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Dear PaulMurrayCb,

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You enquired :

« … why does anyone bother replying to this drivel? »
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I think what the author is trying to say is that different readings of the bible are possible. Some take it literally. Others, with whom the author appears to identify himself, seek to fathom its quintessential signification. Still others, such as myself, read it as an interesting anthology of religious myths.
There is evidence that some myths have factual foundations. Others seem to have been simply invented. Some, fact based or invented, are imported from other eras and other civilisations than those to which they are purported to apply.

An Australian linguist, Robert M.W. Dixon, Professor of Linguistics at The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, studied Aboriginal myths in their original languages. He observed from the evidence available that Aboriginal myths regarding the origin of the Crater Lakes might be dated back to 10, 000 years ago. Subsequent scientific investigations by the Australian Heritage Commission led to the Crater Lakes myth being listed nationally on the Register of the National Estate and included within Australia's World Heritage nomination of the wet tropical forests, as an “unparalleled human record of events dating back to the Pleistocene era”.

To my knowledge, that is unique. Here is a list of world myths :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mythologies

Though I have not seen it listed among the Chinese myths, a book which I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend is “Journey to the West” also widely known as “Monkey” (the title of Arthur Waley's popular abridged translation), attributed to Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century. It is highly entertaining and enlightening.


Christianity, of course, is based on the myth of the sacrificial lamb elevated to its highest degree: that of human sacrifice. Primitive civilisations sacrificed highly valued individuals to appease the wrath of the gods and save the rest of the tribe from natural disasters.

Today's reading allows the faithful to live their lives as they please, with or without the constraints of morality, under the protection of their faith ( "Thy faith hath saved thee" - Luke 7:50).

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Enigma - Age Of Loneliness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APW_QwzGg2o

God Only Knows - BBC Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqLTe8h0-jo

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« Nor did the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury or the head of the World Council of Churches seize the opportunity to denounce those who make false promises of so-called “afterlife”. » :

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=16853#296809

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I should have liked to have had the benefit of your opinions, George and Peter, but I guess I have no alternative but to draw my own conclusions.

As I am persuaded that all three of these venerable religious authorities are full of noble intentions, I imagine that it is just another instance of the antagonistic effect of well-meant ideology producing an immoral result.

A classical example of this phenomenon is the campaign which was organised in Hanoi under French colonial rule, prior to the Second World War. The campaign was launched to eradicate rats whose numbers had reached plaque proportions. People were paid a bounty for each rat pelt handed in but instead of eradicating rats it prompted the Vietnamese to farm them.

And so I hear the following words of wisdom ringing in my ears :

« … forgive them; for they know not what they do …»

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http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/14/age-of-loneliness-killing-us

Just happened to find this article after my previous post.

When the spirit dies, we die.

It's a dog eat dog world and the CEOs become the new Gods. What a joke.

 
Hi Constance,
 
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I guess there’s just the two of us still on this thread. I’m not sure what common interests we might have that we could talk about but I imagine there must be some.

I played your music clips and can see why you like them. Please accept these in return :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNuQbJst4Lk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9P5VdY9ZBk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxLA1NX9gxY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxOOHblxh78
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl1CQItMxNQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sLwPziSznU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZliX5mP7ATA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh_XhovQB9M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2fyFumisiU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9SFtiTWawc
 
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We do not know who reads OLO but today we may see a Ship of Fools hit the rocks in Victoria, and be replaced by another Ship of Fools. Christianity is real because it is a system of government that replaced the Roman Empire and became the guiding light of representative democracy, with which we have become so familiar so as to treat it with contempt.

The fundamentals of good government were established in the New Testament which replaced the Old Testament as the Law of Good Sense. The Ten Commandments were replaced by only two, the First was that a person shall worship only ONE God. The second was Do unto others as you will have them do unto you. One of the primary commandments for good Democratic Government was the prohibition on Judging. This was sent packing after Bob Menzies was unable to ban the Communist Party and he got the High Court to stop being the Federal Supreme Court of Almighty God and let it make a Unilateral Declaration of independence from allegiance to the Crown.

They did this by writing their own New Testament calling it Rules of Court, which follows the treachery perpetrated in the Authorised King James Version at King James behest in Matthew 18 Verse 17. He had the Scholars translating the word “ecclesia” from the Greek, where it means “gathering of the people” as “church” when it should have been, “ to my Royal Supreme Court”. Royal really means of Almighty God, and we still have the Royal Australian Navy. All Anglican Ministers actually study Greek. We do not have a Royal Australian Parliament even though they have passed an awful lot of good Christian laws that are completely ignored by Government yokels.

Let us pray that just as many strong women have led us back to the right path, that Jacqui Lambie can exert some influence and make the Parliament of the Commonwealth relevant to our everyday lives, as it starts each day with the Lord's Prayer, and establish the Rule of a Paramount Authority once again.