tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post111713700567184888..comments2024-03-28T14:13:23.835-04:00Comments on By Neddie Jingo!: "Be You Angels?" "Nay, We Are But Men."Neddiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17079885040758748553noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1119655252967326352005-06-24T19:20:00.000-04:002005-06-24T19:20:00.000-04:00Thanks to Neddie Jingo for visiting us at Mercury ...Thanks to Neddie Jingo for visiting us at <A HREF="http://www.phoenixwoman.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">Mercury Rising</A>!<BR/><BR/>And congratulations on accumulating a witty, erudite, full-snark band of posters.<BR/><BR/>I don't think belief in the doctrine of predestination falls cleanly along church lines. It's perhaps more of a class issue. Those who have made it in material terms seem to feel that their lofty social standing is a step on a steadily rising career path to a Grander Mansion in the Sky. In matters religious as in matters rental and utility, the poor rely on higher grace. The middle class know that you have to tell everyone you're sure that you're in the chips, while secretly agonizing over the bills and the checkbook at night. <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/04/08/DDG27BCFLG1.DTL" REL="nofollow">And be sure to join the Unitarian Jihad!</A>Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04761044906837521471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1117993581772776512005-06-05T13:46:00.000-04:002005-06-05T13:46:00.000-04:00That was the most entertaining bit of cultural com...That was the most entertaining bit of cultural commentary I've read in some time..fine work.<BR/><BR/>I must agree with Vache Folle, however, that most Evangelical Christians in America are most definitely *not* Calvinists. If anything, they are volunteerists in the extreme, with an astonishing faith in the power of human choice. "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?" Surely I'm not the only person who hears that question at least once a week? <BR/><BR/>That is, incidentally, why evangical wingnuttery is so pernicious. Calvinism created a suffocating anxiety that suffused the culture, and was therefore easy to refute, as the Unitarians discovered in their heyday. I think Universalism had a far different reliationship with predestination, since it's basically Calvinism with a positive attitute: "you're going to heaven whether you like it or not!" Of course, by the time the AUA and UCA merged ('67, I think?), both denominations had ranged so far afield of classical Christianity that the problem of predestination was no longer a live question for either of them, really.Kevin W. Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07911342811978672073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1117222321655668412005-05-27T15:32:00.000-04:002005-05-27T15:32:00.000-04:00Oops! Called m'self Bobby Lightfoot by mistake!! ...Oops! Called m'self Bobby Lightfoot by mistake!! Hee!<BR/><BR/>Anyway-<BR/><BR/>God ding it! you use yo' mouth prettier'n a ten dollar whore.<BR/><BR/>See, I always thought "Lost In Space" was a postmodern reevaluation of Descartianism, but who's gonna listen to my ass?<BR/><BR/>Except when I tol' George Martin to put my vocal through the leslie speaker on "Tomorrow Never Knows".<BR/><BR/>check it - here's a picture of me....oh, never mind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1117222032253291072005-05-27T15:27:00.000-04:002005-05-27T15:27:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Bobby Lightfoothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00671706326620424357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1117221912296780872005-05-27T15:25:00.000-04:002005-05-27T15:25:00.000-04:00Neddie, you're the only guy I know who can watch c...Neddie, you're the only guy I know who can watch crappy network TV and come out of it with the generosity to ascribe a philosophical theory to its creators.<BR/><BR/>Me? I watched <I>Team America: World Police</I> last night, and laughed 'til I cried. The great thing about these guys is that they cut absolutely no one a break in their battle against extremism and their quest for a sane middle ground (and they do it in a way<BR/>that celebrates the adolescent in everyone ... if you've ever seen a puppet puking his guts out, you'll know what I mean).<BR/> <BR/>Parker and Stone's philosophy is a simple one. When Gary, the Team America "lead actor," is called on the spot to explain the team's actions as they're trying to stop Kim Jong Il from detonating WMDs throughout the world while world leaders are diverted by Hollywood's best and brightest at a "peace conference" Kim's organized, he says:<BR/><BR/>"We're dicks! We’re reckless, arrogant, stupid dicks. And the Film Actors Guild [F.A.G.] are pussies. And Kim Jong Il is an asshole. Pussies don’t like dicks because pussies get fucked by dicks.<BR/><BR/>But dicks also fuck assholes. Assholes who just wanna shit on everything.