Gender of God, and other piano-realted stuff - ENOUGH ALREADY

[Wayne M. Williams]

We could all do with a little fear of God in this overly permissive 
culture(which, by the way, is going down the tubes just like Rome and other 
past civilizations)

Wayne
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Geoff Sykes" <thetuner at ivories52.com>
To: <tune4u at earthlink.net>; "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 4:10 PM
Subject: RE: Gender of God, and other piano-realted stuff - ENOUGH ALREADY


>: Prophet (American Heritage Dictionary): The chief spokesperson of a
> movement or cause.
>
> : Apostle (American Heritage Dictionary): A passionate adherent; a strong
> supporter.
>
> : Gospel (WordNet, Princeton University): The written body of teachings of 
> a
> (religious) group that are generally accepted by that group.
>
> OK, so I got a little picky in the definitions that I chose. But that 
> said,
> and while agreeing that, (depending upon what the definition of "is" is),
> "God" "is", let's see if we can make this just that much sillier! Here's 
> the
> testimony that I received:
>
> "Christians use Hell to scare people into believing what they believe. But
> to believe in something just because you're afraid of the consequences if
> you don't believe in something is no reason to believe in something."
> -- Homer Simpson
>
>
> And then ---
> Asked by Bart what his religious beliefs are, Homer answers, "You know, 
> the
> one with all the well-meaning rules that don't work in real life. Uh,
> Christianity."
>
>
> No one would mistake Homer Simpson and his family for saints. In many 
> ways,
> in fact, they are quintessentially weak, good-hearted sinners who rely on
> their faith -- but only when absolutely necessary.
> -- Michael Medved
>
>
> "(The Simpsons) have captured a very common understanding of who God is,"
> said Glodo, of Reformed Theological Seminary. "It's a very functional view
> of religion."
>
>
>
>
> And with that, I'm running for cover.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Alan Barnard
> Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 12:15 PM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: RE: Gender of God, and other piano-realted stuff - ENOUGH ALREADY
>
>
> God ... the ultimate inconvenient, yet absolute, truth.
>
> How on earth did this silly thread get started? Why am I perpetuating it
> even one more keystroke?
>
> Oh yeah, to declare out of necessity a portion of my resolute testimony: 
> God
> IS. You have the testimony of prophets and apostles from Adam to the 
> present
> day and you have the absolute right and capability to receive your own
> testimony.
>
> Don't let fear stop you.
>
> Alan Barnard
> Salem, Missouri
>
> P.S. If this post offends anyone, they have my sympathy.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Geoff Sykes
> To: Pianotech List
> Sent: 06/19/2006 12:44:09 PM
> Subject: RE: Gender of God, and other piano-realted stuff - ENOUGH ALREADY
>
>
> Let's lighten up, people. If you can't follow George's proposed new third
> commandment, (see end of article), then please take this conversation to a
> forum where it is appropriate. May I suggest the following Google search:
> http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=god+male+female
>
> =====================================
>
> GEORGE CARLIN ON THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
> from "Complaints and Grievances" (HBO special)
>
> Here is my problem with the ten commandments- why exactly are there 10?
>
> You simply do not need ten. The list of ten commandments was artificially
> and deliberately inflated to get it up to ten. Here's what happened:
>
> About 5,000 years ago a bunch of religious and political hustlers got
> together to try to figure out how to control people and keep them in line.
> They knew people were basically stupid and would believe anything they 
> were
> told, so they announced that God had given them some commandments, up on a
> mountain, when no one was around.
>
> Well let me ask you this- when they were making this s**t up, why did they
> pick 10? Why not 9 or 11? I'll tell you why- because 10 sounds official. 
> Ten
> sounds important! Ten is the basis for the decimal system, it's a decade,
> it's a psychologically satisfying number (the top ten, the ten most 
> wanted,
> the ten best dressed). So having ten commandments was really a marketing
> decision! It is clearly a b******t list. It's a political document
> artificially inflated to sell better. I will now show you how you can 
> reduce
> the number of commandments and come up with a list that's a little more
> workable and logical. I am going to use the Roman Catholic version because
> those were the ones I was taught as a little boy.
>
> Let's start with the first three:
>
> I AM THE LORD THY GOD THOU SHALT NOT HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME
>
> THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN
>
> THOU SHALT KEEP HOLY THE SABBATH
>
> Right off the bat the first three are pure b******t. Sabbath day? Lord's
> name? strange gods? Spooky language! Designed to scare and control 
