The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
- Hobbes' Choice
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... rists.html
According the the seller, any Muslim that tries to use it shall be hit by a thunderbolt. Little does he know that Islam follows the same idiotic Psalm as Jews and Christies.
According the the seller, any Muslim that tries to use it shall be hit by a thunderbolt. Little does he know that Islam follows the same idiotic Psalm as Jews and Christies.
- Bill Wiltrack
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
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I keep getting confused...I'm not religious at all, but I thought that the sixth commandment was, Thou shalt not kill.
Over my 61 years on this earth in America I have witnessed us kill hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of innocent people...just in order to kill a few thousand devils.
...and we just don't care. And it just goes on.
And we keep telling ourselves we are a christian nation.
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I keep getting confused...I'm not religious at all, but I thought that the sixth commandment was, Thou shalt not kill.
Over my 61 years on this earth in America I have witnessed us kill hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of innocent people...just in order to kill a few thousand devils.
...and we just don't care. And it just goes on.
And we keep telling ourselves we are a christian nation.
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- Arising_uk
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
How hard can it be Bill?Bill Wiltrack wrote:.
.............................................WTF?
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Both are appealing to a fair chunk of the American public in the same way and using the threat of the 'other' to achieve their political ambitions.
- Arising_uk
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
Hobbes' Choice wrote: According the the seller, any Muslim that tries to use it shall be hit by a thunderbolt. Little does he know that Islam follows the same idiotic Psalm as Jews and Christies.
- Hobbes' Choice
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
Bill Wiltrack wrote:.
I keep getting confused...I'm not religious at all, but I thought that the sixth commandment was, Thou shalt not kill.
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Depends Bill.. Do you eat meat? Most people do. I don't see that many vegetarian Christians.
Some churches say "Thou shalt do no murder". Which is a completely different thing.
It changes a rule that demanded that only priests were allowed to slaughter the lambs of the field (kosher fashion), to a rule about what society demands is okay and not okay to kill; namely its okay to kill if you are a solider of God. That's how Muslims, who haver the same set of rules are able to wage religious war against you and other infidels.
- Bill Wiltrack
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
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I don't eat meat but it has nothing to do with religion.
Two heart attacks - dancing with the third. Two stents.
Again, my knowledge of the bible is about zero but I think fish were used. Seemed to be Okay.
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I don't eat meat but it has nothing to do with religion.
Two heart attacks - dancing with the third. Two stents.
Again, my knowledge of the bible is about zero but I think fish were used. Seemed to be Okay.
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
Hey, Bill. I feel your pain. Not the one in the middle of the chest - though the last ultrasound was a little scary... okay, more than a little: I actually drank decaf - but the existential one.
Take a deep breath and then the long view. America has always been a philosophical absurdity. In its very earliest days, it was a refuge for the persecuted minority, a frontier for exploration, a door to freedom, an opportunity to convert savages to Christianity, a really great investment, a free-for-all brawl, a market for the slave trade, a source of raw materials, a huge brothel, an escape, an adventure playground for second sons, a source of tax revenue, a nursery for spoiled brats, a dumping-ground for felons and ne'er-do-wells... everything for everybody.
It still is. And they didn't get any smarter.
Right now, they have to choose between a 180% turn toward sanity and a lemming-run.
Tough choice!
Take a deep breath and then the long view. America has always been a philosophical absurdity. In its very earliest days, it was a refuge for the persecuted minority, a frontier for exploration, a door to freedom, an opportunity to convert savages to Christianity, a really great investment, a free-for-all brawl, a market for the slave trade, a source of raw materials, a huge brothel, an escape, an adventure playground for second sons, a source of tax revenue, a nursery for spoiled brats, a dumping-ground for felons and ne'er-do-wells... everything for everybody.
It still is. And they didn't get any smarter.
Right now, they have to choose between a 180% turn toward sanity and a lemming-run.
Tough choice!
Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
PS
Way too much hay has been made of that stupid commandment.
Jehovah was okay, and more than okay, with killing - he egged them on a lot of the time. What he didn't approve of was the killing of Hebrew males of good social standing. Everybody else was fair game.
Way too much hay has been made of that stupid commandment.
Jehovah was okay, and more than okay, with killing - he egged them on a lot of the time. What he didn't approve of was the killing of Hebrew males of good social standing. Everybody else was fair game.
- Bill Wiltrack
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
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Yes, I concur with the above comment.
America is a macrocosm of the individual. We tell ourselves we are noble. That we are Christian. That we are civil. That we are able to love.
Yet if we could see ourselves the way that we see others - the way that others see us, we could not bare ourselves even for a minute.
Yeah. America is, in a very real way, a horrific contradiction. Mostly to itself. But that is what I am.
Perhaps that is what we all are.
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Yes, I concur with the above comment.
America is a macrocosm of the individual. We tell ourselves we are noble. That we are Christian. That we are civil. That we are able to love.
Yet if we could see ourselves the way that we see others - the way that others see us, we could not bare ourselves even for a minute.
Yeah. America is, in a very real way, a horrific contradiction. Mostly to itself. But that is what I am.
Perhaps that is what we all are.
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
To think in these terms is to be an Existentialist . Existentialists have always been aware of the absurdity of life. That is their main shtick.The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
But for those who don't realize it absurdity is also America's shtick, big time. And its embrace of absurdity is what makes it great. America knows the world is absurd. But America has use absurdity to its benefit. It's like taking shit and making something great out of it. And that's what will keep America in the forefront, because it knows how to manipulate and temper absurdity in ways that will most benefit it and Civilization.
Don't be stupid and call this idea absurd.
- Bill Wiltrack
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
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From Wikipedia:
An absurdity is a thing that is extremely unreasonable, so as to be foolish or not taken seriously, or the state of being so. "Absurd" is an adjective used to describe an absurdity, e.g., "this encyclopedia article is absurd."
It derives from the Latin absurdum meaning "out of tune", hence irrational.
The Latin surdus means "deaf", implying stupidity.
Absurdity is contrasted with seriousness in reasoning.
In general usage, absurdity may be synonymous with ridiculousness and nonsense. In specialized usage, absurdity is related to extremes in bad reasoning or pointlessness in reasoning; ridiculousness is related to extremes of incongruous juxtaposition, laughter, and ridicule; and nonsense is related to a lack of meaningfulness.
“We can regard our life as a uselessly disturbing episode in the blissful repose of nothingness.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer
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From Wikipedia:
An absurdity is a thing that is extremely unreasonable, so as to be foolish or not taken seriously, or the state of being so. "Absurd" is an adjective used to describe an absurdity, e.g., "this encyclopedia article is absurd."
It derives from the Latin absurdum meaning "out of tune", hence irrational.
The Latin surdus means "deaf", implying stupidity.
Absurdity is contrasted with seriousness in reasoning.
In general usage, absurdity may be synonymous with ridiculousness and nonsense. In specialized usage, absurdity is related to extremes in bad reasoning or pointlessness in reasoning; ridiculousness is related to extremes of incongruous juxtaposition, laughter, and ridicule; and nonsense is related to a lack of meaningfulness.
“We can regard our life as a uselessly disturbing episode in the blissful repose of nothingness.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
This election could almost be an Ionesco play. It is not the philosophical absurdity of what America has become. It is a pristine example of Absurdism as a definition of the human experience and existence. Remember that the common usage of the word "absurd" is quite different from the school of thought. This is not uniquely American. It is very much uniquely human. It was never supposed to make sense 
Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
Bill Wiltrack wrote:.
From Wikipedia:
An absurdity is a thing that is extremely unreasonable, so as to be foolish or not taken seriously, or the state of being so. "Absurd" is an adjective used to describe an absurdity, e.g., "this encyclopedia article is absurd."
It derives from the Latin absurdum meaning "out of tune", hence irrational.
The Latin surdus means "deaf", implying stupidity.
Absurdity is contrasted with seriousness in reasoning.
In general usage, absurdity may be synonymous with ridiculousness and nonsense. In specialized usage, absurdity is related to extremes in bad reasoning or pointlessness in reasoning; ridiculousness is related to extremes of incongruous juxtaposition, laughter, and ridicule; and nonsense is related to a lack of meaningfulness.
“We can regard our life as a uselessly disturbing episode in the blissful repose of nothingness.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer
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Bill, you have to expand your horizons!
- Bill Wiltrack
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
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There's always room for expansion!
I agree with you:
Take a deep breath and then the long view. America has always been a philosophical absurdity. In its very earliest days, it was a refuge for the persecuted minority, a frontier for exploration, a door to freedom, an opportunity to convert savages to Christianity, a really great investment, a free-for-all brawl, a market for the slave trade, a source of raw materials, a huge brothel, an escape, an adventure playground for second sons, a source of tax revenue, a nursery for spoiled brats, a dumping-ground for felons and ne'er-do-wells... everything for everybody.
It still is. And they didn't get any smarter.
Right now, they have to choose between a 180% turn toward sanity and a lemming-run.
Tough choice!
...I think the lemmings are pointing the way.
Trump will be America's next President.
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There's always room for expansion!
I agree with you:
Take a deep breath and then the long view. America has always been a philosophical absurdity. In its very earliest days, it was a refuge for the persecuted minority, a frontier for exploration, a door to freedom, an opportunity to convert savages to Christianity, a really great investment, a free-for-all brawl, a market for the slave trade, a source of raw materials, a huge brothel, an escape, an adventure playground for second sons, a source of tax revenue, a nursery for spoiled brats, a dumping-ground for felons and ne'er-do-wells... everything for everybody.
It still is. And they didn't get any smarter.
Right now, they have to choose between a 180% turn toward sanity and a lemming-run.
Tough choice!
...I think the lemmings are pointing the way.
Trump will be America's next President.
.
- Arising_uk
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Re: The Philosophical Absurdity of What America Has Become
Yak Yak Yak.
Why don't you just wait until your election is over instead of all this political waffle.
Why don't you just wait until your election is over instead of all this political waffle.