Re: Pat Robertson Predicts Mass Killings in 2007
Friends? Absolutely. I never considered otherwise. You don't have to worry about me taking offense to you, or anyone on this board... or in any channel of discourse. I just don't work that way. If I disagree, I will voice my opinion.... but nothing ever gets to me personally, because I don't allow it to. Maybe that is some kind of petty defense mechanism I shield myself with.... but I have always said that if somebody else says something which offends you.... you have no one to blame but yourself. Because it's your own fault for allowing someone else to get to you. You can only be offended if you allow it to happen. In this world, we can only control ourselves..... we can't control others.... so when you allow someone else to get you all riled up, I think it's your own fault. I can't stop the next guy from talking. But I can control how I react to it.
I was having a similar discussion with someone just today. You see, I play a lot of contact sports. Namely lacrosse and ice hockey. Today I was playing a lacrosse game, and one of the referrees stopped during the halftime and asked me where I had grown up. Lacrosse is a relatively small sport in the USA, and the hotbed is the Maryland and Washington, DC area. I grew up in Washington DC, and played lacrosse for one of the best programs in the country. Anyway, this referree who didn't even know me said: "Where did you learn to play lacrosse? Because I can tell you've had excellent coaching." The whole reason he said that was because he saw me playing defense, and my style was very controlled and reserved. Lacrosse is a rough, contact sport.... and when you play defense, it is easy to get too rough and get called for a penalty.... like slashing, cross-checking, holding, etc.... These types of penalties are common. They typically happen 5-6 times per game. But the way I play defense is in a controlled manner, where I don't get called for flagrant penalties. And this referree noticed that, and instantly could tell that I had learned from the best. But, I told this ref.... it wasn't even a conscious decision for me to play that way. I've been playing lacrosse for 20 years, and never once in all that time have been called for a penalty. He couldn't believe it.
Sometimes I get roughed up badly by other people... but I never let that get to me. I don't fight back, or cry and complain to the refs.... Just today I got hit by a guy who nailed me so high that I nearly bit my tongue off.... He got me in the chin, under the helmet... and my tongue is still numb right now.... but I just let it slide. I didn't fight back, or try to get even.... even though it was clearly an illegal, high hit. Most people would have probably reacted, but I didn't.... because I don't let people get to me. I'm able to let stuff slide, even when it's unfair.
The whole point of that stupid story is that I control my disposition, because that's the only thing I know I have total control over. You might consider this to be a "positive vs. negative" outlook.... ;) You think what I said was negative. I think you would have preferred I did not say what I said, because it was "insensitive towards people of faith." But my outlook on it differs from your's. I don't filter what I say with the intention not to offend others...... but instead, I don't allow myself to get offended by what others say... and I hope that people do the same for me.
You believe something I don't..... that's fine. But I'm not going to stop voicing my opinion, as contrary to your's it may be. And if it offends you.... my only suggestion is that perhaps you try to find some way to dismiss me as a nutcase, or something. ;) ha ha ha. Find that place where you can simply ignore me and my crazy outlook on the universe, if that's what it takes to prevent my offending you. Because getting offended is such a waste of time, in the grand scheme of things... whether you believe in an invisible man in the sky, or not. ;)
The whole topic of this thread is how some mortal human named Pat Robertson basically claims to be an authority on the supernatural. He claims that the deity spoke to him, etc..... Well, I find that to be completely absurd, and I think it's ridiculous that millions of people would follow his prophesy.
A long time ago, there was a man named Galileo.... and he studied the physical world. The Church at the time had a monopoly on the rules of the physical universe.... they claimed the earth was the center of the universe, and that objects fell towards the earth at a rate which corresponded to their weight. Well, Copernicus proved that the earth is not the center of our universe..... and Galileo proved that gravity is a constant. Both were condemned as heretics in their time, yet we teach all children today about their discoveries. Well, I am a humanist.... pure and simple. I distrust religion, and Christianity most of all. And I will make no apologies for that. My outlook comes not from ignorance, but rather from a religious upbringing (raised Episcopalian) combined with a scientific education which taught me to question everything. I will believe something only when it has satisfied scientific scrutiny. And when a guy says he spoke with the Deity, who told him the savior would come again this year.... you'll just have to forgive my skepticism. :lol: