• 882 replies
    marye
    Joined:
    In one of the other topics, one of the folks seemed not to be so sure of the reception he'd get for saying he was a youth minister at his church. In my experience, Deadheads span the full spectrum from Agnostic to Zoroastrian. I've met atheist Deadheads, Muslim Deadheads, Buddhist Deadheads, Catholic Deadheads, Jewish Deadheads, and Wiccan Deadheads. My Deadhead friends are all over the map on this stuff, and as far as I'm concerned one of the real richnesses of the scene is the ability to see how things look to other folks and, sometimes, experience it from their world. Believe it if you need it, if you don't, just pass it on. But talk about it here, and please maintain a safe respectful place to do so.

Comments

sort by
Recent
Reset
  • Gypsy Cowgirl
    Joined:
    Johnman...
    Johnman-you're not whining, just telling us your feelings, your heart & soul. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe you can get veteran benefits to help out in the meantime? Saw Ruby, but the music was too loud to tell her you wished her well. I'll try & pass on a message to her. Phil ended his show tonight with an amazing " & I bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight".....very gospel.......everyone loved it......Sunday night again. Back to naked praying-it's getting to be a tradition around this household. Even my next door neighbor liked the idea ......xoxox Gypsy Cowgirl
  • johnman
    Joined:
    faith.
    thank you free, tiger, and ben for your kind inputs. its only myself that i'm having trouble with. i have faith that things will work out, just get scared sometimes as i said every month things seem to fall in to place as soon as i leave it in the lord's hands...ya kno...ya cant do what ya cant do.............they say god never gives ya more than you can handle..........sometimes i wish he didnt trust me so much.....................thanx!!
  • gset-ben
    Joined:
    johnman
    Hey Johnman, I prayed for you this morning, that our God of all Peace would comfort you and open your eyes and heart to how much He loves you. You are on the right track seeking Him. Check out these words of Jesus in the book of Matthew chapter 6! 25 "So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not. 28 "And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! 31 "So don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. 32 Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, 33 and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. 34 "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. Blessings, Ben Jesus Loves You The Best! greateststoryevertold.org
  • TigerLilly
    Joined:
    Oh johnman
    don't know exactly what to say, as am in a very bad way myself right this second. But have valued our friendship in the chatroom very very much, and your post makes me sadder. Your persistance about work WILL pay off, and you belong wherever you wanna be. Am glad you still have your faith in your church, and that constructive source of strength-I just hope you can get your faith back that some of us here care alot about you.********************************** Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you will still exist, but you have ceased to live. Samuel Clemens
  • free idea
    Joined:
    johnman, dude!
    wow, johnman, i was on my way out the doorwhen i read your post, and just had to log in and say, DUDE! whats up! I judge people by their hearts, and by my assessment, you doin' fine! Who's out there judging you by any other yardstick? sheee-it. who cares anyway? If your heart is right, everything else is fixable. got your sense of humor? don' t lose that, right? i think you're in the right place here, just my 2 c's. You gotta start with what you can do today. Do that, and don't beat yourself up. Tomorrow, do what you can do tomorrow. You're giving off so much light, dude, don't feel selfish to let some shine on you. love you like a brother, johnman-----andy ps - not feeling like you belong turns out to be a GOOD thing, dude.
  • johnman
    Joined:
    prayer
    dunno 'bout prayin' nekkid, i 'spose most people that believe in prayer do so when they feel the need, some people pray on a regular basis, some folks attend services everyday.i have been going to mass every weekday morning since i was laid off over a year ago and i kno it keeps me from getting scared. they say " the lord will provide", they say " ya gotta have faith" and that's what i've been trying ta do. somehow every month i have been able to get together enough money to make it thru to the next. it's been hard on my kid....he doesnt say much about it 'cuz he knows how stressed out i am, but i can see the affect it has on him, tho he tries not to show it. being a teenager he just lashes out. i keep lookin' and lookin' and filling out applications and requesting interviews and no luck. this week the depression has been so bad that i don't even feel like i belong HERE and this has been my OTHER escape, just like the shows used to be. my favorite sticker said somethin' like " a break from whoever you are", like i could be around other deadheads and feel welcome and not have to worry about the outside "normal" real world, but now we are so divided over this damn election and the fundraising show that i cant even feel comfortable in the forums, tho i kno it's probably just my perception (or not). friends in the chat room tell me it's ok, they like me, i'm welcome as everyone is, but i FEEL like i'm INTRUDING each time i log in. i havent even listened to any music in months cuz it just makes me cry so my other option has been prayer and church. i go in the door scared and come back out reminding my self that "i gotta have faith" and it seems to have worked....like the dead used to do for me. i am deeply sorry if this particular forum is the wrong place for me to whine and i hope this won't offend anyone here....you have all been WONDERFUL and HELPFUL and KIND and THOUGHTFUL. and meebe thats the other thing that faith brings me ...hoping that i can still come here and.....forget....if only for a few minutes........thanx for listening....think i'll have a couple beers and some " medication (haha)" and and thro in a boot and see if it'll work...mebbe try to chat.....thank you all for putting up with a foolish old sailor.
  • Gypsy Cowgirl
    Joined:
    Amen
    Amen TL & GRTUD! glad it's helping......I'll have to tell my son (soon to be 38) what his father started from beyond the grave.......I think he really did pray naked way back when (prior to 1974).....maybe advanced in his thinking? xoxoxo Gypsy Cowgirl
  • TigerLilly
    Joined:
    Perhaps
    You can write us an essay about how Naked Praying has changed your life GRTUD. Will make an attempt to do the same. Hey Rider, what do you think about adding Naked Prayer to our DOWN WITH SHOES campaign? DOWN WITH SHOES and UP WITH PRAYING NAKED. Haven't mananaged yet to be as pious about it as GRTUD, but do shoot for once or twice a week. ********************************** Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you will still exist, but you have ceased to live. Samuel Clemens
  • GRTUD
    Joined:
    I Love You Too...
    Gypsy Cowgirl, your "Naked Praying" is working better than anything I've ever tried before! I do it everyday, now. "The task is, not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees. ." - Erwin Schrödinger
  • Gypsy Cowgirl
    Joined:
    GRTUD & Tiger Lily!
    how are you 2 & are praying naked this Sunday night????? love ya, Gypsy Cowgirl
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Forums
In one of the other topics, one of the folks seemed not to be so sure of the reception he'd get for saying he was a youth minister at his church. In my experience, Deadheads span the full spectrum from Agnostic to Zoroastrian. I've met atheist Deadheads, Muslim Deadheads, Buddhist Deadheads, Catholic Deadheads, Jewish Deadheads, and Wiccan Deadheads. My Deadhead friends are all over the map on this stuff, and as far as I'm concerned one of the real richnesses of the scene is the ability to see how things look to other folks and, sometimes, experience it from their world. Believe it if you need it, if you don't, just pass it on. But talk about it here, and please maintain a safe respectful place to do so.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

