October's Autumn

I'll end up renting the movie when it comes out on DVD. As a teacher I try to stay on top of what is big with students. (I watched Shark Tales because a Kindergartner kept asking me if I'd seen it yet!) I suspect I'll agree with your take on the younger brother. I think he is much maligned in the book. Of course he is going to want to get away from his older brother because he is being bullied! Certainly as a teacher and someone from the 21st century I will interpret things differently than was the social norm when Lewis wrote the original.

I missed David's original post (likely if it was long I didn't read it. I find it difficult to read long posts via a monitor). But I do agree with what he said or Jerryb's interpretation of it, anyhow. I was talking to my husband about the tendency for some people in Seminary (at least the one I went to) to want to pigeon hole everyone into a Barth or Weslyn or some other theologians idealogy. It drove me nutty. I couldn't help but wonder if people thought for themselves anymore or if they just adopted someone else's theology.

I hope so. But I sometimes find I'm way too optimistic about these things. Then I found the UCC so it isn't as bad as I feared at one time

This was my experience as a teenager. I think mindset and how one relates to God (i.e. is God only around when things are going good or do we only thank God when things are going well vs. God is always with us and even feeling our pain when we are going through terrible times) has a lot to do with it. Although I'm wary of trying to sum it up for all people in all cases. I think your statement about individual circumstances and mindset is right on.

Last time I took it I came almost down the middle. I was just to the left or right of the center on every scale. I think it means I have no personality

I've seen this and often wonder why. Fundamentalism/Conservativism fuels depression and anxiety, specifically. I am often amazed at people's inability to learn from their mistakes. I'm thankful when I see those who go through a tragedy and find their Fundamentalism/Conservativism inadequate and grow into something more mature.

I'm wondering if Robertson is "losing it." Some people get a little off when they get older. Not to malign the elderly. But my grandfather would have periods of dementia and say some crazy stuff whenever he'd get an infection in his last years. (I'm not sure dementia is the right term). But I'm wondering about our friend Pat.

When I was in grad school I read a really good book: One Jesus, Many Christs. by Gregory Riley.

Mail finally arrived. The one supervisor never did call.

So now I called at 10 as was told she didn't take phone calls until after 11. Then I called at 11 and she is in a meeting. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh!

As much as Focus on the Family being against it makes me want to watch it I'm afraid it is on while NUMB3RS is on so I won't be tunning in.

I'm very frustrated with the USPS right now. I went on vacation and my mail was to be delivered yesterday! It still hasn't been delivered. Aside from the fact that I'm a mail junky I'm also expecting several important things in the mail and it is killing me that I have to wait another day for them! AGHHHH! I've done everything I can to resolve the situation with the post office. They've done almost nothing to help. Now I have to keep waiting. I just needed a place to come and vent. Feel free to vent about life's little annoyances on this thread!

Wow! October....you really 'cut to the chase' in your reply. And I truly believe you are right. Maybe...in our effort to 'learning in lean' on the everlasting arms of God,as the old hymn says,we become 'comfortable' there ,and never arrive at the level of faith David speaks about in his post. Keep 'pushing' us October! Jerry <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm pushing myself as well. It is easy to get comfortable with saying I'm progressive but I still find myself frustrated with some old thought patterns. I found recently from my education classes that it is hard to change those thought patterns because they are so strongly engrained.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060105/ap_on_...obertson_sharon In a nutshell because Sharon wants peace in the Middle East God gave him a stroke. I guess his being massively overweight has nothing to do with it. When someone going to shut Robertson up? How embarassing! Pat Robertson had a cancerous prostrate removed (I just visited his website). I wonder what God was punishing him for! Interesting that the judgement only works in one direction.

I finally finished it on my travels. I actually have read it before. I have to say I was disappointed. As a single book it is not very well written. I'll eventually read the last 5 books. Maybe as one of 5 it will improve my view of Lewis' writing despite my disgust with his sexism.

