TheCheshireCat

I have yet to see anyone mention Mike Leach. Offensive genius who is working at Washington State. I have to think he would be interested if the opportunity arose.

The ironic thing is someone close to him actually did die, and yet he faked a death to get sympathy and publicity.

experiencing a warm gentle massage with fifty delicate yet strong fingers deftly running across my spine with an orgasmic, almost transcendental effect.

Case in point about no flow.

irrefutable evidence that religion has been one of the primary engines that run the machinery of war

Agreed. However, I could make the same argument for money or holding a position of power. Do you have a moral stance against money as well?

And further, the death toll for WWII was around 49 million. Cause: one man's personal philosophy and us-vs.-them ideology. Since you mentioned the crusades, the estimated death toll for the first crusade on Jerusalem was 40,000. Hm. I agree fully that religion can lead to large death tolls, but so can a non-religious philosophy. So can greed for money or power. If you have a moral stance against high death tolls, get some perspective and see that religion is just one slice of the pie.

I am proposing that we condemn the philosophies which divide us, and embrace schools of thought that unify humanity under one banner in the aim of making this world better for everyone, not just those who share your religious predilections

So you're criticizing religions for only caring for just those "who share...religious predilections" and yet you would like to condemn those philosophies that "divide us." Said differently, you want to get rid of any form of thought that opposes yours... wow. And you also propose we embrace schools of thought that unify humanity under one banner. Okay Hitler. Whose banner? Yours? The people who think like you do? Your propositions are laughable. You are no different than the zealous religious people you criticize. You despise someone who doesn't think like you do, you propose that we get rid of any mode of thought that doesn't fit your definition of unity. That is the exact same thing, just at the other end of the spectrum. Congratulations.

open mind in terms of legitimately considering another perspective outside of the one you rigidly subscribe to

you don't even see the other side of the argument. Your coin has one face, your perception one narrow tunnel of light through which a limited number of ideas may be illuminated for your appraisal.

followed by:

And there is nothing you could offer me that would dissuade me from believing in the merit of that goal.

The icing on the cake, and just another example of how you are no different from other narrow-minded fanatics, religious or otherwise.

1. Tim Tebow has never said you were going to hell and suffer if you don't believe what he does.

 

2. Tebow blew through his $2.5 million signing bonus on various worldwide charity organizations focusing on famine, education and home-building in 24 hours last year.

 

If you don't like Christianity that's fine you don't have to, but to say he isn't a GREAT kid that helps people and doesn't just talk about it but goes out and walks his talks --your a fool.

1.) That's inherently woven into his belief system, as his missionary work attests to. Proselytizing to "save" by influencing and persuading with an attached message of "or else."

 

2.) That's great. It would be even better if that selfless giving wasn't coupled with an omnipresent pursuit of manipulating the mindset of other human beings. Which brings under scrutiny that idea of "selfless." Was it done simply to help those in need, or to propagate what he himself holds up as his primary objective?

 

A little advice: If you're going to call someone a fool, you're going to want to make sure you articulate yourself properly. I don't own anything called "a fool." Thanks for your thoughts, though

 

(Any time anyone wants to move this discussion to the proper forum I'll be happy to take it up there. I'd let it go, but I'm not going to let a derogatory comment about my intelligence go unanswered.)

I'm just going to play Devil's Advocate here. First off, your rebuttals are like wading through mud. Stringing a bunch of big words together doesn't make your point any more valid or make you seem any more intelligent, especially when the writing has no flow whatsoever.

1. Again, you're making a broad assumption based on your perception of a certain belief system. People don't necessarily believe every single aspect of a philosophy, religion, etc. And if he hasn't come out directly and said so (as you've admitted), you're criticizing him for what exactly... thinking it? So... you essentially dislike a certain individual based on what he thinks/believes. Hm. I'll let you figure out where I'm going with that point, since you're good at reading minds.

2. Awkward phrase aside, this is one point I do not understand. First, I don't get the idea that Tebow is trying to manipulate anyone. He's worn his beliefs on his sleeve, that's for sure, and it gets a lot of media attention, but that means he's being manipulative? Second, if we're going to call that manipulative, show me someone who isn't manipulative? Walk into any lecture hall in any University, any board room in any business or campaign office, etc. and tell me they're not trying to "manipulate" you too. Guess what? No matter what philosophy you subscribe to, people are trying to change your mind about anything and everything, all the time. About the latest science findings, about what to buy, about who to vote for... I could list off for hours. If you were that adamant about not being persuaded or manipulated, you wouldn't be happy with anything or anyone. Everyone pushes their own agenda in one way or another, don't be naive.