I recall Mickey Heart wearing a shirt that said "God is Sound." Has anyone here ever been to Spain and wondered why the Spanish have so many delicious topas made of pork? I am talking hundereds if not thousands or topas made of port. When i left Madrid i looked into this and found out the real reason why this is. Does anyone know why? I agree with Mickey, God is Sound!
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

What do the Chrishnas belive in? I had a few bad experiences with them so i was always affraid to actually ask. Has anyone found themselves to be so spun and helpless that you followed the big maroon bus only to find youself being brainwashed? We can help and convert you all at the same time!! Buy one get one free!!!
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 11 months
Permalink

Why cant you just go to sleep thinking"oh,some people believe in buddha,some into the dalai lama and some even in jesus,god what jerks ..how lucky am i to believe in money and to be one of the chosen few,(sigh of relief)!":-)(-:
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

"Mickey Heart is God" but I recently crossed out Mickey's name and replaced it with "John Molo". It was a cheap knock off from China, anyway. "Since you've all been such good boys and girls, I would like to take everybody in this entire audience out for milk and cookies. There are buses outside. Everybody follow me."
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

That was good. LOL
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Shipping powders back and forthSinging black goes south while white comes north And the whole world full of petty wars Singing I got mine and you got yours. And the current fashions set the pace. Lose your step, fall out of grace. And the radical he rant and rage, singing someone got to turn the page And the rich man in his summer home, Singing just leave well enough alone But his pants are down, his covers blown And the politicians are throwing stones So the kids they dance they shake their bones Cause its all too clear were on our own Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free Its dizzying, the possibilities. ashes, ashes all fall down.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

