NationStates Jolt Archive

This title has actually very little to do with the topic, but I have always wanted to publish a Bible, and, in the same vein as "The Hacker's Bible" or "The Footballer's Bible" subtitle it "The Christian's Bible."
Here is the real question: which published work best explains your political/religious/ethical beliefs? It can be anything that has been published and written by someone who is not you, but it would be helpful if it were something well-known.

Winnie the Pooh - my religious philosophy in a nutshell.
Someone actually wrote a book or two explaining how Winnie the Pooh was an allegory for Eastern philosophy and millenniumist beliefs.

This title has actually very little to do with the topic, but I have always wanted to publish a Bible, and, in the same vein as "The Hacker's Bible" or "The Footballer's Bible" subtitle it "The Christian's Bible."
Here is the real question: which published work best explains your political/religious/ethical beliefs? It can be anything that has been published and written by someone who is not you, but it would be helpful if it were something well-known.

Winnie the Pooh - my religious philosophy in a nutshell.

Someone actually wrote a book or two explaining how Winnie the Pooh was an allegory for Eastern philosophy and millenniumist beliefs.

It's called, unsurprisingly, "The Tao of Pooh"

Winnie the Pooh - my religious philosophy in a nutshell.

You're Taoist? Me too.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tao_of_Pooh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Te_of_Piglet

EDIT: Oops. Someone beat me to this.

"The Rhetoric of Aristotle" Lane Cooper translation

Emma Goldman's general collection of work narrates my views on religion and government.

Also for fictional works, 1984 gives a great perspective of government and police.

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
The Prince by Machiavelli
The Apology by Plato

That should basically sum most of it up when you add in the Bible for moral reference.

The book that most influences my religious/political/ethical belief's is "The Christian Bible" for lack of a better title. ;) But I think most modern Christianity has done a lousy job of understanding it... seriously (this may come as a surprise) there is no command that says "Thou shalt be a moron" or "Thou shalt be yon hypocrite daily." you get the .jpeg ;)

Ooshil

Also i would throw in "The Everlasting Man" by G.K. Chesterton, and most of C.S. Lewis's works (though primarily God in the Dock and Mere Christianity), as well as Plato's apology...

It's called, unsurprisingly, "The Tao of Pooh"

Yup - there was The Te of Piglet as well though it was a poor follow on to The Tao of Pooh, which I read when I was about 14 and haven't changed my thoughts much since then.

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
The Prince by Machiavelli
The Apology by Plato

That should basically sum most of it up when you add in the Bible for moral reference.

there was only one bible...and that is in the book where my faith resides..i am a catholic, a proud one.

You two must be fun at parties.

there was only one bible...and that is in the book where my faith resides..i am a catholic, a proud one.

You two must be fun at parties.

Have you ever considered that people may have different opinions to yours? Or that there is not one oh all Correct opinion to have?

Christ, you people are all the same. You all think that anyone that has a different opinion of yours must be wrong and deserves to be mocked. You're doing it right now. You people need to show some tolerence for people that are not you!

/rant

In the context of the original post, the OP may be interested to learn that Thomas Jefferson edited his own personal copy of the New Testament so that the miracles were taken out. It's usually called the 'Jefferson Bible'.

Linky-type things:

Complete text from UVA library (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/JefJesu.html)

Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible) (arguably biased, but describes context in more detail)


Note that, as both an Eastern Orthodox Christian and a former research staff member at a Jefferson-associated historic site, I make no claims here for or against Jefferson's version, nor am I trying to start a debate on the religious beliefs of early American political figures. I just think it's germane to the OP's topic.

there was only one bible...and that is in the book where my faith resides..i am a catholic, a proud one.

I'm an ex-Catholic. I started considering agnosticism at age 14 and by 15 had pretty much abandoned all my religious ideals. As much as I generally dislike religion, it was fun to have been raised as a Catholic because you hear the weirdest damn stereotypes and myths about the Catholic church from other Christians who have no clue at all.

Have you ever considered that people may have different opinions to yours? Or that there is not one oh all Correct opinion to have?

Christ, you people are all the same. You all think that anyone that has a different opinion of yours must be wrong and deserves to be mocked. You're doing it right now. You fuckers need to show some god damned tolerence for people that are not you!

/rant


Yes, I happen to mock people with opinions I dislike. I am generally tolerant of most Christians, except for Evangelicals. This is reality, not a goddamned hippie lovefest.

And there is a difference between tolerance to someone and embracing their views as logical.

You two must be fun at parties.

As if discussing values and ideas had anything to do with social life... :rolleyes:

I enjoyed The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith. Many of my political and economic opinions have been influenced by that.

As if discussing values and ideas had anything to do with social life... :rolleyes:

How do you sit down?

