Wednesday, February 23, 2005

A Religious Experience...

Alright. So I received something in the mail today, the actual mail not email, that did two thing for me.
  • it made me miss seeing all the random crap I got at American Water (Melinda you have to keep me updated on that stuff).
  • it sparked this religious centered posting.
First off, here's something I wanted to share with you, these are just my own theories, take it or leave it. So one of the big things in religion is "Do not use God's name in Vain." Most people take this as "Don't say GD." For a purpose of illustration only, I'll show you what I mean:
"God damn you Joe!"

Now, I don't think that's the right interpretation at all. True, I never use G.D. but nonetheless, better to be safe than sorry, right? I think it means exactly what it says, "Don't throw around God's name and say that X,Y,Z is God's will." Example one, Islamic Terrorists. Anyone who thinks that Islam is actually a dangerous religion... WAKE UP! There are some screwed up people who are in a really screwed up situation who happen to be Muslim. I believe that them saying that they are doing what they are doing in the name of Allah/God is exactly what not using God's name in vain is about. There have been some really screwed up "Christian" movements:

"Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." -Adolf Hitler

Oh, and here you can buy KKK T-shirts from Christian Books and Things.

What about the Spanish Inquisition? Salem Witch Trials? yeah, all done in the name of God. And THAT is what I believe to be using God's name in vain. So there you have it. I'm afraid this is already long enough, so I won't talk about what I received specifically... I'll hold on to it for later.

13 comments:

Scott said...

Nooooobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Interesting post, I like the theory. I almost never use G.D. myself, I certainly never use it in conversation. Only in the most extreme instances of rage, which for me are extremely rare.

I especially enjoyed the KKK link, I laughed out loud at the one that said "KKK, the original Boyz in the Hood". I do want to clear one thing up though, God and Allah are not the same thing. I found a nice Muslim site to back me up on this. At the moment I can't lay hands (or a mouse) on it to link it, but here's one that says roughly the same thing. So yeah, totally different dudes.Glad to have that cleared up. I'm off to write for my college papers, the best part? I write the rant column, and I get to rip things off from my blog to use. Muwhahaha.

- Scott

Rob said...

yeah, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that neither Scott or I are really qualified to have any such arguement. I'll save that one for the relgious studies majors (Josh?).

Anyways, the Muslims that I know personally, have the conception that it's the same guy. And I have a few books on it in my personal library (vast as it is). I was aware of Arab Pagan beliefs and it was my understanding that was one of the big points of conflict, how it challenged the pagan central beliefs. I'm sure that actual scholarly people have been arguing this for a while now, and I doubt it would be resolved here (although wouldn't that be AWESOME if it did? That would put this site on the map for sure).

The only thing I'll say for my side of it is, The pagan beliefs were first, and this is a translation from the Qur'an (29:46): "Tell [the Jews and Christians]... (cut to the chase) ...Our God and your God is one; and it's to Him we surrender."

Anyways, I'm not saying I KNOW I'm right, and Scott you're a stupid moron. Just saying that it's a big debate and you can easily argue either side. Congrats on bringing substance to the table though! Now that, I appreciate. You should really do it more often.

Anonymous said...

I've receive some more of those religious pamplets that came in the mail today and alot of other junk mail along with it. We did mail out to a new state a few weeks ago West Virginia. We did get a nice response from our future customers (take me off of your mailing list not intrested this is your way of scaring customers). Its to bad Rob that you couldn't be here today to see the huge stack of suppressions from West Virginia. Here is an update on our employees looks like Kathy has brought on another temp. for her claims department this week and Bob has been interviewing other candidates for a few more positions. Boy! oh boy! it just seems like Kathy is struggling at times trying to get her claims department together, but "we shall see" said the blind man. Also, Pat sent out an email to us letting us know that she wasn't pleased or happy that people signed up for overtime for this particular project and didn't commit to it this pass week. Some employees were not (here we ago again Rene`) being a TEAM PLAYER. Saying that she didn't want to make overtime mandatory. In so many words she's saying if there is a project that needs to be done people might have to do overtime if they want to or not.

And I like the like that you posted about Allah/Moon God very intresting. I knew a little bit about Allah being a pagan god, but not a whole lot of info. about it this helps out thanks scottie. Hey Rob! I can't remember was Allah mentioned in that book (Islam for dummies) being the Moon god?

Peace! Freemama

Scott said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Scott said...

I know, it was a complete accident. It's amazing how I can unintentionally bring something with so little fluff-factor to the table. I tend to revel in the insignificant. It was bound to happen sometime I suppose.

I'm not saying that Rob and his Muslim friends are whacked out of their minds (I mean, I'm thinking it, but it has nothing to do with religon, and also I've yet to actually vocalize it), but I wish I could find the site ran by the Muslim guy. It was really well written, and from the Muslim point of view. A shame. It was really informative.

