Howard the Duck

he's actually quite similar to me, but I thought I could gave prevented 9/11, being secret police and it's a known fact the hijackers made a stop at Malaysia.

Conversely, in my episodes, I would write totally bizarre music, like a cover of Black Sabbath's NIB in Cantonese played on a single out of tune string and thought that was genius. I write better music when I'm sane. Again, conversely, I sometimes discard old lyrics and chords and think that megastars like Rage Against The Machine would requisition for them from the Malaysian government and improve on them.

It's something like drinking. The feeling comes in waves. The only way to stop the inset is to medicate heavily, like anti-psychotic jabs in high doses. Those thought processes are always lurking underneath, like Rilke's Panther, but I usually don't take them seriously or let them pass. In the relapses, however, my mind latches on them and refuses to let go. There is no rational state when that happens or any memory of it.

On the plus side, I never need to take LSD, going off the meds would be pretty hallucinatory by itself.

The Batlord

That sounds pretty cool. As long as it doesn't just degenerate into shouting matches.

__________________

djchameleon

by the sounds of it, they probably kept it pretty civil.

__________________

Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

GeddyBass2112

actually it worked incredibly well. Our speakers were specially chosen for their specialisms, including evolutionary science (taken by a biologist member of our church), politics (this was to cover issues such as war and international relations) taken by a professor of political science, Bible history (which is what I covered, covering any questions on Latin/Greek language issues), ethics (represented by a doctor, our main minister and a couple of other people trained in philosophy) and other issues which I now can't remember. The expertise of the speakers often meant people were a lot more respectful and the debate much 'higher' in tone when it was apparent that it wasn't just 'learn-by-rote' apologetics but people who actually knew what they were talking about.

Also, the stewards were strict in sending any troublemakers away before they caused trouble, and also censoring questions so that only sensible questions were addressed.

Schranz bass

Why?

GeddyBass2112

Why do I want to be Jewish you mean?

Pretty easy in my eyes. For me, the fundamental basis of Christianity, Jesus' supposed claim to be the Messiah and the son of HaShem, flies in the face of what is actually taught in the Old Testament (the book which Christians claim is the basis of their religion) as being requirements of the Messiah. The theology of the New Testament is flawed and the history is plainly wrong.

I also reject Islam for much the same reasons. It's based on the same theology.


I choose Judaism because I see in every aspect of the Jewish faith the mark and reminders of the Divine. According to Judaism, we are all created in the image of God, and through righteousness, charity and good works can see the World to Come.

Shabbat, which starts tonight (which means I'm not supposed to be on the laptop!!!), is meant as a reminder to humanity of what life was like in the Garden, and what it will be like in the World to Come, where there will be no need to work or toil. The Shabbat table is representative of the altar of the Temple, and the meal as a banquet fit to be presented to HaShem himself like a king's banqueting table.

Keeping kosher though is a bit of a tricky one- I believe that although we do not know the reasons for these laws on what we can eat, we also do not know the reward for keeping them, or the punishment for not keeping them. We should also uphold major or more difficult mitzvot as strictly as we uphold minor or more easy ones.


As to why I choose Orthodox Judaism specifically, and not say, Reform or Conservative Judaism, my belief is that Orthodoxy represents for me the most 'correct' form of Judaism.

Howard the Duck

go to bed - it's Saturday

GeddyBass2112

^hey, you don't become observant overnight you know! One step at a time...

crukster

I generally agree with and respect a lot of what you're saying there, but as a Muslim I can tell you, while arguably all Abrahamic faiths are generally based on the same theology (and personally, I respect them all), in specific Islam is not based on that same theology of Christianity and the New Testament - in Islam, the new Testament is not considered to be one of the 4 Holy Books (Psalms, Torah, Old Testament and Qu'ran); The New Testament is considered a corruption. Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, is considered to be a prophet - not the Messiah or son of God. And Mary, peace be upon her, was impregnated not directly by God himself, but by Gabriel the Archangel.

Furthermore while no-one knows what the other-wordly rewards for keeping Kosher may be, (or Helal in my case) I do definitly believe that in this World/Life the reward is good health.

I'm quite interested in the whole Zion thing/place (not neccessarily Zionism though) I don't know much but from the 2 sentences I've read it's like, the root of reality or something right?

GeddyBass2112

I must apologize, English isn't my first language. I also apologize if I'm coming across as an *******.