#3 - Conversing with God?

[LOVE MUSCLE]

Regardless of what happened, two wrongs NEVER make a right. This is a "clean" thread, keep it that way please.

You are free to talk about GOD in this thread.

Your arguement belongs elsewhere, brother.

[Achtung Bubba]

Originally posted by LOVE MUSCLE:
Regardless of what happened, two wrongs NEVER make a right. This is a "clean" thread, keep it that way please.

You are free to talk about GOD in this thread.

Your arguement belongs elsewhere, brother.

<sigh>

You are absolutely correct that two wrongs don't make a right. My outburst was not very civilized, not appropriate for this thread, and - worst of all - not at all obedient to the commands of Christ.

I sincerely apologize.

I'm now returning to my vacation from this thread with this last request:

Melon, when I return, I will do my very best to keep any discussions with you civil, and to keep them to a bare minumum. I BEG you to do the same.

[Anthony]

"But why? WHY do you think that you are God?"
"Because man, its bloody simple; when I talk to God, I answer back!" - MONTY PYTHON.

I do believe that we can communicate with God, I believe this is so everytime one meditates profoundly and then visists places that some of you mentioned in dreams, it happens in meditation as well. I do believe that God speaks through us through our lives, It has done it many many times with me in the greatest and gravest moments of my life.

The night my fiance died, I was at home. I had been in the hospital overnight for four days in a row already, and her family insisted that I go and relax and take a shower (I was told I needed one badly, hehe)and come back later on. She was actually showing an improvement from what had been a terrible period in her treatment, and had apparently been 'stabilised'. Sure, we all knew she was going to leave us, but we all (including the doctors) honestly thought that after this period she could come home and last for a few more weeks atleast.

So I went home and had a shower, and went to watch some TV before heading back. Unfortunately, because I hadn't slept in over five days, I was dead tired and I fell asleep almost instantly when my head found the pillow. I slept and I dreamt. In the dream I was in the room I was sleeping in, but for some reason I was doing something stupid like checking my accounts or some unbelievably trivial thing when Sam (my fiance) entered the room, but she wasn't sick. I can remember feeling shocked, and then remembering that I had to run back to the hospital, but I simulatenously acknowledged that she was here, no longer in pain and cured. I cried my eyes out right there on the table before I had enough courage to approach her, it was only until I held her (and it seemed ages until that happened)that I realised that she wasn't responding in any way, she was just standing there like a model. I held her tightly and even tighter, until she spoke; "its alright now. You can go. Go." She kept repeating this and for some reason I knew that this wasn't her; a ghost, spirit, God... who knew? I certainly didn't and I was shocked and yet struck by grief. I cried in the dream and I woke up crying, and I pretty much drove to the hospital crying; knowing but at the same time not knowing, grieving but at the same time hoping. I had been an hour late. Her parents had called me when she had started to go, but I honestly didn't hear the phone ring at all. I was too much asleep.

The strange thing is, I missed her and was late, but somehow, I don't feel that I did miss her completely. Strange.

I do believe that God speaks through us, whether we are capable of recognising and understanding It, is another question.

Ant.

[Calluna]

Bubba,

I certainly hope that apology was sincere because you are clearly in the wrong here. You have alot of nerve coming into this thread and attacking melon that way. You are guilty of all the things you accuse him of. Funny you should mention that thing about let he who is without sin cast the first stone. You should take that advice to heart.

I hope you have a nice, long, extended vacation from the forum. It has been much more peaceful here since you left. Feel free to make that vacation a permanent one.

[DrTeeth]

There's no need to stab people in the back like that Calluna. Bubba apologized now let it be...

[Achtung Bubba]

Originally posted by Calluna:
Bubba,

I certainly hope that apology was sincere because you are clearly in the wrong here. You have alot of nerve coming into this thread and attacking melon that way. You are guilty of all the things you accuse him of. Funny you should mention that thing about let he who is without sin cast the first stone. You should take that advice to heart.

I hope you have a nice, long, extended vacation from the forum. It has been much more peaceful here since you left. Feel free to make that vacation a permanent one.

You can say that I myself am guilty of incivility in this forum, but I'm not guilty of the SAME offenses. You say, "You are guilty of all the things you accuse him of." That's simply NOT true.

I admit that I have called people by offensive names - suggesting that pacifists are terrorist sympathisizers, calling Michael Moore an idiot, tying liberalism to Communism, and calling chain an asshole. But each time, I recanted or defended what I said. Unlike melon and his use of the word "NAZI," I NEVER suggested that I was simply too busy to defend my outrageous claims, nor did I demonstrate the rank hypocrisy of claiming to be too busy to explain myself and SIMULTANEOUSLY having more than enough time to attack another forum member.

Furthermore, while I have called people idiots and assholes, I have NEVER suggested that ANYONE on this planet is so evil as to be beyond divine redemption. (Fact is, I believe some people ARE idiots, people who are very foolish or at least very misguided; but I also believe that everyone - Michael Moore, melon, LITERALLY everyone - is offered the free gift of salvation through Christ.) That is another thing that distinguishes me from melon, and THAT is where "casting the first stone" comes into play.

