Go to The Reverend Kooka Speaks About Religious Bulls#!t
- Add a comment
- Go to WHAT DOES 'GOD' MEAN TO YOU?
Re: AardigeAfrikaner
Unfortunately I haven't read your earlier entries (the ones you have now reposted) before making the comment you refer to here. I have recently read up on Mao and also been following the current Red China efforts at suppressing religious groupings and ideologies contrary to their official stance (although this was supposedly becoming more tolerant it doesn't really seem to be) and that is how it came to be that I asked you the question at the end of my comment. Now I see more clearly were you stand. I wish more believers could be as tolerant and understanding of each other as many non-believers seem to be.
posted by
AardigeAfrikaner
on April 3, 2008 at 1:37 PM
| link to this | reply
kooka_lives - it was insane but there were other factors
I used to get a kick out of beating him like a rented mule and watch my blog rankings rise as a result. Also keep in mind that I had him blocked for about 75% of his 2 tenures here. But still, there is no rationalizing the absurd behaviour. The fact is that he ran a successful appraisal business and was the head of his state's association for that business for a number of years. That is why I concluded we were being had, it had to be all an act for two reasons; Reality would eat him alive as you say and there is no possible way he could function at his position in his chosen field being as clueless as he acted here.
posted by
gomedome
on April 2, 2008 at 10:38 AM
| link to this | reply
KaBooM62
It seems like it has been some time since I have gotten such a good chain of responses. I think we are getting some new blood here which helps.
posted by
kooka_lives
on April 2, 2008 at 9:23 AM
| link to this | reply
bluehands
Thank you for your comment
posted by
kooka_lives
on April 2, 2008 at 9:22 AM
| link to this | reply
Gomedome
I read the comments section you linked to and was trying to figure out how we could put up with such B.S. for so long. The amount of lies, twisting of words, denials and so on just was insane. That guy (Who shall remain unnamed because to name him summons him back as if he were some demon) had real issue. I will never understand how such a person could function in the real world. You would think he would get eaten alive by reality the moment he left his house.
posted by
kooka_lives
on April 2, 2008 at 9:20 AM
| link to this | reply
Taxguy
Thank you for expressing your beliefs in a polite and respectful manner here. You might be surprised at how many believers are unable to do such.
While I do not believe as you do and most likely never will, the basic questions you bring up are in truth valid for al people. It is just we each find a different way of searching for the answers.
posted by
kooka_lives
on April 2, 2008 at 9:15 AM
| link to this | reply
AardigeAfrikaner
I am a little puzzled as to why in your first comment here you talk about destruction, as that has nothing at all to do with this post in the least. I do not wish to destroy anything or anyone's beliefs and I really am wondering where anyone would get such an idea from reading this post. If anything I feel this post was about building up and reinforcing personal beliefs and not trivializing one's ideas of what 'God' is. I do believe everyone needs to have a better understanding of all the popular concepts of 'God' and even the not so popular ones and use that to figure out their beliefs for themselves.
I really think you fully misunderstood not only the underlining idea of the post, but my own beliefs. I would like to know where such a misunderstanding came from.
posted by
kooka_lives
on April 2, 2008 at 9:11 AM
| link to this | reply
MyrddinWyllt - reading the posts is not possible
Part of his ongoing denial strategy was to delete all of his posts every once in awhile. There are however a number of comment exchanges still on this server, such as this one: HERE Note that he changed his user name a few times making some of the comment exchanges a little confusing.
As for your request for negative feedback, I can understand why it went unanswered. It is the terminology. "Negative feedback" is not something that most people invite or are interested in exchanging. It sounds more like "constructive criticism" is what you are after. You may find that simply using a different term in your request might help.
posted by
gomedome
on April 1, 2008 at 9:43 PM
| link to this | reply
Re: MyrddinWyllt - I'm not sure what you are attempting to say
I wanted to find out who this blogger was so I can take a peek at his writings. Probably too late now. Other than that I'm just having fun commenting. Thanks for the thorough answer. I would actually appreciate some negative feedback on my blog and have even asked for that, but still nothing forthcoming in the comments. It always helps one to see where one has been unclear or ambivalent or simply wrong.
posted by
AardigeAfrikaner
on April 1, 2008 at 8:40 PM
| link to this | reply
Wow
Kooka, you got some of the longest responses I've ever seen!!!
posted by
KaBooM62
on April 1, 2008 at 6:51 PM
| link to this | reply
dish it and eat it too
When we give our opinion publicly we are inviting comment whether or not we see the comment as postive or negative. I think your ideas of God are intersting and yes religion is very internalized belief that is peronal. When anyone talks about God already "ourselves" takes a defnsive stance and as soon as an idea is different from "ours" we become argumentive. This is natural. As for condeming someone or converting them we shouldn't be judgemental and of course this takes great practise. Blog on because expression and exploration is healthy and wonderful. Remeber if you talk about a controversil subject there will always be drama with it.
posted by
thecryptkeeper
on April 1, 2008 at 11:27 AM
| link to this | reply
MyrddinWyllt - I'm not sure what you are attempting to say
When you begin your comment with: "You haven't met me . . .", it sounds like you are suggesting that you are a sicker puppy than the individual I describe in my comment. At the risk of sounding as if I am defending you, that is not possible. This man systematically harassed a handful of non believers on this site for over 3 years. He attempted to set up in-person meetings with a few bloggers off of Blogit for one on one proselytizing. He was completely obsessed with proving some lame idea he learned as a child in Sunday school that anyone not believing in God was evil, lacking in character, promoted all negative aspects of humanity and generally was a plague on society.
