Zenister

so if on average, a motivated traveler can generally figure it out, why do we (as a culture) insist on ‘dumbing’ everything down to the lowest common denominator.. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

if is a qualifier. read for content, not for offense. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

Catholic is a Christian faction as well, your the differences in your internal dogma are largely irrelevant for any non-Christian. You use the same source material for your belief and all claim to be following the "divinely inspired word of God" no. first off none is ever 'proven' insane, even by degreed specialists. People exhibit, 'abnormal behavior' that is categorized and classified next to a defined norm. If someone talks to their sock puppet and believe it answers by the predefined norm they going to be classified (and possibly locked away based on financial and threat level concerns) as insane. does that mean their sock puppet doesn’t speak to them? prove it. you can show patterns of expression, behavior by character and plot structure elements exhibited by all authors (and by proxy intentionally or not depending on the skills of the author their characters) that have what we would ‘now’ classify as psychotic tendencies. The last actual paper I did on a biblical source was Daniel, quite a while ago, but I’ll see if I can find it for you if your really interested. Might have to mail it to you though i dont think i have it softcopy anywhere... you'd actually have to have a living person in front of a psychiatric panel to have them ‘declared’ insane. but to stray farther afield, would you call someone who consistently exhibited a different perception of reality from your own "insane"? if so, why? ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

And it doesn't. Pertaining to the Pledge...it doesn't. unless your an atheist, or don’t recognize the concept of God in quite the same manner as the large monotheistic religions... pretty much the phrase is only meaningful to the religion that lobbied to have it changed in 1954. Christians. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

please show we where i attacked you and not the belief (in fact it was a question, "IF you believe...") that peer pressure is not a significant factor in the social/educational process. That belief is ignorant. If I believed it, I would be ignorant, but calling the belief so is not the same as calling me so. At any rate this sub discussion is pointless. I’m through with it. Of course I wasn’t offended in the first place, nor do I become offended in an open debate forum. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

your Christian, Methodist is one of your factions. I am talking about evaluation of mental states and character evaluations of writers thru their written work, and it is my reasonably well educated opinion on Literature and its writers as viewed thru well recognized psychological analysis techniques applied in modern literary criticism. There are a number of sources for the technique, if you take the time to learn, but you wont find it on many Christian reading lists, and you while don’t get (or need for study) a degree in psychology, you do learn quite a lot about the field and its standards and practices. i'm also not the one making claims about anyone's sanity or their communication method with the divine.. you are. ps. "ex" is a has been and i believe "pert" is a drip under pressure... ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

“Under God” is not the endorsement of a particular religion. As government could never be expected to endorse all religions equally, it should not endorse any at all. ' the purpose of the pledge is to unite, why do christians insist on wording (in this and many many other places throughout their literature) that divides? ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

I knew you were one of the liberal "golden boys" in this forum and, therefore, you're granted more freedom to bend the rules. I didn't expect that yours would get deleted. Oh well...Asi es la vida! Lose an argumentive point and so you scream favoritism? how childish, I did expect better from anyone who chooses to participate in open discussion in the Speakers Forum, if you cant handle being called on an ignorant belief then maybe you shouldn’t debate? when that clear social pressure results in a de facto endorsement of religion? absolutely. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

I'd say formal study at most any undergraduate institution qualifies most people to talk about the subjects they’ve studied. I'm sorry if you don’t consider my education "reputable", a good portion of your Methodist faction holds it in high regard. With my undergraduate degree in Literature, a BFA in Fine Art and a significant portion of the courses required towards my masters in Literature, I’ve studied a good bit more than an 'elective' course. How much formal education do you have on the subject? Have you ever done any physiological study of writers and characters throughout literature? I think what I was trying to say in my “re-quote” was exactly what I’m trying to say to you now. I’m not saying I’m anyone who can say how God talks or communicates to people. I just said that he does so in different ways. I meant exactly what you said. Who’s to say? I don’t believe I ever did that. If you can find that I did, please quote. you labeled "Son of Sam" as insane because of the source of his belief. What you may fail to realize is the test of his sanity is based on his actions, not his beliefs. He may certainly be a threat to others, but is he insane because he claims God spoke to him thru dogs or because he lacked the basic respect for the lives of others and their beliefs? There is a woman not far from where I live in Washington who believed God speaks to her thru the a Norwegian alien lizard that appears in her kitchen. I don’t get it any more than why you gather in churches and sing bad songs to your Lord, but neither of you are insane for believing so… She’s not trying to get us to acknowledge God in our country’s pledge either though, so perhaps she is ‘more sane’ than the Christians. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

