h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It isn't the Christians (or people from other religions -- there are holier-than-thous in all religions) such as yourself that I mean. It is the ones that hold themselves above others, even people in their own congregations.

My relatives in Iowa are all Baptists and Lutherans, and epitomize what I see as a good Christian. They have their beliefs and understand that I have mine. They don't hold themselves above their neighbour and accept people on an equal basis.

Holier-than-thouness isn't a solely Christian phenomenon. There are Hindus and Shintos, Russian Orthodox and Presbyterians, Baptists and Buddhists who hold themselves as more deserving of Heaven.

WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST BE FRIENDS?!?!??!

oh..sorry...tad off topic i'll go away now...

DZ

My most valued friends are the ones who are happy to discuss thier ideas without taking offence if they are challenged respectfully, and who will take me to task the same way if they think Im' off the mark.

Why we can't all be friends is a much trickier topic.

eggs mon
rosi

You can choose your friends, but not your family... perhaps we should all be family? Or more to the point, perhaps we should all be family, but treat each other as friends.

The one thing I have learned from being a member of my Fellowship through such events as the war in Kosovo, the Afghanistan conflict, and, most recently, the war on Iraq, is that friends CAN disagree on issues and remain friends. It is a matter of conscienciously ensuring that your own opinion is founded on reasoned examination of the facts, and respecting the right of another person to their opinion.

I agree with you Mudhooks, sorry I think I might have jumped to conclusions. I always seem to be doing that. Now lets all go out and find some more recrutes for this wonderful guild!!!
Chauncey

Okay, guys calm down. Take some time to consider the loobrush.


Just one thing: Northern Ireland. It's a political thing, the religious stuff has very little to do with it. The majority of the bad stuff done by people 'because of religion' wasn't. Religion sometimes acts as an excuse for nasty people to do whatever they want to, and persuade others to join in. Thats would be its downfall.

Chauncey and I are calm.

The true sign of a friend (even if you haven't met) is the ability to have a difference of opinion, AND respect for each other.

Yea...take for instance the fact that Chauncey and i have vastly differing opinions on many things...abortion, for one is a big heated debate which we share very different opinions. We have different religious views, etc...but I can't live w/o her anyway!

DZ

"Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods."

by Artistotle
==
"I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody."

by Benjamin Franklin
==
"It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us."

by Epicurus
==
"True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation."

by George Washington
==
"Friendship that flows from the heart cannot be frozen by adversity, as the water that flows from the spring cannogt congeal in winter."

by James Fenimore Cooper
==
"Too late we learn, a man must hold his friend Unjudged, accepted, trusted to the end."

by John Boyle O'Reilly
==
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

by Mother Teresa
==
"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."

by Ralph Waldo Emerson
==
"I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing we know."

by Ralph Waldo Emerson
==
"When true friends meet in adverse hour; 'Tis like a sunbeam through a shower. A watery way an instant seen, The darkly closing clouds between."

by Sir Walter Scott
==
"A true friend stabs you in the front."

by Oscar Wilde

Tis true that Darth and me do share very different opinions on most things. But we are still able to get along. I think if Katie and I can get along then anyone should be able to get along. No...just joking, we don't have that many different opinions.
Chauncey

*stops lurking and finally says something*

I've enjoyed reading everything you've all had to say. Good things to think about. I think for most of my friends, even if we don't have that much in common and disagree on stuff, they are my friends because they are nice people to spend time with and aren't mean. As good reasons as any, I think.

And if you want the less-brain-twisting view, I echo Darth's sentiments.
It's a simple question, and kinda happy too (I guess). Although why can't we just be friends can equal "why can't we just give peace a chance" when you try to answer it.

So let's hear if for general friendlyness and amiability!

YAAAAAAAAY!

Though I'm not naturally a friendly person...that's kind of mean of me to say of myself, but I'm not. I'm hard to get along with, generally very annoyed with the human species in general, and short-tempered and hot-headed...but hey, thats ok!

DZ

Friendly enough, I'd say. You seem very nice, no put downs (except to people you know in RL, and as this is an extension of RL to some extent for some people it's really just the friendly ribbing that you would have anyways), and those aren't really that mean.

Yea...I'm not un-friendly, just intolerant. It takes alot for me to be able to stand a person, and if I can't stand you, or you really really rub me the wrong way, or you're an absolute moron and I can't stand you, I'll probably let you know. That's what I mean by un-friendly. But hey, my hootoo people are just like me; at least I know we enjoy the same humor, so I love you all!

DZ

Holbrook Johnson: "Suffer fools gladly. They may be right."

I like that one

I'd like to resurrect a favorite quote of mine, George Bernard Shaw, "The power of accurate observation is often called Cynicism by those who do not have it". Thank you, and good night! I'm so cynical, this quote fits me well!

DZ

It is funny..

I passed along a number of humerous "observations" to friends (which follow)....

Everyone I sent them too, thought them very funny, and very true -- except one person who lamented today's "cynical humor" (as if such humor was a twentieth century invention). She felt that it was why the world is a grim place. I wish I could quote her exactly.

I responded that they may be cynical, but they are so true. Sometimes, humor can take a serious subject and lighten it enough that someone on the other side of an issue can see the folly of their position. Sadly, it didn't wash with her.

I always wonder when certain people see the whole world in black and white, and can't see the humorous side to serious issues.

So, what was she so perturbed about? Judge for yourself:

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me alone.

2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.

3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

4. Sex is like air. It's not important unless you aren't getting any.

5. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

6. No one is listening until you fart.

7. Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else.

8. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

9. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

10. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

11. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

12. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

13. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

14. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

15. Some days you are the bug; some days you are the windshield.

16. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.

17. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

18. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half.

19. A closed mouth gathers no feet.

20. Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

21. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.

22. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.

23. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

24. Never miss a good chance to shut up.

25. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our butt...then things got worse.

26. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

27. There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

28. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.

29. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday...around age 11.

30. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

V funny lines and pleasant quotes guys, but this is the sort of thing that gets sent in giant chain emails that eventually get really annoying. So can that be it?

(unless you're going for the 'most quotes in one posting' award)

My friend wasn;t objecting to the method but the message.

I never send those massive email thingies. If I really like something in one of the ones I get, I have the decency to cut and paste, remove all those annoying "forward" add-ons (rows and rows of >>>>>>>>>>>>> and spaces.... Do people NOT know how to set their email so forwards don't add in all that crap? I guess they don't). Then I send it on with BCCs rather than having 5000 other people's names.

That way people get one single message, and it is like I sent it just for them....

I only wish people would do the same for me.

....AND... if I get one more of those "I was told that I had sent an email with a virus in it. A friend who works with told me that the last email company said that I should remove file from my computer" and then goes on to say that this virus "is so new, even Norton and McAfee don't know about it".....

Only to have them email back 5-6 days later sheepishly telling everyone that it was a hoax and not to remove the file.

I have taken to immediately emailing them back and saying DO NOT REMOVE ANY FILES ON THE SAY-SO OF AN EMAIL!

I actually got a sniffy email from someone who got upset about me doing a "reply all".