GRTUD, I was just reading back through the Thread and saw some of your posts. This is good stuff and really shows just how foolish this stuff is. cheers.
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Glad to see that someone is checking the stuff out I posted. Thanks! Also fyi, Colbert will have The Roots on his show this week, as they broadcast live from Philadelphia! This will be only the second time in the show's history that a musical guest makes an appearance. Last week (or so) REM appeared live as both (collective) guest and performing artist. Also, have you seen the most recent (real) news on China, regarding Taiwan? Perhaps we will have something to celebrate, after all. Photobucket "Since you've all been such good boys and girls, I would like to take everybody in this entire audience out for milk and cookies. There are buses outside. Everybody follow me."
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 11 months
Permalink

to see that this guy is the head of the Human genome project.and beside being a believer he is a shameless liar too....parts of genes are patented nearly every week!Great show ,we could use that in tcheque rep.:-)(-:
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Yes we are making some progress. The Kuomintang has not had direct relations with the Communist since the end of the Civil war (1949) and the founding of the "peoples republic." This is something we can call the Ying and the Yang right? Shit hitting the fan in Tibet and Miracles happening in Taiwan. Let’s hope that in the end everything works out because things have been heating up in the Taiwan Straits in the past 4 years. Colbert is the man. I will try to find the show where the roots are playing. I used to see them back in Portland, Oregon when they used to play at the rosland ballroom and the Boulder Theater in Col. Thanks for the heads up.
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

They probably haven't gotten around (and around) to mapping YOUR DNA yet... be patient. : - ) I'm honesty not knowledgeable about the patent process, regarding DNA. I hear different "facts" from different people and I just can't keep up with all the legalize (nor can my brain absorb the constant droning of "news" which, in these type situations, amounts to welfare for lawyers - in the US, at least). Can you provide further info? "Since you've all been such good boys and girls, I would like to take everybody in this entire audience out for milk and cookies. There are buses outside. Everybody follow me."
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 8 months
Permalink

Jesus here … I have a message for all of you from beyond your realm. This is a Message from Jerry, Pigpen, Brent, Keith, and Bill. To all you who have taken this site and made it about personally attacking one another; who have made a point to forget about the music completely, who have disregarded what this web site is all about. You all have disappointed us greatly. Remember it’s about the music and what it means to each and every one of you. Stop the personal attacks against one another. There is a lot going on in this world right now. And not everyone is going to agree with each other on what should be done. The end of days is near. We need to come together and be united. No I’m not from the Chinese government. I have nothing to do with any government. Nothing we say on these forums about the world is going to change anything. Pray to who or what you believe in. At this point unless you are going to the different places or raising money to help fund these causes; all you can do is pray. So QUIT your bickering it’s time to get along and enjoy the music while we still have the freedom to listen to it. And Remember why we are here on this site in the first place!!!!
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

u do this everywhere? post ur shit once please, ur wasting alot of peoples time and THAT is a sin!
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 11 months
Permalink

this is the 1st time i only can agree with you,and you have said it so nicely.No pression,inquisition or other madhead catholic shit.but this does not mean that i believe that i am chatting with jesus.right now i am chatting with Jerry about catfish John..take care brother!.-)(-:
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 11 months
Permalink

i was reading your post on this site,and my tolerance-indicator told me that i can write you a friendly message..BUT then i see that you surf around on other sites with your message...changed just a little!!JC..when my boy was small i told him that lying to people aint no good.and in your case especially if you are god,or his son?or your father?or both togther..whats the holy spirit for in that game any way...HHTFs,so you can do that yourself:-)(-:
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

local media have reported that General Reza Zarei was found with six naked women in a house of prostitution in the Iranian capital last month.Gen Zarei was in charge of enforcing Iran's strict anti-vice laws, which include a ban on prostitution. and this a tightly religous country...go figure musta thought 6 pros in the flesh was better than 13 virgins in spirit (is it 13 or 30?) "Taste eternity", the swords sing
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 11 months
Permalink

its neither the one or the other.its 74 virgins......:-)(-:
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

lamere numbers,frankly! kinda like religions{:[(~
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