(Also, I recall melon actually claiming to laugh at the thought of conservative Christian couples actually getting a divorce, another level of mean-spiritedness to which I do not stoop.)

Most importantly, when I called chain an asshole and attacked melon here, I did so under the full assumption that both would eventually read what I said. Rather than wait until they were believed to be gone or make some sly disparaging comment, I made the comment directly, again, unlike Melon.

I live by an old adage: If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. But if you must say something mean, have the cajones to say it to the guy's face. To do otherwise is an act of cowardice.

You are right that I "have a lot of nerve" making such an attack. Melon should have shown an equal amount of nerve when attacking me.

Finally, I must ask: where were you when melon attacks other people, forum members and otherwise? You certainly didn't criticize HIM for attacking me, and you were eerily silent when melon called Jesse Helms "beyond evil".

In fact, I can't recall a single time you've criticized melon, despite the fact that he is AT LEAST as abrasive as me.

If you were honest with yourself and this forum, you would mention how much MORE peaceful this forum would be if Melon also took a vacation.

And you're probably right, my absence has likely made this forum more peaceful (not counting melon's attack of Jesse Helms; after all, he's a conservative, so why should HE count?).

But it has also resulted in me wasting much less time dealing with people like you. And that sounds like a good deal for all involved.

Unless anyone else wants to lie about me, I'm back on vacation.

[U2Bama]

Calluna:

Why did you have to do that? I thought this was all going to go away after Bubba issued his apology. PLEASE EVERYONE LET IT GO AWAY. I don't care what your views, opinions, politics, hates, loves, likes, dislikes are.

~U2Alabama

[Spiral_Staircase]

Unbelievable.

Anyway, back to talking with God....Yeah, I definitely believe it. I don't know if we always recognize it, but I know it happens.

[melon]

I am bigger than this and am not going to stoop to your level. I am forwarding this thread to Sicy, where I will let her take whatever action she sees as necessary. If that means "nothing," then I will leave it at that.

Melon

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"Still, I never understood the elevation of greed as a political credo. Why would anyone want to base a political programme on bottomless dissatisfaction and the impossibility of happiness? Perhaps that was its appeal: the promise of luxury that in fact promoted endless work." - Hanif Kureishi, Intimacy

[This message has been edited by melon (edited 04-11-2002).]

[DrTeeth]

You're telling?

[SicilianGoddess]

Well, you know I'm not really sure what exactly I am supposed to do about this. Close the thread? That's not going to solve anything. You'll just find some other thread to argue in. Tell you two to stop arguing with each other? Tried that, Elvis tried that, obviously its still not working. Tell you two to ignore each other on issues you dont agree with? Erm.. tried that too.

Basically I dont agree with the behaviour of either of you. I dont know why melon decided to post against Bubba in the I'm leaving thread. And I dont know why Bubba felt the need to come into this perfectly calm thread and start a stir because he wanted "payback". I see that Bubba has apologized, which I think is a wise decision. But.. is that going to last?

I'm not going to do anything about it at this time other than let Elvis know what's going on. But I know that he's given you both plenty of warnings.. and he usually isnt so tolerable. I dont think either of you want this problem solved the way Elvis will solve it if it continues.

So PLEASE PLEASE I'm saying this one last time. IGNORE EACH OTHER. Dont even debate about ANYTHING.. because it can start out as just a healthy discussion but inevitably will lead to an argument, and you both know that. Let this be the end!!

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It's cold in the ground
But there's peace in the sound
Of the white and the black
Spilling over

Sicy's Website

[Achtung Bubba]

Fine.

If/when I return to regular posting, I WILL avoid Melon, and I hope he does the same. If another fight breaks out, I would like three things to be noted:

1) Who started it this time - and it wasn't me.

2) Who will have started it next time; that is, which one of us ultimately breaks the agreement to avoid each other, because I can pretty much guarantee it's NOT going to be me.

3) Who has actually apologized for his behavior and who would rather just claim to be "bigger than this."

My behavior WAS uncalled for. I again sincerely apologize, but my greivances were real. Melon DID attack me after I went on vacation, and DID go to a lengthy attack while simultaneously asserting to be too busy to explain why the "Nazi" shoe fits conservatives like me.

He has long since stooped to this level. He could at least acknowledge the fact, if not apologize for it. But I have long since learned that that simply won't happen. However, if Melon just stops doing what he did in that other thread and stays away from me upon my return, I will be deliriously happy.

I WILL leave Melon alone if he will simply do the same for me.

[SicilianGoddess]

Alright then.

Melon?

[melon]

Originally posted by Achtung Bubba:
I WILL leave Melon alone if he will simply do the same for me.

Wish granted.

Melon

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"Still, I never understood the elevation of greed as a political credo. Why would anyone want to base a political programme on bottomless dissatisfaction and the impossibility of happiness? Perhaps that was its appeal: the promise of luxury that in fact promoted endless work." - Hanif Kureishi, Intimacy