Da_Ze_Ir

My opinion (actually my father's ;D ) Communism is bad IN ESSENCE because : 1. Ambition and the desire to improve oneself is essential to the human being. In communism, you are taken to the same level as everybody else. Aside apathy, this eventually leads the economy to collapse as there is no initiative or desire to work and be creative. 2. Communism always leads to dictatorship. In democracy, there wouldn't be communism because most people wouldn't agree on losing their property ;) I guess. Dictatorship is bad because dictators are more often than not undesireable for the position. 3. Communism also leads to the promotion of nonvalues, especially around the dictator, who surrounds himself with people that couldn't challenge him. Also, there is little actual interest in values or the concept of wellfair or development for these people. I think that the ideal society comes with time as the population improves at the level of the individual. Capitalism and democracy are excellent today, especially in decent countries. With the right people, things are well and getting better. Eventually, a society closer to the ideal forms. That goes on and on. Furthermore, I think capitalism and democracy would form the ideal society providing there are good people and bountiful economic, technological and artistic resources.

Edric, with all due respect, liberals make economy while socialists spread the money, liberals give the opportunity of fortune to a part of the population (hopefully those with ambition) while socialism spreads poverty to all. Liberalism is the engine of economy while socialism is the concession. Communism was good for one thing: bringing countries like Russia out of the middle ages. For all other purposes it was a disaster. It takes away people's ambition, passion, sense of possesion and ultimately reason to live. It evens out poverty. Fortunately it is dying. Bye-bye communism and good luck Edrick, I hope you'll get over it! As for Obama, I'm happy he won because I though I liked his character. I don't know much anything about the matter and haven't seen the other candidate speak. I wasn't thinking about who's the liberal and who the socialist - that doesn't make much difference in the USA, I think. I also hear the opposition had been in power before and it's great that matters changed, especially after the disastrous Bush administration. It's also cool that Obama is half black.

But there is still a kind of satisfaction, isn't there? In any case, the essence of a moment only exists in that moment, you cannot carry it with you. And that is exactly what you said before. You might even feel that you are a different person if you think about it.. You might feel things in a completely different way. For that, you need to relax between events, let yourself drift - and the relaxed mind is capable of coping with the situation in a way focus never could. Of course, one of the requirements is to have sufficient time between them, a few months perhaps, to get an effect like that.

Yes, no matter what you achieve, the feeling of achievement only lasts for a few days, maybe. Then you feel as though you are back to square one! Although you may have managed to get something that raises the joy of your life. Obviously, you should never think of something as an achievement or you will grow it into a disappointment. Rather, think of things as the course of life or better still, not think of them. Just be there. Life is in the present. They all have advantages and disadvantages. They each have some measure of truth. What I think you are trying to get at is having a way of thinking that is independent of things beyond our understanding or beyond our control, while at the same time cultivating some measure of positive thinking (intentionally or not, the optimism in your attitude) to encourage creativity and attract contentment.

I'm not talking about the organisms which could have evolved from merging aminoacids or the way in which the solar system perfectly fits together to form life which couldn't have been here otherwise (so we could just be the forced scenario anyway you put it), I am taling about the way things fit together inside a human life if you know how to look. There are two possibilities I have considered: one is that there is an all-powerful God controlling everything, the other is that the collective mind of the human race or that of the individual (both, actually) influence events. Something like "The Secret" but more refined. I am just saying that, as a child, you expect the world to be perfect. And it isn't. What you are basically saying is that I should start thinking positive or end up ruining myself for good. That's what I'm onto right now. But you should realise that the implications are not funny at all and that people really are getting hurt all the time. Finally something that makes a lot of sense! "An ultimate goal of eudaimonean ethics would be to feel happy just because I can (live), without any other reason." - This is actually a good description of the first idea that I had on any sort of such issue. That was about ten years ago! Yes, it does get better with time and a lot of effort. But why couldn't it be OK while it gets better? It is not just a question of the "level" you are at. On the other hand, you are highlighting that no matter what the situation, it still takes the person being capable of enjoying it. Then again, it is still a question of how that peson was formed, but overall it is important to note that it is all a neverending quest for understanding: no matter how good it gets, it can always be better and you might say that what is good at one "level" is too little for another. One of the most important things to learn, then, is how to get through this with joy.

