Is a Psalmist a confused Islamist?

Nice post, I meant to say that but posted too soon.

I can't say I absolutely agree with the theme, though - I believe that causes have effects and we are responsible for cleaning up our own messes, or learning from them - karma is everything, baby.

There's no intermediary or god or old man on the mountain or person to put faith in, that's a psychological crutch for the insecure. I AM the universe and thou art that - tat twam asi

To put it another way - our environment and experiences reflect our internal state - as you describe in your final paragraph - thus by changing ourselves, like polishing a mirror, our environment and universe appears clearer and better.

Thus, by changing ourselves, we can change the universe.

Just my two cents.

This is an interesting piece that many may find useful. What a shame, thought, that your point was marred by your absolutely unnecessary and ungodly slams against Michael Moore and some other bloggers. As you say and show, none of us are perfect.

Oops, "though." Proving again, that none of us are perfect...

You had me - until you proved yourself a sham by indulging in precisely the kind of shrill, unthinking foolishness that makes contemporary people of faith appear hypocrites: the snide and unnecessary flinging of chipanzee poo at Michael Moore. True colors shining through, and all of that...

"This obsessive compulsion to be right rather than to be happy, to talk louder rather than to listen, or to get ahead rather than lift up your fellow man..." Heh.

no body's perfect

"Yes, I have been guilty on all accounts at some time or another."

Seems some have overlooked that paragraph in my essay.

Keep coming back. Heh.

Er, 3 and 6 show clearly that your message re: your imperfections was understood.

ok...some interesting stuff here, and since the dichotomy of the whole "Michael Morre" parts of the content has been addressed...i'll just skip over that bit of Freudian slip...

philosophically i have a bit of a different Opinion than the Postulate set forth in the Post...

you see, i tend to cling to personal Responsibility..and that the attitude of "god will take care of it" leads to the abrogation of that ethic...and this can foster quite a few "evils" , both personally and societally

please don't get me wrong here, i have no quarrel with people of Faith, nor with the tenets taught by Jesus..far from it..i heartily appreciate those Teachings...

i do, however, have difficulty with "Psalms" and other bits of the New Testament, that were written by Man, and are adhered to as if they were the literal words of "deity"

the Poster sez..
*Lately I have noticed a tribe of word-slingers and their brassiness on the blogosphere with earsplitting shrills saturated in conceit that gives the super-sized Michael Moore a run for his fries money, all in the name of "getting noticed" by some golden calf icon blogger.*

and continues on in this vein, all the while not mentioning the strident spewings from AM radio, Fox News and others...

the denigrating reference to Moore's weight indicates the exact opposite from the "moral" standpoint extolled in the rest of the text

it has been my Observation, that far too often those that speak the loudest about "values" demonstrate exactly the opposite when it comes to those they politically oppose...

disagree with his politics, but to denigrate an individual because of physical attributes indicate other than the overflowing milk of human kindness and compassion that should be the hallmark of those adhering to Christian faith and teachings....

your mileage may vary

Excelsior!

OH how I do agree with personal responsibility. I mean I can depend on God all day long but He isn't going to send me down a hamburger when I'm hungry. No, I have to get up and fix it myself.

I like that old fable of the man being abonded on his roof top during a flood and SEVERAL boats come along to rescue him and to each one he says, "NO, I'm waiting on God to save me." Well, needless to say he dies in the flood and when he sees God he asks him, "Why didn't you save me God." To which God replies, "I sent you several people/boats to save you and you didn't accept."

There, is that better for everyone? lol ;-)

heh...

i know that Story, and it IS a great one

thanks for the elucidation...

and welcome to BC

Excelsior!

Gonzo Marx,

Your point is taken and my apologies to Mr. Moore for the "obnoxious" comment on my behalf. Thanks for pointing it out, although when I wrote it I knew I what I was doing and expected full criticism, but still, it's no excuse on my part. Shame on me.

God helps those who help themselves.

God also often helps those who cannot help themselves.

I'm amazed at the insistance that Christians (or people of faith in general) have totally given up on personal responsibility. Chrisitanity (at least, the orthodox variety) is huge on personal responsibility. The Old and New Testaments teach it throughout. We ARE responsible for our actions. We are responsible (in Chirstianity) for our refusal to believe. It's our responsibility.