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Gome
My motivation for discussion with you is for the honing of both our thought processes.  I do not really intend to speak from a superior position.  I think perhaps some tone of superiority conveys in my writing because of the nature of my occupation.  I very much look forward to hearing more from you but I do not wish to distract you from other business that you may have.  Thank you for the kind words.

posted by telemachus on March 23, 2005 at 10:39 AM | link to this | reply

Odysseus --- this is the part about you that I have never understood

How can you go from being so stunned to being so intelligent? You are a gifted writer to boot and I mean that sincerely. Your writing is at a level that is highly articulate and professional. Again I do not have the time to answer your comment in great detail but will do so in a posting later. I will cover one point however. When you say "this is a start" you are correct but not in the context that you have made this statement. This is the starting point of my belief system or square one. In other words I have just started to define the evolution or thought process for others but that may not continue because I feel that I have no onus to do so. It really all depends how the challenge to define my own beliefs is put to me. If it is with the usual disdain of a believer who is enquiring from a position of assumed moral superiority I have but two words for them. I won't say them here but will say that those two words involve sex and travel.

You see, I have never tried to sell my belief system to anyone, it is completely unimportant to me if anyone ever thinks as I do. You cannot say the same, something is compelling your relentless pursuit of non-believers. I think the only reason I write this blog is as a plea to others to examine their own conduct. People can justify any form of attrociuos behaviour if they feel they are serving a higher purpose. This negative behaviour affects everyone in our society. ...I will finish this later.

 

posted by gomedome on March 23, 2005 at 8:36 AM | link to this | reply

Gome
I read the post to which you refer. This is clearly a reaction to the “garden variety bible thumper”, as opposed to a concerted attempt to define a belief system, but it’s definitely a good start. You criticize the Bible Thumper for saying and doing as he is told with little thought to his words and actions other than a desire for group acceptance. I would encourage you to exert care that your own words and actions are not dictated more by your reaction than by introspection, especially given your childhood history of having to combat the infusion of an unwieldy and staunch doctrinal system. Here are my thoughts, for whatever they may be worth to you, on your referenced belief system:

(1) Instead of developing your belief system in reaction to Christians or other forms of religion, try sitting down with a blank page to begin constructing your belief system from scratch, that is, from solely within yourself. “I think, therefore I am” is the coin of Descartes. From this basic foundation, we can confirm existence by confirming ideas as right or wrong. This basic supportive consciousness underlies everything else that we perceive and we support everything else upon this consciousness, by faith in its correctness. Piece by piece, we install the beliefs that make sense to us upon the framework of our naked consciousness. If we build this framework in accordance to the dictates of the conscience, we are building ourselves in accordance with God’s will.
(2) I share your worry concerning the rigidness of Islam, Christianity, and other doctrinal based religions, and the looming conflicts that will invariably break out between groups encapsulated within the myriad array of paradigms extending forth from such belief systems.
(3) I share your concern about the wholesale destruction of our habitat, which is a seemingly unstoppable path toward self-destruction.
(4) The main problem with the discrimination issue that you mention is that the association with people on a lower (or should I say different) level of spirituality can get risky, especially if one is not entrenched upon a firm foundation. Too often people misinterpret fear for discrimination. The staunch fundamentalist fears the influence of the promiscuous divorcee or the openly gay person upon himself and his family. The fundamentalist worries that his foundation is not strong enough to withstand the influence and so he simply discriminates, in a defensive attempt to guard the belief system that he holds dear.
(5) I share your opinion that organized religion is not working. I’m shocked by your statement: “some of us are looking for something that has at least a change of working”. Really? Me too!
(6) Hmmmm, you quote: “We do not own this earth, we only borrow it from our children". That’s interesting to me because I own quite a bit of land, or do I?
(7) I’m shocked again! Wow, you do embrace a piece of Christianity: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Hmmm, you are right about this so I definitely won’t be calling you “quarterwitted” or anything like that. I think this simple sentence also covers the entire gauntlet of treating all people fairly.
(8) You quote: "All creations have a reason and a right to be". Do you really mean it! Man, I’m so excited! All this time I’ve been thinking that you were not a creationist. Dang, I must be getting you mixed up with Kooka or something. Right on man! I’m with you all the way on this one!
(9) I agree with you that simply accepting a certain set of beliefs that have been handed to you is somehow the key to heaven, In fact, I don’t think that one can really, truly embrace concepts as beliefs until you do so within yourself. Otherwise, it’s simply an exercise of following rules. Again, belief concepts are wrought within and constructed upon the framework of the blank page, which is the unadulterated consciousness. We agree that one cannot cop out of the spiritual obligation to live in accordance with self-realized spiritual truths by employment of a lazy doctrine that offers a license to sin.

Thank you for finally sharing this with me. I apologize for distracting you from your work. I’m certain that those fortunate enough to be considered your friends have the rare pleasure of conversing in a relaxed manner with your very rich intellect. Be good!



posted by telemachus on March 23, 2005 at 7:29 AM | link to this | reply

Odysseus -- what a stunned thing to say in response

You forget Mister Shawn Brantley that you have shown me your colours from day one. From the very first words you put to print in my comments section as insults. After a brief stint of trying to emulate sincerity you are showing me exactly what you are made of. You possess a deluded feeling of superiority because of a belief in an imaginary being. Somehow this delusion gives you the right to overlook your own conduct. Very conveniant, very typical of the self righteous and very boring from my perspective. Do you think I have not seen a leopard with your spots before in my 50 years? I got very busy in the middle of a dialogue with you, truth be known I let myself get distracted by writing long replies to your comments as a deadline approached.    Your singular agenda allowed you to overlook complete answers to your questions. You asked about my belief system. I answered I had just outlined it in a posting a few weeks ago. Here's the link:

http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/gomedome/s10  you have to scroll back to Feb. 21st....I simply did not have time nor any interest in covering exactly the same thing again. Next time pay attention my son.

