timmybauer

BAD BAD IMMORAL HOLLYWOOD!

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,829,00.html

HYPOCRITES!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor..._exorcism_class

Hmm....very interesting.

Taking The Da Vinci Code's obsession with Catholic arcana a step further, Constantine is a one-of-a-kind hybrid: a theological noir action film.

I hate this kind of pop history where a current phenomena (DVCode) becomes the standard by which a much older and better written source is critiqued. Thanks MTV. :icon_evil:

As a rabid Sherlock Holmes affectionado I wish I could have seen the late 19th Century as a world traveller to view the magnificent Empire at it's height.

I also sometimes wish that I had been born in Europe so that my athletic talent in soccer/football would have had a better chance to flower into professionalism. Plus I could be catching matches everyweeked and not having to be overwhelmed by the underwhelming game of basketball.

Wolfram, which Hellblazer trades are you lookin to sell? What are you askin'?

Sorry J. I was mistaken, I have that trade already. :icon_redface:

Me too John. Don't feel alone.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...6510761579&rd=1

You don't even have to mess with an exchange rate, lucky sod.

I'll take it J. What are you asking for it?

Can anyone give me pre-Azzarello references to JC's bi-sexual practices?

I've been lookin' for that as well James. Seems they are going for a pretty penny on ebay. If you're willing to pay full price I might suggest mycomicshop.com or milehighcomics.com. Try half.com or amazon.com used items...but you will have to verify the edition.

Looks promising. Here is already more praise than I expected. Might just be enough to get me out to the theater. Might.

Timmy: I get what you're aiming at, but even if you're right, I'd gladly choose separation from that kind of god. Because in my view he then wouldn't at all be the epitome of love, but more like a petty man. I realise that's not the way you see it, though, and mean no disrespect.

 

Charlie: When it comes to hell, wasn't Jesus actually one of the first to talk about hell as punishment for not believing in him? (I'm not as well-read in the bible as you guys, but I'm pretty sure he says something to that effect)

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I don't know Red, I've been haunting this thread and others on similar subjects very concerned that I didn't get to preachy during my current participation on the board, but I sometimes can't bite my tongue when I read misinformed posts. I'm not saying that yours is, just trying to explain my motives. All I want to do is try to explain a biblical position without all the self-righteousness and bigotry I find spewing forth from my fellow Southern Baptists.

Anyhoo, Red are you familiar with the story of the prodigal son? It is in the Gospel of Luke chapter 15. If you want a biblical picture of God's nature, well here it is. Tune out all the other stuff and settle in right here. We have to used familial imagery of God as Father before we can come back to the issue of His justice and judgements. I had a really crappy relationship with my father, and most male role models in my life so the image of God as Father is a very difficult thing for me to grasp and internalize, but it is also the most deeply satisfying concept of all. Jesus refereed to God as "abba" which is a pet name reserved for only the closest of relationships. Much like "papa" or "da" or "daddy". Even today I can't call my own father "dad" let alone the childlike (ish) "daddy". It feels too silly, makes me feel to vulnerable. But that is the kind of intimacy, obedience, comfort, protection, and guidance we SHOULD expect and recieve from our father's and CAN from our Maker.

Hmmm, good points, Timmy, about the distinction. What do you mean by High God? And how can you be sure the flood happened as punishment? One test - us - is to see if Jesus referenced it. Did he?

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Matthew 24:38-39

Luke 17:27

2 Peter 2:5

The "High God" concept can be found in many if not most ancient mythologies. In general this is a Father figue that created the world and gave law. This entity was generally associated with the sky or celestial elements. But over time this concept was pushed into obscurity in favor of more practical gods that addressed everyday issues such as fertility, sickness, etc. An excellent book to read on this subject is Eternity in Their Hearts The authors name escapes me just now.

Charlie to some degree I agree with you about some parts of the bible being mythology, but I see a different definition of mythology at play. I see it more as mythologized history. Today we seem to define myth the same as fairy tale so I like to call some things myth and some things mythic. The flood happened as a punishment. That is the REASON it happened, but the peoples of South America or Africa with no knowledge of the revealed God other than what can be discerned of Him from the creation or from High God "myths" passed down for generations would interpret it differently, mythically. The tales of Arachne or Prometheus on the other hand are not based upon actual events, therefore they are morality tales issuing from the more popular understanding of myth.

As far as the concept of Hell I sort of follow Charlie's points above. One common concept of hell to the Jews was Gahenna, a big garbage pit outside the city that burned. Perhaps this informed one aspect of eternal punishment. But then there was the concept of the "outer dark" where there was "weeping and gnashing of teeth". The Greeks and Romans brought their concepts of Hades which merged in popular concept. Dante and Milton embellished a bit in popular concept. On and on. Christian theolgians debate this issue endlessly. Some propose anihilation, some eternal torment and punishment. But I think the point is best made that it is an undesirable situation to find oneself in for all eternity. I believe it is eternal separation from the presence of God. Eternal solitary confinement if you will.

