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Tweak, snark or joke, I don't care what you call it, but on forums it is called flaming. Of course, one of the most popular motives (from trolls especially) is the desire for attention and for entertainment derived at the expense of others. Posted flamebait can provide the poster with a controlled trigger-and-response setting in which to anonymously engage in conflicts and indulge in aggressive behavior without facing the consequences that such behavior might bring in a face-to-face encounter.
Tweak, snark or joke, I don't care what you call it, but on forums it is called flaming. Of course, one of the most popular motives (from trolls especially) is the desire for attention and for entertainment derived at the expense of others. Posted flamebait can provide the poster with a controlled trigger-and-response setting in which to anonymously engage in conflicts and indulge in aggressive behavior without facing the consequences that such behavior might bring in a face-to-face encounter.
Yeah, that's right!! Why mess around?! Get right down and dirty with the most disrespectful, mocking, full blown insulting things possible.
Forget "trolling" and "flaming"...just stab 'em in the guts.
Post every sneering, mocking, vicious, cut down and put down of the other persons belief and faith...and assign most horrible atrocities to it. Then assemble a list of every possible insulting label you can assign to someone/something....and then use those names to refer to their Deity. Put down and disparage the sacred writings of their belief in every way, shape, and form possible...and if they take exception to any of that, proclaim they "should have their license to breath revoked". Nice!
Me thinks your blurb about the "controlled trigger and response" and indulgence in "aggressive behavior", was working off a frame of self reference. Especially the part about not having to "face the consequences" of a "face-to-face encounter".
Attacking one beliefs is not a personal attack...Your last sentence is....You have actually admitted on several posts that you enjoy setting bait with intent to "tweak" atheists...
Quote:
Posted flamebait can provide the poster with a controlled trigger-and-response setting in which to anonymously engage in conflicts and indulge in aggressive behavior without facing the consequences that such behavior might bring in a face-to-face encounter.
I wonder why you think that this referred to you specifically? ....Hmmmm?
I agree completely. When you take all the evidence, as it stands, there is ABSOLUTELY NONE!! After many years of seriously studying the origins of religious belief, the origins of the bible, ancient astrotheology, ancient archeology, ancient mythology, ancient comparative religions, etc...there is nothing else to conclude but that Jesus in an incorporation of all past dieties...for there is NOTHING NEW OR UNIQUE ABOUT HIM.
You speak too flippantly, Christy. The uniqueness is in the evolved nature of the spiritual template reflected in the PERFECTION revealed in the Jesus version . . . which accounts for its historic resonance and tenacity despite what can only be described as truly ignorant and benighted doctrines and proponents. The ubiquity and similarity of cross-cultural myths and legends are proof of an inbuilt template (DNA) for the spiritual evolution of our understanding of our purpose and our God.
The Importance of Legends and Myths
Legends seem to be a shaky basis for the development of understanding until you realize that important stories and recordings about our purpose would have to be found in many, many versions. For example, an account of an ancient deluge or flood not only appears in the Bible but also in over 40 mythologies. Even today, the popularity and success of the semi-historical, fictional novel the “Da Vinci Code” attests to the extraordinary power of myths and legends to capture the imagination and inspire speculation. Their appeal to millions of people is undeniable, especially ones that involve secret groups and conspiracies!
Nevertheless, if God exists, it is inescapable that our purpose would NOT be kept SECRET and that it would be readily available to anyone of us that sincerely sought it. I reiterate, God would have to be enormously stupid to have it any other way! Our minds are the only conduits available for producing the answers we seek, and our minds come in myriad versions in an endless variety of circumstance.
My search of the various versions of our purpose has established to my satisfaction that a definite spiritual blueprint for the discovery of our purpose is indeed available. It just requires an open mind. By examining the many legends and myths of the various cultures, we can find the underlying message. Our clues in this spiritual quest are the tests of persistence, similarity and ubiquity.
