Mark Steyn: O come, all ye faithless

The Spectator (U.K.) ^ | 12/17/05 | Mark Steyn

[Elsie]

A Christian who fails to acheive perfect righteousness is not condemed to hell, which is what would happen to an unrepentent murderer/rapist.

speeder...
lawyer...
school teacher...
preacher...
Pope.

[Elsie]

Myers is an embarassment to me...

Why?

[Neophyte]

And as for my excreta and the hard-working nematode, who gets the better end of that deal?

I confess, I had to go to my dictionary for the nematode, but the task was nothing compared to the task of cleaning up my screen from the breakfast I spilled on it when LMAO...

[Alamo-Girl]

What is encouraging to me is that today, people seem to have rediscovered the good sense to call the thing "by its name." And malignant narcissism seems like a very apt "handle."

Indeed. That is very good news!!! I am a Rummy fan, too. Thank you for your post!

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[untenured]

This modest thought provoked Paul Z. Myers, professor of biology at the University of Minnesota, into paroxysms of scorn: Steyn, he scoffed, ‘must not possess a gut populated by intestinal bacteria. We are at their mercy; without them, we suffer horribly for a while and die....

That only humans, and not bacteria, can even show "mercy," an act of conscious moral reasoning, is Mark Steyn's point, which seems to have completely escaped the esteemed biologist.

[Lurker]

Oh the meek shall inherit the Earth alright; in 6 foot by 8 foot plots.

L

[RightWingAtheist]

Because he's an obnoxious, raving, far-left moonbat, and while perfectly competent when it comes to biology, is a complete idiot when it comes to anything else.

[stop_fascism]

So why be compassionate? Why is that any better than being a self centered SOB. There is no rational way to choose between the two, except that the SOB usually lives more comfortably.

Why care about a legacy, if all you are is mobile worm food on its way to their feast. Why not just grab as much as you can get away with, and damn the consequences?

[MitchellC]

Pokey, could you add me to the list as well?

[Elsie]

But why are YOU embarrassed?

[UnklGene]

Happy EID! Eid ul-Fitr (Arabic: ÚíÏ ÇáÝØÑ), often abbreviated as simply Eid, is an Islamic holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Fitr means "to break" and therefore symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period and of all evil habits. On the day of the celebration, a typical Muslim family gets up very early and attends special prayers held only for the occasion in big mosques, in large open areas, stadiums or arenas. The festivities and merriment start after the prayers with visits to the homes of friends and relatives and thanking the Creator for all blessings. Eid is a time to come together as a community and to renew friendship and family ties. This is a time for peace for all Muslims in the world to devote to prayers and mutual well-being. It's a joyous occasion with important religious significance. Happiness is observed at attaining spiritual uplift after a month of fasting. Muslims dress in holiday attire. After attending the special congregational prayer in the morning, worshippers greet and embrace each other in a spirit of peace, love, and brotherhood. Visiting friends and relatives is common. For Muslims, Eid ul-Fitr is a joyful celebration of the achievement of enhanced piety. It is a day of forgiveness, moral victory and peace, of congregation, fellowship, brotherhood and unity. Muslims are not only celebrating the end of fasting, but thanking God for the help and strength that he gave them throughout the previous month to help them practice self-control. Common greetings during this three-day festival are the Arabic greeting "Eid mubarak", "Eid saeed" or its Urdu variation "Eid mubarak ho!" which, loosely translated, means "Happy Eid!"

[RightWingAtheist]

I'm embarassed because people think he represents me.

[Forgiven_Sinner]

A wonderful article. I read it aloud to my wife and daughter. He is truly a prose poet.

Peter Watson and Polly must not have read this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/560855/posts

Basically, most of the atrocities in the 20th century were caused by atheists. (Communists) or non-Christians (Nazis, who were into paganism and occultism).

[Forgiven_Sinner]

"That was a good point that you made.
If people live their entire lives in the name of Christ but behave in a way that only marginally misses righteousness in the eyes of God, they may as well have raped and murdered their whole lives because they are meeting the same fate."

You can't marginally miss righteousness.

We start with zero righteousness. Through our life we accumulate little--never enough for salvation.

Righteousness is defined as Jesus Christ. If one gives up one's life to Him in exchange for His life, one obtains forgiveness and righteousness. If one doesn't, one doesn't.


"It is Ok for a Hindu to eat a ham sandwich but he will be damned to hell for eating that hamburger.
The funny thing is, if this same person were Jewish, it would be the other way around. Is either one any less a believer that he is not allowed into the kingdom?"

The fact of differing (and contradictory) religious doctrines proves they are not all "right". If you believe in an objective religious reality, your first goal is to find out who (or Who) is telling the truth.

[Alexander Rubin]

Woooo! Steyn!

[grey_whiskers]

Every religion is different and no one from one particular religion can claim that their religion is better than another person's religion.

Two words.

Nine. Eleven.

[grey_whiskers]

Well, it's not like they hadn't seen this sort of thing out of their boss before.

Yeah, but He had another trick up His sleeve.

If you thought the angels were laughing then, take a gander at how they reacted to Bethlehem.

Merry Christmas.

[grey_whiskers]

Before monotheism, man attacked man in self defense or to gain resources, not from pure spite hatred and bloodymindedness.

Do you have the written contemporary sources to back this up?

"ECREE"

[grey_whiskers]

Would such a theist be nuts? Most likely. But then, so would an atheist who rapes and tortures and kills.

OK, the Moose-limbs are doing that kind of thing, TODAY.

You can even read about it here on Free Republic.

So why don't you mosey on over to Tehran or Qom or similar location and start spreading the "Good News" that
There is No Allah^TM.

The obviously need it far worse than Americans do!