EKen132
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Posts posted by EKen132
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That site has some cool looking pictures!
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I'm actually a pretty big fan of the opera myself. Although many people seem turned off to the idea today, an opera is just like a live movie, because it has acting, music, and set art all combined.
Faust is an old German legend about a wise man (alchemist astrologer type) who sold his soul to the devil. It was popularized by Christopher Marlowe (a contemperary of Shakespeare) and again by Goethe. Many composers have seen it fit to set the story to music, and Gounoud's "Faust" and Boito's "Mephistopheles" are the most famous versions. But it's almost a running joke how many pieces of music are inspired by it in some way. Probably more than any other non-biblical story.
Anyhow, I've seen the Gounoud Faust and enjoyed it quite a bit. This June, I'm seeing Bizet's Carmen, which is widely hailed as the best opera ever. Undoubtedly, you've already heard the overture, bull fighting song, and habanera even if you've never even heard of the opera itself.
Also, Quacker, though recorded classical music is NEVER as good as live, if you want, you can find recordings of various operas for very cheap (though quality is not cheap) from the Black Dog label. It's pretty much the poor college kid version of opera recordings, and it comes with a libretto in English and the original language, a history of the opera, and the entire opera on CD. And that means a hardcover booklet and 2-3 hours of music all for under 20 dollars! Can you say deal!
Anyhow, I have to go. But I check this thread regularly
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What a loser I am! I only know 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510.
Ah, I could get another 50 down on of these days and get to 100 digits.
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Man, St. Peter's Basilica is the most breathtaking building you'll ever enter! It's absolutely magnificent!
And yeah, the line for the vatican museum stretched a quarter of the way around the vatican before the museum opened (the line was ridiculously long) but it moved very quickly, and we were in within a half an hour.
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Do you realize how stupid and potentially dangerous that goal is?
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Well, medium term is to go to college, which, fortunately, I should be deciding within the next three weeks or so exactly where I will be going to college. Short term is to finish a few creative writing and composing projects I've been doing by the end of the year. This summer I hope to get a job too. And if I could keep my grades up this semester, hey, that never hurts either. High school graduation is only a few months away!
And for long term, well, I have no idea. In a sense I suppose it's best I don't make too many plans for what I want to do with my future so soon, because I'd feel limited by them. But I do know that I want to eventually have a family and work in (probably) business or engineering technologies. We'll see how it all works out that
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Ooh good topic idea!
As one that believes in God, though more for philosophical reasons than scientific (or lack of scientific- the god of the gaps idea), I can say that although I think the power of believing in God can an incredible amount of good, it is easily, easily twisted.
As for the reason that people though of any sort of deity was because they were afraid of what they didn't understand, I can't seem to really buy into that. There are some cases, such as the vengeful ancient gods of Sumeria and other places that really sort of represent (and further instill) a dread terror of the unknown in nature, but to a large degree, I think the deity concept was more founded from respect or awe for nature, recognition of insignificance, and unexplainable scientific and philosophical questions.
Haha except for the hellenic pantheon. In mythology, they were a joke, but some of the philosophers then had a radically different idea of them.
As for the scars of zealotism... umm why just in the past? Aren't some of the biggest problems in the world today caused from people who believe hate is justified by a deity?
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No John, I believe he was written about by at least two Jewish historians at the time. I bet this is just the sort of thing Quacker would know in a heartbeat. I'd say that it's pretty foolish to completely doubt that Christ actually existed as a person, because we definately know that people were starting up his religion and dying for it within a few decades.
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HAHAHA I love reading mythos' response, first sentence.
Yeah, I definately wouldn't find that stuff tasteful, but whatcha gonna do. It's not like I can stop them, or neccessarily should, as it's their own actions. It's really too bad, but I don't agree with the recent influx in finding these holy images in trees and underpasses and cheese sandwhiches too much more.
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Doesn't this three modes of existance all seem a bit complicated? And to what ends would we figure it out? And why do we divide everything into its own universe? I mean the holy spirit would seem just as divine as Jesus, yet neither of them are actually in the divine mode of existance. Ah well...
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Wow Yiuel, what an interesting find!
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Why on earth would it be considered a liquid? Because it's transparent?!
Is this a joke?
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Actually, didn't a Saudi Arabian Imam or someone call for Muslims to make cartoons about the holocaust? To sort of say "hey, how do you like it now?". Perhaps the Jewish are actually doing that too.
Man, why is this thing getting so overblown. Doesn't there seem something inherently wrong with a group that kills people over political cartoons?
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They are indeed.
