speaking of which, how did that ever happen? She must have been pretty desparate.
Becoming a priest, nun, or monk is a choice. Celibacy is not imposed on anyone, but those who choose it seem to get by just fine. Black people, on the other hand, do not choose to be black.
Obviously I was exaggerating for effect. But you’re exactly right, being celibate is a choice. So God creates heterosexuals and homosexuals, and he tells heterosexuals they have a choice about having sex or not having sex, and either choice is ok as long as they’re married (or not priests). He tells homosexuals they have no choice.
Sounds reasonable.
Ah, that’s what you’re getting at. A person’s vocation (whether it be marriage, the priesthood, lay celibacy, or the religious life) is pretty much predetermined by God. It is the decision of the individual to follow it or not. In the case of gays and lesbians, their vocation is celibacy. That being said, there is an obvious difference, since someone called to the priesthood can still marry (a sin if they deliberately reject their vocation) can remain married without any further sin, but the same is not true according to Catholic teaching if a gay man marries another gay man and remains married.
The idea that our lives shouldn’t be difficult and sometimes painful is not one that I subscribe to, however, and I’m afraid that while I have sympathy for people who suffer this way, I don’t think remaining celibate is the end of the world. If someone imposed celibacy on me, it would be a bummer, but I could live with it just fine. I have many fulfilling relationships that do not involve sex and never will, and I would be willing to keep it that way if that is what God wants. If I didn’t want what God wants, I wouldn’t be Catholic…
The Way, Withering, and Alterations, all by a certain Jacob Martin…
While I was playing them, my brother asked me how long the song was. I said two minutes, and he asked me why all the songs sounded so similar. I had to explain that I was listening to a CD, and it was because they were all the same genre, by the same artist…
I guess I’ve taken the first step to joining the old fogey’s club with the rest of you. 😄
What do you consider to be a meager existence?
…I’m 21 years old and am merely a construction worker but I aspire to make some type of impact. I don’t know how I’ll do it but if I don’t my life will have been of no consequence.
You mean…other than the buildings you helped build that will remain standing after you’re gone.
Hey, Darth Id said something kind of nice! Why don’t you make more posts like this?