<BR/><BR/>Pussies may think that they can deal with assholes their way, but the only thing that can fuck an asshole is a dick ... a dick with some balls. The problem with dicks is that sometimes they fuck too much, or fuck when it isn't appropriate, and it takes a pussy to show 'em that.<BR/><BR/>But sometimes pussies get so full of shit that they become assholes themselves -- because pussies are only an inch and a half away from assholes.<BR/><BR/>I don’t know much in this crazy, crazy world. But I do know that if you don't let us fuck this asshole, we're gonna have our dicks and our pussies all covered in shit."<BR/><BR/>Sounds reasonable to me, Horatio.<BR/><BR/>As for me, I'm still trying to figure out if I'm a dick or a pussy. And hoping I'm not too much of an asshole.XTCfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12361374492348913096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1117221833024512382005-05-27T15:23:00.000-04:002005-05-27T15:23:00.000-04:00Wow. That's crazy. And it's pretty much too sewn...Wow. That's crazy. And it's pretty much too sewn up not to be true.<BR/><BR/>This is a very hopeful development.Bobby Lightfoothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00671706326620424357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1117210370899350632005-05-27T12:12:00.000-04:002005-05-27T12:12:00.000-04:00Neddie, for the first time I'm unhappy that I don'...Neddie, for the first time I'm unhappy that I don't watch LOST because I'm sure I can't appreciate your post. (Not watching is merely my acknowledgement that I will miss too many episodes to make it worth trying; it's not a judgement on the quality of the show.)<BR/><BR/>I will catch up by renting the DVDs and take the make up exam later, if that's okay with you, Prof.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1117206462768122042005-05-27T11:07:00.000-04:002005-05-27T11:07:00.000-04:00Brilliant and elegant interpretation, Neddie!As a ...Brilliant and elegant interpretation, Neddie!<BR/><BR/>As a recent convert to Calvinism (having been tormented by the Arminian heresy most of my life), I would like to point out that predestination and election can be a tremendous relief and comfort. No amount of human works or merit will bring salvation, and no amount of trying to believe will bring belief, as this is entirely involuntary. Moreover, grace is persistent and the elect cannot be unelected. I believe that I am the beneficiary of God's grace and I expect that this will be manifested through an inward transformation via the workings of the Holy Ghost. There is no particular incentive to moralize or to control others. (I could be wrong, of course, in which case I will be pretty disappointed on the "Great Gettin' Up Mornin'".)<BR/><BR/>The religious right in America is generally not Calvinist in orientation. These are Baptists and the like who believe that grace must be combined with an initial act of human will by the believer and that one can fall from grace. Accordingly, more attention is paid to sin and temptation, and there is a desire to create a world in which these are minimized. The non-Calvinists Christian must continually reaffirm his will to receive grace by being sinless and rooting out sin in others.Vache Follehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14942494955243643381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1117206323940371162005-05-27T11:05:00.000-04:002005-05-27T11:05:00.000-04:00Oww...Oww..Oww...Professor Uncle Neddie you're hur...Oww...Oww..Oww...Professor Uncle Neddie you're hurting this poor girl's head! And here I thought television was just a vast wasteland.<BR/><BR/>Hey, Gilligan wore a red shirt. Good thing he wasn't on Star Trek.<BR/><BR/>~Mrs. PackerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1117203891352388042005-05-27T10:24:00.000-04:002005-05-27T10:24:00.000-04:00Bunny: EVERY day is Enlightenment Day here at By N...Bunny: EVERY day is Enlightenment Day here at By Neddie Jingo!<BR/><BR/>I think the Enlightenment is on people's minds because we have a large contingent of wackos and Yahoos running around telling big fat lying lies about the intellectual underpinnings of the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution -- lies that are of the most urgent consequence. We need to call attention to these lies: If not us, then who?<BR/><BR/>Linkmeister: A low, sweeping bow with flourishes of my befeathered tricorn hat to you.Neddiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17079885040758748553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261187.post-1117196816490407142005-05-27T08:26:00.000-04:002005-05-27T08:26:00.000-04:00Is this Enlightenment day or something? Why haven'...Is this Enlightenment day or something? Why haven't I seen the memo on this? <BR/><BR/>I ask because the very next thing I read on the web after this story was <A HREF="http://left2right.typepad.com/main/2005/05/history_lessons.html" REL="nofollow">Left2Right's</A> post about the rejection of Calvinism leading to the American revolution.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com