All Things Religion Thread

God and Jesus make gold though(the universe too) and make their own note prints for bank notes. Those people are not working for the lord our savior, our creator they are Kirk Cameron wannabes.Kirk Cameron is Jesus. If you need proof, well religion doesn't work that way it requires blind faith.

Not sure why i don't hate religion so much overseas. Maybe im just a miserable old grump after losing fitness and health and other shit going on. In aceh especially i dont mind Muslims or Christians and love stories of the Indonesian /Javanese/sundanese Sea goddess of the indian ocean..Had a picture of her on my cyclone damaged window of plywood but in Aus just get the shits with religion, the bullshit of relgious powers getting away with pedo shit and money making schemes.

Own Dad is heavy catholic always has been, bought a north sydney apartment off a church too which was an excellent place to watch olympic ceremony and new years fireworks with wide views of sydney harbour, bridge etc..Never mention to him anything about religion and he really seems to want to help out people these days even in retirement but the church wants to knock down the apartment building and make a super multi domestic highrise much bigger than current one and kick out my dad.
Some how believe in god and being a powerful religious priest or clergyman/pope type doesnt make god give you monies.You have to be a capitalism purist.Buy all property in the board game monopoly where everyone not buying any property is basically either communism or socialism.But equal wealth as boring as that type of game would be.

groundswell wrote:

Not sure why i don't hate religion so much overseas.

Maybe because you are male? Let's be realistic, these forums are anything but representative. When my wife and I traveled extensively through Muslim countries there were moments when she felt really uncomfortable. We made memories for life and some great friends but she did struggle at moments and definitely didn't feel comfortable walking on her own in certain places/times of the day.

Not many Christians here either, it would seem. Thank God!!

Groundswell I think your experience overseas relates to people having less clutter in their lives.
It’s expected for Christian people to follow the master and be peace keepers and so they should be. The surprising thing is that even though Mohammad was a jihadi warlord who expects likewise from his followers, the average Muslim that I meet are just normal nice people and I think that’s really because in essence we are all Gods children and most people are just plain nice.
The experience we have in less capitalistic countries is that people live very basic lives and only have humble possessions and their faith in God to sustain them.
We in the west have become the fat kids on the block with all kinds of distractions and as you said forget about people’s well being over profits such as your dads flat etc.
In general, most people everywhere are good folk , but people will let you down, it’s in our sinful nature and also because we live in a fallen world with an end date.
People may let you down , but God and His son Jesus will never let you down.
That’s a promise from Him.

How’s the scorecard for promises in the Ukraine? And Rolling Fork?? https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireStory/suspected-tornado-touches-northe...
Or Nashville??? https://edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/03/28/nashville-school-shooting-p...

So suchas, if a builder builds you a beautiful home with everything including landscaped gardens, and you punch a hole in the roof and build a fire in the living room and neglect the garden, it’s all the builders fault when it turns to shit.

Ah .... but Opti, you are trapped by your own analogy.

If the builder is all an powerful being and is said to love the residents (his children) and they pray to him to save them from death as the roof falls in, but he stands by and just watches them suffer and die, is that okay?

In your view of the world we should still worship the builder even though he is, on the evidence all around us, 99.9999% of the time a passive spectator to his children's lives and especially their suffering.

Unbelieveable.

frog wrote:

Ah .... but Opti, you are trapped by your own analogy.

If the builder is all an powerful being and is said to love the residents (his children) and they pray to him to save them from death as the roof falls in, but he stands by and just watches them suffer and die, is that okay?

In your view of the world we should still worship the builder even though he is, on the evidence all around us, 99.9999% of the time a passive spectator to his children's lives and especially their suffering.

He stands idly by as the crooks, thugs, rapists, paedophiles and murderers do their thing.
“It’s to test your faith” he says.

FFS. Had a J.W turn up this arvo. Haven't had the displeasure since covid hit.
Apparently, God wants me to attend the memorial of Jesus' death on the 4th April.
Even when you politely decline the probing and questioning continues. Doesn't matter that your busy and in the middle of something, the farkers can't take a hint.
Cue the door slam.

I always tell them im just a burgler in a hurry before tenants get home and they go away.

I had a flatmate once who used to spend hours arguing with them. Neither side ended up convincing the other. I wonder how many they 'convert' through door knocking anyway?

Optimist wrote:

Unbelieveable.

Sorry Opti that was unbelievable.

I was a bit inaccurate - it was probably not 99.9999% of prayers gone unanswered in the last 2000 years but more like 99.999999999999%

Good odds. Sign me up.

frog wrote:

Ah .... but Opti, you are trapped by your own analogy.

If the builder is all an powerful being and is said to love the residents (his children) and they pray to him to save them from death as the roof falls in, but he stands by and just watches them suffer and die, is that okay?

In your view of the world we should still worship the builder even though he is, on the evidence all around us, 99.9999% of the time a passive spectator to his children's lives and especially their suffering.

It gets even more complicated; the builder has given you house, tools for survival but has setup challenges that you need to overcome to prove your worthiness. He loves you but if you don’t overcome the challenges you are destined to spend life and afterlife in misery. This is where he is just an observer of one’s path to prove love through sacrifices in the name of the all mighty.

And here is the mother of all problems; this would indicate that love god has towards his ‘children’ is conditional. And that version of love is simply not true love. Any rational human being knows that true love is unconditional. You love your children no matter what and you will never sentence them ‘to life in hell’. The little shits can definitely cause all sorts of trouble but you will never give up on them and you will do whatever it takes to set them on the right path.

So basically, it’s nearly impossible for a rational human being to attribute true love to god and especially not the church. However, not all people are rational.

My lovely mum is supposedlly in hell based on the rules purely cause she did not believe - toasting over red hot coals all day only to be turned over at night to even up the pain and keep her teeth gnashing.

The joy of belief.

Wilhelm Scream wrote:

"Let's be realistic, these forums are anything but representative."

#Muslim?

I was mainly referring to this forum being predominately male so, lack of women. But sure, maybe there is no religious diversity. If you’re asking me if I’m a Muslim the answer is no. I’m an atheist but I read the bible and kuran thoroughly to make sure I understand the topic and to see if I had any gaps in my belief system. I also spent quite a few months in Muslim countries, predominantly across Northern Africa which helped me understand the role of religion in those societies. I also studied Protestantism a bit, especially Luther and his role in breaking away from the Catholic Church. To be honest, Luther impressed me the most, he had the balls to take on the establishment. A true anarchist who was well ahead of his time.

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

― Marcus Aurelius

Unbelievable? Surely if you live in a fantasy, the constuct shouldn’t exist.

Exactly Tubeshooter!

tubeshooter wrote:

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

― Marcus Aurelius

Marcus definitely left us some very wise writings ...

Wow that's lovely...warm and fuzzy even.
The reality of how God sees things is quite different as well as the way He corrects things.

