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

Though in responce to Arthbard, I am not going to argue religion... I'm only 17, I don't have the brain power for it right now. (not to mention the fact that I am against religion...)

peace.

Christianity has kind of gotten a bad name, because some people have misinterpreted the words of the bible as "Love thy neighbor...Unless he doesn't share your beliefs, in which case: GET HIM!" Christianity, itself, is not about slaughtering your enemies or torturing the heretics. It's a shame that some people have taken a good thing twisted it around. After all, how much better would the world be if we did unto others as we would have them do unto us?

Everyone close your eyes, say abracadabra-allahluja-muhjahadin and tomorrow we'll see US special forces (in a support role) riding into Bagram airport on Broomsticks... and who's that at the front? Why it's good old HP himself, huzzah!

haha that's 2 funny...

peace.

"Blessed is he who dashes the heads of his enemies children against the rocks" - Psalms.

Psalms what?

peace.

...and that would be a Coca-Cola sponsored broomstick to boot

Oh it's just out of some book or other, can't remember now, not terribly important, no quiddich in it you see...

... oohhh... *reaches for dictionary*

peace.

No, it's not the dictionary...

The quote is the not so famous last line of the famous psalm that begins "By the river of Babylon..." (Psalm One hundred or something... 132? no bible to hand i'm afraid) That's it The BIble, that's it's name. Apparently it's comming out in an Adult edition soon.

Quidditch is a game played by Harry Potter and his companions.

I've done a little bit of searching and I believe I've found the verse in question:

Psalm 137:8-9

"O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us--he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks."

I've also found a couple of interpretations, including one which suggests that the infants of Babylon refers to the residents of the city who are to be punished by God, and is not meant to refer to actual children.

Like Theory, I haven't the brain for a religious argument, so after this post, I think I'll try to refrain from doing too much more.

First, though, I'd like to point out some possible problems that might arise purely by following the exact words of the scripture. Mostly, this rests on the fact that man is imperfect. The Bible was written a long time ago. Whether or not you believe that the words in the Bible were written down by God himself, there is still plenty of room for man to have screwed it up. After all, until the invention of the printing press, books were copied by hand. This allows ample opportunity for man to introduce mistakes into the book. Add to that the fact that many copies were most likely based on copies that already have errors in them, with the scribes duplicating these mistakes while, at the same time adding their own. Then, of course there was the translation from hebrew in latin, and the subsequent translation from latin to english. Because of all of this, the exact wording of the Bible has become muddled enough so that pretty much anyone can pick and choose verses to support pretty much anything they want, including the burning of witches and the beating of homosexuals. My argument is not that there aren't passages in the Bible that might be construed to be encouraging unsavory things. I simply mean that the basic message of the book - the underlying theme - is a good one. It is a message of peace and love, not war and horror. Too many bad things have been done by those who choose to dissect minor passages. These people, however, are missing out on the big picture. It is this big picture that I defend, not some little, obscure passage about crushing your enemies.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll leave you to continue this discussion, while I go on to pursue some less philosophical conversation.

There's also plenty of room for God to be wrong in the first place. If he exists, i sure ain't on his side.

I'm with Harry on this one. (Though not on the Coke stick - mines the Chopped broomstick with the black flag flying from the aerial).

Harry Potter and the bible. Lets play compare and contrast.
One is about to help sell s**t loads of Coca-Cola and the other has helped to get s**t loads of people killed. Can you tell the difference? Will the former lead to the latter happening what with all that excess sugar and stuff in it? Who knows, maybe the avenging angel Dr.Pepper on his trusty black steed Pepsi will come to our rescue and kill off both overhyped behemoths with his IrnBru.

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Yes

You play me like an old fiddle. Damn.

But of course Barrs and its IrnBru is a *good* company, as it is Scotland's patent (and effective) hangover cure

'

It is just that some children have problems decifering between fantasy and reality (I know it sounds silly.) At least that is the arguement. Frankly, I think that instead of banning the books, or whatever, parents just need to make sure that thier children recognize the difference between fantasy and reality.

peace.'


Hmmm, that's right - reading CS. Lewis' Narnia books certainly ruined my life when I was a child.

*worships Aslan*

How completely ridiculous. Nuff said.

I like a Christian expressing concern about the children not being able to distinguish between make believe and reality. Seems quite ironic.

Personally I think that Harry Potter will make some children interested in witchcraft. The same happens with Buffy and Sabrina. I have heard many complain about the "playgans" ruining it for the real wiccans. But I guess after the first few times where the broomstick fails to fly, they will get away from it again. However there is of course no human sacrifice or such things involved. Can't believe I heard that from someone on here. It's usually texans talking about that.

The Bible of course tells it is wrong to do magic and you should be killed if you do it. So no wonder they are worried about their children. They are forgetting one thing however, wiccans are kind of sexy