Yes, I happen to mock people with opinions I dislike. I am generally tolerant of most Christians, except for Evangelicals. This is reality, not a goddamned hippie lovefest.

And there is a difference between tolerance to someone and embracing their views as logical.
I wasn't being specific.

I guess I just expected better from people who claim to be the most tolerent. It rather upsets me when people say that their tolerent, but then proceed to be intolerent to people who disagree with them.

In the context of the original post, the OP may be interested to learn that Thomas Jefferson edited his own personal copy of the New Testament so that the miracles were taken out. It's usually called the 'Jefferson Bible'.

Linky-type things:

Complete text from UVA library (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/JefJesu.html)

Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible) (arguably biased, but describes context in more detail)


Note that, as both an Eastern Orthodox Christian and a former research staff member at a Jefferson-associated historic site, I make no claims here for or against Jefferson's version, nor am I trying to start a debate on the religious beliefs of early American political figures. I just think it's germane to the OP's topic.

I have heard of it (I myself grew up near a Jefferson-associated historic site. You don't work at "The University," do you?) I always thought it was typical of Jefferson: slightly arrogant, but not necessarily wrong.

The bible, the rest is just commentary

I have heard of it (I myself grew up near a Jefferson-associated historic site. You don't work at "The University," do you?) I always thought it was typical of Jefferson: slightly arrogant, but not necessarily wrong.

No, I spent several years on the archaeology staff at Jefferson's retreat home of Poplar Forest (just outside Lynchburg).

But I currently live in Australia, and am about to return to my native UK.

And my view of Jefferson... the more I learned about him, the more I realised that, as he aged, he increasingly became a intellectual hypocrite tortured by his inability to live up to the high ideals he wrote so stirringly about in his younger days.

But I'm really getting off-topic.

I'm an ex-Catholic. I started considering agnosticism at age 14 and by 15 had pretty much abandoned all my religious ideals. As much as I generally dislike religion, it was fun to have been raised as a Catholic because you hear the weirdest damn stereotypes and myths about the Catholic church from other Christians who have no clue at all.
strange..guy..some warped childhood..sorry to hear it.:D

The philosophy of NSG...

"Tigger is all right really," said Piglet lazily.
"Of course he is," said Christopher Robin.
"Everybody is really," said Pooh. "That's what I think," said Pooh.
"But I don't suppose I'm right," he said.
"Of course you are," said Christopher Robin.

Dude - delete those and rephrase?

Deleted, but not rephrased. I'm far to offended and upset (not to mention tense) to be able to say anything useful just now.

You're Taoist? Me too.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tao_of_Pooh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Te_of_Piglet

EDIT: Oops. Someone beat me to this.

You're damn right someone did.

The Internet is my bitch! :p

I can't say I have a specific book that I got my current ideology from. It's sort of a haphazard collection of thoughts and ideas from about when I was 15 onward.

Deleted, but not rephrased. I'm far to offended and upset (not to mention tense) to be able to say anything useful just now.

Err....<.< >.> what just happened?

Err....<.< >.> what just happened?
I dunno, I missed it as well, and that makes me feel sad.
Wanna slit our wrists together?

Everything I know, I learned from cheap, battered pornographic novels found in dumpsters and dirty alleyways. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go don some tight shorts and clean a pool for Mrs. Pontellier and her heaving bosom.

You two must be fun at parties.

Of course. See, Gernish is a Protestant and Dayvo Land is a Catholic, so they have this dynamic going all the time that makes them more hilarious than Abbot and Costello. "Third base!" has nothing on their routine.

It's called, unsurprisingly, "The Tao of Pooh"

There's also "The Te of Piglet." Those Hundred Acre Woods characters seem to be meditating Oriental style.

As for my beliefs, well, practicing Catholic possibly seeking ordination as a future permanent deacon...

*Realizing the gravity of the situation, a quick wardrobe change is made. Nomex-Kevlar suit is donned, helmet is buckled down, and face is set to accept the assault of anti-King A posts about to rain down in the torrents of a hurricane.*

Cool. That's a non-priest position in a church, right?

Cool. That's a non-priest position in a church, right?

Yep. If I get ordained before I marry, though, (studied at a seminary) then I get put on the track for eventual ordination as a priest. If I get married, and then ordained a permanent deacon, I basically show up at a specific Mass each week, get the job of delivering the Gospel (if I'm there, the priest has to make me do it) and I assist at the alter. I'd also baptise people, marry people, bury people, but I wouldn't give absolution or annoint the sick.

Das Kapital by Marx
Collected Works of Vladimir Lenin
Republic and Laws by Plato
Politics by Aristotle
Social Contract by Rousseau
Utopia by More

Also a little bit of Leviathan by Hobbes.