13 Influential intellectual atheists, who became Christians and believed God exists, and the resurrection of Jesus true
1. Albert Henry Ross (1881-1950)
Englishman lawyer and journalist Albert Ross was a skeptic. He criticized the Bible and believed in Darwin. He wrote a book to disprove the resurrection of Jesus. Instead, he became a Christian and wrote: “Who moved the Stones?.” As a novelist, Ross was known as Frank Morison.
2. Anthony Flew (1923 -2010)
Anthony Flew a famous spokesperson of atheism before Dawkins and Hitchens. The world was shocked when he said God exists in 2004 and wrote a book about it. He based it both on empirical and philosophical evidence.
3. Alister E. McGrath (1953)
Alister McGrath is a historian and biochemist scientist who believed in evolution. He is a Professor of Science and Religion who became a Christian apologist.
4. Francis Collins (1950)
Francis Collins is an American physician-geneticist who discovered gene diseases that led to the Human Genome Project. He investigated many faiths, and though he resisted, the evidence was clear, and he converted to Christianity.
5. Gilbert West (1703-1756)
Gilbert West was an eminent English poet who studied at Oxford. He debunked the resurrection of Jesus but could not. He became a Christian and wrote the book ‘Observations on the History and Evidence‘ of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in 1747.
6. David Wood (1976)
David Wood was an atheist diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (sociopathy). After his jail time, he earned a doctorate in philosophy. He’s a Christian apologist who founded a ministry that critiques Islam.
7. John Gurdon (1933)
John Gurdon is a developmental biologist known for his research in nuclear transplantation and cloning. A Nobel prize for Physiology Medicine. He considered himself agnostic but later referred to himself as a liberal-minded Christian.
8. John Eccles (1903 – 1997)
John Eccles was a neurophysiologist and a Nobel Prize Award in Physiology Medicine—a devout Catholic who believed in divine providence over materialistic happenings of biological evolution.
9. Jordan Peterson (1962)
Jordan Peterson was an intellectual atheist who was open to theology but found it difficult to reconcile the God of the Bible as a loving God. He is also an astute and rational intellect who investigated the Bible. He said the Bible is more durable than stone or an empire and a life-changing academic and historical text.
In 2022, he declared that he was no longer an atheist. He had a series of lectures on Genesis and recently a collaboration with Daily Wire, along with a team of formidable theological and literary scholars, for an unprecedented, in-depth analysis of the Book of Exodus, taken seriously in the modern era.
10. Lee Strobel (1952)
Lee Strobel is an investigative journalist. He was an atheist and tried to prove the Bible was not valid. The evidence he acquired changed his mind, and he became a Christian.
Strobel’s critical proof of Christ’s resurrection were eyewitness accounts from non-Christians, evidence of an empty tomb, evidence of post-resurrection appearance with multiple eyewitnesses, and ultimately the transformation of the lives of His followers.
11. Nabeel Qureshi (1983 – 2017)
Devout Muslim Intellect Nabeel Qureshi investigated Christianity for 15 years. Although he believed in the God of the Muslim, it was not the one true God of the Bible. He left Islam for Jesus.
12. Rosalind Picard (1962)
Rosalind Picard was raised as an atheist and converted as a young adult. She is a scholar and inventor who founded MIT’s Affective Computing Research Group. She received the highest professional honors accorded an engineer.
13. Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853)
Simon Greenleaf, a chief founder of Harvard Law School, refers to Christianity as a silly myth. After being challenged by students based on history and evidence, he became a believer in Jesus.

Insufficient data for meaningful answer?
http://www.thelastquestion.net/

Time to resolve 2000 years of debate and speculation once and for all with a single simple event.

I call upon the big fella in sky to metamorphose into a 1000 foot high bearded wise man and stand in Central Park in full view for a few days until the crowds and media gather. Then, he should dictate a new 5 page Bible to the world summarising his commandments, removing all the tedious begetting and scary smote stuff, and set out clearly the rules to get into heaven, the delights to be found there and the punishments waiting in hell.

It would be a mass conversion event on the scale of billions a day. Churches would fill. News and Tic Tok would over flow with visions of the great one.

Opti would no longer have to dance around difficult questions on swellnet trying to convert annoying sceptical surfer types. Opti and I could even hang out and compose hymns together.

It would be so easy. Why not?

Luther was a legend, as was Wycliffe and Tyndale. …to translate the bible into English was punishable by death by the Roman Catholic Church.

Optimist wrote:

Luther was a legend, as was Wycliffe and Tyndale. …to translate the bible into English was punishable by death by the Roman Catholic Church.

Spot on. German as well, Luther knew that his actions carried a death sentence.

@Wilhelm Scream I don't know if you are asking a question, making a statement, or something else. In any case, I'm talking about Luther himself, not necessarily the whole movement or what happened centuries later. I studied that time period in great depth and Luther was definitely an impressive individual.

I think he’s saying he was a righteous dude.

Classic!!!!

… pretty sure god has a sense of humour

- he made this bloke !

