I meant that Russia has weakened the Ukrainian economy where it has control and has left the area dependent on Russian subsidies. Its picnic surrounding Ukraine is further weakening its economy.

If you control through economic dependence (a strategy used by the US for decades), you don't really need to invade.

Sure. I've just been getting some continuing education about tobacco abuse. It's stands out starkly that governments do nothing about it when it's clearly killing people: about half a million Americans each year.

Putin proved that no one but Russia cares about Ukraine. Russian domination hasn't been a positive experience for Ukrainians so far. Could that change in the future?

Is transsexualism a delusion? Yes — Bitter Crank

Eh. Some say homosexuality is a just a state of confusion that can be remedied by good medical care.

I don't have x-ray vision into people's souls so that I can sort out who's deluded and who's living their truth by the their lifestyle choices. Why do you think you do?

It's called "holy" before its impact (explosion) you see. I can't remember if it killed that rabbit, though — Ciceronianus

True. Shakespeare is called profound whether it affects you or not.

If Shakespeare or some poet has an impact on you, are you a passive, blank slate which is blown to tiny bits by the words?

I don't know if I'd hang too much on the way people talk about holiness.

"To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

See the shoutbox for further updates on Canada.

Yep.

I think there's more to it than that. It's about a fulfillment of prophecy, the idea that where we're headed is better than where we are.

Think about the character of a culture that fully believes that; that therefore lives it.

But maybe that's just what he wants us to think!

A vocal minority there think that even though their beloved rebbe is dead, they think he really didn't "die" but is in sort of stasis and will come back to reveal he is the King Messiah. — schopenhauer1

I think the same thing happened to Shia Islam. They're waiting for some guy.

That's interesting. If you mean that they're more inspiring to us for being metaphors, I think I understand. But is their effect on us, or some of us, what makes them "holy"? — Ciceronianus

No, they're sometimes metaphors for what's inside you. Jesus screams on the cross and then asks why God has abandoned him. It's odd that they kept that detail in there after all these years.

And that's just one line. Christianity is amazing.

Perhaps he'll look like a hero to his fans. He looks kind of silly to me at the moment.

The problem is that the more one... treats them as metaphorical, the less "holy" they seem to be — Ciceronianus

I think it's the opposite.

Sure. Most humans are crazy, belligerent, and stupid as hell.

I wasn't attacking you. Sorry you took it that way.

:up: A cult is a new religion as opposed to a sect, which is a subdivision of an old religion. In the NT, Jesus is depicted as bringing his message specifically to Jews (he calls gentiles the offspring of vipers). So it seems like he is initiating a sect of Judaism.

Eventually Christianity became a true cult as its Jewish members had more in common with gentile Christians than with their fellow Jews.

What they actually expected was a warlord who would throw off Roman domination.
— frank

This is what Jesus' Jewish followers would have understood based on messianic tradition. What we find in the gospels is something quite different. — Fooloso4

:meh:

Self-advocacy groups sometimes over-reach — Bitter Crank

Every little thing comes down to money. Companies scramble to present a PC image so as to avoid losing their share of the market. That's why I, a healthcare worker, have been trained to be sensitive to trans issues.

Sniff all you want. There's nothing you can do about it.

You asked about the phrase Kingdom of Heaven. If comes from Matthew. Do you have evidence to the contrary? — Fooloso4

This is what you said:

"The Messiah was to bring about the Kingdom of God (Heaven) on Earth."

What caught my attention was your reference to heaven, as if they expected the Messiah to bring heaven to earth.

That wouldn't have made sense to anyone in the 1st Century. That's your own misunderstanding of the gospel account.

What they actually expected was a warlord who would throw off Roman domination.

Reference to "the Jesus cult" suggests you have a particular theory of the early Jesus movement that you accept. Based on what? — Fooloso4

It's frequently referred to as the Jesus cult.

The expectation of the coming of the messiah does not originate with the followers of Jesus. — Fooloso4

Yea. It's really obvious that your knowledge of the Jesus cult doesn't come from religion scholarship. It comes from Matthew. :lol:

Note that Heaven is in parentheses. Matthew is the only one who who uses the term kingdom of heaven. More common is kingdom of God, which Matthew uses as well. There is no consensus as to what the difference may be. — Fooloso4

This is what I suspected. You're using the gospel account as a source for the expectations of Jesus' followers prior to his death, and then you argue that we can't rely on that same account because it's a post hoc narrative.

You probably just need to stick with religion scholars.

The Messiah was to bring about the Kingdom of God (Heaven) on Earth — Fooloso4

Heaven on earth? Where are you getting that from?

. I don't know about Jerusalem or Judea. — Ciceronianus

The Sadducees were hellenized.

A Platonist take on the teachings of Jesus would be found in the Johannine literature, specifically the Gospel of John. What does everyone else think of this? I think the connections are logical. — Dermot Griffin

He was probably one of a number of preachers who were associated with the Essenes and apocalyptically minded Jews.

The world his teachings spread in was heavily hellenized, so we don't need Jesus himself to have been influenced by Plato.

Schopenhauer suggest that freedom of choice – what we would regard as freedom of will – is a characteristic of inferior entities. — spirit-salamander

Schopenhauer was a hard determinist.

The pandemic is still going. Groan.

I didn't read it all either, but the first part is line with Schopenhauer and neoplatonism. Where you say "death" read "satisfaction.". Same thing.

You say "pretending" and "masquerading" I think that's your take on what's happening.

Everybody else says "trans", to indicate how they self identify and how they want to be addressed.

In America anyway, this is pretty mainstream, if still a little awkward sometimes.

Money is power.

The golden ratio is irrational. This was a heavily guarded secret for Pythagoreans. They would burn me alive or something like that for revealing it.

Yea, it's just important for young black females to see someone like themselves up there among the elder statesmen. The rest of the concerns are minor.

Mind your own business Canadian. :grin:

I'm not seeing your point.

Only with those who want war and have imperial aspirations. — ssu

Who else would you appease?

. If that's appeasement then, I rather that than war. — Manuel

History teaches us that appeasement frequently invites further aggression and war.

NATO's not going anywhere regardless of what should happen. What I fear is that the hawks inside this situation think that using diplomacy to settle this is the equivalent of appeasement. — Manuel

What you were describing is appeasement.

What do you mean?

The R-36 missile was deployed in 1988 and has continued up until now in service with Russia (to be replaced with the RS-26 Sarmat). — ssu

Yea. They still had staff and "in service" equipment, but they weren't prepared to actually use it. Not sure why this is important to pursue, though.

Actually no. The ONLY thing they DID preserve was their nuclear deterrence. — ssu

Not after the collapse of the USSR.