Das Kapital by Marx
Collected Worker of Vladimir Lenin
Republic and Laws by Plato
Politics by Aristotle
Social Contract by Rousseau
Utopia by More

Also a little bit of Leviathan by Hobbes.

Wealth of the Nations, Smith.

THE BOOK on economics.

Yep. If I get ordained before I marry, though, (studied at a seminary) then I get put on the track for eventual ordination as a priest. If I get married, and then ordained a permanent deacon, I basically show up at a specific Mass each week, get the job of delivering the Gospel (if I'm there, the priest has to make me do it) and I assist at the alter. I'd also baptise people, marry people, bury people, but I wouldn't give absolution or annoint the sick.

Oh, wow. So people who are married the Catholic way are actually not married by priests, but by deacons? Interesting. How does the hierarchy work, in terms of where you are among the rest of the clergy?

Wealth of the Nations, Smith.

THE BOOK on economics.

No thanks, I have no time for petty defenses of upper-class bourgeoisie privilege.

Oh, wow. So people who are married the Catholic way are actually not married by priests, but by deacons? Interesting. How does the hierarchy work, in terms of where you are among the rest of the clergy?

Actually, in the Catholic tradition, people are married to each other. The priest, deacon, or bishop is the officiating witness and guide through the sacrament. Any ordained member of the clergy (not me yet, but possibly in the future) can officiate, provided that they are recognized by the Church to do so (hence the whole ordination preparation and study). The bride and groom are the actual administers of the marriage, which they administer to each other, binding themselves together in Holy Matrimony in vows witnessed by the cleric present. A deacon can do it, as can a priest, as can a bishop. The selection is based on choice by the couple, and availability, though there have been very rare instances of one member of the clergy refusing to witness the sacrament, which causes whole other problems.

As for standing, right now, I'm just a Minister of the Eucharist. If I do become a deacon, I'd be at the lowest clerical rank. Above the permanent deacons are the transitional deacons (future priests), then the priests, then bishops, then the College of Cardinals (which is now pretty much restricted to bishops) then the pope. There are yet more subtleties if you're interested (in this instance, wiki is pretty reliable about structure of the Church), but I hope this explains what you were asking.

In summary, marriage is administered by the bride and groom to each other, but to be valid in the eyes of the Church, an officiating clerical witness must be present to essentially guide them through the process to keep it free of errors. This member of the clergy can be a deacon, or a priest, on rare occasions a bishop.

No thanks, I have no time for petty defenses of upper-class bourgeoisie privilege.

And he has no time for petty defenses of communist rhetoric.

Now that we're past the dismissal of things that disagree with us just because they disagree with us, can we please actually make points to be addressed?

US Constitution is my 'bible'.

US Constitution is my 'bible'.

Far out. I would've expected that a bit earlier~

For the fun of it ...:
The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles of Robert Anton Wilson.

the hidden words - baha-u-llah
the prophet - kalil gebran
strainger in a strainge land - r.a.hienline
900 grandmothers - r.a.lafferty

and of course an infinitude of others
but more then any of them
the combination of personal observation
and attempting to avoid deceiving myself

and then there are the invisible presences i have personally felt
who radiated love and wished no harm to anyone

also quite possibly experiences in other and previous lifetimes on other material tangable worlds

or at least some sort intrinsic inclinations i was born with
where, how and why ever, they may have came from

(btw, the title of this thread almost made me not bother to look)

=^^=
.../\...

Guru Granth Sahib Ji!

Yeah Bole so nihal!

Principia Discordia

Principia Discordia

Ohh thats a goodun!

i don't base my philosophy on any particular work but on numerous quotes taken out of context to suit my state of mind at the time. i'm deep like that.

Das Kapital by Marx
Collected Works of Vladimir Lenin
Republic and Laws by Plato
Politics by Aristotle
Social Contract by Rousseau
Utopia by More

Also a little bit of Leviathan by Hobbes.
Ah, another reader of cheap pornography. Well, except Plato, even I'd never touch one of those.

Anything by Terry Pratchett, really. That's about as philosophical or religious as I normally get.

Anything by Terry Pratchett, really. That's about as philosophical or religious as I normally get.
I'll join you on that one. :D

Me, myself, am a follower of the Oscar Myer school of philosophy, i.e. Life is what you make of it.

Ohh thats a goodun!

Golden Apple = apricot.

*nods*

So, what is it that you believe in or follow now?

Love in Christ

the prophet - kalil gebran


I had forgotten this one. Very good. Easy to read and has meaning a many different levels. Some new thoughts every time its read.

So, what is it that you (*) follow now?My sense, senses, sensitivities, and sensibilities.

I built my white picket fence around the now with a commanding view of the soon to be.
*nods*

One final thought before I go from Matthew 10:

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

The complete collected poems of Lewis Carroll.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/e/e9/170px-Cheshire_Cat_McGee.jpg