Letters to the Editor
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@AKASmith
Beautifully put.
With apologies to Van Morrison, "Can you hear the silence?"
I wish you peace.
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Salty
Salty is an old Marine Corps term for gear which pushes the limits of (primarily) the uniform requirements, usually by being obviously not new.
http://storedev.getjarhead.com/productview.php?pid=6
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fetboy
Dying man couldn't make up his mind which place to go to -- both have their advantages, "heaven for climate, hell for company!" - Mark Twain's Notebooks and Journals, vol. 3
Keep in mind that the parable of the Good Samaritan makes it clear that mere piety alone is not sufficient to be a good person.
The Christ had two pious men, the Levite and the Priest, pass by the injured man as if he were rotten meat. And yet the very first unbeliever that came along took mercy on the man and offered him succor.
When I point out the obvious implication of this parable to "Christians" they usually find a reason to depart from my company with all due haste.
You can read the parable for yourself if you wish and make your own mind up as to the meaning.
Luke 10: 25And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
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Don't feed the trolls
I'd like to believe that SaltyPappy is a troll, and that no one with "2 graduate degrees" would resort to poop jokes and desiccated platitudes like "pinko commie," not to mention being unable to properly place an apostrophe in an English word.
Then, I remember (after having watched "Jesus Camp" over the weekend): this is America, where a guy who believes the Earth was created 6000 years ago has more than a snowball's chance in hell of being President; where we've given away our civil liberties to a simian frat boy who calls himself "the Decider"; where we entrust our children to--and take the opinions seriously of--people who pray for parking spaces and PowerPoint presentations and speak in tongues.
One of the first things you learn when you post on Internet forums is "don't feed the trolls." But the political pendulum in this country has swung so far into the whackjob zone that it's hard to tell where the "trolling" stops and the opinions that form the basis of the policies that affect every American, every day, begin.