Another Liberal Religion: Paganism

[Nosmo King]

So sorry that you were unable to understand post #34...

perhaps once you go to college.

As a Liberal AND a person of faith, I take umbrage with the tactic of screening my political beliefs and forcing them through the flimsy template of Conservative thought to arrive at the false assumption that Liberals have abandoned the faith of their fathers and embrace a pagan, atheistic value system.

You seem to delight in diluting faith to make it serve your lying assumptions. You and your ilk think that by dismissing the faith of Liberals and imposing your warped assumptions on us that the act of disparaging Liberals can be excused as purging heretics from the ranks of the Godly. Shame on you for using faith as a political weapon. Shame on you for making false assumptions about the faith of others. Shame on you for not getting reality into your thinking.

1. "...As a Liberal AND a person of faith,..."
I suggest you research the meaning of the term 'syncretic.'

2. "dismissing the faith of Liberals..."
If I may use this board as evidence, it is clear that those on the left regularly attack and dismiss religion and 'people of faith.'
You may have to rethink your position.

3. While you use words well, they are, often, empty of the meaning for which they were intended.
"...your lying assumptions..."
Please provide any and all of the lies in the OP.
And, of course, if you cannot, that alone should shake your worldview.
You are probably unaware of the fact that calling an opponent a liar marks you as a liberal.

4. "...false assumption that Liberals have abandoned the faith of their fathers and embrace a pagan, atheistic value system."
Ah, so you DIDN'T understand post #34.
It is a well supported exegesis demonstrating the abandonment of faith in religion, in God, and the replacement of same with what is assumed to be reason and science.
Although I don't expect you to ever admit it in public, it would advance your mental growth to use that post to begin an indepth study...and consider picking up Melanie Philips' "World Turned Upside Down."

5. "...You seem to delight in diluting faith ..."
Couldn't be further from the truth.

6. "...dismissing the faith of Liberals ..."
Again, the OP documents that liberals themselves have dismissed faith. Or do you deny that every one of the items involves liberals.
Actually, the huff and puff of your posts admits it.

7. The rest of your post is simply patting your self on the back.

But I really enjoyed your post, and the fact that you are one of the few brave enough to engage in the dialogue.
Bravo.

Here's where your argument runs into the ditch. You have made an assumption that a person of faith cannot be politically liberal. Worse yet, you assume that a persons politics would be stronger than his faith. And even worse, you assume that a person's faith can be abandoned, even in the face of His glory and the wonders of His hand, so that a political ideology might mute the spirit and harden the heart.

I prefer to argue the third person on message boards. Faith is a very personal aspect of my life. In America, you and I are free to express our faith as we wish.

I resent the starting argument as phrased. You assume that faith and politics are connected at the hip. This is just rude. The assumption that someone cannot separate the two.

Next, you assert

'it is clear that those on the left regularly attack and dismiss religion and 'people of faith.'

If I dismiss right wing political action when it's motivated from the pulpit, it's because the actions were political, not religious. If the Jerry Falwells e.g. of America would preach the gospel and not to infringe on human rights, I guarantee no one but the extreme fringe of the Left, politically, would have a problem.

Now, every group in every society has an extreme fringe that pushes the envelope. This is a universal truth. Therefore, you have to accept the premise that even among conservatively politically motivated Christians, there will be a few trouble makers.

Don't play the victim, dear, it won't make a lick of sense, unless you're Chinese.

Christians won! That'd right. In America, we Christians have won. We've won culturally. We've won politically. A whole nation of Christians who have varying political beliefs.

When you refuse to believe that a politically liberal adult citizen is not free enough in America to vote his conscience, what type of America do you want to live in?

The rest of your post is just falling back on the same false assumption.

I'm glad you enjoyed my post. But I can't defend a position you placed me in that is a patent lie. In God, I have faith. In me, you have proof your argument is false.

 

[Nosmo King]

Thanks for playing our game, political chic! We have a home version for you to be condescending with as a parting gift.