Here's another question to discuss, though the answer is fairly easy to reach.
Does the abuse of a power give justification for taking it away? To what degree? and in what cases would their be the opposite of what you answered?
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They should not be shot. Definately not killed, they're just children, a product of demented parents.
I saw the interview with them, it was almost scary. One of them is fully brainwashed, the other looks as if she is not totally sure that the philosophy she has been indoctrinated with, but most else she meets find detestable, are really the right way to go.
It's really sad. Anyhow why are we talking about this?
By the way, the cartoonist of one or another of these cartoons has upwards of a million dollars on his head. That's nice huh? The news said though that there were 12 cartoonists, and that the muslim leaders placing the bounty were probably unaware of it. My favorite part of the article, since it details whose offering how much to the total bounty, is the one guy who's giving a full million "and a car". Haha, let's not keep materialism out of this. Let's give full material rewards (like a car!) for keeping with the muslim imams' call.
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And look what the escalation did for them... didn't Constantinople get sacked just for the heck of it as the Crusaders were on route for number nine or something? It was ridiculous.
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Oh, I thought you were suggesting their possibility. Haha, well I think in terms of possibility, the idea of us being in a giant video game is absolutely ridiculous.. besides for thousands of years of human history, video games have existed for like 25... haha. hmmmm
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Yes, in the Abassid empire, some of the captive peoples who would orginally have been made to convert (earlier in the Muslim conquests immediately after Mohammed that is) were allowed to keep their religion.... so the empire could collect the tax
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Eliminate questions 3 and 4... please
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Cory brought up a good point with the No True Scotsman thing. We can't merely say "look at the saints, isn't our religion wonderful?". Jesus made it clear to judge by the fruits. Well, false prophets he said that about. So at least in terms of individuals you can do that.
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Cool. I've heard of the cave analogy, but I've never heard it before. Interesting, but the people who carry the animals and plants or whatever don't really have a place in the world (vs the analogy). Ah, that's if you want to be literal; it is still an interesting thing to think about.
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Hey Quacker. How's Bob Jones goin' for you?
Some state that Christianity includes both Catholicism and Protestantism. This is an inaccurate description.If by some you mean pretty much everyone except fundamentalist protestant Christians, then you are correct. But this is not the right place to try and debate that issue.
Anyhow, back on topic. Klaas, you said:
So instead of calling all Muslims terrorists or by calling everyone a racist who has something against Islam the West should better make sure that the common Muslim has no reason to follow the teachings by their corrupt and fascist imams or politicians.Well, it's not just corrupt leaders. When the holy book that you follow says to kill and adjectate all infidels, and nothing about respecting them, then there's a fundamental problem with the religion and it's acceptance of others. It means that someone who follows the Qu'ran as it stands is also committing grave misdeeds against society. Fortunately, it takes a zealot to follow the Qu'ran to that level, but unfortunately, there's way too many of them out there willing to kill for their religion.
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Wait, I'm not really in agreement here. I believe reality is perhaps an illusion in the spiritual sense, one big show put on for us for a lifetime, but in the philosophical sense, I think what we see is what we get. I used the blind mice and the elephant analogy before, but that was simply saying that we don't perceive the universe in its absolute form.
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LOL
O us young and foolish philosophers! But it's comforting to know that I'm not the only one under 18 to think about these things.
Anyhow, just wanted to throw out there that many of the great Saints have said that earth is much like an illusion. A betraying illusion, mind you. Yes, in a religious sense I believe it is. But in a philosophical sense, what we see, feel, hear. That's what's there. What's much more interesting is this.
We live in a universe that has some absolute characteristics, but we're just like stupid blind mice trying to find out what the elephant is. We experience different parts of the universe through our senses, like sight from light, and hearing from vibration of molecules which are turned into something totally unrelated- pitches- while in our brains. But we have no clue that's what the universe is made of absolutely. In fact, it's bound not too. What if we saw in infrared, or used sonar. We can't, but those are just two more senses that make the universe to bats and bugs just as real as it is to our "visible light" sight and hearing. See, what I'm getting at is that we have no clue what the universe really looks like, or even if it looks at all. We just use sight to give us a pretty good idea for all practical purposes except getting sunburnt. I think our most real sense is the pressure aspect of touch, since the universe has mass as it's fundamental property. In any area, there is mass, or there is not mass. As for energy, electricity and magnetism (which those two seem to be one thing anyways) and gravity, well who knows. But it's more real to say that instead of the universe being an illusion, we just see it through the lense of our senses. We do not experience it in it's absolute form.
Famitsu
in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion
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Have Yiuel order it for you!