The Great YouTube Debate 5

I replied to Egoeimi:

I’ll take a page from your book and quote someone: “I put no stock in religion. By the word ‘religion’, I’ve seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God.”

Don’t be so sure that God is on your side. The Spanish said that God was on their side when they sent an armada to attack England. The Crusaders said it. All three popes who declared crusades on each other said it. They all thought they were interpreting Scripture correctly. They all lost in the end. Apparently, God was not on their side after all, contrary to their claims. We are naught but mere mortal humans. Don’t claim to understand God, because you don’t; you’re just another religious fanatic amongst many. You have not even skimmed the surface of the greatness that is God. No one understands God. That’s why He is God, the Almighty. 

I’ll be honest and say this; it was not nice talking to you, even though it was entertaining at first to see how badly an adult can write. Yes, I have high standards. You could have done something about that spelling; you could have put it through spellcheck; you could have taken out those extra unnecessary periods; you could have edited your writing the way anyone with the least bit of courtesy and humility does before posting anything on the internet. There are free spellcheck programs on the internet. However, you chose not to do any of those things and insisted on posting illiterate agrammatical trash. Therefore, my mockery was valid. Debating means using language which the opposition can understand. You’ve failed on that point.

You think I should not care about your level of literacy, and yet you refuse to read beyond the first paragraph of my ‘baby talk’ (which is a lot more eloquent than what you write, I might add, because the language usage, at least, was correct). Here’s hypocrisy in the flesh, Ego-eimi. If you have children, I fear for their morality.

Take my views to a national level on American national radio? Don’t be so arrogant and think that everyone is American. I’m not. However, if someone was to challenge me to such a debate, I would not back down the way you have. I really do think you are afraid of me. I threw down the gauntlet and challenged you to debate in public on my blog, with no word limit; you refused to take up the challenge. Who’s the coward now?

For your information, there has been proof that mutation can add extra information. Downs Syndrome is such a situation; the person has three versions of chromosome twenty-one instead of two like normal people. During genetic mutations, genes can be deleted, inserted, switched around or repeated. Most genetic mutations don’t do anything, but some do, and they can either have good or bad effects. That’s how evolution works.

Choosing to mock me about my age is just ridiculous, for being young is not a fault. Rather, it is a fact, and it is nothing to be ashamed of, nor does it make my arguments any less valid. Jesus Himself said, “Blessed are the children, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.”  

Can’t wait to see how he responds. Then again, he might be too cowardly, because even though I told him he was free to comment as much as he liked on my blog, he hasn’t. No matter; if he responds by private messaging, I’ll simply post it here. It’s an extra step, but worth it. At least I’m getting my daily dose of laughter.

A Crisis of Faith (part 2)

So I believe that I’ve finally found the truth, but what do I believe in really? And even now, I’m still discovering what I truly believe, but the basis of all my beliefs is that we do not have the right to judge; that right belongs to God and God alone. We have no right to say that someone will go to Hell just because they believe in the ‘wrong’ religion. What is right and what is wrong? Can we, as mere humans, really be so certain? The world is not black and white, as we have often been told.

Many people have found my beliefs rather strange, almost atheist in nature, or at least agnostic. I do not believe institutionalized religion. They have been corrupted by the greed of men (and women). So many doctrines can be traced back to certain people. For example, the Catholic ban on contraceptives goes back to Augustine of Hippo, the fifth century theologian who believed that a good marriage was one with a bunch of kids. It is interesting to note that he was a celibate churchman in an age where Catholic priests were permitted to marry. The notion of Purgatory goes back to Pope Urban II who made it up in the eleventh century so that he could use it to blackmail people into going crusading by telling them that if they went to the Holy Land to fight the infidels, they would have to spend less time in Purgatory when they died. The idea that a Catholic must go to confession goes back to Pope Innocent III in the thirteenth century, who used this as a tool to maintain the Church’s presence in Christendom. During that time, the Church was having a power dispute with the Holy Roman Emperor.

With You, I’ll Be Only Sibylla (Part 11)

Disclaimer: All the characters and events of Kingdom of Heaven belong to Sir Ridley Scott and William Monahan, and, of course, History. I’m just borrowing them and writing my own interpretation.

 

The walls and hangings muffled the sounds from outside. Many candles burned, but they did nothing to dispel the shadow which was falling over the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. It took a while for Sibylla’s vision to adjust to the darkness of the king’s chamber. It had been so long since she had set foot in here. The scent of incense could not conceal the underlying smell of decay which permeated the room.

 

She approached the bed where her brother lay; a pitiable and wasted figure. One bandaged hand rested on his chest. The other arm was outstretched; it was in the same position which the physician had left it. The silver mask was still in place, however. It was the same cold emotionless face which he showed the world; the face which was supposed to hide weakness.

 

With a shaking hand, the princess reached out and rested it on her brother’s bandaged one, unsure of whether he would feel it or not. Baldwin stirred, and with what seemed like a great effort, opened his eyes. “Hello,” he said. His voice was breathy and weak, but Sibylla’s heart lurched at the sound of that benevolent tone. It was the same one which he had used with her all those years ago, before he had put on the silver mask.