;););)

https://m.

As with everything, it's about class structure. We stepped off of Africa, and straight away tribal power plays led to alphas and eventually warlords who wanted more of this lush delta, that fertile river, that Mediterranean hunting plain. And they made serfs of their peeps to fight, root, build, hunt and steal shit. Sucky set up.
Of course organised religion that preached equality and fairness took hold... socialism with groovy mystical stories. Notice most major religions were seeded where we first started developing 'civilisation'?
Sadly some people still need 'big answers' in their life..

Sorry Opti, not into religion-bashing, but in the US it is punching-up, and Carlin is a master

I thought this was interesting, the aboriginal people have finished their Memory mountain project.
Finally launched this easter.....2023

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-22/haasts-bluff-cross-monument-centr...

That's interesting... thanks for posting this Optimist.
I took a group of Victorian kids up to NT for a cultural exchange. The American missionary relics fascinated them - like Warlpiri mob saying 'porcupine' instead of echidna when speaking English. And the Anangu refusing to allow Parks to relocate feral camels around Uluru 'because they're in the Bible' : /
This quirky detritus from mid-1800s is obviously more benign than the smallpox and the ethnocide. Vast and complicated topic.
Objectively, the cross looks pretty cool. And if the community is happy with it, I couldn't be happier for them.

I have a vague memory of reading a critical article about an outback cross being constructed during covid lockdown and something about Morrison providing taxpayer money to a whitefulla who was dodgy who was trying to build it. Can't remember the detail and not sure this is the same cross. Not being disparaging, this article and this cross project present positively for all concerned, and the locals support it so that's what matters. It's not exactly Christ the Redeemer but if it creates economic and social opportunities where none exist then all good. I can imagine it would provide some great photos, particularly when lit up, against the backdrop of the outback landscape and star filled night sky. I'm sure believers will flock and it would be a great outback trip for them to go and see it. Not sure I would want to see them installed all over the place as it would devalue the point of this one and indigenous culture has little to do with Christianity, has it's own powerful symbols and pre-dates it by many thousands of years.

The aboriginal people wanted it. They asked their photographer friend Ken Duncan ( not dodgy) to help. …Ken Duncan said no…too hard…God told Ken yes organise it for them…all private people funded it plus some NT govt money….and finally there it is and coincidentally exactly 100 years to the day this Easter Sunday that four aboriginal evangelists stood in that same spot and taught the love and salvation of Jesus….the ABC video I posted of it is really quite spectacular…Good for them.

And thus he said unto them …

- wheneth upon you see and heareth one speaketh of the really quite spectacular, hear ye… hear ye ;)

https://m.

holy fuck.. that's hard to process at sparrow fart..

What the cross means to me in 2023....
Mine has been a long journey.
Over 65 years on earth and over 40 years with an acute awareness of God in my life.
Most of this walk has been nothing but pure joy because from the beginning I learnt that I didn’t need to be rich or important or materially successful, didn’t need all the things I was told I needed from youth. Sometimes a wild ride, often tough but never dull.
I just needed to be Gods son or daughter, His friend and partaker in His covenant. He would supply all I needed.
Then, because I was adopted as a son or daughter, everything I had would belong to God and everything God has would also belong to me. That’s how a covenant works, especially a blood covenant.
Being a sinner like everyone else on earth, sometimes I would drift. Tempted by things that on the day looked appealing and maybe even a bit refreshing or mind numbing, which would just take you down a side road and a feeling you had lost your way again.
So, you go back to square one, back to the cross, because it is not about us, it is about Jesus. It is about what He did on that cross for us.
His life paid for my sin, death was required, it’s a universal thing, so the Creator of all things substitutes for the created.
Sometimes when I think about the day He was beaten with the cat of nine, stripped, mocked, spat on, nailed to a tree and crucified, I get a horrified feeling but also an intense sense of gratitude.
He knew what was coming, He wasn’t happy about it, but quietly went through with it anyway.
His response to it all….
Father Forgive them…. for they don’t know what they are doing….and…..It Is Finished!
I can’t think of any level of forgiveness that matches that….and the mission…it was done.
We got off easy because it cost God so much. Don’t throw that away…Talk to Him.
Three days later after His spirit left Him He was back…the first of a new being…a resurrected human.
A preview for us of our new eternal bodies designed for a new era with God.
The cross to me in 2023 is a constant. A reference point that humanity can rely on.
It means freedom, a future and a hope in a creator reaching out to us.
Have a Happy thoughtful and blessed Easter with your friends and family.
Optimist.

