Seasons
This is a forum or general chit-chat, small talk, a "hey, how ya doing?" and such. Or hell, get crazy deep on something. Whatever you like.
Posts 4,258 - 4,269 of 6,170
The power is what matters, and ultimately, the only one you can change is yourself.
Tell that to the people who strung up Mussolini from a lamp post or who shot Ceaucescu against a cellar wall. You can change a lot when politicians seriously piss you off. I sometimes regret being a pacifist by constitution (and yet it's inevitable,) because (and this, I accept is a fundamental flaw in my nature,) I can't help feeling a teeny bit happy when the world is rid of one more dictator.
If I was Catholic I could confess that and be absolved, and get it out of my system, but I have to carry it round like a stone in my heart. I wish I was compassionate enough to feel pity for evil and abusive people, but I'm not. At least nowhere like as much as I feel for their victims.
It's interesting how the tone of this conversation has evolved toward bitterness - no doubt because of the introduction of politics into it.
That may well be down to me in no small measure, so I'll apologise now.
Politics for me is the root of all evil - the wellspring of all dishonesty. The notion that one group of people should set themselves up as "rulers", to command us like slaves. And in the buying of our votes by balance of institutionally inculcated fear, and bread and circuses, to claim legitmacy.
Pay no attention to me - I'm only speaking my mind.
Prob, in my answer to you Oh, I didn't take it that way, so no need to explain.
conversation has evolved toward bitterness I find it too funny to get bitter...yet....
I wish I was compassionate enough to feel pity for evil and abusive people, but I'm not.
Hurray for you. I don't think it is ever necessary to feel pity for evil.
Most of the people I know who fit that discription, don't know they have a problem untill they have to go to some class to keep their job, or the police get them and they have to spend some time in anger management.
So the earlier they got help, the better. I just think that people would have to face up to their demons a little earlier if they had to be honest. They couldn't get away with the little white lies that lead to the slightly bigger deceptions that lead to the plump, mendacious whoppers that their equally troubled friends accept as the norm.
But who knows - maybe we're not grown up enough as a species to cope with complete honesty yet.
But we will be one day soon, I'm sure of that. And the technology's coming whether we're ready or not - it's going to be one hell of a roller coaster ride!
I don't think it is ever necessary to feel pity for evil.
I think it is. At least I think I ought to. Matthew 5:43 and all that, but I don't always have it in me. I try, but there are too many times when I just can't do it.
I don't think it is ever necessary to feel pity for evil.
There are times when it is hard. The problem is that most people are both good and evil. To hate evil is, in part, to hate yourself. Certain religions do teach to hate the evil within yourself. I can't say if that's good or bad. Certainly, I'm not pro evil (as a rule).
I've heard it said, "Hate the sin, love the sinner." If we are the sum of our actions, that can be hard. But actions can change, and therefore people too.
The question is whether or not the person wants to change. Then the next question is if the person really can change, and how hard they will work at it. It can be tricky.
I would love to loose that last 15 pounds. I mean, I really really want to change that little bit. When I weighed a few pounds more, I was willing to make some changes. I worked out and counted calories, I saw some change. I made some permanent changes in my life, and had certain results. But it wasn't enough. I guess I am not willing to do whatever it takes because I won't pay a doctor to suck that last 15 pounds out; I won't cut calories even further; and mostly what I will do now is complain about it.
This isn't really about fat. It's about changes. And evil. And people.
Say instead of food, I liked to drink, or I liked a man who drank and won't change, or I got out of control angry. It's just as hard to change--even more so with addiction and lifetime patterns. We all pick our poisons, and we all have a crutch or two.
OK, so having a body that likes a Buddha belly is not the same as beating your children or starting a war. At some level though, it is connected. The ultimate power is really self control, and it's not as easy as it sounds.
Posts 4,258 - 4,269 of 6,170
It's interesting how the tone of this conversation has evolved toward bitterness - no doubt because of the introduction of politics into it.
