Looking for SOMETHING positive

— X — wrote:

wv wrote:

But religion is about fairy stories

What do you believe? What’s the origin and ultimate meaning to life?
In 4 words or less, please.

——————

Mystery. Embrace the Mystery.

w
v
“There are no others.”
Ramana Maharshi.

PA Ram wrote:

I am not a religious person. I do quite like eastern philosophy involved in Taoism or Buddhism, but my own take on religion personally is sort of its own thing.

Nice. Can you expand a little on what your own thing means?

PA Ram wrote:

So when people talk about freedom of religion they do not mean the Hindus, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Jews or even the Scientologists.

I do. I’ve been to mass, I’ve been to a Christian mega-church, I’ve been to temple, I’ve been to the Church of Scientology in downtown WPB (and barely escaped), I once dated a chick who was hardcore Wiccan, and I’m currently learning from a Roshi. That’s not all-encompassing, but it’s a pretty good mix. The prevailing message is peace when distilled down to its purest form. I want all of them to have the freedom to practice without interference from anybody. I want communities to benefit from those freedoms, and for those communities to expand and grow and reach out and do good. But you’re right that there are a lot of people who view Freedom of Religion to mean freedom to worship only ‘the One True God.’ But hey, as long as they can learn to be tolerant of other peaceful religions, then whatever. Believe there’s only one Caucasian God.

bnw wrote:

Love your dumbass neighbor.

———–

Ahh. I like it. Common ground, finally. 🙂

I would add
“love your dum-ass self,
and love your dum-ass neighbor”

Then again, those nice sayings fall apart
when it comes to choosing political polices and systems, dont they?

I mean some folks dont want to spend tax dollars on ‘welfare’ right?

All those nice sayings dont help anyone resolve political differences. Do they? Yes? No?

Ah well.

w
v

— X — wrote:

PA Ram wrote:

I am not a religious person. I do quite like eastern philosophy involved in Taoism or Buddhism, but my own take on religion personally is sort of its own thing.

Nice. Can you expand a little on what your own thing means?

PA Ram wrote:

So when people talk about freedom of religion they do not mean the Hindus, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Jews or even the Scientologists.

I do. I’ve been to mass, I’ve been to a Christian mega-church, I’ve been to temple, I’ve been to the Church of Scientology in downtown WPB (and barely escaped), I once dated a chick who was hardcore Wiccan, and I’m currently learning from a Roshi. That’s not all-encompassing, but it’s a pretty good mix. The prevailing message is peace when distilled down to its purest form. I want all of them to have the freedom to practice without interference from anybody. I want communities to benefit from those freedoms, and for those communities to expand and grow and reach out and do good. But you’re right that there are a lot of people who view Freedom of Religion to mean freedom to worship only ‘the One True God.’ But hey, as long as they can learn to be tolerant of other peaceful religions, then whatever. Believe there’s only one Caucasian God.

I’ve attended Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, Unitarian and Brethren services.

I also attended a taping of “The PTL Club” with Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.

My mother was a big fan so we stopped at their studios in Virginia on the drive back from a vacation in Florida. I was only 14 or so at the time. I don’t remember much but what I do remember was surreal. We were seated in upper part of the balcony. I remember a young boy walking down to the front of the balcony to take a picture of the stage where Jim and Tammy Faye were. Before he could even get the viewfinder to his eye, a couple security guys grabbed it from him and confiscated it. The boy ran crying back to his mother. I don’t know if they ever gave the camera back to the kid. I just know I couldn’t wait to get out of there. It felt very ‘cultish’ to me.

In college I dated a girl who said she was a witch. She told me she was 400 years old. She was a computer science major. Very smart and pretty. I went to her apartment once and she had lit candles everywhere. She dumped me pretty quickly though. She was into motorcycle guys and I was a VW Beetle guy.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by nittany ram.

nittany ram wrote:

I also attended a taping of “The PTL Club” with Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.

