I had kind of forgotten about that. But it seems to me that that part is something that really isn’t practicable for most people, or intended for them.
Anakin was fucked up, though. Yoda was right to say he shouldn’t be trained.
It’s not any more ridiculous. What I’m saying is that the guy’s lying. I don’t believe him. I think he’s full of shit. He doesn’t believe in the Force (being a “Jedi” would mean you believe in, and can manipulate, the Force) and he doesn’t believe anything in “Star Wars” is real. Christianity is silly, but some people really do believe it.
The silliness of the religion’s not an issue, because all religions are ridiculous. What’s at issue, really, is whether the man’s sincere about it.
Absolutely. I’m content for a Government to ask us sensible questions which will make Govenrment policy more efficient (e.g. if the population is getting older, you need to look at pensions, health care etc and who will pay for them.)
What religion you claim to have is of no help.
Judaism says Jesus is not the Son of God; Christianity says he is.
One of them is wrong, but they never debate it or try to find out the truth (and what evidence would they use anyway? )
So at least one major religion is provably wrong. Yet they all get tax breaks and protection from ‘blasphemy’.
What is a serious religion? One that collects a lot of money? One that has a lot of worshippers?
I put down Jedi on the UK form (even thought I know it’s not real):
as a protest about the question
to draw attention to the fact you can’t tell if any religion is true or not
I think you are missing the point. The military does not ask for your religion to compile statistics or to segregate or anything else. They do it so the troops who want it can get the religious support they want. Religion is on dogtags so that your body will be handled in accordance with your religion if you die. Nothing else. Putting a joke on the dogtags is not really sticking it to the man.
Ha ha, but let me ask you point blank; do you really think the guy thinks he’s a Jedi? Honestly?
Of course I don’t want lie detector tests administered, but there are such things as common sense and intelligence, and it’s perfectly fair to apply them to conclude that someone is just a shit disturber.
And I have an icelandic friend who still worships the old ways and inst a neonazi or white supremicist … and doesnt reject christianiy, just doesnt believe in it.
This would be why a character in Niven and Pournelle’s Inferno tells the narrator that it is a sin to make up religions even for the purposes of fiction: enough such fiction, and all religions would appear equally silly.
I liked the story about the student who’d put “Sun Worshipper” on his admission form to a college where they were notoriously strict about church attendance, figuring he’d get a lie-in on Sunday while all the Christians, sincere or nominal, trooped off to the morning service. What actually happened was that he got a knock on his door at 5:30am and blearily opened up to see the impassive face of the college porter, who conveyed to him the Dean’s compliments and expectation that the student would be in the East quad in a quarter of an hour in order to watch his God rising.
There is such a thing as common sense? Really? I have never seen any evidence to suggest that common sense exists and I don’t think such a phantom notion would be useful for any judgment of whether or not someone is a shit disturber or legitimately religious.
I have no idea if this is true, but radio talk show host Barry Farber used to tell a similar story about a student who claimed to be a Muslim, thinking it would get him out of attending church services. A bit later, a dorm monitor showed up with a prayer mat, and stated that he expected to see the student on it, facing Mecca, five times a day.
Look at it from a pragmatic point of view. Sgt Skywalker might get “I’m Your Father’s Day” off. He wouldn’t be in a position to then object to working other days…like Christmas, Super Bowl Sunday, Insert-your-day-here…
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