There has been a lengthy recorded human history. Those myths and legends that resonate and continue to claim adherents or at the very least continued notice, publication, or acknowledgment are likely to contain some aspect of the information we seek. Unfortunately, sorting out the “wheat from the chaff” presents a significant stumbling block. But it does allow us to use the "spiritual fossil records" of the speculations of others to help us further our consciousness instead of doing all the work on our own.
One of the basic tenets of mythological interpretation is extremely useful in making sense of the many legends about our purpose. Charles Birch describes the essence of it,
. . . A number of myths say different things but point to one meaning. Indeed the point of the story is more likely to get across if it is embodied in not one, but a number of stories. So it is common to all systems of communication by myth that all important stories recur in several different versions. What the literalist finds as a stumbling block and a defect is to the demythologizer an essential part of this mode of communication.
For those who don’t know about the recurrence feature of this form of communication, the existence of parallel stories might otherwise cause serious questions to be raised about the Jesus legend. However, the repetition and duplication of stories allows us to find the common points in the speculation or reporting of others to help us further our consciousness instead of doing all the work on our own. We can “hitchhike” on the shoulders of those who came before us. We just need to remind ourselves of the primitive nature of the consciousnesses that produced the myths.
The important thing to realize is that the primitive myths found in early writings probably should NOT be treated as though they were entertaining stories created by the Alfred Hitchcocks and Rod Serlings of primitive times. We were barely used to experiencing consciousness, itself, let alone to its written forms. For the periods in question, the task of writing was just that - a task reserved for important events. Myths may be exaggerated and spiritually symbolic stories but they are not necessarily baseless forms of entertainment.
For example, the Golden Fleece in the myth about Jason was not some mythical symbol or abstraction. Golden Fleece were actual items of trade. Mountain tribesmen in the Middle East found that sheepskins acted as excellent gold filters when water from the streams washed over them. It was an early gold-panning technique. The lighter grains of sand would wash through, but the gold would remain trapped in the fleece.
That doesn't explain everything in the myth, but it should raise a red flag about rejecting the content of myths because they sound absurd. Ulysses (Odysseus) adventures, such as sailing through "storms of ravening fire" might refer to sailing near Mount Stromboli during volcanic eruptions. Recent meteorological evidence suggests that even a "parting" of the Red Sea was actually feasible . . . if not in the way portrayed.
Apparently wanting to "demystify" and bring some sort of historical reality and reason to our understanding of Christianity, Dr. Sheehan goes to great lengths to point out the "mythical" character of the many stories about Jesus, especially the myth of Easter, about which he says,
. . . It is clear that the scriptural stories about this six-week period contradict one another egregiously with regard to the number and places of Jesus' appearances, the people who were on hand for such events, and even the date and location of the ascension into heaven. . . . The reasons both for the patent inconsistencies and the physical unrecordability of these miraculous "events" comes down to one thing: The gospel stories about Easter are not historical accounts but religious myths.
This sort of historical refutation is pointless. It is not the historical reality that is important in these myths because such reality is frequently incidental and soon forgotten. It is the sincerely believed, reported, and promoted "spiritual content" driven by our collective intuitive consciousness (and even “wishful thinking”) that contains the information we seek . . . NOT the historical context in which the intuitions were formed.
This is a collective "spiritual" quest we are embarked upon not an archaeological exposition. The significant point to note is that many early myths and legends involve the birth, adventures, death, and resurrection of a young man representing the sun, life or light. That may not have much left-brain, logical or historical significance, but it absolutely resounds with right-brain, intuitive significance! The recurrence of the theme is merely further indication that a consistent "blueprint" for the evolution of our spiritual understanding is available. Given the commonality of the legends about Jesus, as well as, his incredibly accurate "spiritual" fulfillment (NOT historical) of prophesies to this day, it is well beyond mere validity.