Stick to one forum for your posts jc...I do not need to read the same thing on all forum its annoring! Keep the Peace :)
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Actually, in the Shia religion (please correct me if this applies to the Sunni sect or any other) and in Iran especially you can have sex with women as long as you are married to those women. So as clever as the religious order is, they have set up government/with the blessings from above of course/institutions where you can marry a prostitute and then have sex and then divorce her after you are finished with your non-holy duties. And the contradictions continue..................
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Pope praises U.S., but warns of secular challengesBy Sheryl Gay Stolberg and John Sullivan Published: April 17, 2008 WASHINGTON: Pope Benedict XVI addressed American Catholic bishops on Wednesday evening and praised the United States as "a land of great faith." But he cautioned that the country's secular tradition often led to a gradual separation of religious guidelines from daily life and an acceptance of divorce, abortion and cohabitation outside marriage. "Perhaps America's brand of secularism poses a particular problem," the pope said, according to the prepared text of his speech. "It allows for professing belief in God, and respects the public role of religion and the churches, but at the same time it can subtly reduce religious belief to a lowest common denominator." Speaking after a prayer service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Benedict told the gathered bishops that the church must establish its teachings as central to people's daily life.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

So how does the Pope explain the Pedophile Priests who are feeding on our children? Are they secularist who have reduced religious beliefs to the lowest common denominator? The reason why there are so many pork Topas in Spain is because of the Spanish Inquisition where the monarchy attempted to convert the Jewish and Muslim populations to Christianity. After a while they realized that the Jews and Muslims who were freshly converted were faking the whole thing. So as Jews and Muslims do not eat pork , they came up with a cruel system that would inform them if the freshly converted soul was lying or not. If the Jew or the Muslim did not eat the array of beautiful topas (which were made of pork) that was presented to them, then they were sentenced to a cruel death. Pope John Paul actually apologized for this (and many other atrocities of the Catholic Church, like supporting the Nazis in order to gain revenue and access to the schools across Germany and "Greater Germany). The list goes on and on. Chew on this Jesus
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Can you imagine the expressions when those poor souls find out, that due to a translation error, they're in store for 74 Virginians? Around the Capitol Beltway, that fate is considered Hell. "Since you've all been such good boys and girls, I would like to take everybody in this entire audience out for milk and cookies. There are buses outside. Everybody follow me."
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Around the Beltway there is more sin than anywhere else in the country. It seems that there is always some male House of Rep or some male Senator partaking in extracurricular activity that goes against the morals or principles that even the most liberal minded person can ever think of. What was the guys name from Idaho (I-da-hoe in this case). One of the main characters in the impeachment trials of Clinton was caught by the FBI soliciting sex from young males at the airport in Boise. Fuck!!! And there are many more stories to go around. 74 or 73 virgins would not be that much fun anyway!! You spend the rest of your time in the clouds teaching them and this is not what I call heaven!!!! If there were 74 experienced girls there then I would find god.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 11 months
Permalink

GRTUD,..V-I-R-G-I-N-S!!!The 74 Virginians you are more likely to meet them in the Big-House:-)(-:
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Hey trifecta,It was the Minneapolis airport and it was airport security that busted him, but basically a true story.
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

from the introduction to this topic: "Believe it if you need it, if you don't, just pass it on. But talk about it here, and please maintain a safe respectful place to do so." Several recent posts bashing other people's religions have violated both the letter and spirit of this, and I put on my mod hat and say Please Cut It Out. I am not for the present going in and nuking existing posts, but further posts along the general lines of Muslim-bashing, Catholic-bashing, and the like with regard to any religion, including atheism and secularism, will be summarily nuked. Believe what you want, but leave others alone to do likewise.
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

His name is Larry Craig. I have met him on several occasions and organized demonstrations against him and his forest policies back in the 90's. Watching his downfall is something I have had great interest in. If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. William Blake
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Man in a Purple Dress -- Pete Townshend How dare you wear a robe to preside How dare you cover your head to hide Your face from God How dare you smile from behind your beard To hide the fact your heart's afeared, And wave your rod How dare you be the one to assess Me, in this God-forsaken mess You, a man, in a purple dress A man in a purple dress You are all the same Gilded and absurd Regal, fast to blame Rulers by lost word Men above men, or prats With your high hats You priest, you mullah so high You pope, you wise rabbi You're invisible to me Like vapour from the sea How dare you? Do you think I'll quietly go? You are much braver than you know For I can't die Your staff, your stick, your special cap They'll protect in Hell? What crap! Believe the lie How dare you be the one to assess Me, in this God-forsaken mess You, a man, in a purple dress A man in a purple dress When you place your frown Between my God and prayer However grand your crown Or dignified your hair Men above men, or prats In your high hats You priest, you mullah so high You pope, you wise rabbi You are invisible to me Like vapour from the sea I lovingly mock you noble lords We all dress up to grant awards I do that as well I dare condemn your fashion sense At least you're not astride a fence That would not sell But I will deliver this address Your soul's condition don't impress You, a man, in a purple dress A man in a purple dress when we saw The Who a couple of years ago, Pete commented on how this song was not about religion, but about judgement. peace.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