Great....frustration to the point of personal attacks....I guess it's working. ok i did put a double negative in my original post, but there is no frustration at all, should be "if you think peer pressure is not a significant part of the social/educational process, particularly for young children, your simply ignorant of reality" do you think peer pressure plays no part of the educational process? to do so is ignorant. fact, not an attack. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

no but i know several, have dabbled in it (there are advantages to liberal arts educational institutions) find what is reveals about motivations rather interesting, and it is a fairly well researched and documented literary analysis technique..but the majority of Christians start frothing at the mouth when you subject their literature and its supposed writers to the same level and types of criticisms as all other literary figures. This often includes an analysis to the writers personality (FBI/CIA uses these techniques all the time to profile solely on a subjects written words) based on their writing style, word usage, source material etc...it is also used to 'profile' the characters of pure literary figures, ie the character of God and Christ.... do you realize there are 6 distinct characters of God in your Bible? OT & NT? seems your God has some issues with schizophrenia as well.. Ok…I agree. Many renowned scientists have been done the same. That didn’t mean that they were. I believe what I said earlier to PeacefulJeffrey was: My question still stands. Who are you to say to anyone how God speaks to them?? Society has a lovely way of labeling those who don’t ‘fit’ insane, and lock them away to keep their ideas from spreading to its impressionable youth…your seem just as ready to label anyone who doesn’t think and feel God in the manner you perceive him to be insane as well.. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

its not about feeling 'good', its about what it is and what the original intent behind it was when it was recognized as an official pledge. God in any form had nothing to do with that intent. Christian religious zealots lobbied and had it changed it at a time when the vast majority of the public was not going to raise their hands and say "this is wrong" for fear of persecution by religious zealots in Congress at the time, who were persecuting anything “un-American” (by their very narrow definition of what “American” was) they absolutely are. If you dont think peer pressure is not a significant part of the social process, particularly for young children, your simply ignorant of reality. so you've got no issues with a teacher substituting any number of the wide variety of names God has been called by mankind? as BillVon expressed, even "under Satan" should be acceptable to you (as it is a recognized religion) after all, your children dont have to say it....they just have to hear everyone else say it everyday and wonder why daddy tells them everyone else is wrong..... ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

i agree, unfortunately voting for him means you will have less than your single vote's weight when it comes to who really ends up in the executive seat next term. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

"set phasers for stun" ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

heavy calvary vs unarmed, untrained civilians..yea that has worked pretty well for centuries. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

my mother caught me jumping off the roof of our duplex at Eglin AFB with a military cargo pilotchute at something like 8 years old. It was my 2rd jump, Mitchell had already made 4. I'm honestly suprised it took me as long as it did to try it again. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

Friendship is more than politics, its more than religion even. I have friends in so many places with such a variety of views, and neither of those topics has anything to do with why we are friends, or who my future friends might be. Find the stripes we'll have a jump and a beer. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

do you really want to get into a psychological analysis of your prophets? how about your God based on the writings of your prophets? Many many pious men have been jailed, persecuted, tortured and killed by those who called them insane. Who were they, and who are you? To tell anyone what form the voice of God appears to them?? ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

that is not a right granted to you until you become a member of the US Supreme Court. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

Because there's nothing wrong with the way it is. then lets put it closer way it was originally written, and the way it was officially recognized in 1942, as pledge of allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all. It reads better poetically (diagram the meter yourself before you argue "not IMO" without recognizing there is more to poetry than if you 'like' it) without the phrase "under God" and honestly, applying the preposition 'under' to the 'person' of 'God', is meaningless. God had my allegiance from the first moment i drew breath. Divinity is not something you really need to learn in school in the manner you learn about the country you live in. 1942. hmm i wonder what happened then that made pledging allegiance to your country as a daily ritual a very good idea? its rather peculiar that of the people who do recognize Divinity "God" in its myriad of forms, only the Christians are screaming about making school children swear allegiance (pray essentially) to her as well as country every morning before class. ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

oooooo i love this question

whatever you wish little one... ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

sooo does the GGLF constitute a 'terrorist' organization? uh oh ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

transitions continually from one state to another... i prefer it organized..tis not always 'neat' but at least i can find everything when i need it...i think... ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

sounds perfect actually... idly wonders what is is about beautiful skydiving women and raw fish..not that he's complaining mind you, but it is an interesting coincidence... ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.