I don't Jake checks your journal, but Josh could weigh in on the topic. One thing though, if you get famous you damn well better link to my site. Because it was my idea and I'm clearly the brains of this operation.

- Scott

Jake said...

I think you all covered the bases pretty well. Basically, it all depends on how you want to look at it.

If these three religions claims of having a covenant with God are true, then the arguement can be the God of the Jews/Christians/Muslims is one and the same, based on historical logic.

If, however, if God does not exist (or, not in the sense these three religions view him), then it is possible that Allah was a pagan God that eventually adopted the identity as the God of Abraham. The same thing could be detailed of the Jewish (and therefore Christian) God, but I'm too lazy to talk further.

Also: Hi Rob.

Anonymous said...

The Jewish God and the Christians God is the same thing. Jews just don't believe Jesus was God's son. That's the only difference between those two religions. With Jesus not being God's son, the Jews don't acknowledge the New Testament...so things vary a lot, but that's the reason for the difference.

The Muslim god is not the same as the Christian God. I'm not sure what the difference is, but I've met some Muslims who are GREATLY offended by saying Allah is the Christians God with a different name.

Yah, there's wackos in both (all really) religions who take things WAY too far and claim they are doing things in the name of God that anyone who knows the religion knows God does NOT permit that. Example, bombing abortion clinics. NOT a Christian policy! True Christians who actually are following the Bible know they should be talking to the women and offering them counseling and assistance as an alternative to abortions instead of picketing, calling them killers, and bombing things.

Also, to take the Lord's name in vain means not saying God unless you are speaking to Him or about him. For example, saying oh my god isn't he hot....that's taking the Lord's name in vain. Not just gd.

Anyway, hope that helps a little!

Tabitha

Anonymous said...

Correction, the Christian God and the Muslim God are the same. We just speak a different language, yo! Allah means God and Arabic. Not that I am the Muslim poster child or anything. But I assure you that Islam is not a dangerous religion. The reason people have such views is because that's all we ever see and read about. When have we ever recognized or praised the Islamic countries or their people? The Muslims that are killing and hating are those that have lost meaning of their faith and are manipulating "their religion" to justify their actions. ~Zin

Jake said...

Not to be picky, but just because some Muslims say that Allah is not Yahweh doesn't mean that's what the official position is. Same thing with Jews and Christians. All three acknowledge the God of Abraham as their God. It's how he communicates/associates with people that is different.

Rob said...

Thanks Jake, that's more or less what I was getting to. No one on this website can rightfully claim to be an expert on the subject... and the people that I think have the most right to do so, would probably be some of the first to admit they don't know near enough. And it's important to acknowledge the fact that you can find "evidence" to prove ANYTHING!

http://www.aethiamud.org/communist_mario/

also, to correct Zin's typo: "Allah means God *in* Arabic." =)

Anonymous said...

Ahh the all to familier sounds of a religious scuffle. Hitting this chain late in the day, I can applaud all of these, except scott, who is a moron. What started as a simple Big 10 of the Old Testament question has certaintly bloomed into something frankly, unsolveable.
To summarize, if you want to belive in a higher power, then all these are the same higher power. From far enough away, it all blends into the same fuzzy higher being. That's only one view.
Strangely, the direction that I thought this conversation was going departed for that point about nine posts ago. More people have died in the name of God then any other cause in history. This tends to be pretty easy when you can take the Bible out of context you sneaky sneaks. The Bible has been used to lend validity to everything from slavery, drug use, and New Kids on the Block. I'm not sure about that last one, but they are a sign of the End Times, I'm sure about that.
There's my $3 tangent.

Anonymous said...

OK, as to what people use to justify themselves...whackos will use ANYTHING to justify their crazy behavior so they don't have to take responsibility for the fact that they are just NOT right in the head!

NKOTB is not the sign of the end of times....although things are headed that way.

And it's not like just pick a higher power and you're good to go. There's more to religion than that. I must applaud almost everyone though for the very passive nature this is remaining in. No one is claiming to be an expert, we've all heard different things and that's how it's being stated. Religion is personal and so can be taken so many ways. Maybe someday we'll all know the truth!

Tabitha

Anonymous said...

Hey, I'm back. I figured a religious thread would be a good place for this. Seeing as how the process of creating Robopope has officially begun (tracheotomy...suuuure) I have had an idea. It's becoming quite obvious that the pope is a superhero. Look at the signs. Mysterious medical operations, seemingly immortal, and a popemobile. Definitely cant forget about the Popemobile. This has lead me to one conclusions. There needs to be a web comic. I'd suggest "The Adventues of Popeman and his sidekick, Altar Boy." You could even do crossovers with The Grim dot com. Think about it. Lots of potential here, folks.

Trevor