posted by gomedome on March 22, 2005 at 7:50 PM | link to this | reply

Gome
Far be it from me to be a distraction. Or to ever accept “cyber tech” as an excuse for a belief system.

posted by telemachus on March 22, 2005 at 6:38 PM | link to this | reply

G ~ I'll check it out.
I do have a few fancy-schmancy .gif banners that are going pretty much to total waste.

posted by mark2556 on March 21, 2005 at 7:00 PM | link to this | reply

mark2556 --- then it sounds like you would be interest in this.
I started a web page template a long time ago as a gateway page to my website. It is horrible looking because I am design graphics deficient. But the it's a right idea. An assembly of promo banners for writing projrcts. Take a quick look: http://www.goldlynx.com/beatleslovelove.html   I own the domain name www.beatleslovelove.com .....a leftover from my domain name speculation days. I want to park it with the domain name on a free web host and build up the traffic to it. Whip up a banner, preferably an animated gif with a little action and I will put it up as I build and revise this page.  

posted by gomedome on March 21, 2005 at 6:46 PM | link to this | reply

Odysseus -- I'm the kind of person who gives credit where it is due. Aralia
gets it, why don't you? You quarterwitted cult recruiter. I made that statement about not having the time on the eve of an eBook release, my first in a purely electronic medium. All cognative abilities were focused on the major task at hand. Releasing a book of any sort without the proper fanfare simply ain't cricket. Your rather shallow suggestion that it was a deflective measure from self justification is heavy artillery. In simpler language I only share deeply convicted spiritual beliefs with friends. I have enough enemies. I'm balancing up the count. Drawing up allengiances if you will.  So if you ever want to say to someone that you made friends with old gomedome I will have to demonstrate what friends do and how they are supposed to act.

You can thank me later for imparting this wisdom to you.  So here is friend lesson number one. Read Entrpreneur_Makers postings. He is as far away from me in a set of beliefs as anyone can be, we clashed once or twice but he came running to lend a hand when I needed proofreaders. I gave him the software for the electronic format I used in return. Both of us walked away winners as he remarked in a later email that he loved the eBook Compiler Software that I sent him. So now you have 2 choices. You can do a little proofreading or you can take a romp through my promotion pages to arrive at the same point. I am pre-occupied and you are a distraction. I am imploring you to become less of a distraction as I meet a very busy work schedule for someone who is supposed to be retired. They are called deadlines for a reason. So take the romp; it's more fun. Here's the link: http://www.goldlynx.com/10angifs.html  Then if you want to be impressed with an old man, download the executable file. It is an invaluable resource in it's own right. It is an Electronic book that is constituted entirely from my browser's favourites list with bookmark icons for every link. The very best of cyber trash. I've recycled some garbage (which should be the name of my religion.) Here's the direct download link. http://www.goldlynx.com/download/gomersfreelist.rar  Then You can pick up a writers fee ($30.00US Funds, Maximum two reviews) for whipping up a quick book endorsement type of review.

Here's the beauty of the writing project for writers. The resources they need are in the eBook they are reviewing.  Ha ha ha ha .... this story gets funnier every time I tell it.

posted by gomedome on March 21, 2005 at 6:27 PM | link to this | reply

My "Savin' Souls..." blog has had several posts published in magazines...

...one editor told me that if enough are published like that, there's a good chance for book publication.

posted by mark2556 on March 21, 2005 at 3:16 PM | link to this | reply

Ariala -- I checked it out --- nice
Yes I did miss the part about being available in PDF. If sales go well of your electronic products I can show you how to put it on auto pilot or direct you to the resources. The toughest automation of online payment comes in the combination of Windows XP Home version and a web server that is Windows based but there are a couple of routes to do this effectively.

posted by gomedome on March 20, 2005 at 6:54 PM | link to this | reply

Gome, you've probably missed this in my blogs when I've put it up:

 Adventures with Merlin
is now available in PDF form. 
Please check out the link and also visit my:

Other Creative Inspirations
Making a Living in the Woods
A Voyage of Discovery
Of Myth and Magic Poetry 

Also, coming soon:
"Practical Writing and Marketing Tips for Freelancers!"

posted by Ariala on March 20, 2005 at 6:12 PM | link to this | reply

Ariala -- anything in an electronic format as yet?

.....

posted by gomedome on March 20, 2005 at 6:09 PM | link to this | reply

avant-garde -- a quick read of some of your postings
tells me that you have varied and interesting content. I feel that is a good start to a writing project.

posted by gomedome on March 20, 2005 at 6:07 PM | link to this | reply

Gome, I've put together two books since I've been here, and am
working on three or four more as we speak.

posted by Ariala on March 20, 2005 at 6:03 PM | link to this | reply

good suggestion
you've given me an extra idea or two. thank you.

posted by avant-garde on March 20, 2005 at 6:01 PM | link to this | reply

Ariala -- I know you are busy with a lot of writing stuff

but you have more blog content than anyone here.  That written content is worth a lot more than I think you realize and has potential for a number of different markets. 

posted by gomedome on March 20, 2005 at 6:01 PM | link to this | reply

Gome, you made a "believer" out of me.

posted by Ariala on March 20, 2005 at 5:52 PM | link to this | reply