To do this he lied continually, misquoted, took our words out of context, obfuscated all dialogue and wrote scathing post after scathing post loaded with slander, fabrications and nonsense. All the while denying every transgression. When he almost got booted off this site for continuously making direct negative references to certain bloggers, he began a campaign of labeling and thinly veiled references. Eventually we realized that to completely ignore him was the best strategy, thankfully, he finally left Blogit.
The remarkable aspect of this man's behavior was that otherwise he was reasonably intelligent. He was one of the best writers on this site, (the few times he ever posted anything that was not attacking us). He also was the owner of a successful business but it is fair to say that his religious beliefs acted as a debilitating cloud of confusion on his intellect. To utilize lies in proving that someone cannot be trusted is a little ironic.
posted by
gomedome
on April 1, 2008 at 4:40 AM
| link to this | reply
Re: kooka_lives - I remember that episode all too well
You haven't met me (I'm not referring to our previous blogit encounters) or any other proponent of my version of God yet. From a rational point of view we are completely upside down inside out and you being a campfighter for rationality will probably disagree with almost anything I say when it comes to religion.
posted by
AardigeAfrikaner
on April 1, 2008 at 2:58 AM
| link to this | reply
kooka_lives - I remember that episode all too well
It was nothing more than shallow deception which was insulting to most normal people's intelligence. Anyone not endorsing his newly named God, which he insisted represented all of the worthy ideals mankind should strive to achieve, was branded as a proponent of being against those ideals. What a sick puppy that guy was, an otherwise relatively intelligent person rendered mentally incompetent by an obsession to prove that all persons who do not believe in his God are lesser people. I can honestly say that I have never met anyone more screwed up by their beliefs in my entire life than that guy.
posted by
gomedome
on March 31, 2008 at 5:34 PM
| link to this | reply
God, Indeed
Being a Mormon, I beleive the Bible is a real account of deity and provides the truth of our existance. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also believes in the Book of Mormon and assorted other publications to be part of the Gospel.
I am a convert to the church and have had mixed feelings about faith since youth. I have often seen those claiming to be Christian act in very wicked ways. The use of God in their vocabulary was a way to justify actions and to promote some sort of "special club" for chosen ones. I once was not believing in God but have come upon some interesting things in my studies and pondering of religious principals.
The earth is a very small part of a vast space beyond my belief. What else must dwell in the great beyond? Being a human, it is natural for me to question what I cannot see and to rationalize what doesn't make sense. I enjoy thinking long and hard about these kinds of things and can rationalize many things through faith. For example, I can understand and rationalize the theory of evolution but have struggled with the concept of personalities. The bones and flesh I get, but what makes up our spirit, will, and disposition? This seems more readily explained to me by the existance of God and a concept that we Mormons are quite familiar with; free agency. Free agency explains how spirits are brought down from heaven to dwell in human form on earth to be tested for worthiness to dwell in heaven forever. Every person on earth is believed to have sided with God in the battle of heaven involving Satan. Satan and his followers were cast out and were not given the gift of human form. They then begin to influence the spirits possessing human bodies to thwart their return to dwell in heaven. God allows His followers to make choices for themselves facing whatever evil is about. Even the most wicked of humans were once religious souls in heaven due to the fact they have human bodies. This has changed my view of people forever. Rather than being critical, I realize my short comings and hold compassion for others and worry for them.
God means something very special to me. I am a calm being and tolerant of others but I appreciate the fact that each person's realtionship with God is unique. This true in our families here on earth. Every family member is a little different and has his or her own sets of talents, passions, and personalities. My hope is that others feel this strong bond.
posted by
taxguy
on March 31, 2008 at 3:10 PM
| link to this | reply
The concepts, and actions dependent on them, that some (a very large percentage) people have in mind when they talk about and think "God" is downright dangerous and poses a real threat to society at large. All the inquisitions and conquests and holy wars were real events in what you perceive to be real life, which would make them real events in what I perceive to be God from what I understand people like Moses and Jesus and many other biblical and non-biblical characters like Plato etc, etc were trying to convey to the people around them. Given, my understanding of what the word God pointed to when used by these ancient and more recent writers and teachers differs from your understanding of what you think they were on about. The dangerous ideas and actions that threaten you and me and every other living organism on this planet will not "go away" if you simply deny the value of the word as you think others understand it. People who attach the kind of meaning to it that gives them the impetus to destroy others like you or me, although our approach to this word differs vastly, are not going to care what you say to them if you simply attack their approach and insult their intelligence. Just as you seem convinced that it is a senseless pursuit to talk about and teach about the word God and what it points to as represented by many live traditions today, I am convinced that it is absolutely crucial to bring out the meaning I find this word to have. My approach is one of synthesis and yours seems to me to be one of destruction. Destruction is never a constructive event for society as a whole if not balanced by a "building up" of something meaningful in the place of what gets broken down. You may not have a religious inclination similar to that of the multitude of people who still engage in the kind of religious activity you hold to be BS, but it is a human trait (and scientific fact) that there are millions of humans to whom their religion is the very core of their lives in terms of its meaning giving value. Don't forget that the world of humans are not only represented by people living in the "free west". If you only wish to destroy ideologies contrary to your own, you are a good friend of Mao and would fit right in with the ideals of Red China under his rule that cost the chinese millions in lives to become "free" from the religious ideas you find so abhorrent. I may be wrong about you, am I?
posted by
AardigeAfrikaner
on March 31, 2008 at 2:11 PM
| link to this | reply