I regards to the culpability issue. AKA how can a loving God sentence humans to such a fate, I say that the relationship you choose with God in life is what you will recieve after death. Choose obedience and closeness get obedience and closeness. Choose rebellion and separation, get rebellion and separation. For eternity.

Keanu Reeves gets off the plane in Louisville KY where his agents have set up an opportunity to view a real live exorcism. Of course he's thinking, you know, purple stoles, heavy bibles, holy water, etc. He is surprised to meet an Asian man dressed nicely in a suit and tie who introduces himself as the Vietnamese interpreter for the event. Keanu now is thouroughly confused but intrigued. They hop into an awaiting van and proceed to drive south. As they go along Keanu begins to notice that the quality of housing is slowly decreasing until they turn into a slum-like housing project called Americana Apartments. They pull up to a decrepit apartment and are greeted by numerous Vietnamese bystanders all cackling away in seemingly overexcited angry voices. There is a sense of dread in the air. From within the apartment Keanu can hear the rythmic sounds of drums and chanting as well as the frenzied screams of a woman. He turns and looks apprehensively at his agent when the Vietnamese translator asks in smooth broken English if they are ready to go up. Keanu notices that this man has a smile on his face that looks forced. Keanu swallows deeply.

They proceed up the wretched steps slowly, almost mournfully, as if they were going to a wake. The screams are louder and Keanu notices the pungent smell of urine and incense. They open the door to see a bald man dressed in orange robes kneeling over a young woman who is laying on the ground howling. This man is beating the girl with a rod and chanting in a hypnotic rhythm. Keanu gasps. There are other young men with bald heads standing around chanting, bowing with incense or slowly hitting a drum. Keanu notices that the young woman 's hands and feet are bound up tightly. So tight in fact that they are turning deep purple. He says to his agent, "What the hell?" "Shouldn't we call the police?" A woman begins to scream, "No Police! No Police! Get Out!" The interpreter bows to the woman who has become hysterical, as several men move forward to usher the white men out of the room, out of a place they have no right to be. As Keanu approaches the door he hears the young bound woman begin to cry out "No!" He turns to see the older bald man in orange robes, who only moments ago was beating this girl savagely with a rod, pour a huge, steaming bowl of a yellow boiling liquid upon the now screaming girl. Keanu notices the extremely strong odor of urine.

I voted "other". I believe there are "things" out there with power which will grant that power to humanity in exchange for allegiance. The manipulation of these "things" to obtain that power is magic(k). Of course I also believe that these "things" are devious and will pretend to grant such power or give little tastes in order to gradually corrupt the mage. The mage is never in control.

I don't believe in any of it, I prefer to look at it as the inventions of some humans a long time ago; so to me what's more interesting is, why would anyone want to invent such a cruel place like Hell and make it part of a mythology?

 

There's something inherently masochistic in Man, that we keep creating myths which talk us down as thinking creatures, belittle our achievements and make us submit to more powerful entities: Pandora, Prometheus, Aracne, The Fall Of Man. I don't know, it must be something pathological, but we sure love myths where we fuck shit and punished for it, don't we?

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Hmmmm...could it be that there may be a bit of Truth to those myths then? Sure doesn't lend much creedance to humanism.

And if Shirley wanted me to think of him as other than fascinated with gross out, he should have minded the content of his post too, something like "oh, and the dialogue is really good, too" for instance wouldn't have hurt, surely.

Don't call me shirley.

The Christian god either does not exist, or is incompetent, or is basically a dickhead.

 

Fuck 'im.

 

And that's my thoughtful, well-reasoned contribution to this thread.

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Duely noted.

Belief is not amenable to reason, is it.

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It is for me. I find it is truer to say that reason is not amenable to belief. And why so angry Guest? Take a breath, everything will be ok.

No I didn't win any money on account of, you know, my beliefs on gambling. I did tell everybody that I had bet $1,000 and was cheering for my 24-21 spread the whole game. Even when NE was up 24-14 I was going on about how Philadelphia was still going to score one more so I could cover and low and behold, the much overrated McNab trough a rare perfect deep ball for a TD. Had em all going for a while telling them how I was going to have a 48" plasma on the wall for next year with my winnings.

That company is Full Circle, they may be at Bristol, could somone keep an eye out for me for SHJ #1 and #3? I have #2 thanks to Mr. Adrian Brown.

I've never been much of a Marvel fan mostly because I think most super spandexy tripe to be quite ludicrisp. But art wise, which is a big deal for me, they seem to have cornered much of the talent these days. I pick up Astonishing X-Men for Cassaday, Secret Wars for Dell'Otto, Phoenix for Land, Black Widow for Land and Sink-a-witz, Hulk/Thing for Jae Lee, Shanna for Cho, and quite a bit of Land in the back issue bins (he's all over Marvel).