Date: 24/4/2011 5:51:54 PM
Subject: [CASonline] God's
Wife ?!
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Dearest
Ferns @ CAS !!
It
amazes and shocks us to no end the absolutely,
thrillingly complex historial-sociological-political-psychological-economical
impossibilities and intrigues that tear away
at our planet into what we have become and are.
We
have prostrated at the feet of Mother Teresa's selfless
sacrifice and lived with the so many even-handed
goodness, giving and human kindness of Christian colleagues,
superiors, friends and even relatives !!
Yes,
we believed whole-heartedly in many of our Tibetan
Teachers who taught that Buddhas appear in whatever
forms are necessary to benefit our world.
(
Khenpo-Guru Tsewang Gyatso told us that Jesus
is undoubtedly a great Bodhisattva as He fully
forgives His own murderers and pray for
forgiveness for them. )
In
face of fanatical, unethical bigotry, though,
we beg to offer our little alternative. Supposed disciples
have always been so prone to deviant twists,
especially centuries down the road !!
Also, for the sake of theological debate ( if only for this alone !! ) and whilst gloating over with our Christian brothers and sisters in the fine exciting Easter pageantry, we thought to drop, into CASonline, fantastically fascinating "revelations" from the sceptics, the critics, beyond the usual hand-shaking, feel-goody courtesies. What
have we got ??!!
bb
& other people @ CAS
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Did God have a wife?Logic, Argument And TheologyIn
relation to my previous post read these Twenty
Arguments For The Existence Of A Supreme Being
and have a bit of a laugh. I apologize for the
uneven and untidy spacing. Try as I might it
just wouldnt go the way I wanted it. Perhaps
someone ‘up there’ was annoyed.
1.
TRANSCENDENTAL ARGUMENT, a.k.a. PRESUPPOSITIONALIST
(1) If reason exists then God exists.
(2) Reason does exist. (3) Therefore, God exists.
2.
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT, a.k.a. FIRST CAUSE ARGUMENT
(1) If I say something must have a
cause, it has a cause. (2) I say the universe
must have a cause. (3) Therefore, the universe
has a cause. (4) Therefore, God exists.
3.
ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (I) (1) I define
God to be X. (2) Since I can conceive of X,
X must exist. (3) Therefore, God exists.
4.
ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (II) (1) I can
conceive of a perfect God. (2) One of the qualities
of perfection is existence. (3) Therefore, God
exists.
5.
MODAL ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (1) God
is either necessary or unnecessary. (2) God
is not unnecessary, therefore he must be necessary.
(3) Therefore, God exists.
6.ARGUMENT FROM DESIGN, a.k.a. GOD OF THE GAPS, a.k.a. TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (I) 1) Check out the world/universe/giraffe. Isn't it complex? (2) Only a supreme being could have made them so complex. (3) Therefore, God exists. 7. ARGUMENT FROM BEAUTY, a.k.a. DESIGN/TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (II) 1) Isn't that baby/sunset/flower/tree beautiful? (2) Only a loving creator could have made them so beautiful. (3) Therefore, God exists. 8. ARGUMENT FROM MIRACLES (I) (1) My aunt had cancer. (2) The doctors gave her all these horrible treatments. (3) My aunt prayed to God and now she doesn't have cancer. (4) Therefore, God exists. 9. MORAL ARGUMENT (I) (1) Person X, a well-known atheist, was morally inferior to the rest of us. (2) Therefore, God exists. 10. MORAL ARGUMENT (II) (1) In my younger days I was a cursing, drinking, smoking, gambling, child- molesting, thieving, murdering, bed-wetting bastard. (2) That all changed once I became religious. (3) Therefore, God exists. 11. ARGUMENT FROM INTIMIDATION, a.k.a. TOMAS DE TORQUEMADA'S ARGUMENT (1) See this bonfire? (2) Therefore, God exists. 12. ARGUMENT FROM NUMBERS (1) Billions of people believe in some sort of supreme being. (2) They can't all be wrong, can they? (3) Therefore, God exists. 13. ARGUMENT FROM INCOMPLETE DESTRUCTION (1) A plane crashed killing 143 passengers and crew. (2) But one child survived with only third-degree burns. (3) Therefore, God exists. 14. ARGUMENT FROM POSSIBLE WORLDS (1) If things had been different, then things would be different. (2) That would be bad. (3) Therefore, God exists. 15. ARGUMENT FROM CROCKERY (1) Pots don't go around giving orders to the potter who made them. (2) Therefore, God exists. 16. ARGUMENT FROM CREATIVE INTERPRETATION (1) God is: (a) The feeling you have when you look at a newborn baby. (b) The love of a mother for her child. (c) That little still voice in your heart. (d) Humankind's potential to overcome their difficulties. (e) How I feel when I look at a sunset. (f) The taste of ice cream on a hot day. (2) Therefore, God exists. 17. ARGUMENT FROM POSTMODERNISM (1) I'm going to prove to you that God exists. (2) [Insert any of the other arguments on this page in here.] (3) [Atheist refutes argument.] (4) I cannot prove there is a supreme being any more than anyone of us can prove we really exist in a tangible world. (5) Therefore, God exists.18. ARGUMENT FROM FORTUITOUS COINCIDENCE (1) What are the odds of that happening? (2) Pretty long, I’ll bet. (3) Therefore, God exists. 19. ARGUMENT FROM MYSTERIOUS USE OF PREPOSITIONS (1) It is impossible to disprove God with your puny human intellect unless you are above God. (2) Are you higher than God? (3) I’ll take that puzzled look on your face as a 'No.' (4) Therefore, God (being the highest thing ever) exists. 20. ARGUMENT FROM HURT FEELINGS (1) God exists. (2) [Atheist makes counterarguments.] (3) I am deeply offended that you do not believe what I do. (4) Therefore, God exists. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Newsweek:
"Pope
Scandals"
Click
on:
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There are a number
of Christian groups who send missionaries to some
of the poorest areas on the planet. They will tell
you they go to these places to help the poor and
to spread their particular brand of Christianity.
