Infinity Lover

"Gn:3:1:now the serpent was more subtil than any beast in the field..."
Need I say more? Your thoughts if you please (or don't).

Eudaimonist

I think you need to say more. I have no idea where you are going with this.

Infinity Lover

Well allrighty then...
Know anyone who believes Satan exists, but God doesn't?
If you need more clues let me know.

(I could also explain how the whole point is finding out who'll respond to the pointless, and how, but that would rui...

...oops) <img src="graemlins/banghead.gif" border="0" alt="[Bang Head]" />

Ether

I think this is better:

Ezekiel 9
4 and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."
5 As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.
7 Then he said to them, "Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!" So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

Compare to:

Revelation 13
15He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Good Day
Ether

[ August 25, 2002: Message edited by: Ether ]</p>

sighhswolf

There are those who would say that "good" could not exist without "evil",
that there is a complex balancing act within the natural universe, cause and effect, action and reaction.
It has been pointed out by many much wiser than I could ever be, that without the experience of "bad" there can be no appreciation of "good".
Some may argue that because we find a situation unacceptable in many different ways we label it "evil"/"bad", when in fact the two are one in the same and every situation must be examined
objectively.
Simply because a result is not what we would like,
or it does not fit our concept of being "good",
does not mean it is "evil" as we define it, only that it is undesirable.

I have often wondered how I would have taken revenge on another supernatural being given the opportunity to do so.
(realizing of course that this was in my christian days)
I was convinced that had I been in "satans shoes", I would attempt to destroy the credibility of the other entity.
One of the most effective ways of doing that would be to issue information and instructions that would lead to discord among the followers in the name of my opposition.
The boss says-___________________.
Organized religion in it's many forms has been historically a blood bath.
It's practice usually involves the assignment of guilt, and the fear of retribution from a vengeful
supreme being.
There are admonitions given supposedly from the supreme being "of good" that are almost impossible for the average human to live up to.
If I wanted to create hate, bigotry, to instigate
war and destruction, It would be extremely easy
to create religious doctrines expressly for that purpose and issue them through men whom I have convinced that they are in contact with god.
What better way to assess revenge than to give false doctrine to the masses and convince them it comes from god, the bible.
I have now a vehicle from which I can manipulate
mankind into chaos and bigotry and sit back and smile, cause they think they are doing god's will
the poor bastards.
Just a paranoid look at the possibilities.
Wolf

Infinity Lover

Quote from Sighswolf:
"Some may argue that because we find a situation unacceptable in many different ways we label it "evil"/"bad", when in fact the two are one in the same and every situation must be examined
objectively."
Exactly ... good and evil are absolute's ascribed to the consequences of choices. Note how the story of the fall of man refers to good and evil as pieces of knowledge! If you know God is good, and Satan is evil. (GOoD anDevil... see?) haven't you been eating from the wrong damn tree?

Perhaps that could be an actual expression... "what tree have you been eating from?" Aren't monotheist holy scryptures the pieces of forbiden fruit? Doesn't the paper they're made from metaphoricly speaking come from the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Weren't Adam and Eve the first 'believers' rather than the first people? Isn't believing in itself 'the serpent having it's way'?

Okay, to give this a little extra push...

...don't people often end up behaving like devils in the defense of their beliefs?
(to see some realy nasty manifestations of that phenomenon caused by a profound catalist, check out the (hate)mailbag at <a href="http://www.jesus.com." target="_blank">www.jesus.com.</a> Otherwise just read the newspaper or watch the news)


[ August 27, 2002: Message edited by: Infinity Lover ]

[ August 28, 2002: Message edited by: Infinity Lover ]</p>

beoba

It sounds like "serpent" is just another word for "penis".