Thanks CCJ I love The Who and never heard that!
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

JESUS LOVES,JESUS FORGIVES,and JESUS died for our sins. PEACE & always BE KIND..
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

glad you liked it Mom, for other Who fans, the name of the album is Endless Wire. more info to follow in a private message. peace.
user picture

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

had posted a question here, but seems to have gotten lost. As don't feel like retyping it, will wait and see whether turns up********************************** Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you will still exist, but you have ceased to live. Samuel Clemens
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

How'd a person get a name like Hunter, anyway? No doubt there is a God, is all I can say. Well, besides, "Thank You"... "You know what the trouble about real life is? There's no danger music."
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Wow! I don't think I expected to see these kinds of posts here! I thought it was obvious that the Grateful Dead experience (at it's best) WAS church!!! I thought most people knew that they were singing folk songs to their "people", describing our reality, validating our experience, giving us hope to go on, providing inspiration and connection, ritual and symbol, JUST LIKE CHURCH - except FULL OF LIFE, NOT EMPTY RITUAL!!! For me, after being exposed to everything from fundemental Christianity (my dad's side) to Budhism, American Indian, TM (I even met the Maharishi!), est., and Wicca (my mom's influence), I started to see how all these beliefs really just emphasize different points of the same truth. I started to see how, once you combined their teachings, threw out the political bias that men wrote in, and focused on the similarities, one truth started to emerge... the path to spiritual awakening, the connection to the higher force that created you and all life, is found by living a fully authentic and passionate life. You can only find your individual path to connecting with the creative force by going within, NOT looking to some middle man for answers. Later, I discovered that Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell described this path as the process of individuation. Campbell even hung out with members of the Dead and confirmed that the shows were spiritual in nature, full of "living ritual". For me, the members of the Grateful Dead, through their support staff, acted as a conduit of energy (at the best points). They seemed to channel something greater through their ability to let go and let the music control them. When we, as the audience, joined that energy through dance or some other form, we amplified it and sent it back. In this way, an energy loop was created that lifted us ALL up (even those that didn't know what was going on). But for many of us... this process was CONSCIOUS!!! When I was able to pariticipate in this experience, this transformation and projection of energy, there was NO DOUBT in my soul that it was a spiritual experience. I think too many people get tied up in the religions of old. They forget that these religions were created not just to provide spiritual connection, but also to reflect and support the social and political motives of the people that controlled them. It concerns me when people disregard the teachings of Jesus and other prophets to be true to their own connection to God in order to follow the rules that MEN made up as a means of control hundreds of years ago. "live a life you love, use a God you trust, and don't take it all too seriously..."
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 1 month
Permalink

wow mtfreak ,, defanatley food for thought..going to shows was like a (religous) experience for me also .. " just a box of rain beleive it if you need it if you don`t just pass it on "
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

"It concerns me when people disregard the teachings of Jesus and other prophets to be true to their own connection to God in order to follow the rules that MEN made up as a means of control hundreds of years ago."
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 3 months
Permalink

I'm still convinced that "Jerry is God" and "God is Sound". Seriously, I get my meditation time in while listening to Jerry and to the Dead. I always feel that hit from the divine spirit when I tune in. Thanks, guys!
user picture

Member for

16 years 7 months
Permalink

when reason ends faith begins! when faith ends, reason ends! it's like a wind dat catches ur breath wen samtings wrong!!! faith arises wen love reigns!!! itz a puzzle hidden behind d buckle bars who simply undefined perceptive power... its a faith called the magnification life brings wen things go wrong...am jaz a woman, idealistic but id rader be on my own rader dan c tings go not my way! if fixing problems is so sucked, i cud definitely go blind... wat f ders destiny, wat f ders hope! id rader be myself beating hardly drawn dan put tings lie on alone....
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Well said wolfsong, I too have been gratified to discover I am not the only Chrisitan Deadhead! My experience of the Grateful Dead helped solidify the idea that "its all church, man, if you take the time to see it, hear it, feel it". Thank you for your eloquence. Peace my brother.
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

i tink eye mite egree wiv u f i cd jes derstan sackly wut yu sez dere ;-)
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 9 months
Permalink

