weed isn't harmless....

right, and there have been a whole hell of a lot of sects of christianity that didn't believe in free will. ever heard of predestination? the puritans believed that people, no matter what they did, were determined at birth as to whether they would be damned for eternity or were to go to heaven. that doesn't sound like free will to me.

and a lot of christians think that god knows everything that you do and are going to do. if god knows all, and knows what you are going to do, how is there free will?

 

the european domination of the middle east in the early 20th century, and the creation of Isreal, a country which was implemented and forced upon Arab nations with no justification and using brute force, and has no right to exist.

 

okay, and why does european "domination" of the middle east in the early 19th century reflect upon the united states now? and i agree about israel, but it really has nothing to do with the conflict right now. its its own story altogether.

 

We go in there, destroy their government, economy, and social order and they need a reason to fight back? And please do not call them Islamic extremists, such violence is strictly prohibited in Islam, they are not true Muslims.

It's their choice to believe what they're told. I have literally dozens of either athiest or agnostic friends who grew up in strong Christian families, so yes, they absolutely do have a conscious choice.

 

And you see these people praying and automatically assume they're extremists? But then again you would, you saw it from the media. Prayer five times a day is part of all sects of Islam, thank you for stereotyping every single Muslim alive as being a terrorist. If you haven't already figured out that the media is attempting to brainwash those ignorant enough to believe everything it says then you'd better figure it out quick. The media doesn't differentiate Sunni from Shi'a, it doesn't expose the raping of innocent women by US soldiers, it shows a video of a typical prayer and immediately labels them as terrorists. I was watching an interview of one top leaders of the war in Iraq, you know he didn't even know the difference between a Sunni and a Shi'a?

 

well what should i call the people that carried out the spanish inquisition? that type of violence is not truly christian or catholic, but they were catholics. And no, i totally agree, its complete bullshit that we went in and destroyed their gov and social order and all that, but the thing is that its gotten to a point where it isn't an us and them thing anymore. there are us troops, there are sunis, there are shiites, and the whole thing is a clusterfuck. i hate what we did to their country like crazy. its nation building, and forcing a system of government on a group of people is just assanine.

and i would say, congrats to you friends on their personal spiritual journey, but i feel that they are more of an exception than the rule. how many right wing conservative religious zealots that hate gays, jews, blacks and anyone that isn't them do you think we would have if they weren't influenced by their parents and their environment?

 

If you were dominated by the French throughout the end of a century, then the French went and gave your home, your entire coutry, away to a bunch of Christians, then the French came back and destroyed your government and social order, you wouldn't be fucking pissed?

 

okay, i agree, america fucked up iraq big time. but my remark about the prayer and all that was in response to the comment that saying that some of it was about religiong was fucking stupid, and it isn't. obviously if religion is that big of a part of someones life, it is going to play a part in almost every aspect of that persons life. and this war is not an exception. of course i dont consider everyone praying an extremist, that would ignorant and foolish, but i do realize that a lot of those that are extremists base their war off of is their interpretation of the qur'an

 

of course, but thats the FRENCH. not the us. i am in no way saying that i agree with the war. i in no way do. i disagree with all aspects of it.

 

Yes, they're upbringing obviously has its effects, but it's still no one's decision but their own. They have minds capable of forming decisions and deciding right from wrong, if they want to believe what they're told it's their fault, not religion's.

And if we agree about the war in Iraq, what exactly are we debating? Man I'm stoned..

 

and im drunk. i completely lost track. Friends?

 

Haha ya.
Man, I thought you were the one saying religion was stupid and I thought you were for the war, my bad.:&

 

nah dude, like, religion definately has its ups and downs. it can do a lot of good, but can cause a lot of problems too. but i DEFINATLEY not pro war. america has fucked up BIG time

 

i've considered islam

 

http://www.depersonalization.info/overview.html

There's one potential ill-effect of marijuana. I've had the condition for as long as I can remember (i.e. I've long since come to terms with its symptoms) but I can see how the sudden onset of it midway through life would be...well, horrifying.

On a sidenote, being able to channel the altered perceptions that the condition arouses can be useful (and even inspiring) in a number of capacities. Moreover, 'D-People' feel and understand things that the vast majority of people can't even comprehend. So we have that going for us...

 

1. hence why i said "the west", collectively.

2. and yes, it has a LOT to do with the conflict right now.

and i only mentioned 2 points. do some reasearch mate. you'll easily find enough appalling actions carried out by western countries that are enough to aggravate a politically-motivated (not religion-motivated, thats a front) movement.

 

alright dude, i know that the US and the west have fucked with the middle east a lot. they fucked it up pretty bad. doing stuff they had absolutely no right to do. all saying is that, front or not, discrediting religions role in the war is ridiculous

 

You're such a pushover.

 

who, exactly?

 

i'm not "discrediting" it, i'm saying it is an excuse, a moral justification for violence.

however the fundamental reason lies with politics, both in the past and continuing. our attitude towards the middle east needs to change if we really hope for a peaceful solution.