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Slater
SFN Regular
USA
1668 Posts |
 Posted - 10/05/2001 : 11:23:06 [Permalink]
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quote:
We are talking about the practical application of prayer, not some misguided zealot's interpretation of it. If I were on one of the planes, I expect that my religion would have given me some solace before I died... The Wiccan God(dess) stresses personal spiritual growth.
My own personal philosophies stem mostly from the Armed Forces Combat school and several years spent in jungle warfare.
If I were in one of those planes "spritual growth" and finding "solace" would not be goals of my actions. Niether of them would even occur to me.
Here's yet another piece by Epicurus, a philosophy that does not require magic to deal with your own death
quote:
Grow accustomed to the belief that death is nothing to us, since every good and evil lie in sensation. However, death is the deprivation of sensation. Therefore, correct understanding that death is nothing to us makes a mortal life enjoyable, not by adding an endless span of time but by taking away the longing for immortality. For there is nothing dreadful in life for the man who has truly comprehended that there is nothing terrible in not living. Therefore, foolish is the man who says that he fears death, not because it will cause pain when it arrives but because anticipation of it is painful. What is no trouble when it arrives is an idle worry in anticipation. Death, therefore -- that most dreadful of evils -- is nothing to us, since while we exist, death is not present, and whenever death is present, we do not exist. It is nothing either to the living or the dead, since it does not exist for the living, and the dead no longer are.
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The brain that was stolen from my laboratory was a criminal brain. Only evil will come from it. |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 10/05/2001 : 11:39:28 [Permalink]
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Very good. Thanks for that.
It is a good day to die.
quote:
Here's yet another piece by Epicurus, a philosophy that does not require magic to deal with your own death
quote:
Grow accustomed to the belief that death is nothing to us, since every good and evil lie in sensation. However, death is the deprivation of sensation. Therefore, correct understanding that death is nothing to us makes a mortal life enjoyable, not by adding an endless span of time but by taking away the longing for immortality. For there is nothing dreadful in life for the man who has truly comprehended that there is nothing terrible in not living. Therefore, foolish is the man who says that he fears death, not because it will cause pain when it arrives but because anticipation of it is painful. What is no trouble when it arrives is an idle worry in anticipation. Death, therefore -- that most dreadful of evils -- is nothing to us, since while we exist, death is not present, and whenever death is present, we do not exist. It is nothing either to the living or the dead, since it does not exist for the living, and the dead no longer are.
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The brain that was stolen from my laboratory was a criminal brain. Only evil will come from it.
Stop the murder of the Iraqi people.
http://www.endthewar.org |
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NubiWan
Skeptic Friend
USA
424 Posts |
Posted - 10/05/2001 : 11:50:22 [Permalink]
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quote:
quote:
As I said, prayer is no substitute for preparedness. [VD]
Pray towards Heaven, but row towards shore.
(:raig
Prudent, *L*
"Trust in Allah, but tie your camel."
-Arabian proverb
"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities." -Voltaire |
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Slater
SFN Regular
USA
1668 Posts |
Posted - 10/05/2001 : 13:34:47 [Permalink]
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quote:
It is a good day to die.
It is never a "good" time to die. That is why wasting your time praying, when action should be taken, is not appropriate.
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The brain that was stolen from my laboratory was a criminal brain. Only evil will come from it. |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 10/05/2001 : 13:57:11 [Permalink]
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I forgot that Klingons are religious, or aren't you a Star Trek fan?
quote:
quote:
It is a good day to die.
It is never a "good" time to die. That is why wasting your time praying, when action should be taken, is not appropriate.
Stop the murder of the Iraqi people.
http://www.endthewar.org |
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Slater
SFN Regular
USA
1668 Posts |
Posted - 10/05/2001 : 16:09:21 [Permalink]
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quote:
aren't you a Star Trek fan?
If by a Star Trek fan you are asking if I know what the hell you are talking about, the answer is No.
My point is that some Christian ministers are acting strangely-- blaming Americans for the bombing-- because they are cowards. They have been hiding behind god's skirts. And when push came to shove god didn't do anything. They were faced with the possibility that the reason it seems like god isn't there is because he's not. That is too frightening for these craven bastards to comprehend. True they do refer to themselves as "sheep," there seems to be more than one explanation for this zoological reference (I would lean towards a title in the poultry division for them myself).
They can't blame Islam for god's inaction so they are forced to look elsewhere for a scape goat.
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The brain that was stolen from my laboratory was a criminal brain. Only evil will come from it. |
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NubiWan
Skeptic Friend
USA
424 Posts |
Posted - 10/05/2001 : 16:57:36 [Permalink]
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quote:
I forgot that Klingons are religious, or aren't you a Star Trek fan?
quote:
It is a good day to die.
FYI:
"Yutehay !" is a Sioux war cry, meaning,
it is a good day to die.
-Black Elk
For me, knowing its going to happen sooner or later, "What tha hey," works pretty good... 
"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities." -Voltaire |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 10/05/2001 : 17:31:46 [Permalink]
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Someone wrote:
quote:
I forgot that Klingons are religious, or aren't you a Star Trek fan?
quote:
(Used in Star Trek:)
It is a good day to die.
Right.
A lot of Klingon statements actually come from: A. American Indians (It is a good day to die.) (The Sioux in "Little Big Man" say it too.)
B. Italy. ("Revenge is a dish which people of good taste prefer to eat cold.") Various versions of this exist, it's quoted in "Kind Hearts and Coronets" as "an Italian proverb."
I'd also like to take this opportunity to give the complete quote: There are no atheists in foxholes, and no believers in prison camp. (The second half in almost never stated.)
Chip
"I'd never join an organization that would have a man like me as a member." |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 10/05/2001 : 18:11:57 [Permalink]
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I love all of the posts in this thread!
Then again, I look at dying as the price one pays for living.
ljbrs  
*Nothing is more damaging to a new truth than an old error.* Goethe |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 10/06/2001 : 04:47:26 [Permalink]
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I don't take it that it is "good" or "bad" to die. I just take it as that we have something to do that we think is important, for which we might risk our lives, and if we die, then it is a good day for it. I don't agree with the warlike mentality of the Klingons, nor the religious mentality, but I do agree that we have to do things that pose risks sometimes and we might as well go into it with the idea that we are making the choice to do it, rather than feeling "forced" by some unseen hand to do it.
quote:
quote:
It is a good day to die.
It is never a "good" time to die. That is why wasting your time praying, when action should be taken, is not appropriate.
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The brain that was stolen from my laboratory was a criminal brain. Only evil will come from it.
Stop the murder of the Iraqi people.
http://www.endthewar.org |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 10/08/2001 : 01:43:21 [Permalink]
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quote:
Gorgo:
It is never a "good" time to die. That is why wasting your time praying, when action should be taken, is not appropriate.
General Patton said:
"The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his." - General George Patton (1885-1945)
"I'd never join an organization that would have a man like me as a member." |
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