VonNoble

Thank you. Namaste, von

Well just so I can understand.... why did Jesus speak in parables? I do not get this at all. For non- Christians this is really confusing (and maybe in Christian world it is so unimportant it is a silly question)..... but why not just say it directly and eliminate the guesswork? If God intended for all believers to set an example ..... a good enough example that the Agape love of Christians ..... as THE WAY.... the truth etc..... I just don’t get why the message is so confusing.... If we want people to be wary of evil.... then why not call evildoers our by name? In the book. Why not list the bad guys by name? Why so complicated we need people to interpret it for us? How do you get to “ know God” if you have to have a middle man constantly helping you? And how do I know this middle man is getting it right?... cuz that others dudes over there....with the same exact book.... tells me he is more right? it seems God has a bunch of free agents? I do not mean that in a problematic way. If God exists .... I have met some great human beings who served as ambassadors for generosity, and forgiveness and kindness..... operating wearing his uniform....but they taught by offering unconditional goodness even when others did not deserve it at all. Hiw does someone trust the message of the messenger with so much conflict in the process? why doesn’t God just assign one clear to understand spokesperson? I sort of thought that was the job of Jesus. But there isn’t much agreement amongst the zillion offshoots of Christian to get s clear consensus. Sorry if any any of this is somehow offensive. I REALLY AM just trying to understand. von

Oops....equivocation....sorry just notice I really messed up the spelling above....oops, oops, oops.... von

PastorDave1974, Thank you for the prompt and equvication free explanation von

I am following to the point the Scriptures quoted ....could be (and probably are)...facts to believers. No issue there. and thx for your patience with the next bit.... After paragraph #4....isni’t the next bit an interpretation? The Bible does not actually SAY it is referencing the Catholic Church does it? once we enter the illusive world of interpretation.... facts cease to exist, no?otherwise all people using the same book would come to the same conclusion wouldn’t they? This is has always puzzled me. If the book book is the authority and they mean Catholics... why not just say so? That lapse of understanding maybe reflects more about my inability ....than it reflects on anything else. Maybe I just don’t get it. Or haven’t so far. thx von

You certainly hit it right! I got a good laugh at the retort.... And “no” the grade is not an issue.... although I am about a whisker away from apply for regular admission (which will add this class to my GPA).... again not a problem. Thanks to help from the Forum.... I am doing okay. I did a note to self that wasn’t the best teaching technique I have ever seen. Too.... I have off days as well. i was happy to see your response.... made mine feel normal enough von

BRAVO! I appreciate the inclusive approach. Universality....commonality....good ways to promote conversation, dialogue & understanding.... thx! von

Interestingly enough...I have never been able to come up with an example wherein I failed to receive if I give. Maybe there is such a thing thing but I have yet to pin it down. If so, that is consistent with or without church/religious affiliation. Pastor Dave thanks for turning on the think motor von

All of this recently confirmed in my Philosophy class. When asked by I would help someone in a hypothetical situation I replied because I would feel good if I help them. WOW! Did my professor go nuts....sort of accosting me that to come to (that one sentence on the fly answer) - I probably am a believer in Ego Ethics. This being my very first Philosophy class of my life - I had not clue what she was referencing (I didn't know we had types of ethics)...I sort of thought it was like a standard where everyone either joined in or didn't. THAT was wrong and apparently in her view I stepped in a cow pie patch remotely listing any thing affiliated with Ego Ethics as it is a "no no" concept in her world. After coming home to check and see if that was anything I wanted associated with me (I felt by her reaction I must be a borderline Psychopath) ....it did not seem all that extreme to me. Some of it fit. All of which is to say - upon my crossing over inadvertently into WHY people do good - how they come to be moral...I discovered every suggestion you made had proponents and opponents. Additionally, I found some stuff on line later that day from Richard Dawkins noting that we are moral for the same reason we biologically develop other tendencies. All interesting stuff. von

