16 Responses to “Holy Bible Says America’s Going to Hell”

1. pelmo says:

   Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 6:53 am

   A simple solution, if the backers of both parties stopped blaming the other party for all of the problems and focused on demanding more from each party we would quickly solve these problems.

   The Democrats promised so much in the last election and failed to produce and yet instead of questioning them on the failures the electorate blindly back them. The same goes for the Republicans.

   So instead of blaming someone else, put the pressure on your own party and demand more from them. As long as they know they have these voters sewed up no matter what they do, there will be no action.

   I hope I am making sense in what I am saying.

   Like in Chicago, the Democrats know they will always be elected without opposition they do as they please with no consequenses. If they knew that the voters could not be taken for granted they would go further to ensure their reelection.

   Reply
2. JoeC says:

   Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 4:36 pm

   You’re making sense, Pelmo. I disagree that we haven’t questioned the Democrats on their lack of production…plenty of Americans who voted them in have questioned them…it’s just that their response has been “Let them eat cake” in so many words, but I do agree that both parties spend more time and effort and taxpayer money blaming the other party when they would serve America better by fixing real problems.

   Reply
3. Xman says:

   Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 7:16 pm

   Welcome back, Joe.
   I’m with you guys. They have figured out the science of dividing and conquering us. They just need to do a tune up once in awhile to keep us in perfect disharmony.
   My brother who is a unique man and truly a good human being, only watches Fox. I haven’t been able to gently nudge him to the realization that this is why he favors Fox policies. I tend to think some of the resistance I encounter is due to a common need for simplicity. Easy to understand policies. Republicans and Fox sure do have their simple message down.
   The Democrats on the other hand are a generally very thoughtful and compassionate group. They understand that nothing is black and white and they seem to try to do their best to empathize with every shade of the spectrum, which makes their message very hard to grasp, especially when we fall asleep if the explanation lasts longer than a Republican sound bite (think John Kerry).

   It used to concern me quite a bit. Now I realize (as you both have suggested) that neither party listens to us anyway.
   I do like what I heard Jesse Ventura say today: Yes, we should have term limits. Incumbants are too powerful and it is too hard to get the revitalizing blood into Congress. No public official should ever serve a longer term than the President.

   Personally, I think that’s a great idea. I also like the idea of removing most security from elected officials work places. Ha! (that is Jesse “Ha!”.

   Reply
4. Xman says:

   Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 7:18 pm

   P.S
   I just changed my email, Joe.
   I put it in the email section of this post.

   Reply
5. JoeC says:

   Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 5:35 am

   I agree with the term limits. The country would lose some good Congresspeople who are doing good work, but it also might gain some people who never get a chance to do good work. Plus, it would get rid of the politicians who are clinging to life support and doing nothing, but clinging to their position so their seniority can help their state. And, it allows more years for folks to grow corrupt, and in those seats of power, it would be very hard not to become corrupt just to get things done, and while a little corruption may be good for the country (it got the Brooklyn Bridge built, after all) a lot of corruption isn’t.

   Speaking of Fox News, I also believe the conservative media is one of the biggest problems in our country today, just like the state-owned media kept many Russian folks blind for part of the 20th century. Certainly it doesn’t keep everybody blind, but people just don’t have time to dig through so much pro-government-spin propaganda for the truth everyday while working two jobs for peanuts and waiting in line for bread and potatoes.

   Reply
6. La Sirena says:

   Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 2:39 pm

   “I may be going to hell in a bucket, baby;
   But at least I’m enjoying the ride!”
   – Grateful Dead
   (stoned-out supercilious hippies or saavy social commentators or both?)

   Reply
7. Indigobusiness says:

   Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 11:49 am

   I’m pretty sure Matthew DIDN’T HAVE MISSLES IN MIND HEN HE MENTIONED PEACEMAKERS.

   oops…sorry for shouting.

   Solutions are for statesmen, politicians are only out to game the system.

   ——
   Joe, did you change something, I can’t get your page to load right?

   Reply
8. Xman says:

   Friday, July 18, 2008 at 8:23 am

   Not sure we really know what Matthew or any other “writer” of the bible said. Been reading a bit about the English scribes who translated the Greek bible (documents?) into the King James version.
   Knowing how Bush has influenced the writing of EPA reports, National Intelligence Estimate, reports on Iraq, whatever…..it’s probably reasonable to assume old King James made his will known as well. Not to mention honest mistakes. Like the one that keeps being passed around that the President of Iran called for wiping Israel off the map.