For me, one of the most striking myths in its parallels to the Jesus legend is the one about Mithras, the sun-god. It is the best example to point out the evolved nature of the Jesus legend and the fallacy of discounting Jesus because of earlier versions. Mithras was born of a virgin in the presence of only a few shepherds. Gerald Berry points out many other similarities,
. . . Since Mithras was a sun-god, Sunday was automatically sacred to him - the "Lord's Day" - Long before Christ. On December 25th, just after the winter solstice, there were elaborate rituals and celebrations. Bells were rung, hymns were sung, candles lit, gifts given, sacraments of bread and water administered to the initiate. Between December 25th and the spring equinox (Easter, from Eastra, the Latin form of Astarte) come the mystical forty days' search for Osiris . . . which was later the origin for Christian Lent. On Black Friday (c.f. Good Friday) the taurobolium, or bull-slaying was represented. . . . Mithras, worn out by the battle, was symbolically represented by a stone image lain on a bier as a corpse. He was mourned for in liturgy, and placed in a sacred rock tomb called 'Petra,' from which he was removed after three days in a great festival of rejoicing.
. . . Both Mithras and Christ were described variously as 'The Way,' 'The Truth,' 'The Life,' 'The Word,' 'The Son of God,' 'The Good Shepherd.' The Christian litany to Jesus could easily be an allegorical litany to the sun-god. Mithras is often represented as carrying a lamb on his shoulders, just as Jesus is. Midnight services were found in both religions. The virgin mother Isis was easily merged with the virgin mother Mary. Petra, the sacred rock of Mithraism, became Peter, the foundation of the Christian Church. (c.f. the New Testament, Matt 16:18 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.') The robe of Mithras, absorbed from the older Osiris cult, was always described as in one piece representing universal light, and may be the source for the seamless robe of Christ worn at the Crucifixion.
It is clear that the earlier Mithras myth is at a more primitve level of symbolism - what we call a more concrete level of cognition . . . whereas the Jesus version is at a more evolved and abstract level of cognition. For example . . . where Mithras overcomes and slays the Bull (animal) . . . Jesus overcomes His human animal nature (Sin) by enduring scourging and crucifixion in PERFECT agape love for us all. I am sure you can see the rest of the differences for yourselves.
Last edited by MysticPhD; 08-17-2010 at 01:22 PM..
Attacking one beliefs is not a personal attack...Your last sentence is....You have actually admitted on several posts that you enjoy setting bait with intent to "tweak" atheists...
I wonder why you think that this referred to you specifically? ....Hmmmm?
Your post followed mine by minutes and was responding to it's content...of course it was referring to me. So, why would you wonder? It was obvious that you were...and I will say right here and now, you are lying if you try to claim you weren't. THAT is why...cuz, YOU WERE.
Dude, com'oooooon... you don't just attack peoples beliefs...get real about what you do, and how you are! I suggest you reread some of your posts...especially the ones to Campbell34. You go as far as to say HE SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO LIVE!!! I can feel your searing hate burning through the screen.
Campbell has his view...and he is passionate about his Fundamental Literal-Bible Christian beliefs, and says so in no uncertain terms---and it's TOTALLY obvious...you don't just disagree...you HATE HIM for it. Want me to put up a few of your "gems" to prove my point?
I respect Campbell...he's a man of conviction. I don't have even close to the same beliefs as him...but I admire his dedication to what HE feels is Truth. And I've NEVER seen him say anything along the lines of someone should die...like you do.
Let's just assume that Jesus was a real person. How many Christians would actually worship this person if they saw him in the flesh?
My point is that most Christians seem to be believers in "the mystery" of Jesus. A face to face encounter with a real Middle Eastern young man (named Jesus) would not yield the same following that a mystery Jesus has yielded.
Let's just assume that Jesus was a real person. How many Christians would actually worship this person if they saw him in the flesh?
My point is that most Christians seem to be believers in "the mystery" of Jesus. A face to face encounter with a real Middle Eastern young man (named Jesus) would not yield the same following that a mystery Jesus has yielded.
You make a good point...unless He performed some GREAT miracle...like getting OPEC to lower the price of Light Sweet Crude to 5 bucks a barrel...now THERE is a Middle Eastern miracle for ya.
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