That's great! Just tell me how and when. MSN is Windows messenger or something? I think they are compatible, Yahoo M and Windows M. I'll try and add you in Yahoo.

What is there to appreciate? They are satisfied and joyful, there's no problem with that. They, of course, accept that life as it is, too. No problem, eh? Ach, come on! I'm not some poor suffering someone and I'm not obsessing over something like that anyway. Although you could say that I have often had some level of psichological discontent, my argument here is general and not personal. According to the Bible are many arguments, most of them used in the past to justify anything. Please keep it out. In the first place, the New Testament has been chipped up by men out of the original collection of writings. For instance, I saw a docummentary that mentioned Juda's gospel which had been eliminated from the New Testament makeup. It seemed to suggest that the idea of a neutral God and the future prevalence of a Good God was there already. Like the suffering to demand understanding and get it after you gain enough experience and value detachment, a relaxed mind! Of course the world isn't perfect, but that is what a child expects - especially when his head is being filled with nonsense. Even an atheist can understand that life is "eternal". Your children will move on and something of your genes, the upbringing, the culture, will move on. But it's more complex than that. You could argue the matter at the level of humanity or even the entire Planet. Because "plebes" are too stupid to understand better. Because they work hard, desire little of thinking - and their work overwhelms their being anyway. But also because the church has been a way of manipulation throughout history. The real paradise must be achieved in life. If you don't, you should think that it will never be or that future people might get it done. As for the impact of an afterlife paradise concept, it has often caused disarray. First, stop telling me that I feel miserable about my own existence. We are having a GENERAL argument. With that out of the way, I can say that I especially have reason to believe God exists BECAUSE things have happened in an obviously logical pattern, not thoroughly bad although mostly so. And on a psichological level, no mutilations or diseases. And it's not like He brought bad things on everyone. Some are DESIGNED to live good lives, some bad, some anywhere on the good-bad line, each of them posessing a unique pattern/"colur" The secret is to relax and everything falls into place as the mind deals with it. It's obvious that we have very different thinking, maybe that's why you didn't get my point!! For one, I think that theory and logic alone acted upon "philosophy" flawed, they would always be adrift. As for the argument of being an atheist, the Bible or Christianity is no argument. Divinity is the same no matter how you chose to call it. Each religion is a WAY of adressing the issue, although each might claim it is the correct one. In my case, my life has lead me to believe there IS a God, one of the strongest arguments being the way in which things fit together like a puzzle.

I see YOU have some form of being content. But what about the way of life of other people? IT is very important to feel good about. Why should a feeling of comfort and joy be sparse? The pleasure of achievent would not be affected.

Suffering is about much more than pain. It includes stress and dissatisfaction or the inability to acknowledge or have a good life. Of course, I'd take mental dissatisfaction over a sharp pain any day, but if we think most people live under stress, apathy and don't get to visualise much joy or wonder in their lives, that is extremely cruel as well.

I see that I tried to reply on every issue. Your last post there was one exception. I don't get what you meant with it. How can I adress something the way you want it or simply agree to your opinion? As far as other things are concerned (relativity of God's point of view), you cannot deny that suffering is real, especially when it is consistent, you cannot escape or see beyond it, it is beyond your control and it has been forced upon you indiscriminately by the definition of your life, again imposed. Pleasure or superficial happiness can sometimes be illusions, but you cannot deny that the discomfort of pain and suffering are for real. As always, I hope you read before you post, although I'm sure you generally do.

With the gained experience of the past year, I can say that my view has changed somewhat. One thing to note is that from my perspective, there IS a God that manipulates people and events and has virtually made the World. It is evident in the way my life has taken place so far. Mostly, He evolved me through discomfort and never seeing the end of it or having a satisfying existence. I find it evident in an intelligent pattern of many things of many kinds. Some people get the same treatment, others worse, others an apparently unremarkable existence, while a few live happily. What is the most annoying is that nobody has any real control. Everything is predefined, your developement charted. All the pain of going through decisions is just part of a plan and not a matter of YOUR free will. The world is full of bad things and suffering although there are good ones as well. Most of the time however, things imply painful evolution and happiness is often merely about escaping suffering. I am a firm believer that "progress" CAN be made without suffering. Life is a neverending path, so the paradise that any sentient being is struggling for must be about finding the way and the situation in wich progress is made through happiness. In this context, the maker and "governor" God is neutral, undeniably evil in some way. Evil because He is so smart and powerful to make all these predefined charts by which people live. This is obviously not the God you pray to at church. Then it occured to me: the world just isn't fair, just isn't good, just isn't perfect, just doesn't have the understanding, etc. We must hope for the better, we must discover Paradise and we believe in a God of good that overcomes evil and creates good. The initial confusion comes from mistaking/mixing the controller God and the Good God. The controller one is all-powerful, yet his existence we hope to erode by believing in Good, in the God you pray to at church. Just don't mix them up and everyting becomes clear. The confusion came from the anguish of expecting a world made by a good God to be a correct one, which is not at all the case. And I believe that life can evolve on good alone, with just enough uncertainty to stimulate the imagination, but not the kind of uncertainty that drowns the individual in despair, since he cannot find a way out or understand why the context of his life is a bad existence. Instead, the joyful uncertainty of living among friends, satisfied, and learning new things with living, understanding and exploration. One of the key parts of getting past these troubles was no longer expecting the world or some thing in particular to be perfect or certain. Just live, relaxed, not force the mind (to avoid self-limitation), keep on working for the discovery of good. Then things will light up. WHY didn't He make a good world? It does not matter now: we must work for good and not expecting any to avoid limitation and disappointment, most of all to discover happiness - which is not always a selfish matter. And this is no more avoiding the truth of an imperfect Order than being upset about it. Are our actions still being controlled in this endeavour? It is our inner belief that they will one day lead God to presiding a good world. Living on means not having been defeated yet.

Duuudes! I'm still waiting for the game. Just make sure you suggest well in advance, say a week, because I won't be visiting this every day.

Please post any challenges and the time you suggest. Here it's GMT+2. By normal speed I mean 2 levels below maximum. I find maximum speed absurd. It must have been meant for zooming the harvest missions in the campaign. StarCraft is 3 times slower, etc.

Please tell me when you're in for a game. I'm registered as "sava".

All right, I finally have XP service pack 2 installed after a looong misunderstanding with booting (I have Vista AND wanted XP too). Everything works fine until the last step: NETWORK IS FULL on "Dune-2k Networks", password "dune". I took the pro option with the install. Also, I would love if you proposed the closest time you guys are willing to PLAYYY. FINALLY I will be able to play Dune 2000, for the first time in my life, with a human being!!

I have Vista (64 bit) and I can't get through step 2. I have both TCP/IP v4 and 6, either of them I select it leads me to a page where I select protocol and then I can't do anything - the window has no options. I should mention that the first time I tried it, it had one option (don't remember what it was) but since then I have kept trying and it doesn't show anything. I even reinstalled. The first time I didn't realise I had to reset the computer but aside that it got me connected to Hamachi I still can't get through step 3 for Dune 2000. It would be a shame not being able to get online with Dune 2000, especially after I ran a virtual win 98 to install, then had to copy the folder as it didn't run well at all (no scroll) and finally had to use a no CD patch because it wouldn't acknowledge my CD (the bad thing must insist on having the same drive letter it installs from). edit: oh yeah, I kept trying for 3 hours and eventually figured from google search and another virtual machine failure that there is no way for me. So no Dune 2000 multiplayer for me unless I plug two computers together at home... At least until someone figures another way, like remaking Dune 2000 :) And at least practice works perfectly.. it would be the same for me as it was 9 years ago, when I couldn't run the campaign. :D