My mother was a big fan so we stopped at their studios in Virginia on the drive back from a vacation in Florida. I was only 14 or so at the time. I don’t remember much but what I do remember was surreal. We were seated in upper part of the balcony. I remember a young boy walking down to the front of the balcony to take a picture of the stage where Jim and Tammy Faye were. Before he could even get the viewfinder to his eye, a couple security guys grabbed it from him and confiscated it. The boy ran crying back to his mother. I don’t know if they ever gave the camera back to the kid. I just know I couldn’t wait to get out of there. It felt very ‘cultish’ to me.

In college I dated a girl who said she was a witch. She told me she was 400 years old. She was a computer science major. Very smart and pretty. I went to her apartment once and she had lit candles everywhere. She dumped me pretty quickly though. She was into motorcycle guys and I was a VW Beetle guy.

————
“Why do we people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute?”
― Annie Dillard

w
v

TSRF wrote:

Religion in 4 words?

“There are no gods”

Except for the 12 in Ancient Greece. I’d love to hop in a time machine and just walk around listening to people worshiping all of those different deities. Of them all, I think Bacchus would have been my choice.

TSRF wrote:

He was the bravest, and put his hand in Fenris the wolf’s mouth when he was bound. Once the wolf realized he had been tricked, he bit Tyr’s hand off.

It’s an allegory. The wolf is Tony Banks. Tyr is Vermeil.

PA Ram wrote:

I realize this will read like the ramblings of a madman–but, as I said–words fail. God is non-verbal. Expressing what it means to me in words is futile.

Nope. You’re on the path.
Thanks for sharing too. I appreciate it.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by -- X --.

— X — wrote:

JackPMiller wrote:

Let’s not forget, I have seen on the net that the KKK are planning parades for Trump’s victory. One is in North Carolina. That is disgusting. Hoping the state will not allow them to do it. Same goes with other states as well. Can’t let it to be Amerikkka. That is what we are seeing.

Yeah, that’s what we need to worry about. Assembly.
Not stuff like this.

If you do a search for recent vids showing racist incidents in the wake of election, there are many. Many, many. Here’s a few more. I submit that we are far more likely to have to worry about stuff like this:

— X — wrote:

zn wrote:

If you do a search for recent vids showing racist incidents in the wake of election, there are many. Many, many. Here’s a few more. I submit that we are far more likely to have to worry about stuff like this:

Certainly possible. There are shitbags on both sides here. I hear the “they go low, we go high” crowd across America is now resting in order to gear up for a weekend melee – er, I mean peaceful demonstration – wherein they’ll damage more struggling small businesses, destroy people’s personal property (cars, etc), hurl objects at the police, and attack their detractors. Of course that will all be made right by their “Love Trumps Hate” signs they’ll proudly display as they spew their profanity-laden hate-speech into the ambient air. I must say, the “Fuck Trump Steaks” chant was truly inspired.

Ah, love.
The only force truly capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.
God bless’m.

It’s a volatile time, and things can get worse. But I have to say, I know people who were in post-election protests in Portland Maine. None of the stuff you are describing happened. I have friends all over the country in just such protests. They’re not regressing into riots (a couple did). So I don’t think the riot part is representative. This is national. The peaceful protests, however, tend to just end up on local news.

http://wgme.com/news/local/hundreds-gather-in-portland-to-protest-trumps-victory

— X — wrote:

zn wrote:

It’s a volatile time, and things can get worse. But I have to say, I know people who were in post-election protests in Portland Maine. None of the stuff you are describing happened.

Oh yeah? Know anyone in Portland Oregon?

About 4,000 protesters assembled downtown late Thursday chanting “we reject the president-elect!” the Associated Press reported. Some among the crowd vandalized 19 cars at a dealership in Northeast Portland, according to a sales manager, Oregonlive.com reports. Protesters then headed west, over the Broadway Bridge and into the Pearl District, where the windows of several businesses were smashed

Well remember I said, I have friends all over the country in just such protests. They’re not regressing into riots (a couple did). Portland Oregon is one place I had in mind when I said a couple did break down that way. I don;t know what happened there yet, I just know it broke down.

But protest is far more prevalent than violence and riots. There were literally hundreds of protests across the country like the one in Maine. Now I have not spent a good hour researching this, but what I gather so far is that the peaceful protests are far (far) more common.

