Koos is an enigma

[Michael Alexander]

Good theory, the only downside to that , is that Koos,s IP address is in Cape Town......

[georg ruf jr.]

Doesn't Kenny live in CT too?

[Michael Alexander]

Ja, but i'm hoping that there is a mountain between them at least.....

[georg ruf jr.]

But maby he moves from one side to the other for login purposes... 

[SandyB]

@ Mike  here  is  a  good  version  of  hell ...   and  of  course  the alternative  if  one  learns  to help  ones  fellow  man ..    the  moral  of  the story  fits so  well into  so  many  of  todays  scenarios

Literally,  food for thought!
A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said,

    "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like."
    The Lord led the holy man to two doors.
    He opened one   of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large
    round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and
    made the holy man's mouth water.
    The people sitting around   the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished.
    They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each
    found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle
    was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.
    The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.
    The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."
 
    They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one.
    There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth
    water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were
    well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, "I don't understand."
    It is simple," said the Lord. "It requires but one skill. You see they have learned to feed
    each other, while the greedy think only of themselves."

[georg ruf jr.]

It's such a simple step.
It's what I was refering to in the Topic Zimbabwe. This includes everybody. Also the people of Zimbabwe. If they have no idea or will to help themselves, what should the weat do? Throw bombs? Killing innocent?
May sound arogant. But it's meant to be philosophil.

[barb (Fry)]

hey Sandy this brings to mind my understanding of why the habit of chopping off hands in some countries (Islamic) as a punishment for being caught as a thief, is not only to make it more difficult to steal with one hand but because it makes the offenders reliant on others to feed them.

The hand that is removed is always the eating hand, the other hand is the wiping hand and cannot be used in a communal dinner.
Either you get fed or become self sufficient, making your own food and eating on your own.
something like that, anyone know if this is correct, Patricia maybe.

[georg ruf jr.]

Never thought of that way.
thought it was additionaly a form of branding.

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

I liked that story Sandy    -     food for thought

[SandyB]

I  would imagine its a form of both ,, branding which ostracises them in  society , and  yes indeed they  would  be  reliant upon somebody  else to feed them , however the thread of the story i posted had to do with greed , imagiine a greedy  selfish  person  getting  that  punishment  when they pass on .. if  one  went  into the theory  that in  each life we  are supposed to  learn something then  that  soul  would  either  have   to  learn  not  to be  greedy  or  face the  same punishment  over  and  over ..
On the subject of Islam and the exchange between Georg snr  ,Patricia and  some others in one  topic  I  forget had  to do with the way muslim communities  literally demand to  be  treated specially in  other  countries  etc etc  ... I   will add only my 5 cents   in that I  find  it  amazing  how that  religious  grouping  can always be  so  "sensitive"  they  go  inot  a  froth  whenever  the  prophet  is  insulted   and they seem  to  be  totally  intolerant  of  even  balanced comment  never mind  open  critique ..  have   you   in  these  days seen  the  pope  or any  other  religious  leader  declare  a  war   or  put  a  death warrant out  on  someone  for  critiscising their   religion  or  making  a movie about  it  or  reporting  on  abuse ??? that  was  stuff of the  middle ages .. so  yes I remain bemused by  this  behaviour ,, I accept that  generally  it is  normally the  5 % that  are so  extremist  that  generally  push  this  middles ages  way  of  thinking , but  then  alarmingly  so  it  also  appears  to  be  growing , and  a  form  of  fundamentalism is  growing .. I see  more  and more  women  totally  covered up here in  CT  and it is  alarming ..  my mind  boggles , how  could  a  woman  allow  herself to  be " imprisoned"  like  that .. closing  comment  is  my  opinion that such extreme  behaviour and lashing out is  a  form of " immaturity of  ones  faith " cos  if  ones  belief and  faith is strong  then  nothing  said  or  done  can  divert  you from  this  faith , in  fact  having  this   self  confidence of  faith  would  allow  one  to just  go  on practising  this  faith  without  " injury"  Oops I  have  gone from  5 cents to  5 $ ...

[georg ruf jr.]

I know what you're saying Sandy. But I think some muslims see it as part of the religion to "protect" Allah with their lives. Strange to me.

[SandyB]

Yes Georg ,, and so  we  remain  bemused ..  I could not  subscribe to a faith that  asks me to sacrifice my life  and does not allow me to question ..

[Rhona]

Why has Jnr gone shy???

[georg ruf jr.]

I've always been shy. Do you only realise now?

[Patricia Lotte]

You're right Sandy, there are a lot of contradictions in their religion that just don't make sense to us 'immoral souls'. A non-muslim is not allowed into a mosque and we're not even allowed to touch the Koran because we are 'unpure'. We are destined to go to hell because we don't worship the Prophet. As for the black abaya and veil worn by women, they say that most women choose to wear it ... well, I do have several muslim female friends and have yet to meet one who confirms that. They are forced to dress that way by their fathers, brothers, husbands ... and the main reason being that men can't control their sexual desires in front of a woman. She is an object made to satisfy men!
I don't want to generalise, as I do have some really great muslim friends that are like family to me, but unfortunately, my 11 years in this region has allowed me to learn a lot about this religion and their culture.
Not sure whether any of you have read the Jean Sasson books. She lived in Saudi Arabia for many years and wrote about a Saudi royal princess's life. It's easy reading and I'm sure that the book had to be 'pre-approved' before it was released, but they do give some insight on the life of muslim women.