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roamWhere the deer and the antelope play Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word And the skies are not cloudy all day
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

Read the following book: A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. 570 pages (and another 100 pages of citations). This book will help one understand everything that happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. After reading such books, then try to fit any of the organized religions into the equation. I was brought up a Catholic and after reading the Old Testament i realized that if there is such a God why is he then iso evil and why would i follow such nonsense. (the old testman is borrowed from Jewish texts and is full of Blood, Murder, Incest, etc) I can comment about the New Testament but i will conclude with saying that organized religion is our tradition and is an acceptable way to remember our cultures, but most of the time religious people tend to not realize this. I love Christmas and all the holidays and i even had my daughter baptized out of respect for my tradition. If we look at the facts and the evidence everyone would realize this and respect what is in front of our faces/our reality so to speak and not leave it all behind because after one dies he or she will hang in the clouds listening to an angle playing a harp. I’m in Sierra Leone and went to a place called Banana Island, long story short it is one of the largest ports used during the slave trade. If there was a god why would he allow a church (which is convently set with a perfect view of the loading docks)to bless the slave trade and oversee the slaves before they were shipped off like widgets to the Americas? If there was a god why would he allow "his chosen people" to almost be exterminated by the Nazis? I have at least 170+ questions like these. Why Why Why. The answer is that there is no fictitious being and we are responsible for our own actions here in this reality. If someone can prove me wrong please do. When i came to this realization i was scared and felt helpless, but came up with other more realistic ways to look at life and the ripple effect that i leave behind. The next time you look up at the Sun you should thank it as it is what truly gave us life and is the center of our existence. But the Christians that enslaved the Americas called the natives who worshiped the Sun Heathens, but the reality is that it is the other way around. Anyway I will shut up now and look forward to hearing your thoughts.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

16 years 11 months
Permalink

i com.pleetli a gree wiz yur elokwent kommend!:-)(-:
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

"Matthew 2 describes Herod and all of Jerusalem as troubled by the worship of the infant Jesus. Herod then had all of the children of Bethlehem slain. If such extraordinary infanticides of this magnitude had occurred, why didn't anyone write about it? Jerusalem was the center of education and record keeping for the Jewish people. The Romans, of course, also kept many records. Moreover, the gospels mention scribes many times, not only as followers of Jesus but the scribes connected with the high priests. And as for historians, there lived plenty at the time who had the capacity and capability to record, not only insignificant gossip, but significant events, especially from a religious sect who drew so much popular attention through an allegedly famous and infamous Jesus. Take, for example, the works of Philo Judaeus who's birth occurred in 20 B.C.E. and died 50 C.E. He lived as the greatest Jewish-Hellenistic philosopher and historian of the time and lived in the area of Jerusalem during the alleged life of Jesus. He wrote detailed accounts of the Jewish events that occurred in the surrounding area. Yet not once, in all of his volumes of writings, do we read a single account of a Jesus "the Christ." Nor do we find any mention of Jesus in Seneca's (4? B.C.E. - 65 C.E.) writings, nor from the historian Pliny the Elder (23? - 79 C.E.). If, indeed, such a well known Jesus existed, as the gospels allege, does any reader here think it reasonable that, at the very least, the fame of Jesus would not have reached the ears of one of these men? Amazingly, we have not one Jewish, Greek, or Roman writer, even those who lived in the Middle East, much less anywhere else on the earth, who ever mention him during his supposed life time. This appears quite extraordinary, and you will find few Christian apologists who dare mention this embarrassing fact."
user picture

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

Mocking sugarcreeks writing style!!!!! Hope she is not scared off now.********************************** Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you will still exist, but you have ceased to live. Samuel Clemens
user picture

Member for

17 years 6 months
Permalink

I actually enjoyed reading sugarcreek's post. She writes a little like the missed heathaafeathaa whose posts were such fun to read. If some gentle teasing is misinterpreted as mockery then of course I apologise!