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No one cares about your damned religion!


Guest Dabeagle

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Good article. I've seen those points raised before, but like them being raised again and again, although as he says, it won't make the slightest bit of difference to the people who really need to read and understand them. When has anyone ever been able to get through to a religious conservative who uses the bible to justify his rationalizations?

C

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The really good religious nuts have an answer for just about anything you can bring up. For example, if you say, "I very much believe in Jesus Christ and I go to my neighborhood church every Sunday, and my minister totally accepts me and my gay lover," they'll say, "well, there are always false churches and liars who want to bastardize the teachings of the Lord." You can't reason with insanity.

I do take perverse pleasure in the ongoing legalization of gay rights all over America (and in much of the world), because I know it drives the religious zealots absolutely nutso.

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I do take perverse pleasure in the ongoing legalization of gay rights all over America (and in much of the world), because I know it drives the religious zealots absolutely nutso.

One of the things I like about this country moving forward apace as it is in the acceptance of gays into the mainstream is that awakening and questioning it has to cause with Christian conservatives. They can be as stubborn as they want, but as the movement becomes more universal -- I wanted to use the word catholic there, but didn't -- doubts just have to cross their minds. The more someone is, of his own choice, on the outside looking in, the more questions have to form; am I doing the right thing? Is what I've always accepted as true really right? Are these people as wrong as I've always thought they were?

It's human nature to have doubts, and more the more mainstream we become, the more those doubts have to raise their heads.

C

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The more you force a zealot to hunker down and feel persecuted the more he digs in and celebrates his link to the early Christians. Bring on the lions--he won't change his mind, in fact he will feel reaffirmed.

What have the lions done to be forced to eat Christians. The European Lion became extinct about the same time as we took to feeding Christians to them in the first place, there are so few lions left in the world I beg of you don't feed them Christians. Give the lions some decent beef, preferably alive and on the hoof, let the Christians be used to replace fishmeal for aqua-culture.

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Guest Dabeagle

The more you force a zealot to hunker down and feel persecuted the more he digs in and celebrates his link to the early Christians. Bring on the lions--he won't change his mind, in fact he will feel reaffirmed.

When I was in Italy and took a tour of the Colosseum we were told that no Christians were ever fed to lions. It was made up alter by a ruler to stop the looting of the structure - so that it would be viewed as a holy site. it's all a house of cards.

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When I was in Italy and took a tour of the Colosseum we were told that no Christians were ever fed to lions. It was made up alter by a ruler to stop the looting of the structure - so that it would be viewed as a holy site. it's all a house of cards.

And having lived in Rome for a few months, I can tell you that the Colosseum is totally falling apart. It's totally covered with ugly scaffolding and graffiti, just a total eyesore. The Italians are great at certain things, but building construction and technology are not high on that list. No one is better at food, beautiful women, and race cars.

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Guest Dabeagle

When was that, Pec? It looked in good shape wen I saw it....maybe 5-6 years ago. I'd have to look to be sure.

I should note, their men are pretty nice too. When I carry my camera I take opportunities to photograph anything pretty.

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There is in fact evidence that the Romans often executed condemned prisoners by exposing them to beasts, including wild dogs, bears, leopards, boars, and lions. This was often presented as a public spectacle in a controlled environment, such as a colesseum. Whether or not Christians were executed in this manner is an open question, although Christians were indeed executed by Rome before it became a Christian state.

However, what matters is that present-day pulpit-educated Christian believers tend to believe that early Christians were thrown to the lions, and it has become a part of their view of history.

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There is in fact evidence that the Romans often executed condemned prisoners by exposing them to beasts, including wild dogs, bears, leopards, boars, and lions. This was often presented as a public spectacle in a controlled environment, such as a colesseum. Whether or not Christians were executed in this manner is an open question, although Christians were indeed executed by Rome before it became a Christian state.

However, what matters is that present-day pulpit-educated Christian believers tend to believe that early Christians were thrown to the lions, and it has become a part of their view of history.

The belief was reinforced by Hollywood. Behold the origin of the martyrs:

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I was there last summer. Most of the arena floor where all the activities were seen from the seats were torn up. They're doing some excavating and every time they do and digging at all they find new 'treasures' and have to stop so the antiquities people can do their things and so it's taking forever to make any progress.