And reading your above posts, I find it funny when people bash religion for being corrupt, for being a primary factor in the cause of millions of deaths, etc. Are these things true? Absolutely. But businesses are corrupt, politics are corrupt, and so is just about any other institution you can think of. And all of them have led to many deaths at certain times. Philosophy itself is guilty of everything you're accusing religion of. Hitler had a philosophy too, and look at how many deaths that led to (Yes, Hitler by default was Christian, but let's be honest here, he had his own twisted sense of morality, justice, and idealism and claimed Germany as the only God). So did Stalin, who claimed that religion was a drug that blinded the masses. Again, millions of deaths. Are you then proposing that we condemn philosophy because people can abuse it? Should we abandon business, government, etc. because they can be corrupted?

Like anything else, none of these is inherently corrupt or evil. It's the people who abuse them that are - it comes down to human nature. That same human nature can be used to do incredible acts of good. Philosophy, religion, etc. has been used by people like Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, and many others to do incredible and beautiful things. There are two edges to the sword, and it depends on who wields it.

That's my rant. So get real - the kid does his best to better his life and the lives of others and he "sticks to his guns" just like you do. When there are people like Stalin, or people who rape and murder and shoot up schools and office buildings, criticizing someone who isn't hurting anyone - whether you agree with him or not - is f'ing ridiculous. Get off your intellectual, pompous high horse and open your eyes.

Meyer is a great coach, and Hoke looks to be on the right path, but that's no reason to think we're sunk. In fact, I am encouraged by it. Part of the reason I believe SEC teams do so well (besides a lot of good athletes, which is undeniable), is that they play such a rigorous and competitive schedule. If you have Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State as being above average to elite teams every year, that is some serious competition year in and year out. Our players might take a beating their first two years, but by the time they're older, they are battle-tested and that much better for it. You get better by continually playing good opponents. I think the strengthening of our conference will only help Nebraska in the long run.

Sadly if we play any team in the top 25 chalk up another L in our bowl game, and Iowa will give us as much as we can handle...and they are not that good either.

 

OH MY GOD. 6 hours ago people were talking about getting a win against Michigan possibly bcs bowl. Now we're gonna lose out and cant compete with top 25 teams? Get a grip.

To be fair, something significant happened in between then and now: we got manhandled by a quarterback who has thrown 14 interceptions this year, averages only 45 yards rushing per game, and a defense that just came off probably the worst year of the program in the past half century.

We have the talent. We are not developing it properly. And if anyone tries to argue that, think about the mostly mistake-free, disciplined, organized football you see out of FAR lesser schools because coaches know how to instill technique. Teams like Iowa State, Stanford, etc. They have nowhere near the overall talent, and yet they do not commit the turnovers or penalties we do. There are so many lesser programs that play crisp football that it makes me sick.

Brion isn't going to win the game, he will just be another QB getting knocked around.

It's not about winning. It's about showing the starters that they will not be allowed to play if they don't perform. It's about giving other guys a chance. It's about giving experience to backups.

Martinez plays DECENTLY when all else is going well. When we're in a hole, or need a fast score, etc., he reverts back to old form.

I really do think it was mostly the offense. Our time of possession puts an unfair amount of burden on the defense. That... and Thorell/Cassidy.

I honestly think it's our offense/special teams and not really our defense. We've held the ball for 14 minutes?! What the f#*k? Put in Carnes and the freshman, get them some game experience, it honestly can't get any worse.

Marlowe, go f#*k yourself.

Hoke and his staff out-coached Bo and his.

Probably because Hoke hired the best men available, not just guys he played dickgrab with back in middle school.

That chance for a comeback died when that moron ran into the punter. There won't be another. Dennard Robinson looks like a Peyton Manning/Michael Vick hybrid against our sh**ty defense. And our offense has returned to 2009 form. Year 4 basically the same as Year 1 - swimming in mediocrity.

Did Bo call a punt block or was that just the player's fault? Because if Bo called that, it was incredibly stupid with the undisciplined way we've been playing.

Who the f#*k was that guy and why was he put into such an important assignment? Unbelievable.

I would honestly take Paul Rhodes at this point straight up for Pelini Bros. He does way more with less talent. Maybe if our damn offense could convert a frickin third down it would take some of the pressure off our sh**ty defense. Dominated on both sides of the ball by a team that was one of the worst in the nation last year on defense and has a quarterback that has averaged 47 yards rushing a game and has 14 interceptions on the year. Way to prepare dips$&ts.

LOL. The one time he should have run when there's a big lane, he throws it.

We cannot play any team that has a mobile QB. Doesn't matter how sh**ty that team is, doesn't matter how many picks their quarterback throws, doesn't even matter if the starter goes down and a backup mobile QB comes in. We played like sh#t and will probably be 8-4 after next Friday. Pathetic.

LOL this game is amotherf'ng joke. I have never seen us play so sh**ty.

We are f'ing done.

Quarterback draw how many times has he f'ing pulled that off successfully for f#*k sake.

Why do we go from one game playing well to taking a big sh#t on the bed the next? This sh#t has been going on for years.

Why the f#*k is thorell in? They target him because they know he's awful. Why the f#*k is he in the game? Pelini looks more and more like a dumbass every time he starts these guys. We have better players.

Good Game.