________________________________________ Q u o t e: It started with the fruit of knowledge - humans broke a perfect world when they chose to glorify themselves over God. You could say that God is showing us the consequence of sin, a taste of a world without God. ________________________________________ No, the search for truth -the Knowledge- IS what love of true God is all about. A good God would have rather had Adam and Eve going for knowledge than mindlessly obeying him for eternity. An evil god, again, would have had them suffer and accuse them of something beyond their control. ________________________________________ Q u o t e: It wouldn't have been mindless. They would have had made the conscious choice to obey Him, to love Him. That's why they had free will to begin with, and that's why Eve was able to resist Satan at first, knowing perfectly well that she was not supposed to eat of the fruit. Genesis 3:2-3, notice how she was aware of the consequence? ________________________________________ and LOL. How far does interpretation go? Does the tree of KNOWLEDGE ring a bell? It's either knowledge or mindlessness at genesis point, or at any point for that matter. ________________________________________ Q u o t e: I mean, check Acts, when God caused Ananias and his wife to drop dead for trying to cheat the church. God was using this to show how serious He is about it, that being in Christ is not a license to go on in depravity. ________________________________________ That is exactly the kind of thinking that goes with the inquisition. When will people understand that it is not good to kill for your ideals? ______________________________________ Q u o t e: The fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. This could mean a knowledge of WHAT good and evil consist of, not necessarily that it would give them a moral compass - since if Adam and Eve were really that dumb, why would God have taken the time to explain what death was to Adam and Eve? If they weren't capable of understanding simple laws of reaction, why would God have wasted His effort in explaining it to them? ________________________________________ Then there was never any decision, as decision implies undestanding. There was never ever choice between God and whatever because there was never ever the capacity to choose. And even so, if man was destined to live happily and mindlessly, God did not protect them from Satan, which is absurd since man had no defense. ________________________________________ Q u o t e: Doesnt anyone ever think God gave people free will to let them pick between good and evil themselves, but wouldnt be able to do so without Satan tempting them to do evil? If people are good by nature they won't give into such temptation, as it says in the bible that "Temptation is not from God". ________________________________________ But they had to know good and evil first, they had to understand. There can be no choices otherwise. In that eden, they were given a choice when they could not choose. The first choice: to be able to choose or not. In any scenario, they would not have had the mind to understand this choice. _______________________________________ Q u o t e: Even animals without a rational thought process make choices. You don't need to understand to make a choice, most people nowadays make choices and try to understand why after the fact. And everyone person is born with a certain nature, what they see and experience after they are born has nothing to do with it, because they will react to those things based on the core person they are. ________________________________________ Not true. Animals act on their instincts, therefore have something, and even so they almost always fail in moral positions. Humans had no feeling to base decision upon. Finally, all choices you claim are made "quickly" are actually based on reflexes from experience. ________________________________________ Q u o t e: And everyone person is born with a certain nature, what they see and experience after they are born has nothing to do with it, because they will react to those things based on the core person they are. ________________________________________ There IS NO SUCH THING as a core person. That is a fattaly flawed concept. Even if what forms you is within your mother's womb, there was still some form of experience or insticts that you were fed to become what you are. Any man is the sum of his experience, where experience is considdered a wide cooncept. ________________________________________ Q u o t e: Everyone is different, some people cry easier, some people get over things faster, some get angry quicker, and most have many things and experience in common. ________________________________________ Yes but the factors that filtered that experience made the difference. All were motivated to interpret their individual experience in different ways ________________________________________ Q u o t e: So even if experience does effect your decisions, it doesnt do so to the point you think it does. ________________________________________ All people use their character in forming and interpreting experiences. All people do their best in that regard. Some feel more motivation and others less, and in different regards. It is always their nature and felt duty to do their best, yet it is always in their own way. Experience is always a bonus toward making better decisions, even if the roads it takes go "miles apart". Some happen to stumble on the straight way, even a wormhole, while others go chaotically. ________________________________________ Q u o t e: To help support your claim I will add a question: "If you set a baby down and put a choice of 2 pictures: A picture of Hitler, and a Picture of the Pope. And the baby picks the 1st picture is the baby evil?" ________________________________________ Good examlpe, thanks.

I'm not sure if this is the biggest heresy I've said yet, but here goes for an interpretation. It is not my invention: God is a group of "infinitely" advanced spirits. Those spirits probaly think their way of life is the best, so they build the Universe as a training ground and as Creation for infant spirits to learn. This would fit with the plural in "Then the LORD God said,"Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil." " as well as explaining the existence of several religions, offering an interpretation of heaven and hell, answering your kings' ruleship: I haven't given it much thought in years, however, beause I would rather look at life as we know it than think of a greater mening in a way that could only be made of baseless fantasy.

I'm not sure what they say in your version of Christianity but here in Romania, if we take the Orthodox church, it is said that man was created in the image of God. I interpret that in the sense of sentience. Also, there is a passage in the standard English Bible I have been able to find that says: "Then the LORD God said,"Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil." " It is therefor man's place to constantly judge things and think things over and over again, not take things for granted and making no exceptions. What would be the point of a man-made image of God anyway, to be taken as absolute, even under a logical construct? It is still subject to judgement, or else it has no place to be taken in the first place. And if a notion has no meaning then it does not exist at all. If I create a confined space and make the people inside believe it is their universe. If that universe is one of discomfort or poor meanings, and if death is a bad constant, how would you think of that? Then we are not alive or sentient. But we know we are. We have to judge as far as we can. Strange that it contradicts passages from the Bible. I'm not a Bible fanatic myself, but the catechism should respect it. How does God stand for salvation unless He is good? Also check the quotes above about the tree of knowledge, God, man and the way the knowledge makes them more alike. I would think that the creator God manipulates the world as a whole, therefor every little piece leads to that end.

