Conjoined twins, divided only on beliefs. One atheist whilst the other is an evangelical.
So does that kidney they share, go down to Sheoul, or into Paradise?
The webpologists to chime in with Matthew:
Mt:22:29: Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
Mt:22:30: For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.So the evangelical twin is given a new body of spirit by the Lord.
The atheist too, but only with scowling holy frown and a tone resembling that of the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood: "Better to torment you with, my dear."Imagine waking up finding your twin performing an exorcist ritual on you while you sleep.
Some conjoined twins have married and established families.
Imagine being preached at about what position the Lord frowns upon, in the middle of sex.Evangelical Twin: Church?
Atheist Twin: No, I think I'm going to stay home today.
Atheist twin to the Evangelical: "You made a vow of chastity with our ''what' ' ?!"
Hymn by Wesley
3 The ungodly, filled with guilty fears,
Behold his wrath prevailing;There's a meaning for Hell:
Spending eternity around an angry, veangeful, moody God with "wrath prevailing".JHWH needs an anger management class.
The folks who make it to the afterlife spend their days debating whether they made it to Heaven or Hell.
In woe they rise, but all their tears
And sighs are unavailing:
The day of grace is past and gone:
Trembling they stand before his throne,
All unprepared to meet him.I wouldn't want to go to such a place, and if you're honest with yourself for one moment, you wouldn't either.
Man of old, the savage,
formed the belief,
the eruption of the volcano
was god's expression of grief.Man believed the lightning bolt,
for the crops - a blessing of rain,
the curse of flood lending starvation,
was spewed from heavenly gates.Man believed he could calm divine wrath,
through sacrifice of a virgin pure,
though blood appeased him not,
how the quake continues to tremble the earth.Man believed the sting of a bee,
the fangs of the serpent, the teeth of a bear
were all signs of divine things,
deities by the dozens, invented out of despair.Foolish superstitions thrive to this day,
if not for the rationalist, skeptic,
and freethinker,
where would we be?In Church thumping Bibles, that's where!
See, we've came a long way.
Instead of cracking virgins' skulls,
we simply throw a dollar into the plate.
-12/25/2004
The Path to Hell was paved with Good Intentions
I was staring out the window and thinking about how crappy my life has been and injust because of other people, with narcissist mental problems. Too many bad memories rushing through my head to count. I can't imagine why God would sit back and "allow" four grown adult men to have raped me. Then "allowed" my mother to remain silent. It's so injust and it seems like there should be something better and justice. All I'm left with is deep hurting to this day. It's not fair. These kinds of brutalities turn good girls into angry "infidels".
Somebody long ago came up with the concept of such a place as that (for somebody like me), where a little girl doesn't have to fear being raped -- and a loving mother who would never have let it gone unpunished. They decorated that place with angels and an all-loving father God that's just and kind and good.
Once the concept of paradise was baked up [to bring comfort to somebody like me], the victimizers moved in and came out with the concept of "Hell" -- deep and wide and boiling hot, in case you refuse to believe in their version of paradise. They added on the stipulation, that if you don't believe in a man named Jesus you can't get into it. A little girl gets raped 2000 years later, at 14 years old, and caused to question the chaos of the world -- and its injustices and brutality... and refuses to accept their religion.
Ironically, the little girl doesn't go to the Paradise that was created for her, but ends up in Hell... victimized in this world, and eternity in the next.
If there is a Paradise, I'll be there and waiting to greet *you* at the gates.
SUBMISSION (a defense mechanism) IN THE ANIMAL WORLD...
It reminded me of what I once saw on a movie about apes. The scientist in the movie said that if you come into contact with the alpha male of a gorillas or orangutan -- unless you want to get attacked, you should lower your head and not make eye contact. It's telling the leader "you're under submission to him".
Bears, [so I've heard told] if you lay on the ground and play dead they're less likely to maul you.
So too, on the movie "Gandhi", as horses were running toward a crowd of Indians -- one of them told everyone "Lay down!" so the horses wouldn't trample them. True enough... the horses did not step on these bowing indians, despite the men on horseback trying to drive the horses in on the crowd.
In all three examples above, this resembles the act of one kneeling "in prayer."
Could this be an example of where prayer evolved from?
My question is this: There's some things in nature which man simply has no control over, but that in itself is a frightening reality. It seems too unbearable to deal with. Did man begin "worship" of animals and eventually developed a god concept which too, could be bowed to and prayed to, in an attempt to control the forces of nature? Thinking the force within the volcano could be reasoned with -- like he would to an ape, that he might be spared the famines, floods, lightnings and plagues?
The Rolly Polly
Some roll up into a ball when disturbed...
Isopods are small crustaceans related to lobsters, crabs and crayfish. Most species of isopods are marine, but some are terrestrial. Common names for terrestrial isopods are pill bug, rolly polly, potato bug and sowbug.... Gran bent over and picked up a rolly-polly bug. It curled up in a ball in the palm of her hand. "See, Maggie. It's afraid of me.
When a snail feels threatened, it can withdraw inside the shell and ...
'I wonder what else she knows?' 'A Tortoise can't curl himself up' Mother Jaguar went on, ever so many times ... 'He only draws his head and legs into his shell. ...
... When threatened, a hognose snake spreads its head and neck, somewhat like a cobra would, then rolls over and plays dead if it continues to be disturbed. ...
Eastern Hognose Snake, eNature.com
... A stout-bodied snake with pointed, slightly upturned snout and wide neck. ... fails to discourage a would-be predator, it rolls over and plays dead with mouth ...
But what if a big fish comes after the sea cucumber? Somehow recognizing that it is a larger fish, the little creature does something very different! It forces all its intestines out through its mouth! The fish goes after them and leaves the sea cucumber alone. Then it crawls under a rock and rests awhile as new intestines grow back.
Source: evolution-facts.orgDid man begin "worship" of animals and eventually developed a god concept which too, could be bowed to and prayed to, in an attempt to control the forces of nature?Seems obvious to me.
Most, if not all, religions before classical Greece had animal or part-animal gods. The best example of this is probably Egypt with its various animal headed gods such as Anubis, Isis, Horus, etc. Native American spirits are also largely animal spirits, with the most respect given to those that could kill a person (bear, wolf, whale, etc.).Chris
Anonymous wrote [...]
Bears, [so I've heard told] if you lay on the ground and play dead they're less likely to maul you.
this supposedly depends on the species of bear. some will attack in order to defend their territory, and are pacified if/when you look "dead enough"; others, again, will attack mostly because they're hungry and would just proceed to eat you if you stopped fighting. if you're headed out into bear country, it would be prudent to find out how your local species of bruin usually behaves and what kinds of weapons would be smart to bring along.
not that it matters to your actual point, of course.
Even in school being taught the tornado drill, we were told to get on our hands and knees and put our hands over our necks.
But perhaps your point is relevant to mine. It depends on the bear's momentary temperament and whether or not it's stomach is empty. So they say if you bow to a bear -- it'll likely leave you alone. What you've said is that doesn't always work. So the same goes for prayer to God. Why waste time praying to God, when the god is going to do whatever it feels like anyway?
Which is my point exactly. If God knows exactly what you're going through, he'll know whether you're truly repentant or not. And if you're not, he'll know why. And he'll *understand.* :)
This is why, when people ask why I'm an atheist, I say "that's the way God made me!"
- Felix
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Article last updated October 22, 2005
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