How do you cope?
-
Ah, I get your point. When you put it that way, I'd have to agree with you that Christians are probably alone promoting.
-- 100% natural. No superstitious additives.
-
leckey wrote:
Yeah, but when is the last time they showed up on your doorstep to "promote?"
One reason Christianity is conversion-intensve is that, when Christianity was forming, it had to compete with other religions - so conversion was, and still is, the core of their religious propagation. With Hinduism, when it formed, there was no competition, so there's no concept of conversion. Islam has conversion too (or at least in the past they did). Large number of Hindus were converted to Islam (mostly under force) during the pre-Mughal dynasty in India. I don't think Buddhism has conversion - though I guess they do write books to help people understand it better. Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New) -
leckey wrote:
Very well said.
Agreed - that was a good post! Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New) -
Shog9 wrote:
and hope to be reunited again some day.
Shog - I've read your articles and posts over the past few years and have a good respect for your thoughts. I am not wanting to start a flame war, as I am very agnostic on the idea, but what makes you cling to the idea of an afterlife? Is it just out of comfort, or is there some sort of scientific basis? When I am depressed in times like these, I find myself wanting, hoping, for some sort of reunification in the end, but the whole idea just doesn't quite analign with my analytical thinking. And that saddens me even more. Jim RunFatBoy.net[^] - Exercise for the rest of us.
AAntix wrote:
I am not wanting to start a flame war, as I am very agnostic on the idea, but what makes you cling to the idea of an afterlife? Is it just out of comfort, or is there some sort of scientific basis?
I have no scientific basis - such a thing would require the ability to run controlled tests, and that would be impractical (and likely quite unethical). I believe in a Creator who sets our lives in motion for reasons of His own, and has indicated that once this vast project has been completed, He intends to revive the souls of all who were involved in it. I believe that, although his reasons are for the most part inscrutable to us, He has indicated His love for us by providing a means of salvation apart from that which we could achieve on our own. Why do i believe these things? I could say that it is because i was taught them as a child, and have clung to them over time... but this is useless, as there are many things i learned as a child which have failed me and been discarded. Rather, i suspect that i believe in the Creator and the Resurrection for the same reasons i believe in Truth and Life - that these things which i originally accepted on faith based on those who taught them to me have become, over time, beliefs that have found their way into the way i look at the world around me. A cynic might say i believe out of habit; i concede this possibility, but do not consider it either a useful or valid stance. Rather, i believe because God has permitted me to believe. :)
AAntix wrote:
but the whole idea just doesn't quite analign with my analytical thinking. And that saddens me even more.
Analytical thinking is very useful. But it is always important to keep in mind that there are many, many times when you will not have enough data to analyze, and will ultimately end up just picking the answer that sounds best. What that is, and whether it is ultimately true or useful, depend a lot more on your state of mind than on any real skill.
---- Scripts i’ve known... CPhog 1.0.0.0 - make CP better. Forum Bookmark 0.2.5 - bookmark forum posts on
-
espeir wrote:
At nighttime.
A skin joke? Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New) -
Dude.. you're not supposed to eat ham, are you? :~
-- 100% natural. No superstitious additives.
-
Oh.. :dumbfounded: where did I get that from then? :~
-- 100% natural. No superstitious additives.
-
Dude.. you're not supposed to eat ham, are you? :~
-- 100% natural. No superstitious additives.
I'm not Muslim. Even though it is against the Druze religion, they don't enforce it on the seculars. :) Homer Simpson: Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Lisa, honey, are saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon? Lisa Simpson: No. Homer Simpson: Ham? Lisa Simpson: No. Homer Simpson: Pork chops? Lisa Simpson: Dad! Those all come from the same animal! Homer Simpson: [Chuckles] Yeah, right Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.
"Religion is assurance in numbers." - Bassam Abdul-Baki Web
- Blog
- RSS
- Math
-
I'm not Muslim. Even though it is against the Druze religion, they don't enforce it on the seculars. :) Homer Simpson: Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Lisa, honey, are saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon? Lisa Simpson: No. Homer Simpson: Ham? Lisa Simpson: No. Homer Simpson: Pork chops? Lisa Simpson: Dad! Those all come from the same animal! Homer Simpson: [Chuckles] Yeah, right Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.
"Religion is assurance in numbers." - Bassam Abdul-Baki Web
- Blog
- RSS
- Math
:-D Yes! Pig, swine, pork! Pure magic!
-- 100% natural. No superstitious additives.