 

[goldcatt]

Game, point, match, NK.

Somehow I doubt we've seen the last of Polly the Parrot on this non-issue though. Not as long as there's something new to cut and paste.

 

[Si modo]

I find no validity to generalizing that those on the left are without faith. The two belief systems are not mutually exclusive. Even if they were, someone has already mentioned syncretism.

On a side note, for those on the left who want to assert that science and faith cannot exist together in one person, they also should look up syncretism.

 

[goldcatt]

I find no validity to generalizing that those on the left are without faith. The two belief systems are not mutually exclusive. Even if they were, someone has already mentioned syncretism.

On a side note, for those on the left who want to assert that science and faith cannot exist together in one person, they also should look up syncretism.

None of the three are mutually exclusive, unless one takes any of them to such an unhealthy extreme there's no room for anything else in their lives. But you're right that for every Polly there's an rdean. I don't much care for extremists of any stripe.

 

[Si modo]

I find no validity to generalizing that those on the left are without faith. The two belief systems are not mutually exclusive. Even if they were, someone has already mentioned syncretism.

On a side note, for those on the left who want to assert that science and faith cannot exist together in one person, they also should look up syncretism.

None of the three are mutually exclusive, unless one takes any of them to such an unhealthy extreme there's no room for anything else in their lives. But you're right that for every Polly there's an rdean. I don't much care for extremists of any stripe.

Right. If one were to buy this, then if I were an atheist or agnostic even, I cannot be politically conservative?

It makes no sense to me.

 

[goldcatt]

I find no validity to generalizing that those on the left are without faith. The two belief systems are not mutually exclusive. Even if they were, someone has already mentioned syncretism.

On a side note, for those on the left who want to assert that science and faith cannot exist together in one person, they also should look up syncretism.

None of the three are mutually exclusive, unless one takes any of them to such an unhealthy extreme there's no room for anything else in their lives. But you're right that for every Polly there's an rdean. I don't much care for extremists of any stripe.

Right. If one were to buy this, then if I were an atheist or agnostic even, I cannot be politically conservative?

It makes no sense to me.

I lean liberal, but am a person of faith and fascinated by science. The three are easily reconciled in my mind. I could never understand the "logic" behind arguments that any of them cannot exist side by side. It's irrational.

I won't even begin to address the whole point of view mentioned earlier in the thread that people of different political leanings, religious beliefs, educational backgrounds or anything else can't get along and even be close....that's just stupid to me. Why limit yourself to one very narrow mindset when there are so many wonderful people out there to get to know and new ideas to experience? Having no principles is one thing, but a closed mind is a terrible waste.

 

[Nosmo King]

"...but a closed mind is a terrible waste."

A closed mind is a wasted mind.

I have to spread some reputation around before giving it to Goldcatt again.

 

[dasolution]

Discussed many times, liberalism is another name for the political religion of the Left. Charles Darwin is the prophet, and while there is naught wrong with a belief in evolution, once one removes any sense that humans are of a higher order than any other form of life, there are repercussions, often, not expected.

1. Obama selected regulatory czar Cass Sunstein has suggested that animals have the right to lawyers, and advocated that animals have the right to sue humans in court:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je8bU9D51Ug

2. . Obama choice for Science Czar John Holdren has endorsed compulsory sterilization, as in ‘controlling the herd.”
“Adding a sterilant to drinking water or staple foods is a suggestion that seems to horrify people more than most proposals for involuntary fertility control.”
Obama's science czar suggested compulsory abortion, sterilization | Washington Examiner
YouTube - The Czars - John Holdren

3. Considering humans the equivalent of any other animal gives us Professor Peter Singer:
“Singer, a bioethics professor at Princeton University, is a leader in the animal rights movement. He has also argued that abortion should be permissible because unborn babies as old as 18 weeks cannot feel pain or satisfaction.
Singer once explained his belief that, "killing a newborn baby is never equivalent to killing a person, that is, a being who wants to go on living." Obama czar pick: 'Raving animal rights nut'