From what you are saying, Hwi Noree, you DO realise that they are SO not being realistic. It just doesn't make sense.

I don't understand: if some sects are so twisted, how do people end up in them. I can understand that only their evil leaders find some meaning in them, as in profiting. If you want another religion, it would be most likely that one of the other major religions could satisfy your views. Yet still, even though there are interesting points about the other major religions, I would not just choose to convert out of respect for my own (aside of that, I do not deny that it would morally hurt my family). In the end, there is SO much one does not know about his own, so much more he could appreciate, about the meanings of the Universe, why convert?

I don't understand. :O Actually I think intuition IS everything. How do you think that it isn't? Everything was discovered by intuition in the first place, and if we expand the notion of intuition we find that it provides our feelings, our senses, no? Our individual realities would not exist without it. I am here to place a new line on my thread. I realise that I was quite bitter when I started it. Here is what I think now: The creator God is certainly not good. However, you might think that "all evil leads to good", yet I think actual good is the only thing we ought to be concerned about. In fact, I rather define Good as something that can stand on its own and can grow. Therefor I remain puzzeled with the "need" for evil. I still think we were better off learning within good than through evil. The difference to this new line of thinking would be to put bitteress behind. Bitterness is not a good constant for life. I also believe that one should respect tradition and the God of the church is the One we all love, regardless of what name we associate Him. On the other hand, although the church claims God to be the Creator God, I would think that it is the Good God that they are talking about. To acknowledge the Creator God would mean nothing if He were a mixture of good and evil. It is the good side of God, the God of goodness, that we believe in and the future belongs to Him.

I don't think that having a particular religion, other than "the one" denies salvation. Then I cannot believe that "believe in God to start the process of salvation, if you don't, you will not be saved even if you help the entire world". In the end you believe in and love God by loving that which is good. In any case, symply believing in God and trying to love him is ludicrous if you don't believe He stands for that which you love about existence. Take a look at the "Is God evil?" thread, I started it when I was quite bitter. It is true that most often thinking "God is dead" or "there is no God" or some other such leads a man to chaotic morals, because God stands for existence, and if existence is all ****** up then all the morals might destabilize, you might believe in nothing at all and then you would lose toutch with good. Actually I find your statements interesting in this thread and agree with most of them, but since it isn't my thread I will limit to this post. Yes, I too have had several events or factors in my life which seem to have a "greater purpose", they fit with my developement as a person, otherwise it would have been nearly impossible for them to unfold the way they did. I agree, keeping the commandments because you just want to is hard when there is no meaning behind your reasoning. It is the same with anything you do in life, actually. One of the most important things I've learned in life: meaning is important, obsession with form hurts you.

1.The grizzly chase was not my example. 2.We need to put limits. Anyone having more than 2 children today is commiting a crime against everyone else, especially against those that realise population growth must stop and respect that. 3.I don't adopt the "kill for your ideas/ideals" thing. 4.I haven't given it much thought, but I dissaprove with the natzis because of their disregard for life. 5.The CAUSE is stupidity and ignorance so you have to hit the people responsible if you are to make a difference. Analogy: money doesn't solve the problems, it is the stupidity, ignorace and irresponsibility that is behind them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfRUMmTs0ZA To repy make a reply for all to see(I got a message): I think it is not the romanians that are being nationalistic, but the minorities that are quite crazy. I went to the delta some 6 years ago. There is some ucranian minority there. Our hosts seemed fine enough at a first look, but they were really crazy on the inside. I heard they beat our friend's dog and scolded their daughter for talking to us. Around the same year we went to Transilvania and the hotel/restaurant was run by hungarians. Those people pretend not to know romanian just to mock you, and deliver second-grade services especially for you. This might be considdered insane considdering that they are in OUR country. We wouldn't think of them any differently at all if they didn't think that they own the country, like we were intruders and treated us like the nazis would the jews!!!