-
David Stone wrote:
Christianity isn't some pyramid scheme where you get more points in heaven for every person you sign up...
But that is exactly how I see many devout Christians behave. While I was in the Marines, I had a Corporal who worked under me and he kept preaching to me. I gave him four fair warnings about preaching religion to me personally, about how it's not acceptable to me and that he should cease. He didn't. I asked him why he persisted. He said as a Christian it was his duty to save my soul. I asked him if he believed he could fly or that Jesus would catch him if I threw him out the office window (second floor of a two story building) onto the cars in the parking lot. He then said "are you threatening me?" I said "No, but I did give you FOUR chances to stop and you didn't. So I felt compelled to provide the appropriate risk for your perceived reward." He didn't say anything to me again about religion in any form. Sharing your beliefs about how you can find strength in God and Jesus is fine. But then Steve Holle threw in an obvious penalty clause about how there is no hope otherwise, that was crossing a line that shouldn't have been crossed. And Steve *KNEW* he was crossing the line when he posted it but he went ahead and did it anyway, which shows a huge lack of sense *AND* sensitivity. Both of which I'm told repeatedly are highy valued Christian traits. And both of which are repeatedly displayed as being in short supply in those same Christians. Mike Poz -- modified at 16:40 Tuesday 27th June, 2006 forgot to debold... -- modified at 16:41 Tuesday 27th June, 2006 I really have to learn to use the preview button...
Right on. :)
-- 100% natural. No superstitious additives.
-
Oh.. :dumbfounded: where did I get that from then? :~
-- 100% natural. No superstitious additives.
Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote:
where did I get that from then?
May be from his name or Arabic on his home page :~ Farhan Noor Qureshi if (this == this) thow this;
-
Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote:
where did I get that from then?
May be from his name or Arabic on his home page :~ Farhan Noor Qureshi if (this == this) thow this;
The name's probably it. May I ask what you perceive of me, just by looking at my name? Line noise? :-D
-- 100% natural. No superstitious additives.
-
The name's probably it. May I ask what you perceive of me, just by looking at my name? Line noise? :-D
-- 100% natural. No superstitious additives.
-
:-D I kind of figured and the reminder was *very* good. :rose: You've already rubbed off on me though. This weekend I tried to get closer to a buck to get a better photo and I found myself wondering what Jeffry's grandfather might have to offer for advice at this moment in time. Needless to say, I didn't have the advice and consequently don't have a photo either.:sigh::-D
"You have an arrow in your butt!" - Fiona:cool:
Welcome to CP in your language. Post the unicode version in My CP Blog [ ^ ] now.People who don't understand how awesome Firefox is have never used CPhog[^]CPhog. The act of using CPhog (Firefox)[^] alone doesn't make Firefox cool. It opens your eyes to the possibilities and then you start looking for other things like CPhog (Firefox)[^] and your eyes are suddenly open to all sorts of useful things all through Firefox. - (Self Quote)
code-frog wrote:
I found myself wondering what Jeffry's grandfather might have to offer for advice at this moment in time.
Move slow and downwind. :laugh: ;P :laugh: _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
-
Yeah, sure, a "hope for life after death" could be interpreted as insulting, but just about anything can be construed as insulting. It's an unattainable, utopian goal to not-offend the whole world. Now, if you meant you were personally insulted by the hope for life after death, well, as a practicing Jew you seem to be, I don't think you found it insulting, as we clearly believe in hope for life after death. We otherwise wouldn't do seemingly silly things our religion has us do, like leaving the door open for the obviously-dead Elijah during Passover seders. Or believe in the resurrecting miracles performed by some of our prophets so long ago. So, I assume you meant you personally weren't insulted by the hope of life after death, but others could be.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: Goof around music jam with my brothers (with video) The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango
-
My last name certainly indicate northern heritage. Sigvardsson means Son of Sigvard. Sigvard is a swedified version of the old northern name Sigurd. Sigurd means Guardian of Victory. There you have it! :cool: Jörgen however, is derived from the greek name Georgios, which in turn is derived from Georgos, which means farmer. :^)
-- 100% natural. No superstitious additives.
-
leckey wrote:
Yeah, but when is the last time they showed up on your doorstep to "promote?"