How critical is a sense of humor in your life? Is it one of the essential top three traits necessary for balance? If not, does it make the top 5? The top 10? von PS.... I would likely put it in the top three. Maybe when I see other opinions I will realize I forgot something... that might bump it lower..... but I am starting with it in the # 3 position.

von

I agree with you in general principle. I think it is GOOD for me to look at things from multiple perspectives....and often try to do that. Good approach. In this instance we were in a class.....with more than 50 participants trying to collectively agree on solutions ....racing the clock for points. SOoooooo when we take a vote and are ready to move on then someone slows down the process it does become a bit tedious. A few of us suspected in large part after a few rounds of trying it was (from the teacher's perspective) more about causing us to work as a group - weed out the easy stuff and dig a bit....if we did that for a bit - we sort of concluded we MIGHT be permitted to move on and finish for max points. We will never know - but there was serious speculation that it was an exercise in group dynamics as much as Philosophy as in reality Philosophy has very few absolutes. But again - in general life (outside of the classroom drill) - I would agree with you! Thanks for posting. von

Actually it seems you are correct. Most people cannot read a book while dreaming - apparently it affects the right side of your brain...you also cannot count on your fingers (for some reason they are missing a digit or two or are somehow deformed) and you do not actually speak...in your dream your language skills are messed up - - - - you communicate in the dream just fine as if you were talking but you don't "hear" yourself talk. It is more some sort of telepathy. I am glad you brought it up - it was interesting. Of course research indicates this is not 100% conclusive as nothing ever is - but it is VERY widely true. thx von

Is that for real? I M gullible enough to believe it. If it’s for real the team will love it as I suspect we will see this one (Matrix) again as one of the ones not solved by the class (like extra credit on a quiz).... von

..at least I saw the movie and “got that” .........AND enjoyed it thx von

...our class never reached a majority with most voting undecided. NOT because they could not decide.... they were stumped on how to verify/prove it. von

Dan56, I REALLY appreciate your humor. I am glad I am taking ONE class to get an overview. I can appreciate the process used has worth. However, there are plenty of frustrations in this learning process! Not just the topic but too - the TEAM APPROACH to all aspects of this class. It doesn’t make it wrong... but the process of my success being linked ....to what others do in terms of my grade is new to me. There ARE moments where I can see “the others” have carried me when I was slow to grasp material. So so that is good I guess. i know I am not likely to take another Philosophy class. The value of it all in my view is fairly narrow. I KNOW that Philosophers want it to be more. I know my professor would argue re: the EXTREME value of this line of study. It would see since the time of the ancients it has not yet been deemed to be elevated as a popular field of study.... so it is not valued as much as Philosophers think it ought to be... Then again we are only mid-way thru the introduction....maybe that will change. Like you I had...and continue to have doubts but figure I need to take AT LEAST ONE class to get a feel for it. Too early to make a final determination... the half way point keeping an open mind is harder than week one ... that’s for sure.... I have to WORK to see the value... von

The class (over 50 people) had to work together and reach a majority opinion to get through ten “problems” it was an earn extra credit exercise.... the number of points we earned was based on how many of the ten we could “solve” to the professor’s satisfaction. The very last one .....the one we never got to.... was I know God exists....had we reached it I don’t think we would have completed the list then either As it was - we completed only enough to snag 12 points each for the days efforts (frankly we were happy to get that much).... The last one we worked on... I know I am not living on the matrix... von

This is where the class opted to “stick the landing” ....and we got a green light to move to the next (and last problem we were able to complete).... von

Love this....wish you had been there to help us....NONE IF US thought if that... you geta gold star von

True or false I know that the Earth is spherical (not flat.)

I am happy to learn a bit more into that view of things. Until yesterday I am not sure I ever thought about how that must be..... thx von

You are correct....that was the ONKY one we did not dissect over and over and over... von

Sort of depends on your priorities at the moment doesn’t it? von

I’ll take your word for that