tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post7447897225941010616..comments2023-09-30T10:36:23.154-05:00Comments on Accidental Historian: Is That All It's About?Gedshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15047239425466517786noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-43791761003227113662008-07-16T21:01:00.000-05:002008-07-16T21:01:00.000-05:00I'm just visiting from Slacktivist. I haven't rea...I'm just visiting from Slacktivist. I haven't read any of your posts yet, and I really would like to, but unfortunately the light letters on dark background scheme actually makes it very uncomfortable, verging on impossible. I know I'm not the only person around who has this problem and I wondered if you would be at all open to changing the colour scheme of your blog?Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10080325691281736946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-75447237361629862662008-07-07T18:20:00.000-05:002008-07-07T18:20:00.000-05:00Hmm, I would hazard a guess that we have similar s...Hmm, I would hazard a guess that we have similar stories, scyllacat.Gedshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15047239425466517786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-91996424473942500562008-07-07T12:58:00.000-05:002008-07-07T12:58:00.000-05:00Well, I haven't "left religion," although I'm not ...Well, I haven't "left religion," although I'm not sure what I'm calling it, now; but that pretty much sums it up. Really, I grew up very protected and insulated, and it turned out the Christians were right: Once I let "the world" in, I "turned from" Christ, but not because I denied that I was a sinner, or that I needed ideals and morals, but because their story--everything they'd PROMISED was true--just wouldn't hold up under any kind of scientific or historical scrutiny.<BR/><BR/>Now, I'm not sure there isn't a "god" but I'm pretty sure it's not what they think it is, and I can't understand it. I am trying to manifest my own reality as a spiritual understanding of my connection to the world. I'll let the world know how it goes in my blog. :) Good luck with yours. (I bookmark you to read more later, thanks for sharing.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-41100817758203112532008-06-08T10:18:00.000-05:002008-06-08T10:18:00.000-05:00Years ago, while still a christian, I read a book ...Years ago, while still a christian, I read a book called Peace Child. The whole point of the book was this missionary turning the myths and rituals of the people he was working with into the "truth" of the biblical myths. At the time, I found it quite moving. In retrospect I see that it simply means that peoples everywhere have similar ideas to one another.stingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03703422829076246992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-35904791075719482662008-06-04T10:07:00.000-05:002008-06-04T10:07:00.000-05:00*applauds*More fine prosification as usual, mein f...*applauds*<BR/><BR/>More fine prosification as usual, mein freund. What should I call you on Blogger anyway? Acci? Histo? ...Phil, after the name of my pet philodendron?<BR/><BR/>You express the point about the need for a sense of inevitability really well. That the proselytizers generally make themselves believe, and wish others to believe, that the Christian symbol set covers all the bases because it's The Original Story. Rather than it being a complex collective mythology that has <I>evolved</I> into every nook and cranny of the human need for myth over the past two thousand or so years. Har, har. Christianity itself must evolve or die, praise be to god the rat faucet, who never runs dry.<BR/><BR/>The insurance business has another term that addresses a similar sense of inevitability, but in the context of trying to create it in the mind of a potential customer. One must have a neat, busy-looking office, official company signage, letterhead and lingo, present an open and engaging demeanor etc etc. These things all create the <I>presumption of agency</I> in the customer's mind. They presume you are an agent with both the power and the authority to fill their insurance needs, and ideally begin to feel uncertain about their ability to handle their insurance needs as well as you, the agent, could.<BR/><BR/>Which is why consumers of religious ideas, as well as financial planning products, need to educate themselves! All the research and questioning and soul-searching leads up to that moment when you realize, "Wait a minute. I'm in charge of figuring out what I need, and this pastor/agent might simply be selling me what he has and tricking me into thinking I need it!"<BR/><BR/>And that's when you walk out and find a park bench and start measuring the cold, stochastic firmament against your heart all by yourself. :D<BR/><BR/><I>You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around;<BR/>That's what it's all about.</I>Fiat Lexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10441862977921307080noreply@blogger.com