One reason Christianity is conversion-intensve is that, when Christianity was forming, it had to compete with other religions - so conversion was, and still is, the core of their religious propagation. With Hinduism, when it formed, there was no competition, so there's no concept of conversion. Islam has conversion too (or at least in the past they did). Large number of Hindus were converted to Islam (mostly under force) during the pre-Mughal dynasty in India. I don't think Buddhism has conversion - though I guess they do write books to help people understand it better. Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New)Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
I don't think Buddhism has conversion
I think that Buddhism is more of an "adoption" thing rather than a "conversion" thing. From all that I understand of Buddhism (admittedly I'm not a scholar), it's always a personal choice based upon one's research into what the religion/philosopy of Buddhism represents, which basically can be summed by this concept: "the self is one with the all". Please correct me if I'm wrong here. What I find interesting is that in Japan, Buddhism and Shintoism co-exist because I was told that one deals solely with life (Buddhism, or those who are here in the now), and the other with death (Shintoism, or those who have passed on) and so are actually complimentary. The most amazing thing is that while the two are mutually exclusive, the Japanese find no conflict in the duality in themselves and their society even though Buddhism is an adopted religion and Shintoism is home-grown. Mike Poz
-
I don't know. I almost think knowing they are still alive would be worse. I didn't get to see my mother's body before she was cremated. I still have dreams she is really alive, I track her down, and she faked her death because she didn't love me anymore and still doesn't want me in her life. Death you can't control. Other situations such as abandonment I think are emotionally worse.
leckey wrote:
I don't know. I almost think knowing they are still alive would be worse.
Comparing grief is not good, which was my point. Every person handles grief differently, and how you handle grief even yourself depends on what other life experiences you have had in the past as well as recently. Loosing your parents when you just lost your job is different than when you have one even for you alone. My point was grief is different for everyone in every situation. Be sypathetic, empathic, or however you want to think of it, but don't compare grief as a quality/quantity. No two are ever the same, no two can really be judged more difficult/worse. People look down at those who grieve from loss of pets, because, obviously, the pet is not human. At the same time, if this is a person's only companion. Ignore the "pet" aspect, ignore the family circumstances, focusing only on the loss of the only companion for someone is still devistating. You just cannot compare grief, it makes everyone miserable. _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
-
To read fascinating info and stories about people who have been clinically dead and come back to life, to tell about what they have experienced, take a look at http://near-death.com/[^]. --- Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis is a book by a former agnostic that explains the fundamental basics of the Christian perspective in a logical, non-preachy, down-to-earth way. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the basics of Christian belief and why Christians believe it.
Mr. Dunlap - Conversely, listen to this interview with Mary Roach on her book "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife.[^] There was a study where cardiologists at the University of Virginia were interested in trying to verify the out-of-body experience. What they did was setup a laptop open flat facing the ceiling. The laptop displayed different images at different intervals. The cardiologists were specifically looking at patients that had diffibulators being inserted (to kick-start their heart; installation requires the stoppage of the heart briefly). The cardiologists asked all of their patients if they remember anything from their experience in the operating room and of the 24 that claim that they did, none of them could identify what was on the laptop screen at the time of their heart stoppage. Not that this proves much of anything, but these are the sorts of controlled studies I enjoy hearing about when studying the after-life. And of course, there's always the possibility that proving the existance of another realm is outside our current testing capabilities. Jim RunFatBoy.net[^] - Exercise for the rest of us.
-
Mr. Dunlap - Conversely, listen to this interview with Mary Roach on her book "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife.[^] There was a study where cardiologists at the University of Virginia were interested in trying to verify the out-of-body experience. What they did was setup a laptop open flat facing the ceiling. The laptop displayed different images at different intervals. The cardiologists were specifically looking at patients that had diffibulators being inserted (to kick-start their heart; installation requires the stoppage of the heart briefly). The cardiologists asked all of their patients if they remember anything from their experience in the operating room and of the 24 that claim that they did, none of them could identify what was on the laptop screen at the time of their heart stoppage. Not that this proves much of anything, but these are the sorts of controlled studies I enjoy hearing about when studying the after-life. And of course, there's always the possibility that proving the existance of another realm is outside our current testing capabilities. Jim RunFatBoy.net[^] - Exercise for the rest of us.
AAntix wrote:
The cardiologists were specifically looking at patients that had diffibulators being inserted (to kick-start their heart; installation requires the stoppage of the heart briefly). The cardiologists asked all of their patients if they remember anything from their experience in the operating room and of the 24 that claim that they did, none of them could identify what was on the laptop screen at the time of their heart stoppage.
That is most interesting! Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New)