> primitive
> people. In no way does superstitious nonsense like this apply to the lives
> of intelligent civilized humans in the 21st century. So now we're down to 
> 7.
> Next:
>
> HONOR THY FATHER AND MOTHER
>
> Obedience, respect for authority. Just another name for controlling 
> people.
> The truth is that obedience and respect shouldn't be automatic. They 
> should
> be earned and based on the parent's performance. Some parents deserve
> respect, but most of them don't, period. You're down to six.
>
> Now in the interest of logic, something religion is very uncomfortable 
> with,
> we're going to jump around the list a little bit.
>
> THOU SHALT NOT STEAL
>
> THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS
>
> Stealing and lying. Well actually, these two both prohibit the same kind 
> of
> behavior- dishonesty. So you don't really need two you combine them and 
> call
> the commandment "thou shalt not be dishonest". And suddenly you're down to
> 5.
>
> And as long as we're combining I have two others that belong together:
>
> THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY
>
> THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR'S WIFE
>
> Once again, these two prohibit the same type of behavior. In this case it 
> is
> marital infidelity. The difference is- coveting takes place in the mind. 
> But
> I don't think you should outlaw fantasizing about someone else's wife
> because what is a guy gonna think about when he's waxing his carrot? But,
> marital infidelity is a good idea so we're gonna keep this one and call it
> "thou shalt not be unfaithful". And suddenly we're down to four.
>
> But when you think about it, honesty and infidelity are really part of the
> same overall value so, in truth, you could combine the two honesty
> commandments with the two fidelity commandments and give them simpler
> language, positive language instead of negative language and call the 
> whole
> thing "thou shalt always be honest and faithful" and we're down to 3.
>
> THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR"S GOODS
>
> This one is just plain f****n' stupid. Coveting your neighbor's goods is
> what keeps the economy going! Your neighbor gets a vibrator that plays "o
> come o ye faithful", and you want one too! Coveting creates jobs, so leave
> it alone. You throw out coveting and you're down to 2 now- the big honesty
> and fidelity commandment and the one we haven't talked about yet:
>
> THOU SHALT NOT KILL
>
> Murder. But when you think about it, religion has never really had a big
> problem with murder. More people have been killed in the name of god than
> for any other reason. All you have to do is look at Northern Ireland,
> Cashmere, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the World Trade Center to see
> how seriously the religious folks take thou shalt not kill. The more 
> devout
> they are, the more they see murder as being negotiable. It depends on 
> who's
> doin the killin' and who's gettin' killed. So, with all of this in mind, I
> give you my revised list of the two commandments:
>
> Thou shalt always be honest and faithful to the provider of thy nookie.
>
> &
>
> Thou shalt try real hard not to kill anyone, unless of course they pray to 
> a
> different invisible man than you.
>
> Two is all you need; Moses could have carried them down the hill in his
> f****n' pocket. I wouldn't mind those folks in Alabama posting them on the
> courthouse wall, as long as they provided one additional commandment:
>
> Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of pianotune05 at comcast.net
> Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 9:21 AM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: Re: Gender of God, and other piano-realted stuff.....
>
>
> Definitly faith I would attest.  Now we're getting into even deeper
> theological topics which I know I'd get in trouble for discussing because
> they're not piano related.  Someone else who's been a piano tech longer 
> than
> I who isn't new might get by with it.:)  All I will say is that discussing
> those who wrote Scripture then opens the door for the topic, then who 
> truly
> wrote the Bible the people who thought the earth was flat or God inspiring
> them?  I know the answer, but I'll leave it for another list. Marshall
>
> -------------- Original message -------------- 
> From: "Robin Blankenship" <tunerdude at comcast.net>
>
> What evidence do you have for that assertion, Luis? Or, is this statement
> just to be taken on faith............
>
> Robin Blankenship
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: LuisGalvez at aol.com
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 11:23 AM
> Subject: Re: Gender of God, and other piano-realted stuff.....
>
>
> Remember that the people who wrote the bible thought the earth was flat.
>
> Luis Antonio Galvez-Alcantara "He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he
> thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up."
> www.tenors.net
>
>
>
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>
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