I didn't think it was bitter. I guess my sense of humor must be warped. Now show me a picture of a skinny girl eating ice cream, then you'd see bitter.
Tell that to the people who strung up Mussolini from a lamp post or who shot Ceaucescu against a cellar wall. You can change a lot when politicians seriously piss you off. I sometimes regret being a pacifist by constitution (and yet it's inevitable,) because (and this, I accept is a fundamental flaw in my nature,) I can't help feeling a teeny bit happy when the world is rid of one more dictator.
If I was Catholic I could confess that and be absolved, and get it out of my system, but I have to carry it round like a stone in my heart. I wish I was compassionate enough to feel pity for evil and abusive people, but I'm not. At least nowhere like as much as I feel for their victims.
That may well be down to me in no small measure, so I'll apologise now.
Politics for me is the root of all evil - the wellspring of all dishonesty. The notion that one group of people should set themselves up as "rulers", to command us like slaves. And in the buying of our votes by balance of institutionally inculcated fear, and bread and circuses, to claim legitmacy.
Pay no attention to me - I'm only speaking my mind.
I didn't mean my remark about bitterness to be a criticism, only an observation. It is quite natural to be bitter in certain situations.
Hurray for you. I don't think it is ever necessary to feel pity for evil.
So the earlier they got help, the better. I just think that people would have to face up to their demons a little earlier if they had to be honest. They couldn't get away with the little white lies that lead to the slightly bigger deceptions that lead to the plump, mendacious whoppers that their equally troubled friends accept as the norm.
But who knows - maybe we're not grown up enough as a species to cope with complete honesty yet.
But we will be one day soon, I'm sure of that. And the technology's coming whether we're ready or not - it's going to be one hell of a roller coaster ride!
I think it is. At least I think I ought to. Matthew 5:43 and all that, but I don't always have it in me. I try, but there are too many times when I just can't do it.
There are times when it is hard. The problem is that most people are both good and evil. To hate evil is, in part, to hate yourself. Certain religions do teach to hate the evil within yourself. I can't say if that's good or bad. Certainly, I'm not pro evil (as a rule).
I've heard it said, "Hate the sin, love the sinner." If we are the sum of our actions, that can be hard. But actions can change, and therefore people too.
The question is whether or not the person wants to change. Then the next question is if the person really can change, and how hard they will work at it. It can be tricky.
I would love to loose that last 15 pounds. I mean, I really really want to change that little bit. When I weighed a few pounds more, I was willing to make some changes. I worked out and counted calories, I saw some change. I made some permanent changes in my life, and had certain results. But it wasn't enough. I guess I am not willing to do whatever it takes because I won't pay a doctor to suck that last 15 pounds out; I won't cut calories even further; and mostly what I will do now is complain about it.
This isn't really about fat. It's about changes. And evil. And people.
Say instead of food, I liked to drink, or I liked a man who drank and won't change, or I got out of control angry. It's just as hard to change--even more so with addiction and lifetime patterns. We all pick our poisons, and we all have a crutch or two.
OK, so having a body that likes a Buddha belly is not the same as beating your children or starting a war. At some level though, it is connected. The ultimate power is really self control, and it's not as easy as it sounds.
Alcohol is a great encourager of self-deception. An alcoholic will shatter his family, lose his job, and be living under a bridge, and if you ask him whether he has a problem with alcohol, he will say, "no." He will say his wife divorced him because she was a bitch, his boss fired him out of jealousy, and so on. I'm afraid that if he had a fizziplexer he would be sure that it was malfunctioning - besides, he really believes all these things.
And now that I reflect on it, I wonder whether politicians and the like don't really believe those things. The human ability to rationalize is awesome.
Perhaps the best thing one can do for the world is to teach logic and critical thinking. Well, one should learn it first.
And now that I reflect on it, I wonder whether politicians and the like don't really believe those things. The human ability to rationalize is awesome.
Perhaps the best thing one can do for the world is to teach logic and critical thinking. Well, one should learn it first.
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