XPost: alt.religion.christian, alt.religion.jiffyism   
   From: sniff@sniffle.inv   
      
   On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 23:22:21 +0000, SoT wrote:   
      
   > Pastor Frank wrote:   
   >> "PlanetEarth"  wrote in message   
   >>> "Hildi"  wrote in message   
   >>>>   
   >>>> How do we defeat satan?   
   >>>   
   >>> Don't think about it.   
   >>> Satan, like santa clause, god, tooth faries, easter bunnies, etc., only   
   >>> exist in your mind. Stop thinking about it, and pooof, their gone!   
   >>>   
   >>     Satan is the symbol of "an evil person", not just abstract "evil". And   
   >> sorry, but evil persons are NOT like the "Easter bunny", unless of course   
   >> you like people like Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot.   
   >>     Instead of "stop thinking about it" you should say 'start doing   
   >> something about it'!!!!   
   >> For evil (Satan) exists only where no one is doing anything to stop it (him   
   >> or her).   
   >   
   > Assuming all diplomatic methods have been tried, the first order of   
   > business in the conduct of war is to define the enemy and then after   
   > careful training and preparation declare war.   
      
   it's about damn time.   
      
   > I suggest we learn   
   > the actual name of this creature first.  The name Satan first   
   > appears in the book of Job and in that story Satan has a dialog with   
   > God.  Thoughtful attention to the words spoken by this creature   
   > should tell us much about our enemy.  After reading that particular   
   > story and searching for other existing records of communication from   
   > this creature called Satan it doesn't appear that Satan is the evil   
   > one you are concerned about.  In fact, in that story, Satan appears   
   > to be a good friend of God.  Read it for yourself and you will   
   > agree.  Could this enemy be someone else?  The Serpent? The Devil?   
   > Lucifer? Beelzebub? Old Nick? Santa? Uncle Sam? Casper?   
      
   the wiggly one?  the name doesn't matter.  you are attempting to   
   personify or quantify some form of being that we do not really have the   
   language to express.  when dealing with this, historically, we have   
   started by defining one side as representative of an ideology and then   
   simply define the opposition as, well, the opposite.  this has been the   
   trouble all along. people want to believe they can understand anything,   
   but this is not really going to happen any time soon, since what is right   
   and what is wrong, or what benefits the greater good of all mankind, or   
   any of hundreds of over-simplified definitions deal incompletely with   
   ambiguity. this is a slippery slope.  too much definition of what we   
   should or should not do or be garners the wrath of some, while lack of   
   enough direction leaves others to flounder, unsure of what to do.  the   
   "path" to "understanding" is never the same.  each of us, as individuals,   
   takes an individual path.   
      
   how do you define God?  the opposite, or the hatred of that is Baal, or   
   whatever you want to call a desire to stand in opposition of that.   
      
   > Is the enemy a supernatural spirit?  The ancients believed that a   
   > spirit had to obey your wishes if you knew and used its real name.   
   > The Jews make a big fuss about the name of their god and claim this   
   > spirit has seventy two names.  I have no idea why they picked that   
   > particular number but they seem to think it is quite important to   
   > know the name or names of their god.  Since the people that wrote   
   > the book on all this stuff place so much importance on knowing the   
   > name of their god this makes me think that it is essential that you   
   > learn the name of this spirit before you march off to war.   
   > Therefor, I advise delaying this war until you learn the name or   
   > names of your enemy.  Omitting this vital step is an unacceptable   
   > risk and should be avoided if possible.   
      
   the name is irrelevent.  we cannot do battle directly with the   
   perceived leader of either side in this conflict, only with each other.   
   some can be defined as "the masses", and Billy Graham is fine.  not   
   everyone responds to that approach.  in individual special cases, special   
   techniques must be considered.  in the end, this conflict only pits   
   mankind against mankind.  I think a good first step would be for all who   
   believe in and follow one God to get together and see if they can all   
   agree that each group's one God is the same God as everyone else's.  many   
   people are deists because beyond simply believing in one God, there is too   
   much confusion.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)