Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
Sunday, December 01, 2013
Whenever I read about Sarah Palin, or other Religious Right types, quoting Thomas Paine I always have to laugh.
"The alleged short-cut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short circuit destroying the mind."
"Faith is the worst curse of mankind, as the exact antithesis and enemy of thought."
"To rest one's case on faith means to concede that reason is on the side of one's enemies- that one has no rational arguments to offer."
...all quotes by Ayn Rand - another "deep thinker" the right-wing loves to slobber over at every chance. Take Paul Ryan for example...
Both the Ryan budget and every Republican "adult conversation about fiscal responsibility" are based on Ayn Rand's cold-hearted, reptilian*, "greed-is-good" philosophy.
Most of the Teparty and even so called pundits have a completely distorted picture of what the Founders of our nation believed. People like David Barton have gone a very long way towards falsifying their record, both by outright lies, and prejucided distortion of their writings and letters.
http://tinyurl.com/9v2mmns
David is the guy that has no PhD in history, and even had a book WITHDRAWN for being full of lies about our national history, but the ultra right and the Domininionists just keep on pretending he's a saint.
http://tinyurl.com/9v2mmns
Consider these words by our Founders:
--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787
"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear"
--George Washington, letter to Sir Edward Newenham, June 22, 1792
"Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than thsoe which spring from any other cause"
--James Madison in a letter to Livingston, 1822, from Leonard W. Levy- The Establishment Clause, Religion and the First Amendment,pg 124
"An alliance or coalition between Government and religion cannot be too carefully guarded against......Every new and successful example therefore of a PERFECT SEPARATION between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance........religion and government will exist in greater purity, without (rather) than with the aid of government"
--The Treaty of Tripoli, 1797,. carried unanimously by the Senate Signed by John Adams "As the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims] ... it is declared ... that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever product an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries....
These are the Founding Fathers' own words, from their writings and letters. You can disagree, but reality won't change what they themselves wrote and believed, and they would be appalled at the religion based abuses rampant in our country
Unfortunately, while to you and me these are clear and irrefutable proofs of their intentions, these are only false statements made by those who don't know history.
You will NEVER convince these idiots of the facts, because a.) it goes contrary to what their preachers and "teachers" (Like SP!) tell them and b.) they can't think for themselves.
Unfortunately, you're exactly right. You can't educate those who wish to remain ignorant, and who only want to hang on to their preconceived opinions that are based primarily what was handed down to them by their parents and by their church. You just can't reason with willful ignorance from these shallow thinkers. Their greatest intellectual challenge for them is parroting what they've heard from those who tell them what they want to hear, for money.
It's too frustrating trying to reason with these people who are incapable of responding with reason due to their ignorance. I find it's far more rewarding to simply asked them to back up their comments with facts knowing they are incapable of doing so since they are only parroting what they've heard from the far right wing pundits. When you do you'll get primarily two responses; no response back, or they'll resort to calling you childish names. If they respond with name calling, remind them they didn't answer your request that they back up their comment, and call them on their use of name calling as a response.
Hey, Jess, when I clicked on that "source" link, it took me to many more quotes attributed to Thomas Paine. Here's one I found there: "To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
Kinda sounds like some of your relatives, doesn't it?!
The thing is that the bible talks about what mankind does. God just has to keep the innocent from getting obliterated from barbaric men. The OT and NT prove that men have inherent evil in them and can never truly eradicate it. They can try, but always fail. Maybe we've arrived at the place we're civilized and don't (majority) act like barbarians, but, there are still pockets of it as we see happen in the news in the U.S. and around the globe.
Funny coming from Thomas Payne, who supported the creation of a new republic based on warring and killing the Native Peoples who were here first.
There are far too many examples of God ORDERING slaughters or human sacrifice - even if was just a test! (Which only further proves that the so-called god in the bible is vicious!)
And if god only has to protect the innocent, MAN! has it fucked up!
The New Testament, the teachings of Christ, are about working to bring out one's best self. No one is perfect but we are supposed to aim at perfection. After centuries of religious strife (Christian against Christian) in Europe our Founding Fathers were wise enough to reject religiosity in government. They were much more aware of history than are any modern pseudo-Christians or GOP politicians or apologists. Beaglemom
Hahahahaha The pee pond hasn't even posted the photo op with skank carving the turkey's back!!! You know when they are so afraid of showing her true ignorance they don't post a picture it is baaaaadddddd!!!!
How'd that under cooked breast meat taste skank? Oh yeah I forgot you only smoke the pipe-no food for you!!!
Sarah misinterpreted everyone telling her that "Sarah, you're such a PAIN," that she was like Thomas Paine. That's about as good an analogy that she is capable of making.
My fave "stupid thing" is Sarah yakking about how God guided the hands of the forefathers who wrote the constitution blah blah blah ad nauseum... Everything is according to their "interpretation", and has little or nothing to do with fact. Sarah's best when left to her own devices. The speech about Paul Revere came from a few firing synapses in her frontal cortex, rattled in her skull, then word sausage fell from her lips.
"The alleged short-cut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short circuit destroying the mind."
ReplyDelete"Faith is the worst curse of mankind, as the exact antithesis and enemy of thought."