   Reply
9. JoeC says:

   Friday, July 18, 2008 at 3:41 pm

   The King James version aside, we know the First Council of Nicaea was responsible for steering the direction of the Bible just by choosing which texts would be deemed holy. Fortunately, a lot of the other texts the council decided to burn were cached away and later found (Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Nag Hammadi scrolls…), and by comparing similar texts in these scrolls with the modern day translations, we know scribes changed the meaning of some of the verses over the centuries.

   Here’s a great site for digging into all the known early Christian writings…not just looking at them through the lens of the early religious council leaders who were definitely influenced by politics, etc: Early Christian Writings.

   That being said, I think a lot of the Bible was heavily influenced by the wishes of the human authors from the get go. By the way, God just told me that my family is supposed to rule the United States, and that I should build an army and take back the land he’s set aside for us…a new holy land…it’s about 40,000 acres in and around downtown Tehran. There…see how easy it is to spot B.S.? ;-)

   Reply
10. Xman says:

    Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 8:07 am

    Thanks for the links, Joe. Fascinating stuff. I see the hand of man in all that council stuff, but not much of god. One the other hand, the early writings have a lot of good wisdom. The council link reminds me of the ZeitGeist movie I watched some time ago…though they only briefly mention the pagans in this cite.

    Reply
11. Indigobusiness says:

    Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 1:24 pm

    Xman- You make a great point, but I’m fairly certain of Matthew’s ethos. Lots of distortions and reconfigurations have rendered a quite different message than originally intended, that’s for sure.
    Joe hit on a good example with his Nicene Creed citation, not many contemporary Christians will even acknowledge the reincarnation references it excised. And mistranslations? Lordy be…

    Laurence Gardner is an interesting scholar who sorts this stuff out. It’s ironic that he’s called an ‘alternative historian’, among other things. But he makes solid points about how we tend to cling to our idea about this stuff, rather than what the record indicates. For instance: Jesus of Nazareth-
    Nazareth wasn’t even a town for decades after Jesus. It was Nazarene (the split in the Abrahamic lineage that didn’t go to Egypt). Try selling that wholesale.

    I think these cats took their mysticism seriously, and with all the psychotropic balms and oils they rubbed on themselves, who knows what veils they parted? I figure they were clearly heavyweights compared to us in these matters. But we could probably whip their ass at Doom.

    Reply
12. jodi says:

    Monday, July 21, 2008 at 9:52 am

    Beware of those who try to speak for God.

    http://www.collegenews.org/x4592.xml

    Reply
13. JoeC says:

    Monday, July 21, 2008 at 11:33 am

    Oohhhh…that’s a good article, Jodi. Thanks for sharing the link!

    Reply
14. Indigobusiness says:

    Monday, July 21, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    >>”If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it’s good enough for me.”

    Reply
15. Indigobusiness says:

    Monday, July 21, 2008 at 12:19 pm

    I’ll try again (for some reason my message was truncated).
    ====================================

    ”If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it’s good enough for me.”

    Hahahahaaaa… (That’s rich!)

    It may not be for us to know the fullest truth, but surely it’s our duty to identify the false we’re able to truly recognize.

    Thanks, Jodi.

    (Apologies to Mathew for my misspelling, I always do that.)

    Reply
16. Xman says:

    Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 8:22 am

    What a coincidence.
    I’ve been discussing the same sorts of misunderstandings and distortions with a few people lately.

    Mormons generally think that any wine drunk by biblical people, early mormons, etc. was grape juice. un-fermented. I think the reason Mormons in particular are so succeptable to rumour, myth, old wives tales, etc. is that their leaders are not generally scholars. Their bishops are taken right out of the congregation. One particular bishop and I got into this “grape juice” discussion. I reminded him that Brigham Young directed the planting of a vineyard and building of a winery shortly after entering the Salt Lake valley. The bishop adamantly insisted that it was for grape juice only. I said, okay, then what about the distillery he also ordered built? He became so red faced and agitated that I thought I was going to be attacked. It didn’t help him when I presented the Weber State Historical Society writings on the subject. Sometime later, he brought it up again and said he had been mistaken and that it was just the biblical people who had the grape juice. I should have let it go, but couldn’t. I asked him how he accounted for the passage in the bible where Noah filled himself on new wine and lay sprawled drunk and naked and his sons came along and covered him with a blanket? I haven’t seen the guy since.

    It seems to me, lots of people are gaining their “knowlege from people who themselves know little. Like people learning their geography from McCain or their logic from O’Reeeeally or Hannity. I have basically given up trying to have a rational discussion with anyone who watches Fox. They simply don’t have the tools for it.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.

Name

Mail (will not be published)

Website

CAPTCHA Code (enter the letters displayed above).