| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"Noon Cat Nick" |
| Date: |
15 Mar 2006 11:07:04 PM |
| Object: |
16 Mar 2006 - today's quote |
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a
single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
--Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ (1911)
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| User: "%" |
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| Title: Re: 16 Mar 2006 - today's quote |
15 Mar 2006 11:09:48 PM |
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"Noon Cat Nick" <chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4418F204.5030006@hotmail.com...
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a
single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
--Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ (1911)
no it isn't
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| User: "GlennT" |
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| Title: Re: 16 Mar 2006 - today's quote |
16 Mar 2006 03:53:56 AM |
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Noon Cat Nick wrote:
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a
single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
--Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ (1911)
Those that don't deeply believe in some higher power are destined
to burn fiercely. BTW That's not religion, that's human 101.
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| User: "Jane" |
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| Title: Re: 16 Mar 2006 - today's quote |
16 Mar 2006 04:41:45 AM |
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"GlennT" <askme@noname.nz> wrote in message
news:_AaSf.6586$JZ1.214915@news.xtra.co.nz...
Noon Cat Nick wrote:
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a
single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
--Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ (1911)
Those that don't deeply believe in some higher power are destined to burn
fiercely. BTW That's not religion, that's human 101.
What if you pray, but don't believe in hell?
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| User: "CyberDroog" |
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| Title: Re: 16 Mar 2006 - today's quote |
17 Mar 2006 06:33:41 PM |
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On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 22:53:56 +1300, GlennT <askme@noname.nz> wrote:
Noon Cat Nick wrote:
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a
single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
--Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ (1911)
Those that don't deeply believe in some higher power are destined
to burn fiercely. BTW That's not religion, that's human 101.
Burn fiercely? Where? In which higher power's hell are they to burn? What
if it turns out that the real highest power hates religious people and
actually favors those who rebel against unquestioned obedience to sky gods?
--
"He will place a tax on the air you breathe and on the bread you eat; he
will give you a legislation which is as legitimate as it is unjust and
instead of reasons, he'll give you laws. These will grow in the course of
time, until you no longer exist for yourselves but for others."
- Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872), Austrian author, from his play "Libussa"
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| User: "CyberDroog" |
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| Title: Re: 16 Mar 2006 - today's quote |
17 Mar 2006 06:30:05 PM |
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On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 05:07:04 GMT, Noon Cat Nick
<chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@hotmail.com> wrote:
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a
single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
--Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ (1911)
Truer words were never spoken. I have that in my quotes file, along with
many other quotes from The Devil's Dictionary.
Of course when I have read too many of those quotes, I kind of have to take
the role of God's advocate and ponder how exactly he intends to make it all
work out. Maybe he has a plan to make prayer work out.
But the fact remains that not a single person who has been decapitated has
ever been saved by prayer. That, I feel, is quite suspicious. Either God
isn't quite as powerful as his press agents made him out to be, or we have
to assume that God truly and deeply hated every single person who has ever
been beheaded.
Quite frankly, I tend to think that every case in the bible which speaks of
a person being raised from the dead actually involved a person who was
simply knocked out, or in a light coma. For all we know, Jesus might have
just concealed smelling salts up his sleeve.
--
SELFISH, adj. Devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others.
- Ambrose Bierce
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| User: "Noon Cat Nick" |
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| Title: Re: 16 Mar 2006 - today's quote |
18 Mar 2006 12:33:41 AM |
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CyberDroog wrote:
On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 05:07:04 GMT, Noon Cat Nick
<chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@hotmail.com> wrote:
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a
single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
--Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ (1911)
Truer words were never spoken. I have that in my quotes file, along with
many other quotes from The Devil's Dictionary.
Too bad that the only things Bierce is remembered for by most people are
his dictionary and disappearing after going to Mexico to join Pancho
Villa's army.
Regarding his dictionary, only the writings of H. L. Mencken equal it.
(Wayne MacDonald noted this connection in "A Bullet, A Grave, A Memory,"
written as a letter from Bierce to Mencken.) But as a short story
author, Bierce was without peer among his U.S. contemporaries. His
masterpiece, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," was hailed by Kurt
Vonnegut, Jr., as "the greatest American short story". The screen
adaptation did it remarkable justice, and remains one of the greatest
short films in cinematic history.
Of course when I have read too many of those quotes, I kind of have to take
the role of God's advocate and ponder how exactly he intends to make it all
work out. Maybe he has a plan to make prayer work out.
I think he may have believed that when people pray, they usually do so
for the wrong reason. There are different forms of prayer, petition
being just one of them, albeit the most common. Adoration, reparation,
and thanksgiving are others. From what I've been told, Muslims regard
adoration as the only form of prayer to be practiced.
But the fact remains that not a single person who has been decapitated has
ever been saved by prayer. That, I feel, is quite suspicious. Either God
isn't quite as powerful as his press agents made him out to be, or we have
to assume that God truly and deeply hated every single person who has ever
been beheaded.
Well, dead is dead, you know. You know how to tell if a person has died?
They don't come back to life to talk about it. And if there's anything
God can't do, it's change history. God doesn't have to; people do that
quite well by themselves without divine intervention.
Quite frankly, I tend to think that every case in the bible which speaks of
a person being raised from the dead actually involved a person who was
simply knocked out, or in a light coma. For all we know, Jesus might have
just concealed smelling salts up his sleeve.
There is in the Gospels the story of Jesus bringing a little girl back
to life. People came to him and told him she was dead. He replied, "She
is not dead. She is merely sleeping." Whereupon they rolled their eyes
and thought he was an idiot. But he was right--she was sleeping, not
deceased. One could well regard that as setting the tone for the other
back-from-the-dead stories in the New Testament.
There are a number of religious historians who posit that Jesus was
given some 1st-century form of strong sleeping potion which was in the
sponge that was held to his lips as he hung on the cross. And that stab
in his side to finish him off needn't have been mortally wounding.
But as I've said before, scriptures deal primarily not in facts, but in
truths. Mythologies are like that. Taking the Joseph Campbell position,
myths aren't lies; they're metaphors.
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| User: "CyberDroog" |
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| Title: Re: 16 Mar 2006 - today's quote |
18 Mar 2006 08:02:22 AM |
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On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 06:33:41 GMT, Noon Cat Nick
<chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@hotmail.com> wrote:
CyberDroog wrote:
Of course when I have read too many of those quotes, I kind of have to take
the role of God's advocate and ponder how exactly he intends to make it all
work out. Maybe he has a plan to make prayer work out.
I think he may have believed that when people pray, they usually do so
for the wrong reason. There are different forms of prayer, petition
being just one of them, albeit the most common. Adoration, reparation,
and thanksgiving are others. From what I've been told, Muslims regard
adoration as the only form of prayer to be practiced.
I think that is because Muslims, more than any other religious people,
desire to be pets on Allah's leash.
I mean really, what kind of omnipotent beings needs powerless little
insects to worship him? That would indicate one hell of an inferiority
complex.
But the fact remains that not a single person who has been decapitated has
ever been saved by prayer. That, I feel, is quite suspicious. Either God
isn't quite as powerful as his press agents made him out to be, or we have
to assume that God truly and deeply hated every single person who has ever
been beheaded.
Well, dead is dead, you know. You know how to tell if a person has died?
They don't come back to life to talk about it. And if there's anything
God can't do, it's change history. God doesn't have to; people do that
quite well by themselves without divine intervention.
No, the weak and limited God of most of the worlds religions can't change
history. But any real God worth his salt could do it easily. Existing
simultaneously in every point in space and time provides some mind numbing
possibilities, and changing history is one of them.
--
Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.
- Lilly Tomlin
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| User: "slunky" |
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| Title: Re: 16 Mar 2006 - today's quote |
15 Mar 2006 11:23:21 PM |
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_/Noon <chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@hotmail.com> wrote\_
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a
single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
--Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ (1911)
But what if you don't ask for anything when you pray? Maybe you just
want to meditate with your creator.
--
-slunky
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| User: "CyberDroog" |
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| Title: Re: 16 Mar 2006 - today's quote |
17 Mar 2006 06:30:54 PM |
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On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 05:23:21 GMT, slunky <slunky@globalzero.org> wrote:
_/Noon <chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@hotmail.com> wrote\_
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a
single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
--Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ (1911)
But what if you don't ask for anything when you pray? Maybe you just
want to meditate with your creator.
Meditation isn't prayer. Prayer is talking to God. Meditation is
listening for God's response.
--
EXPERIENCE, n. The wisdom that enables us to recognize as an undesirable
old acquaintance the folly that we have already embraced.
- Ambrose Bierce
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