"To rest one's case on faith means to concede that reason is on the side of one's enemies- that one has no rational arguments to offer."
...all quotes by Ayn Rand - another "deep thinker" the right-wing loves to slobber over at every chance.
Take Paul Ryan for example...
Both the Ryan budget and every Republican "adult conversation about fiscal responsibility" are based on Ayn Rand's cold-hearted, reptilian*, "greed-is-good" philosophy.
* think "Gordon Gekko - Wall Street"
For the Right,the Founding Father myths are as off-target as the Reagan myths.......just sayin'........
ReplyDeleteMost of the Teparty and even so called pundits have a completely distorted picture of what the Founders of our nation believed. People like David Barton have gone a very long way towards falsifying their record, both by outright lies, and prejucided distortion of their writings and letters.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/9v2mmns
David is the guy that has no PhD in history, and even had a book WITHDRAWN for being full of lies about our national history, but the ultra right and the Domininionists just keep on pretending he's a saint.
http://tinyurl.com/9v2mmns
Consider these words by our Founders:
--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787
"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear"
--George Washington, letter to Sir Edward Newenham, June 22, 1792
"Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than thsoe which spring from any other cause"
--James Madison in a letter to Livingston, 1822, from Leonard W. Levy- The Establishment Clause, Religion and the First Amendment,pg 124
"An alliance or coalition between Government and religion cannot be too carefully guarded against......Every new and successful example therefore of a PERFECT SEPARATION between ecclesiastical and civil matters is of importance........religion and government will exist in greater purity, without (rather) than with the aid of government"
--The Treaty of Tripoli, 1797,. carried unanimously by the Senate
Signed by John Adams
"As the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims] ... it is declared ... that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever product an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries....
These are the Founding Fathers' own words, from their writings and letters. You can disagree, but reality won't change what they themselves wrote and believed, and they would be appalled at the religion based abuses rampant in our country
Unfortunately, while to you and me these are clear and irrefutable proofs of their intentions, these are only false statements made by those who don't know history.
DeleteYou will NEVER convince these idiots of the facts, because a.) it goes contrary to what their preachers and "teachers" (Like SP!) tell them and b.) they can't think for themselves.
Unfortunately, you're exactly right. You can't educate those who wish to remain ignorant, and who only want to hang on to their preconceived opinions that are based primarily what was handed down to them by their parents and by their church. You just can't reason with willful ignorance from these shallow thinkers. Their greatest intellectual challenge for them is parroting what they've heard from those who tell them what they want to hear, for money.
DeleteIt's too frustrating trying to reason with these people who are incapable of responding with reason due to their ignorance. I find it's far more rewarding to simply asked them to back up their comments with facts knowing they are incapable of doing so since they are only parroting what they've heard from the far right wing pundits. When you do you'll get primarily two responses; no response back, or they'll resort to calling you childish names. If they respond with name calling, remind them they didn't answer your request that they back up their comment, and call them on their use of name calling as a response.
Hey, Jess, when I clicked on that "source" link, it took me to many more quotes attributed to Thomas Paine. Here's one I found there: "To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."
ReplyDeleteKinda sounds like some of your relatives, doesn't it?!
It certainly sounds like talking to Sarah Palin or any GOP member of Congress.
DeleteBeaglemom
The thing is that the bible talks about what mankind does. God just has to keep the innocent from getting obliterated from barbaric men. The OT and NT prove that men have inherent evil in them and can never truly eradicate it. They can try, but always fail. Maybe we've arrived at the place we're civilized and don't (majority) act like barbarians, but, there are still pockets of it as we see happen in the news in the U.S. and around the globe.
ReplyDeleteFunny coming from Thomas Payne, who supported the creation of a new republic based on warring and killing the Native Peoples who were here first.
What bible are you reading?
DeleteThere are far too many examples of God ORDERING slaughters or human sacrifice - even if was just a test! (Which only further proves that the so-called god in the bible is vicious!)
And if god only has to protect the innocent, MAN! has it fucked up!
The New Testament, the teachings of Christ, are about working to bring out one's best self. No one is perfect but we are supposed to aim at perfection. After centuries of religious strife (Christian against Christian) in Europe our Founding Fathers were wise enough to reject religiosity in government. They were much more aware of history than are any modern pseudo-Christians or GOP politicians or apologists.
DeleteBeaglemom
Hahahahaha
ReplyDeleteThe pee pond hasn't even posted the photo op with skank carving the turkey's back!!! You know when they are so afraid of showing her true ignorance they don't post a picture it is baaaaadddddd!!!!
How'd that under cooked breast meat taste skank? Oh yeah I forgot you only smoke the pipe-no food for you!!!
Sarah misinterpreted everyone telling her that "Sarah, you're such a PAIN," that she was like Thomas Paine. That's about as good an analogy that she is capable of making.
ReplyDeleteMy fave "stupid thing" is Sarah yakking about how God guided the hands of the forefathers who wrote the constitution blah blah blah ad nauseum... Everything is according to their "interpretation", and has little or nothing to do with fact.
ReplyDeleteSarah's best when left to her own devices. The speech about Paul Revere came from a few firing synapses in her frontal cortex, rattled in her skull, then word sausage fell from her lips.