RoR: Forum

How gratifying.

G. K. Chesterton carried a gun, and is said to have offered to shoot acquaintances who complained that life was not worth living.

Post 1

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 4:08pm

I wonder if the guru will claim victory if the Skeptic dies of old age?

Post 2

Saturday, March 20, 2010 - 12:34pm

As in, "If you touch me, you will die."

Or, "If 'B,' then you will die, for all 'B."

At least I haven't seen a resurgence of the Kali cult, yet... Although there is apparently an actual temple of Kali somewhere in the OC, as reported some years ago in a gushing "Oh, isn't it so cute and multicultural!" in the OC Register.

The Kali cultists or "thugees" ran a kill and rob operation in India for centuries, paying off local authorities for the privilege of posing as fellow travellers and then strangling entire travelling parties and burying them in "sacred groves," at crossroads all over India. Tens of thousands of travelers died, with their wealth going to the hidden Kali temples, typically surrounded by dense jungle, death to enter, while the murderers were rewarded with powerful drugs that made them feel like gods. One guy, a Brit from the East India Corporation that ran India at the time, exposed the whole thing, going undercover and actually joining the cult.

Post 3

Saturday, March 20, 2010 - 5:30pm

Oh, my God! Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?!?

. . . Only Lamar Cranston knows!!!

Post 4

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 7:00am

I challenge the guru to kill himself on television! Do the world a favor.

Post 5

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 8:27am

Too bad the guru is not a Christian. That would certainly the Christian thing to do. Didn't Christ die in order to save us?

Post 6

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 8:53am

Once again, Bill, get the theology straight. Jesus was the Messiah, the Second Person of the Trinity, not just some run of the mill yoga instructor.

(Edited by Ted Keer on 3/23, 8:53am)

Post 7

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 9:44am

Get a grip, Ted!

Bill said, "Didn't Christ die in order to save us?" In a post that was clearly intended as humorous. There was no reason to come back with, "Jesus was the Messiah, the Second Person of the Trinity, not just some run of the mill yoga instructor." If that was supposed to be humorous, it didn't come close and anyone that didn't know you were an atheist would go away with the impression that you were an outraged Christian chastising a blasphemer. On the other hand, if your reply was supposed to be a serious discussion of Bill's post, the first item you needed to make note of was that Bill's post was light-hearted humor and not a theological discussion.

Post 8

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 10:30am

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

You are outraged with me for supposedly not seeing the irony in Bill's post, but you can't see the irony in mine? The phrase "run of the mill yoga instructor" didn't hint to you the humor involved? It is not I who needs to get a grip.

Post 9

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 11:46am

Bill and Ted - Your adventures into humor were excellent!

Post 10

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 12:21pm

Easy, Ted.

I'm not outraged. I take you at your word that you were intending humor. Clearly, I'm just one of those whose humor antenna is imprecisely tuned to your frequency.

May I offer you a smiley face? :-)

Post 11

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 12:40pm

I think the whole thread and everyone in it is funny. Well, except for Phil.

Post 12

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 3:18pm

Actually, Phil was right, if not funny about the thugs. I'll retroactively sanction him.

I hate smiley faces, Steve. They are like warning stickers on rubber chickens advising "WARNING: THIS IS A JOKE: DO NOT COOK: MAY CAUSE INDIGESTION." But in this case I will accept yours.

Post 13

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 6:58pm

If a guru looks like Mr. Clean, and kills a sceptic, doesn't that make him an anti-sceptic?

Post 14

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 9:20pm

In my sophomore year at Rutgers, I was in the college honors program. One day a student noticed that every one of the 30 students was white, and asked about it. The professor, a wimpy and much less charismatic version of Robert Foxworth commented that we would have benefited from having a black student, since we were racists.

Shocked, one of the girls in the class protested, how could he possibly know this? The rest of us echoed her objection. It was simple, he said. We were all white, and hence the beneficiaries of and participants in systemic racism. Not only was there universal disagreement, the class told him the theory was nonsense and his accusation was insulting.

He responded that we were "intellectually ignorant, dogmatic and dead." Not only were we not aware of the truth about ourselves, we were full of illusions, including our own individual existence. "You cannot even prove that you exist!" he said. The guy sitting next to me in class pulled an pen knife out of his bag and threw it at the professor. It missed the left side of the professor's head by a few inches, and stuck in the plaster next to him with a thwunk. The student, whose name I will not mention, asked, "Does that pen exist?"

Class was dismissed without comment, and the incident was never mentioned again.

Post 15

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - 11:18pm