Magical time of year Optimist. May the road rise up to meet you brother, hope it is a restful and reflective time for you and yours.

basesix wrote:

Magical time of year Optimist. May the road rise up to meet you brother, hope it is a restful and reflective time for you and yours.

Magical alright.

basesix wrote:

Magical time of year Optimist. May the road rise up to meet you brother, hope it is a restful and reflective time for you and yours.

Basesix. ‘Magical time of the year’, yeah right. Magic (definition)- ‘the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces’, complete tripe straight off the bat.

I’ve commented in the past that i think Optimist is actually a religious ‘stand up’ comedian, he’s been toying with us for a few years now, but i think I need to revisit those primary thoughts. He’s a good recruiter and of late has managed to persuade a few others (that’s generally the theme with religious organisations) to join in on the “All Things Religion Thread”.

I’ve clearly misjudged his and his new followers vocation’s, I genuinely think he (Optimist) and Basesix work for their local council, over time they’ve become good friends. See, the City of Greater Nazareth is having a growth spurt beyond comprehension, new housing estates abound, many new churches and as a result of this urban sprawl, traffic has become horrendous and young Christians are hooning around in their cars, periodically rubbing their metallic crosses whilst driving (highly illegal, 2 demerit points loss for that and a fine) at very dangerous speeds. The Council has stepped in and authorised the immediate installation of ‘speed humps’. Both Opti & Basesix form part of the road building team. The site foreman directed each guy to start their work at opposing ends of a planned new road, because ‘May the road rise up to meet you brother’ What complete crap. All a bit of fun but really. AW

Hooo, shit yeah. Magic.. Down south it is anyhoo..

The Upwelling that links life between southern Australia's two K.I.s draws to a close, and so does its joyous summer zoo/phyto-driven feeding frenzy..
some serious swells start to lift their eyes from beneath their brows, preparing to roar from the deep 40s..

On land, snakes, lizards, small mammals and insects find cosy dry spots to hunker down, sometimes pissing off the few big mammals who are trying to celebrate ramadan, easter or passover (while looking sadly at their pathetic woodpile, or simpy going to the shops en masse in frantic terror of the shops being shut on a friday).

Food isn't summery anymore, fuck the fruit salad, but it's not meat-and-3 winter stodge.. its nuts and berries, and slow-cook chorizo chasseur while you're having a surf, pumpkin and pinenuts, mushrooms and bacon, quince and apple, pancakes and maple syrup, and smashed avo toast (#cancelbernardsalt)..

Mornings are misty, bonfires can be lit, days can be pissing down or sunny and fresh..
Take the waco out of the hilux, and chuck in the brazier..

Even the upside-down pagan allegory, new-life, resurrection, eggs, bunnies, so often scorned in the southern-hemisphere for it’s irrelevant northern-hemisphere springtime origins, makes sense to me:

My bush-block has been dead grass, flies, snakes, bees searching in vain for water like the wombats and roos..
In Autumn it comes alive with native grass, donkey orchids, moss and lichens.. Magical AW!! Happy Easter mate!

A LOT CAN HAPPEN IN THREE DAYS
Faith in The Meaning Behind Easter by Phillip Fusco – Vision Christian Media.

When asked to reflect on the meaning of Easter (to me personally as a Christian) naturally one thinks of the iconic images of Jesus hanging on the cross, and the significance of His mission this historic event represents, sacrificing Himself for our salvation and atonement.
Then the mind reflects on how this seismic epoch has been distorted over time to change the true focus and meaning of Easter. Manoeuvring its symbolism from the cross to a bunny. And its significance from salvation of souls to consumption of chocolate. Quite extraordinary is this transition, considering western civilisation’s prosperity has been defined and built on these Judeo-Christian events and principles, as found in both the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible. So why do we ignore this? In time we will only go backward, back into chaos, and have to learn all the principles all over again.
I think what else is impressed upon me from this Biblical story, is the enormous transition that took place surrounding the events at the time. The initial betrayal from Judas, the subsequent vitriol from the Pharisees, Pontius Pilate’s cruel inept judgment, and then the final moment of perceived failure and fear by the disciples as Christ made His way to Golgotha and was nailed on the cross.
Amongst all this confusion and despondency something quite miraculous happened. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead. The ‘original sin’ and judgment of death had been ransomed, and the final sacrifice for the forgiveness of all sins (for everyone’s salvation and atonement) had been done once and for all.
Jesus’ Holy Royal mission over a 3-year ministry; of discipling followers, teaching timeless values, and the fulfilment of centuries-old prophecy. Followed by this traumatic climax of personal sacrifice, physical pain and humility. And then in one great act on the cross – it’s all complete and His work was finished. Gifting us the hope of salvation.
Despite all the manoeuvring of Satan (through various characters) the victory in the end was Christ’s, and can be ours also, if we only recognise the revelation of the Easter message and believe on Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
So, no matter what you are facing at the moment, no matter how you may be feeling right now, things can change, if you hold and have faith in the true meaning and significance of Easter (the grace of God’s greatest Passover in the history of civilisation) – the saving of lost souls!
So please, always remember – a lot can happen in three days.

And to the quiet people, the ones who read swellnet and don't post comments. To the peace lovers and the ones who love unconditionally their families and friends. To the meek and the mild and those who are seeking God while enjoying the gift of the sea. To those that love the natural order unswayed by the Godless indulgent trends of the times.
Yes you can feel Him out there, while sitting on your board. When you feel the warm sun on your face and the gentle breeze behind you as you sit in the clear water anticipating your next ride.
When you watch the birds dive and feed while the labradors of the sea swim past.
When you see the great whales jump for joy, its there you can feel His presence and He is there with you as well, just on the left side and just out of view.
The mockers and haters of God will never understand, for their God is their belly and their proud mouths boast against Him. They see the majesty of creation, but an accident in space is all they can comprehend.
Violence and mockery and no moral code as they follow their prophet Darwin to destruction.
But you, who can see and feel it in the air, keep looking and you will find Him, because He loves you and saves all who come to Him in spirit and in truth.
Have a blessed and happy resurrection day...God bless you in Jesus name....
Optimist.

God gave Moses extensive instructions on how and when to sacrifice animals to be offered to him.

So for a long time God waited eagerly for goats and bulls to have their throats slit and blood spilt as an offering.

If he liked to eat goats and bulls and needed food it would make sense.

Otherwise it seems little primitive and macabre for a supreme being in command of the universe, the creator of galaxies, innumerable stars and black holes, to think knives being stuck in squealing goats throats in his name was important.

Great but petty often seems the way.

Another mystery for us all to ponder.

From the flopti void of planet peanut :

‘the mind reflects on how this seismic epoch has been distorted over time to change the true focus and meaning of Easter’…

Well - the true focus and meaning of ‘easter’ now is the religious theft of a pagan festival ;)

We all get a public holiday which was originally a pagan celebration of the changing of seasons to honour the worship of the goddess ‘eostre’.
This was representative of ‘fertility’ and new crops to be planted…

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/holidays/what-are-the-pagan-roots-of-e...

