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JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
When's the last time you read anything by Thomas Merton?



Surely you are not addressing that question to Bertie (BAR)?

Handicapping Iowa...
 

"HK" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
When's the last time you read anything by Thomas Merton?

Surely you are not addressing that question to Bertie (BAR)?


Oops. Accidentally erased the target: Captain T.

Handicapping Iowa...
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
When's the last time you read anything by Thomas Merton?
Surely you are not addressing that question to Bertie (BAR)?


Oops. Accidentally erased the target: Captain T.



Surely Tom has read the Seven Storey Mountain.

BAR gave up on Page 3 of the comic book edition.

Handicapping Iowa...
 

On Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:06:39 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

When's the last time you read anything by Thomas Merton?

Gee - I'd have to think about that.

I read "Seven Story Mountain" first in high school, then again in
college along with "Sign of Jonas" during a two semester course in
Comparative Theology (oddly, both of my best friends were so moved by
Merton's work that they decided to join the religious life - one is a
Methodist minister and the other a Franciscan Priest) - say 35 years
or so +/-.

Why?

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Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:06:39 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

When's the last time you read anything by Thomas Merton?

Gee - I'd have to think about that.

I read "Seven Story Mountain" first in high school, then again in
college along with "Sign of Jonas" during a two semester course in
Comparative Theology (oddly, both of my best friends were so moved by
Merton's work that they decided to join the religious life - one is a
Methodist minister and the other a Franciscan Priest) - say 35 years
or so +/-.

Why?



:}


Inside joke. Almost.

Handicapping Iowa...
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:06:39 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

When's the last time you read anything by Thomas Merton?

Gee - I'd have to think about that.

I read "Seven Story Mountain" first in high school, then again in
college along with "Sign of Jonas" during a two semester course in
Comparative Theology (oddly, both of my best friends were so moved by
Merton's work that they decided to join the religious life - one is a
Methodist minister and the other a Franciscan Priest) - say 35 years
or so +/-.

Why?


I wondered if you noticed something interesting about Merton. He was a great
example of how religion should be done: with modesty. It's like a dog. Keep
it on your own property and don't let it bark incessantly at people who are
just minding their own business.

Here's another example:

www.bhphotovideo.com, during certain hours of the weekend.

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On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:42:20 -0500, HK wrote:



BTW, I've never seen an entire Chuck Norris movie, either. I've seen
bits and pieces of several while channel flipping, and what I saw was a
pretty bad actor in pretty bad movies.

I watched the one filmed in Chicago the whole way through, trying to
pick out locations. These guy were acting like Norris movies were so
beneath them they never even ran across them. VCR's/DVD's, Norris,
family and friends make that damn near impossible. There's a chance
they just didn't want to knock Norris movies, but that's not how they
came across.

For martial arts, I prefer Bruce Lee, and any number of Japanese or
Chinese movies.

I enjoyed some of the early Seagal stuff. Before he started looking
and moving like a corpse. Van Damme, who my son calls Slam Ham
did some decent stuff. Jackie Chan is funny.
I can take it or leave it.

--Vic

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Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

I'm paraphrasing here because I can't get the exact quote at the
moment - mainly because the book is in the living room and I'm still
sore from falling on my tushie yesterday (damn ice) and don't want to
walk that far - he said: If I didn't know any better, I'd have to
believe that somebody is playing a giant cosmic joke on us because the
closer we come, the further we are from defining ourselves and our
universal environment.

You have a 'tushie'?

If there is/was a creator god it sure appears to have a
strange sense of humor.
:)

Handicapping Iowa...
 

On Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:59:10 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

I was going to ask if you were OK with religion getting too involved with
government, but I forgot something: You'll never provide a straight answer
to that question.

Well, that's an interesting question if only because there isn't a
"straight" answer - or at least one that you will find sufficiently
acceptable just because of who you are.

If you mean in the sense that government (or the State) should never
put itself in the position advancing or promoting one religion over
another, then I would agree.

If you mean using religious or faith based argument as a basis for
forming policy, then I would not agree. There is a place for faith
based argument just as there is a place for secular based argument.
The State has to consider all sides of the discussion, not just one
side in forming it's decisions or policies. If one side or the other
prevails in those discussions, that's how the system works.

While secularists don't like to admit it, we are largely a Christian
nation - or at least most Americans will identify themselves as such.

Let's disconnect religion from god for a moment and talk about the Brady
Bunch, another group of religious fanatics. Like certain god sects, they
also think they have the right to determine how everyone should live
(gun-less). I'm sure you don't like the Brady religion, right?

Secularists in general believe they have the right to tell everyone
else how to live. As do those steeped in religious thought. The very
fact that government exists to tell us what to do and how to behave is
necessary to organized society.

What's your point?

Handicapping Iowa...
 

On Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:03:28 -0500, HK wrote:


Besides, Obama merely attends the church; he isn't its pastor or its
former pastor, nor is he out praising Jesus or thanking heaven on a
public, daily basis for his political successes.

"Moreover, it's wrong to ask believers to leave their religion at the
door before entering the public square. Abraham Lincoln, William
Jennings Bryan, Martin Luther King Jr. — indeed, the majority of great
reformers in American history — were not only motivated by faith, they
also used religious language to argue for their cause. To say men and
women should not inject their "personal morality" into policy debates
is a practical absurdity; our law is by definition a codification of
morality."

Barak Obama, USA Today, 7/10/2006