==========

Anti-Trump protests erupt in Washington, DC

http://www.kolotv.com/content/news/Police-call-Oregon-Trump-protest-riot-400794911.html

The demonstrations stretched into a third straight night Thursday and came to a head in Portland, Oregon, where thousands of marchers chanted, “We reject the president-elect!” while some lit firecrackers, sparked small blazes and used rocks and baseball bats to break the glass of businesses and vehicles parked at dealerships.

Officers began pushing back against the crowd that threw glass bottles and a trash can, making 26 arrests and using flash-bang devices and pepper spray to force people to disperse.

In Los Angeles, protests were mostly peaceful, but 185 people were arrested, mostly for blocking streets, Officer Norma Eisenman said. An officer was injured near police headquarters, leading to one arrest, but Eisenman had no details about the circumstances or the injury. The officer was released after treatment.

The persisting protests led Trump himself to fire back, tweeting: “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”

His supporters also took to social media to accuse protesters of sour grapes and refusing to respect the democratic process, though there were no significant counterprotests.

In Portland, police termed the protest a riot after some 4,000 people surged into the downtown area. After giving several orders to leave, officers fired rubber baton rounds. It was not clear if anyone was hurt.

In Denver, protesters made their way onto Interstate 25, stopping traffic for about a half-hour. They also briefly shut down highways in Minneapolis and Los Angeles.

In downtown San Francisco, high school students called out “not my president” as they marched, holding signs urging a Trump eviction. They waved rainbow banners and Mexican flags, as bystanders in the heavily Democratic city gave them high-fives.

“As a white, queer person, we need unity with people of color, we need to stand up,” said Claire Bye, a 15-year-old sophomore at Academy High School. “I’m fighting for my rights as an LGBTQ person. I’m fighting for the rights of brown people, black people, Muslim people.”

Nearby in Oakland, a group got into some shoving matches with police and 11 people were arrested. Protesters lit street fires, smashed windows and sprayed graffiti on at least seven businesses.

In New York City and Chicago, large groups gathered outside Trump Tower. In New York, they chanted angry slogans and waved banners bearing anti-Trump messages. Police still stood guard Friday on Fifth Avenue.

“You got everything straight up and down the line,” demonstrator David Thomas said. “You got climate change, you got the Iran deal. You got gay rights, you got mass deportations. Just everything, straight up and down the line, the guy is wrong on every issue.”

In Philadelphia, protesters near City Hall held signs saying, “Not Our President,” ”Trans Against Trump” and “Make America Safe For All.” Officers on bikes blocked traffic for a march that spanned four street lanes and drew parents with children in strollers.

Jeanine Feito, 23, held a sign reading, “Not 1 more deportation.” The Temple University student said she acknowledges Trump as president-elect but does not accept it.

“I’m Cuban-American. My parents are immigrants, and I’m also a woman. These are things Trump doesn’t stand for,” Feito said. “He’s bullied us, discriminated against us, is racist and encourages violence. I think it’s important we stand together and fight against this.”

About 500 people turned out at a protest in Louisville, Kentucky, while hundreds in Baltimore marched to the stadium where the Ravens were playing a football game.

I see he gave Ben Carson a job, btw. wv-mom will be very happy about that. I wonder if Pat Robertson will be secretary of transportation.

w
v

Yes, so now our Vice President and Secretary of Education are “young earth creationists”.

Science class will look like this…

Pa Ram,

Really interesting take on religion from you.

We have a lot in common. From early Methodist upbringing to practicing Buddhism. I chose Zen, because it’s basically a merger between Chinese Taoism, Indian Buddhism and Japanese Shinto. And, in my view, it’s easily the most moral and ethical of the majors. I’m gonna post something later about my take on so-called “peaceful religions” and probably add a trigger warning or two.

I’ve lapsed in my practice, as my posts here no doubt show.

:>(

But it’s one of my “New Yearsy resolutions” to get to back to it and not lapse again.

P.S. I also focused on the philosophical “Wayness” of Zen, not so much on the myths and legends that can aid that practice — but I read a lot of those, too. Its secular application as well.