Constructing a God Type Table

[Greta]

I think this has become a serious issue...

You're not kidding. In a sane world this, from your neck of the woods, would be comedy: https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-ea ... 0c895f37dc

It is scary when such a significant proportion of motivated voters are death riding the society that others are hoping just to be governed sensibly. It's even scarier when a significant number of politicians hold that belief. Our "Liberal" Party is increasingly being hijacked and controlled by destruction-seeking evangelicals too. Murdoch is acting as an enabler, although I think that aspect is simply about maximising his fossil fuel interests before they are fully superseded.

So the anti-environment and pro fossil fuel lobbies are full of evangelicals hoping to hurry on Armageddon.

Sad.

[Dubious]

Who would have thought that defunct old texts could have so screwed up the world 2500 years later to cause life itself to be in jeopardy.

Anyone who believes in the bible or the Koran literally should be declared clinically insane or at the very least considered unqualified to hold any public position.

[uwot]

Who would have thought that defunct old texts could have so screwed up the world 2500 years later to cause life itself to be in jeopardy.

Anyone who believes in the bible or the Koran literally should be declared clinically insane or at the very least considered unqualified to hold any public position.

And hopeless at maths. The story goes that 144 000 christian souls will ascend into heaven. The irony is, as Greta points out, there's millions of the f@£king idiots who believe it's going to be them.

[Dubious]

Who would have thought that defunct old texts could have so screwed up the world 2500 years later to cause life itself to be in jeopardy.

Anyone who believes in the bible or the Koran literally should be declared clinically insane or at the very least considered unqualified to hold any public position.

And hopeless at maths. The story goes that 144 000 christian souls will ascend into heaven. The irony is, as Greta points out, there's millions of the f@£king idiots who believe it's going to be them.

Yes and the less righteous will have to stay on earth by which time it will be a seething inferno as conscientiously prepared by all those who expect to be among the elect. Hell on Earth had to be a work in progress to recondition that which once contained the Garden of Eden.

My question to god would be why not send the rejects to Venus instead, long perfected for the occasion, and just around the corner compared to where everything else is in the cosmos. Why not leave Earth alone! Having put up with us long enough that fate would seem extremely unjust.

[Greta]

The story goes that 144 000 christian souls will ascend into heaven. The irony is, as Greta points out, there's millions of the f@£king idiots who believe it's going to be them.

Well, I always felt bad for poor old #144,001, just missing on the cut. Harsh.

There you go. Biblical selection is no kinder than the natural variety.

[Greta]

My question to god would be why not send the rejects to Venus instead, long perfected for the occasion, and just around the corner compared to where everything else is in the cosmos. Why not leave Earth alone! Having put up with us long enough that fate would seem extremely unjust.

I'm thinking more in terms of cultural selection here. Consider how fragile an edifice needs to be to allow an obvious liar, crook and conman like Trump to lead it and so quickly and easily erode its (once) carefully guarded checks and balances. There were structural weaknesses that were easily exploited.

I am still in shock that Trump was allowed to be POTUS without a proper financial declaration and assessment or resolution of his business conflicts of interest. No company in the world would accept its executives countering potential conflicts of interest by giving the offending businesses to their children.

Why are probity standards lower for an entire nation than for a company? Is the US government less important than a company, and requiring of less stringent standards? As I say, I can't get my head around this.

[uwot]

Well, I always felt bad for poor old #144,001, just missing on the cut. Harsh.

I just wonder how many christians could stand in a crowd of roughly 6000 and say: 'Yep; I'm definitely the chosen one.'

[Noax]

Well, I always felt bad for poor old #144,001, just missing on the cut. Harsh.

I'm actually thinking of #144000, who is getting in only because I purposefully didn't make the cut.
Greater love hath no man than he gives his spot in heaven for another.
This is the exact same reasoning that causes a Catholic mother to drown her children before the lose their innocence.

I don't think the JW's (who believe in that 144000 thing literally) expect any children at all to get into heaven since none of them have had time to earn themselves to the top spots. But the same passage that says that number also says that only the chosen people get in (12000 from each tribe of Israel), but the JW's make themselves honorary people of another race I guess.

[seeds]

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Greta, uwot, Dubious, and Noax, I hope you know that I have nothing but the greatest of respect for all of you, but you guys are a real hoot!

Why don’t you all get together and go on an expedition to the Amazonian rain forests where you could then aim your mockery at the spiritual beliefs of some other ancient tribe, perhaps the Yanomami.

The point is that if you were half as intelligent as you think you are, you would realize how difficult it is for humans to extricate themselves from the indoctrination they have received since childhood.

And therefore were it not for the unique circumstances of your own particular journey through life – a journey filled with specific turnings and events that allowed you to recognize and distance yourself from mythological nonsense - then it would be you who are on the receiving end of your ridicule.
_______

[uwot]

The point is that if you were half as intelligent as you think you are, you would realize how difficult it is for humans to extricate themselves from the indoctrination they have received since childhood.

Well seeds, even if we were half as intelligent as we think we are, I suspect we would still have enough in the tank to realise that is precisely what we have done.

[Dubious]

Consider how fragile an edifice needs to be to allow an obvious liar, crook and conman like Trump to lead it and so quickly and easily erode its (once) carefully guarded checks and balances. There were structural weaknesses that were easily exploited.

The societal elite and its leaders are mostly exempt or at best, less bound to conditions which prevail against those who occupy lower levels of a high-rise. Structural weaknesses can be intentionally engineered into a system to be fully applied, mildly or not at all depending upon the status of the individual. Only the most egregious and overt infractions get convicted to prove to the populace that the system works.

[Dubious]

The point is that if you were half as intelligent as you think you are, you would realize how difficult it is for humans to extricate themselves from the indoctrination they have received since childhood.

How many more millenniums, if that's in the forecast, do you expect that condition to last?

[Greta]

The point is that if you were half as intelligent as you think you are, you would realize how difficult it is for humans to extricate themselves from the indoctrination they have received since childhood.

Well seeds, even if we were half as intelligent as we think we are, I suspect we would still have enough in the tank to realise that is precisely what we have done.

I have some issues in tying my shoelaces; they always seem too short to get good loops. So if I was half as intelligent as I thought I was I'd not be able to tie my shoelaces at all and be forced to only wear slip ons - which are not so easy to buy in orthopaedic wear.

Unlike many, I suspect that these are early days for h̶u̶m̶a̶n̶i̶t̶y̶ intelligent entities on Earth rather than "the end of days". So yes, perhaps one should be patient.

However, there is simply the sense of what is right, and the current uncaring and uninterested attitudes towards the natural environment appears to be borderline psychopathic in its deliberate callousness. Evangelist Christians are deeply influential in this growing anti-nature movement that is emerging to counter environmentalism. As I say, they believe it's God's will and inevitable and they look forward to the destruction ushering in God's reign.

Fine, they can believe what they want but we really need some mechanism to keep those who are death-riding society and the world from holding senior positions in government.