Oh, we have our Christines, Christophers, Cristabelles...as long as they're giving them an 'English' name.
Oh, we have our Christines, Christophers, Cristabelles...as long as they're giving them an 'English' name.
Exit, pursued by a bear.
It's funny the way that works. Dennis is just the modern spelling of Dionysius, a popular name among ancient and early Medieval Christians even though it evoked the name Dionysus--a pagan god some identified with the devil. At a certain point, cultures just appropriate names as their own.Originally Posted by mona amon
Oh, we have our Christines, Christophers, Cristabelles...as long as they're giving them an 'English' name.
Last edited by Pompey Bum; 08-29-2016 at 09:54 AM.
I don't know if Muslims or Christians do or don't believe the other is going to hell. It could be just the extremists who hold these positions.
Here's something that popped up when I asked the question "are Muslims going to hell": http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/billi...ng_to_hell.htm
Here's one that popped up when I asked "are Christians going to hell": https://sites.google.com/site/muslim...ews-christians
Oh hey, just take it as feedback. ;-)
Here's what popped up for me:
http://paranormalistics.blogspot.com...s-bigfoot.html
Last edited by Pompey Bum; 08-30-2016 at 06:21 AM.
Well, you have to admit, it was better than the feedback I got about the Church of England canonizing Thomas More.
ZING!
You still there, Mr zianizinou?
I think part of the problem that zianizinou has with Christianity is the same one that I have. He wants to know why Christians don't love Muslims in one thread although their missionaries jawbone about love. I wonder also. He is puzzled by their relationship to Jesus: why don't they name their children after him if they believe in him so much? That one is easier to answer. It is just a cultural difference and if you count all the variations, Christians do name their children after religious people, angels or ideas. But I can see how this might make someone wonder just how much Christians actually believe in Jesus or if they really believe what their missionaries say they believe.
While going to the gym for a weekly yoga class I was thinking about these book religions. In their own ways, they are doing a sort of "literal" yoga with the way they conform their words and actions to their sacred texts. Since these practices vary this leads to confusion.
I can trust that Muslims believe what they say they believe. They take their texts and the words they say seriously, much like atheists take their deterministic, sacred mathematical texts seriously. When a Muslim or an atheist tells you something you can be assured they really do believe what they are telling you. The content of their beliefs may be nonsense, but their practice insists that they actually believe that content.
But this mixture of text, belief and confidence that you can believe what the practitioner is saying varies considerably more with the Christian religions (and perhaps even the Jewish religions). At one extreme there are some Protestant sects where "faith" takes severe precedence over "works". For these people it doesn't matter what you do, just say you believe in baby Jesus and you are "saved" as long as you are not caught or can't talk your way out of the mess you made if you are caught.
When Muslims (or anyone else trying to get a straight answer) are confronted with those sorts of Christians an unavoidable cultural confusion arises. The best thing to do is to recognize the problem and get out of the way.
Well, he didn't seem that clueless to me, but hey, maybe you were channeling the guy. What did you think about the idea that Bigfoot is a ghost? I mean it would account for a lot.
Last edited by Pompey Bum; 08-30-2016 at 07:54 PM.
Seriously, if that guy's going to heaven, I'd rather go to Hell!
Last edited by mona amon; 08-31-2016 at 12:51 AM.
Exit, pursued by a bear.
When I was a little boy I used to worry about going to Heaven. I had this dinosaur book that assured me all these scary, flesh-eating monsters it was showing me were long dead. So where did they go? Probably to Heaven, right? I don't think I knew a lot about hell in those days, but Heaven didn't strike me as all that much of a bargain either. I actually used to brood about this. I was a weird kid.Seriously, if that guy's going to heaven, I'd rather go to Hell!
Last edited by Pompey Bum; 08-31-2016 at 06:29 AM.
Bigfoot? I thought it was just another dismissive comment of yours. We can discuss Bigfoot in an appropriate thread.
What is more relevant to this thread is the process of bearing false witness. My prime example is the WMD claim made by the Bush administration in spite of UN inspectors saying that Iraq had no WMDs, but I don't think it stops there. It seems to me to be something peculiar to a certain type of Protestantism and it makes it difficult to discuss anything with these Protestants because I cannot trust them not to lie.
Here's an example. You recently led me to believe that the Church of England "canonized" Thomas More. Why did you do that? I would consider that bearing false witness against the Church of England. Apparently you knew better. Maybe you thought what they did was an effective canonization. The bottom line, however, is the same: You have lost credibility.
Here's another example. After zianizinou gave you an appropriate response, you wrote the following:
You bore false witness against zianizinou for being "dismissive" when you are the one who was dismissive.
So, my question to you is why? I am suggesting that your version of Protestantism allows you to engage in any means ("works") whatsoever to gain whatever end you want because your "faith" ultimately "saves" you. Do you have another explanation?
I used to think Catholics had it easy. All they had to do was go to confession and get their sins forgiven. No karma for them. I realize now that Protestants don't even have to bother with confession with their Get-Out-Of-Hell-Free faith card.
You post examples of Christians and Muslims saying ignorant things because you are angry that: 1) your facile argument about a supposed Christian attack on Islam was easily shot down; 2) you were unable to contribute to what zianizinou and I were saying so you chose to tantrum for attention instead; and 3) I have repeatedly refused to engage your baiting.
So why flee the field when I ask your opinion about Bigfoot being a ghost? After all, you believe in Bigfoot and you believe in ghosts. Why should I not "seek to understand" people who embrace paranormal beliefs just as you claim to be doing with the beliefs of Christians and Muslims? Or could it be that you are only building stereotypes in an attempt to fortify your pre-existing religious prejudices? That you have no interest in anyone's beliefs unless they fit what you already want to hear?
Take it up with the secular authority that authorized the war, YesNo. And you can drop the argumentum ad nauseam while you're at it. Repeating the same discredited argument over and over doesn't make it so. It's just another way to insist on something you already want to believe.
Ah, here you are hoisted by your own petard, I'm afraid. If you check the thread you are talking about you will find that it was you who said More had been canonized by the Church of England and I who corrected you (go on, look it up). What I did say is that the Church of England had made More a saint in the 1980s, and this they did. If you still don't know the difference between that and canonization then it's time you stopped preaching (especially when you are accusing an honest man of lying) and attempted some learning.
That also ends the conversation. I am old fashioned enough to regard an accusation of lying as a slight against my character (which is clearly what you intended). So here's what happens next: I remove your name from my friend list (done). This is a sad thing for me at least. You were one of my first friends here, YesNo, and we have had some meaningful talks and good laughs together. You have until tomorrow to apologize without reservation by personal message (only). If I do not receive an apology or if you try to draw out this conversation in a public forum, then you will immediately become my second ignore status. Your posts will be blocked from me, we will have no further interactions, and I will cease to think about you (trust me, that's exactly how it works). I regret that it has come to this. I have no wish to be coercive, so please only apologize if you mean it. The bird is in your hands.
Last edited by Pompey Bum; 08-31-2016 at 04:33 PM.
No apologies, Pompey Bum. That WMD stunt will haunt Protestant Christianity for a long time.
Toodles.
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