One of the most disturbing
practices of many of these groups is their denial
of food, shelter, and medical assistance to anyone
who will not convert to their form of Christianity.
These are the same
people who tell the world abortion is murder. Yet,
they will allow children to go without food and
medical aid and perhaps die if their parents do
not convert.
To use hunger and
need to promote a particular belief is evil, plan
and simple evil.
It is spiritual rape.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Former Baptist preacher now one of Army's few Buddhist chaplainsby Michael Lollar, The Commercial Appeal, Sep 4, 2009Memphis, Tenn. (USA)
For Thomas Dyer, there was fire and brimstone. "There was the idea that there's an angry God and somehow you could really make Him mad." Dyer grew up fearing God. He was a Cumberland Presbyterian, then a Baptist. He had hoped religious conviction would lead to contentment. He attended seminary and preached as a Southern Baptist minister. That seems like a lifetime ago as Dyer, 43, sits on a cushion in the shrine room of the Pema Karpo Meditation Center in the Raleigh neighborhood of Memphis, Tenn. Six statues of various Buddhas are positioned against the walls. His teacher, a Tibetan monk who founded the temple, listens as Dyer explains his exodus from the pulpit in search of nirvana. "The question that arose in my mind is, 'Why is there so much suffering?' Christianity did not have a satisfactory answer. I wanted to be happy. The idea that we have to live with suffering until we die just did not make sense to me -- the idea that God wants you to suffer so you can then enjoy heaven." Dyer kept asking, "Is this all there is to life?" As a Christian, he had been interested in mysticism. That led to meditation. Dyer studied Buddhism, then visited the temple near his Raleigh home. Right away, he says, "It was like, 'Whoa, I'm home.'"His conversion would also mean trading the pulpit for the battlefield. To support his family after leaving the ministry, Dyer joined the Chaplain Corps of the U.S. Army and became one of its first Buddhist chaplains. He says he will deploy to Iraq in January as an Army National Guardsman. "There is a profound amount of suffering for soldiers, civilians and for people who are enemies now but won't always be enemies," said Dyer, who was commissioned as a chaplain in 2008. He has left his boots at the door of the temple, but in the temple room he wears a standard Army camouflage uniform. Instead of a cross or crucifix on the right chest his uniform bears the "dharma wheel" insignia as a symbol of the Buddhist faith. Army Chaplain Carleton Birch, spokesman for the Office of Chief of Army Chaplains in Washington, says there are at least 3,300 Buddhists in the U.S. Army. "In the Middle East, our Army is stretched and stressed more than ever," he said. "We're seeing the need more than ever in keeping the soldiers going." He said two more Buddhist chaplain candidates now are in training in South Carolina. The military as an outlet for Dyer's beliefs is not coincidence. After high school, he thought he wanted to be in the military special forces, maybe as a sniper. He joined the Marine Reserves and was soon being trained as a "killer." Part of the training was aimed at smoothing the edges of conscience. It was on a shooting range in Hawaii when Dyer knew he had had enough. As another Marine reset pop-up targets, Dyer looked through his rifle site. "I put him in the crosshairs, and I thought, 'I could kill him.' I turned away right then. I kept it quiet. I didn't want anyone to know this kind of mind was developing in me." Dyer left the Marines and enrolled in Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. After seminary, he became minister of churches in Senatobia, Miss., and Brownsville, Tenn. In and out of church, Dyer says unhappiness and dissatisfaction seemed pervasive. Wealth and success made no difference. "Everybody is basically suffering about the same. The average Joes you can see happiness in their lives, but it doesn't take long that you will see confusion and dissatisfaction. I wanted to explore the idea that you could find a solution to suffering," he said. Converting to Buddhism wasn't painless. "When you grow up in the Bible Belt, that teaching is very strong. It's almost better to be a drug addict, an adulterer or a scalawag than to say, 'I'm a Buddhist.'" His marriage and two children also were issues. Dyer's wife, Sidney, and the children are members of an evangelical Christian church. "It challenged us to the point that it made us wonder if we could make it," she said. Sidney Dyer's belief that "God plans it all" helped. "I actually thank God in a way because I wouldn't have gone as deep in my own faith if I hadn't been challenged," she said. Instead of rejecting the suffering that her husband questioned, she embraced it: "I think each individual's suffering is personally designed for that individual to lead him to God." She describes her husband as "a deeply spiritual person" and holds out hope that his spiritual journey will lead him back to Christianity. Dyer, who says he still appreciates the teachings of the Bible, says he doesn't think of Buddhism as a rejection of Christianity. But the happiness he once sought as a Christian no longer seems beyond his grasp. "Without a doubt, without equivocation, there has been a continuous, constant diminishment of suffering and awakening of peace and happiness," he said. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Do Dogs go to Heaven?
Hysterical! Absolutely unreal that this actually happened!
These two churches face each other across a busy street.
(
Courtesy of Lilian )
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