“I do think that it is sometimes appropriate to kill a human infant. For me, the relevant question is, what makes it so seriously wrong to take a life? Those of you who are not vegetarians are responsible for taking a life every time you eat. Species is no more relevant than race in making these judgments.” What price is life? Peter Singer and Obamacare Can I Just Finish My Waffle?
Peter Singer was appointed by Obama as part of his Health Care Team... Peter Singer Joins Obama's Health Care Administrators : I Am Not a Fan of Peter Singer Story & Experience

4. The view is extended to the earth as a living entity, to be worshipped and protected.
“ Environmentalism should be regarded on the same level with religion "as the only compelling, value-based narrative available to humanity," according to a paper written two years ago to influence the future strategy of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the world's would-be environmental watchdog.”
TBR.cc: UN endorses new Gaia religion for world

“In our contemporary era, Earth Day has become the modern celebration of Gaia. Partakers of this event, whether aware of it or not, play off the ancient pagan beliefs of a Universal Mother. Like the sacred oaths taken in her name, today’s Earth Day celebrants sign environmental petitions, make pledges, and
announce resolutions in support of Mother Earth. And like the old sacrifices to the deity, today’s Earth Day practitioners offer sacrifices of “good works” to the planet. Not only is the Earth a deity to be venerated, but the Earth itself – as the representative and embodiment of the Goddess – has become a modern day idol.” All for Gaia - Earth Day and Total Transformation

5. The violence of the left is on display in the efforts of the ELF, Earth Liberation Front,

“It is now an international movement with attacks reported in 17 countries[3][4][5] and is widely regarded as the Animal Liberation Front's younger sister, because of the relationship and cooperation between the two movements.[6] Using the same leaderless resistance model, as well as similar guidelines to the ALF,[2] sympathizers say that it is an eco-defense group dedicated to taking the profit motive out of environmental destruction by causing economic damage to businesses through the use of direct action.[7]… The ELF was classified as the top "domestic terror" threat in the United States by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in March 2001,[8][9] and are categorised as "eco-terrorists".[10] Earth Liberation Front - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

6. Which brings us to the most recent attack on humanity by a member of this pagan, left-wing cult:

“If you are unaware, James Jay Lee was an enviro-extremist. He was so extreme that he felt that people should not be allowed to have any more children because it was "killing" the planet.
In his rambling manifesto he implored the Discovery Channel to change its programming. "Focus must be given on how people can live WITHOUT giving birth to more filthy human children since those new additions continue pollution and are pollution," Lee wrote. (See .pdf of his manifesto)”Discovery Hostage Taker Following the Typical Envrio-Extremist's Path - Publius Forum

“He became an ardent environmentalist after seeing the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth and then reading the Daniel Quinn animal-rights novel Ishmael, a book he references at the top of his alleged manifesto.” James Lee: Discovery Channel Standoff Suspect Has Southern California Roots - Los Angeles News - The Informer

In his manifesto, Lee says: "Saving the Planet means saving what's left of the non-human Wildlife by decreasing the Human population.” Man Takes Hostages at Discovery Channel to Save What's Left of Wildlife | Animals | Change.org


For those who lean or subscribe to any of the above, I offer the following for consideration:

Sir John Maddox, editor emeritus of the foremost journal of science, Nature, wrote in a classic Time magazine essay, “How the brain manages to think is a conundrum with a millennial time scale. All animals have brains so as to be able to move about. Signals from the senses- eyes, ears, nostrils, or skin, as the case may be- send messages to the spinal cord, which moves the limbs appropriately. But thinking involves the consideration of alternative responses, many of which have not been experienced but have been merely imagined. The faculty of being conscious of what is going on in the head is an extra puzzle.” (“Thinking,” March 29, 1999, p. 206)

Paganism is just as phony as any other religion, including yours.