There are tarps and scaffolding and the like all around, and it is something of a mess. Still too crowded to move around, however. Crowds are bigger than ever.

C

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But did you see what I mean about the awful scaffolding, and graffiti, and city grunge? The Colosseum is really falling apart. I thought it was interesting that in that part of Rome, the entire street is about 20-30 feet lower from everything else around it, because for years the Romans had built on top of everything, including many incredible ruins. You can't dig anywhere in town and not strike a priceless archeological ruin somewhere.

Note that the Romans are generally a very "live and let live" people, but some of them get their panties in a bind about gay marriage because they blindly follow the Catholic church. All the businesses there close on all Catholic holidays, no matter what. Plus a lot of the shops and restaurants are closed from about 3-4PM every day, because it's their equivalent of a "siesta" or "tea-time" (depending on your culture). Strange place. At least if I want to grab a sandwich at 3PM in NY or LA or Chicago or even London, you generally can do it.

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Guest Dabeagle

That's interesting, about the food. I didn't have any of those issues in my trips to Italy - but then our eating schedule was a little off. We'd load up at the hotel in the morning, whose breakfasts were usually decent and with a lot of variety. then a mid-day meal and dinner was usually late.

One of the days we were in Rome was a holiday and the via in front of the Coloseum was closed to vehicles, so I got a good shot:

DSCF0634_zpsa197141b.jpg

So that's the way I remember it.

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See all those people in the picture? Now, quadruple it. Rome is hot, very hot, in the summer, and getting into the Coliseum means standing in lines, packed in with those humongous crowds, waiting for your turn to enter.

Almost as bad as trying to get into the Vatican. Almost, but not quite.

I don't know when that picture was taken, but I've never seen so few people and the Coliseum.

C

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Guest Dabeagle

We like to travel in the spring. I'ts cheaper, more comfortable and fewer people.

We went from Rome down south to Pompei and the Amalfi Coast. Two pictures from Pompei, which was completely amazing. My mother and I thought - eh, tourist trap. We've heard about it a million times, but we're close so let's go and we can say we did it. Four hours later...this pretty couple was walking through the ruins (pretty Italians) and it amused me the logo on the boy's shirt meant 'Fruit'.

DSCF0847_zps36a5b2fb.jpg

Then there was the amazing ruins - like this mosaic that adorned the entryway of someone's ancient home. Just stunning.

DSCF0824_zps1db1f3ae.jpg

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Guest Dabeagle

Florence and Venice are two of my favorites, and Milan has some charm as well. I have photos of Tuscany as well - just a beautiful country and gorgeous people - mostly for all the walking they do, I think.

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I've never been south of Rome. The country to the north of Rome is amazing.

Northern Italy is like another country. Everything from Rome and down further south is pretty sleazy, from what I saw. Venice and Milan are really, really beautiful areas; Rome is kind of like Newark or the worst parts of Compton. Only a small part of Rome is nice and upscale, like Via Venetto.

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I too like the countryside in Tuscany. Venice is as crowded as Rome, perhaps moreso, but unique, and while the touristy areas are even more expensive than Rome, and that's saying a lot, it's well worth visiting.

No one mentioned Florence. Some of the antiquities there are spectacular.

But getting off the beaten track is highly recommended.

C

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Good article. I've seen those points raised before, but like them being raised again and again, although as he says, it won't make the slightest bit of difference to the people who really need to read and understand them. When has anyone ever been able to get through to a religious conservative who uses the bible to justify his rationalizations?

C

Actually, someone did this to me. I was the religious conservative who someone got through to. Oddly enough for me, the one who got through to me was an elderly Korean man who had spent twenty years as a minister before becoming an atheist. It was actually at the point that he gave up on me, the look in his eyes when he gave his last word... That was what made me rethink everything.

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I too like the countryside in Tuscany. Venice is as crowded as Rome, perhaps moreso, but unique, and while the touristy areas are even more expensive than Rome, and that's saying a lot, it's well worth visiting.

Don't go to Venice in the summer. Very stinky.

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