My take? The devil is lazy. Lu hasn't sent up a team of engineers to fix the problem... then he just doesn't care that there is a huge gate to hell right there in the middle of Uzbekistan.

McCain??? Sheeeeee--him just wants to be scufflin' and fightin' and shidz. Bomb, bomb, bomb, fight, fight, fight--the Johnny McNasty Show!! How about when he says he'll follow bin Laden to the gates of hell, then smiles that wacko smile and laughs that weird old-man laugh. We don't need an angry, crazy old guy for president. Can you imagine him pulling up his pants and tugging at his suspenders and stomping his feet, yelling at all those kids to get off the White House lawn during the Easter Egg hunt?

Make sure to take the time to see his full response, because he launched from there into "...and I'll follow Osama bin Laden to the Gates of Hell"

To which I have a nice counter: The Gates of Hell? Sure, but not into Pakistan.

I would up vote this... but I have to keep a decent karma going here.

HAHAHA FOOLED YOU! Ill see you all at the gates of hell, because for this .. we are all going there.

also check this out

Yes, that is a very good quote from Jesus, and he far exceeded anyone else in moral standards at that time, and some of the universal stuff still apply to this day, which is why I said he truly represent one of the all-time greatest moral philosophers. However, even with these glimpses of absolute brilliance, its not a good idea to leave it up to Jesus or the Bible to determine our moral standards. What I would suggest, that I think Dawkins would agree with, is that our morals should be based on a 21st century debate on the issue, with 21st century knowledge as our basis, that we can move on from religious dogma, and find better, more reasonable moral foundations. If we scrapped the bible and went by todays thought and heart, we simply wouldnt have all these ridiculous issues we are currently struggling with, issues that an enlightened 21st century view would render a non-issue. IE: Should we promote condom use, or let half a continent die from AIDS? Should we be allowed to destroy a 150-celled* blastocyst to save the lives of thousands of suffering children? Did God give certain middle-eastern real-estate to the jews or to the arabs? Ok, that'd still be an issue probably, but you get my point.

Also the most devouted Christians doesnt seem to have a problem breaking away from these Jesus-rules, Which suggests to me, that instead if we had similar concepts, developed in todays standards, with firm logic and modern reasoning, backing by studies etc, would possibly enable us to truly develop new standards of morality, perhaps allow us to be more conscious about our moral philosophy, and the direction it might take us.

*For reference, the brain of a fly has 100.000 cells.



In reply to your comment:
“What Jesus said was "You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

You're right. It's easy to love your neighbor. Jesus took it a step further, however. "Love your enemies." That's big time. It's a huge stretch for people. My point was, even though that was proposed 2,000 years ago, we aren't there yet. Is that what Dawkins is proposing? That we love our enemies? I don't think we are as advanced as he wishes we were.

Sc



In reply to your comment:
“Well, Jesus never condemned slavery, and said the homophobic, racist, sexist, genocidal laws of the old testament should be followed through to the last word. So when he says stuff like "Love thy neighbor" he really means only other jews and people who fully embrace the scriptures.

However, he is still among the greatest moral philosophers of all time, because we have to remember that he lived in a very tribal, small and dangerous world. Jesus didnt know, for instance, what the world map looked like. A random 10 year old today knows more about how the world works than Jesus ever did.

We are having conversations here literally over distances Jesus didnt even know about, across seas and continents that for all he knew could lead to the gates of hell if he traveled far enough. We no longer see "the far east" as some distant, far-off abyss we've never been to, instead, we are more likely to have Japanese friends on facebook. It goes without saying that our ability to see this planet as one, small speck in the midst of a gigantic universe, changes our perspective radically, this kind of knowledge and leap in communication accounts for the rapid movement of the moral zeitgeist for the last couple of hundred years. ””

What Jesus said was "You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

You're right. It's easy to love your neighbor. Jesus took it a step further, however. "Love your enemies." That's big time. It's a huge stretch for people. My point was, even though that was proposed 2,000 years ago, we aren't there yet. Is that what Dawkins is proposing? That we love our enemies? I don't think we are as advanced as he wishes we were.

Sc



In reply to your comment:
“Well, Jesus never condemned slavery, and said the homophobic, racist, sexist, genocidal laws of the old testament should be followed through to the last word. So when he says stuff like "Love thy neighbor" he really means only other jews and people who fully embrace the scriptures.

However, he is still among the greatest moral philosophers of all time, because we have to remember that he lived in a very tribal, small and dangerous world. Jesus didnt know, for instance, what the world map looked like. A random 10 year old today knows more about how the world works than Jesus ever did.

We are having conversations here literally over distances Jesus didnt even know about, across seas and continents that for all he knew could lead to the gates of hell if he traveled far enough. We no longer see "the far east" as some distant, far-off abyss we've never been to, instead, we are more likely to have Japanese friends on facebook. It goes without saying that our ability to see this planet as one, small speck in the midst of a gigantic universe, changes our perspective radically, this kind of knowledge and leap in communication accounts for the rapid movement of the moral zeitgeist for the last couple of hundred years. ”

Well, Jesus never condemned slavery, and said the homophobic, racist, sexist, genocidal laws of the old testament should be followed through to the last word. So when he says stuff like "Love thy neighbor" he really means only other jews and people who fully embrace the scriptures.

However, he is still among the greatest moral philosophers of all time, because we have to remember that he lived in a very tribal, small and dangerous world. Jesus didnt know, for instance, what the world map looked like. A random 10 year old today knows more about how the world works than Jesus ever did.

We are having conversations here literally over distances Jesus didnt even know about, across seas and continents that for all he knew could lead to the gates of hell if he traveled far enough. We no longer see "the far east" as some distant, far-off abyss we've never been to, instead, we are more likely to have Japanese friends on facebook. It goes without saying that our ability to see this planet as one, small speck in the midst of a gigantic universe, changes our perspective radically, this kind of knowledge and leap in communication accounts for the rapid movement of the moral zeitgeist for the last couple of hundred years.