- you can keep giving your imaginary personal interpretations flopti, but don’t leave out the facts of how christianity has repackaged and resold something and claimed it as its own ;)

These days it’s called plagiarism.
How divine ;)

A lot can happen in three days if it’s a magical fairytale without actual proof !
… A lot ;)

‘ “All the fun things about Easter are pagan. Bunnies are a leftover from the pagan festival of Eostre.” Hot cross buns are related to “Israelites baking sweet buns for an idol, and religious leaders trying to put a stop to it.” Eventually, “defiant cake-baking pagan women” were successful and a cross was added to the buns to Christianize them.’

…’“Easter” is only a name, adopted and transformed over centuries to become a Christ-centered reference until recent generations where many young people no longer recognize the name of Jesus as anything more than an expletive.

However, using the name Easter “is not a problem” because “the origin of the word does not mean that the word is bad.” If we want to “be consistent and avoid using [pagan] words,” Christians will also have to find new names for the planets and the days of the week.‘

Happy eostre !! ;)

Beautiful time of year to indulge in reading a Good Book, one that isn’t arrogant, doesn’t yell. One that seeps in with meaning like gentle Autumn rain. One that searches for answers without needing to find them.

Ignore the Bibles, Richard Dawkins and Graham Hancock… they are all the same; they arrogantly think we can truly comprehend some sort of ‘big picture’, and they all want Russell-Brand-style proprietorship of ‘the truth’.

Christians, read some Stephen Jay Gould - non-nonsense for beginners.. poking into some of life’s secrets with wonder and humility. (‘Panda’s Thumb’, or ‘Bully for Brontosaurus’ are as good a place as any to start).

Jared Diamond is perhaps the most engaging of the studiers of humanity. Start with ‘The Third Chimpanzee’, or maybe ‘Guns Germs and Steel’ if you prefer modern history (the last 10,000 years). ‘Collapse’ is essential reading for those with an environmental bent.
Toilet readers, have a crack at Bill Bryson’s ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’. But lay off the psyllium husks for a couple of weeks, there’s some nice longer passages (no pun intended) in it.

My kids and I are reading Bren Smith’s ‘Eat Like a Fish’ this long weekend, we bought 3 copies. Don’t know if it is a Good Book yet, but it grittily documents one man’s explorations in to the environmental benefits of DIY vertical sea-farming.

(now, imagine the facelift-foetus, Brian Cox saying this bit..) Doesn’t matter what you read, I like science fiction, Vonnegut, PK Dick.. but it’s a great time of year to curl up with a book and a cuppa and feed your head. Whatever you read will be flawed… language, writing, books… they are all new. And we have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. And isn’t that wonderful..

basesix wrote:

Beautiful time of year to indulge in reading a Good Book, one that isn’t arrogant, doesn’t yell. One that seeps in with meaning like gentle Autumn rain. One that searches for answers without needing to find them.

Ignore the Bibles, Richard Dawkins and Graham Hancock… they are all the same; they arrogantly think we can truly comprehend some sort of ‘big picture’, and they all want Russell-Brand-style proprietorship of ‘the truth’.

... but it’s a great time of year to curl up with a book and a cuppa and feed your head. Whatever you read will be flawed… language, writing, books… they are all new. And we have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. And isn’t that wonderful..

Nicely put. Feed your head, read a book, ignore the guff.

Parable of the 4 men.
Four men were booked on a one way flight in a small plane.
It was a long journey and all along the way people were offering them parachutes for free.
The four men would arrogantly laugh at the offers of a free parachute and even abuse the people trying to give them one.
We will be right they would yell, we are not carrying that bloody thing and planes never crash anyway so F off.
They boarded their flight and the plane reached 10,000 feet.
What they didn’t realise is that death was the pilot and he opened the passenger cabin door.
He made the men to sit on the edge with their legs dangling in the open air staring down into the dark cloudy void.
Time to jump death said, this is as far as you go.
The four men stared down into the void and were terrified,
We don’t want to jump without a parachute they all cried.
Too late said death, there are no parachutes on this plane and my friend Life asked lots of different people many times over to give you a free parachute and you all abused them.
It was time , death tilted the plane and the four men dropped into the abyss …
….with no parachute.