Incest meaning brother/sister parent/child is wrong in all cultures. (thank you anthropology 101) Cousins marrying is not incest. My great Aunt married her 1st cousin (they chose not to have children). And I think that from the perspective of those who believed that showing ankles in public you'd get a different view point. They would consider it just as bad as incest or murder. We only see it as quantatively different because we can look back and laugh at the idea (I say as I sit in my sleeveless shirt with wrists, ankles, elbows and shoulders visible!) My point still stands. Cross-cultural morals does not prove an existence of God.

It has been so long now I'm not even sure what I was upset about... I see many people (family members, Pat Robertsons, George Bush, and friends) who are mostly interested in rather or not you believe the right things and their version of doing is "GWB is a CHristian because he prays every day." My point was that rather or not someone believes in the trinity or that Mary was a Virgin is irrelevant. I don't care what you believe, I care about what you do. Even as progressives we are overly concerned about belief. To me a main part of being progressive is letting go of the nitpicky what do you believes and focus on what do people do. I don't care if you are an atheist as long as you fighting poverty and injustice, etc. etc. As I said before, I've meet athieist who are more Christ-like than Christians.

I'm all for celebrating the sun coming back! It is about 80 here in sunny Southern California so naked dancing is not a problem *glad to be back in CA*

I think we need to get away from the notion that God is all powerful/ all knowing. Time to leave behind childish thoughts.

I think coversion from fundie/conservative to progressive is like therapy: the person has to want to change and see the need to change. Where progressives do well is in reaching those of us who have left church out of frustration and letting us know they exist. From age 16 to 35 the few years I went to church were not because I wanted to or because I liked it. It was because I either had to or felt obligated to. I really didn't think such a church existed as a UCC or UU. You would have thought I just found out Santa really did exist when I discovered the UCC.

This is my point exactly. You can't compare murder to showing ankles in public, because one is a (nearly) universal principle of morality, while the other is simply a social norm. If you seriously think the prohibition of murder is nothing more than a mere social norm, then you really have gone off the postmodern deep end, and any further philosophical argument is going to be pointless. How do you argue with someone who believes that a homicidal rampage is on the same moral level with showing your ankles in public? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> And this is related to what I wrote how exactly?

Yeah! Positive article on Muslims... those are hard to find even though there has too be countless stories like this one to tell!

OA- I wasn't trying to slam...just disagree. Your comment was in response to mine about wondering about different people's views on the board. It wasn't you I was responding to, it was des Which means that people don't generally do what they believe... Which brings us back to the fact that we shouldn't worry so much about what people believe but what they do. Belief is nothing. I want to see action.

October, this logic is too quantitative; even if the prohibition of murder were the only cross-cultural moral standard in existence (which it isn't), it's still the most fundamental standard on which a society can be based. Too quantitative? That was not my argument. The point is that it is just as easily explained by evolutionary survival. No, it isn't. The only universal standards are those which I listed. I'm fairly certain I have not missed any. Anyone here take anthropology? Not too long ago (historically speaking) it was immoral for a woman to show her wrists and ankles. Now the idea is laughable. OTOH, it still exists in some cultures (I'm thinking of my Muslim neighbor). The list goes on and on and on and on. When I was growing up going to the movies was a sin. Guess where I"m headed in about 15 minutes? To the movies. My parents even go to the movies now. To take an evolutionary "moral" and suggests it points or proves that God exists is laughably similar to the tenants of Intelligent Design.

The God Hear our Prayers I *think* comes from Judaism... I don't really think the prayer is for God but for us. Saying "God, hear our prayer" fulfills a human need, perhaps to reassure ourself that God indeed is hearing. I have a friend who was relaying a story about telling her mom about a difficult student. Her mom suggested she pray. She said she had been. She has prayed for patience etc., etc. Her mom said, no, pray for him. How much her attitude has changed toward that student!