Ok, now I love Facebook as much as anyone I guess. But the lies and stupid stuff people post as true irritate the snot out of me. It seems that people are too stupid to use Google to do a simple search to find out what they are posting is false or maybe a half truth.
Some of the things that are put on Facebook are as follows:
1.Bill Cosby and the "I'm 83 and tired!" This was not penned by Bill Cosby. He states this on his official website. And he's not even 83!
2. Mars on "date" will be the same size as the moon. Um....Mars is NEVER the size of the moon! The picture is Photoshopped. AND the date it was supposed to have been, the moon wasn't even at the full point. I think it was 1st quarter.
3.The word Dhimmitude is in the Obamacare document to specifically exclude Muslims from having to pay health insurance penalties. Well, 1st of all that doesn't even make logical sense because Congress has to pass the bills. And if you look up the document, you can do simple "find" search and it comes up empty. However, there is a clause that does give a religious exemption, but it doesn't specifically say Muslims. From what I have read, this actually is for the Amish, because they do their own healthcare.
4.October has 5 Mondays, 5 Tuesdays, and 5 Wednesdays and it only happens every 823 years. Umm...ok. This year October only has 4 Mondays. And the whole 555 thing happens every few years.
5.Barak Obama's student ID. It is so obvious that this is fake! The picture and ID format don't even look like they came from 1981.
6.HIV needles under gas pump handles. This has been circulating for years and years and years. From what I've read, this has never actually happened.
7.Bill Gates will give you $5000 for sharing a picture. No harm is trying! Yes, harm in trying! You make yourself look stupid!!!! Especially since you've posted this several times!!!! I can say this from my personal experience of forwarding the Bill Gates emails. I never got money.
8.Share this cancer child/abused dog/etc for a donation to be made to said charity. Sharing doesn't equal donations.
9.Eddie Murphy (or whoever) died "today" in a snowboarding accident. People, if you read the bottom of the page, it actually says "This story is 100% FAKE!!!" And if you check the page day after day, the date always changes. LOL
These are just a few examples of things I've read on Facebook that have really irritated me. Truthfully, I'm betting most of us have been guilty of sharing this stuff. I used to email this kind of stuff to "all my friends" back in 1999-2000 when I was an internet newbie. But people don't really have an excuse now. Google and other search engines don't take that long to research a little truth.
Please, do your friends a favor and fact-check before sharing.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Spirituality: A Personal Journey
People tend to want to put a label on what one is spiritually. Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, Wiccan, Pagan, Catholic, Atheist, etc. And even within those labels are more labels including Church of Christ, Baptist, Mormon, Mahayana, Gardnarian, Orthodox, etc. I really am not a fan of all these labels.
I'm asked frequently: What are you? What do you believe about God? Do you even believe in God? It's very hard for me to try to answer these questions.
My personal spiritual beliefs:
God or Evolution: Yes, I do believe in God. I believe we are created, but there is an evolutionary process that is always happening. I see evolution every day at my work. I work as a Microbiologist in a hospital laboratory. Growing bacteria and watching as they become more and more resistant because they have built up mechanisms so that drugs won't kill them. Survival of the fittest happens when the more resistant are the ones who survive.
Is God a man or a woman? I like to believe that there is both a male god and a female god. It makes sense to me if we are modeled after God, there would be a male and a female since there are male and female humans.
Is the Bible the voice of God, given through the hands of men or just a bunch of stories passed down through the generations? And does the Bible change? I really tend to teeter on this one. The Bible is most definitely a bunch of stories passed through generations, but is that all it is? Not sure on that one. I like to think it was divinely inspired. And I do believe that the Bible changes over time. As language evolves and ways of thinking evolves, so do the different versions of the Bible. You can see this when you go to a website that shows different versions of the Bible. You can read side by side the verses in several different versions and they are sometimes very different. Does this make the Bible less valid? Probably not. Most sects of Christianity tend to use the verses most relevant to their own agenda. (This is from my own personal experiences.) No matter how one thinks of the Bible, it is full of useful stories and valuable lessons for all ages.
Do Ghosts and Reincarnation exist? Yes. If one believes that our soul survives after death, one believes in ghosts. A ghost is the soul/spirit of a person outside of the human body. I don't necessarily think that the spirit is "stuck" in the earthly plane, but I do believe that the spirit may want to visit things known in life. Reincarnation/Rebirth: I tend to agree with Sylvia Browne somewhat on this one: an all-loving God would give us more than one chance to "get it right." Also, there are so many people who have irrational fears and memories of past lives, why wouldn't we have more than one life? Think about it, you have a paralyzing fear of water. You can't even take a bath without fearing drowning. Maybe in a past life you drowned. Maybe this is a weak argument, but it makes sense to me.
Church: I think Church is a wonderful place to meet like-minded people and worship God. I personally feel closer to the Divine out in nature. Sitting outside in the evening, breathing the fresh air, watching the birds, feeling the sun's warmth, feeling the moon's light, so relaxing! It is a very spiritual experience for me. I feel very uncomfortable in a Church setting, but in nature I feel free to worship in the way I choose.
Once again, these are some of my personal spiritual beliefs. Spirituality is a journey, so my beliefs do tend to change based on my experiences though life. We all are on our own spiritual journey. I wish you the best with yours.
I'm asked frequently: What are you? What do you believe about God? Do you even believe in God? It's very hard for me to try to answer these questions.
My personal spiritual beliefs:
God or Evolution: Yes, I do believe in God. I believe we are created, but there is an evolutionary process that is always happening. I see evolution every day at my work. I work as a Microbiologist in a hospital laboratory. Growing bacteria and watching as they become more and more resistant because they have built up mechanisms so that drugs won't kill them. Survival of the fittest happens when the more resistant are the ones who survive.
Is God a man or a woman? I like to believe that there is both a male god and a female god. It makes sense to me if we are modeled after God, there would be a male and a female since there are male and female humans.
Is the Bible the voice of God, given through the hands of men or just a bunch of stories passed down through the generations? And does the Bible change? I really tend to teeter on this one. The Bible is most definitely a bunch of stories passed through generations, but is that all it is? Not sure on that one. I like to think it was divinely inspired. And I do believe that the Bible changes over time. As language evolves and ways of thinking evolves, so do the different versions of the Bible. You can see this when you go to a website that shows different versions of the Bible. You can read side by side the verses in several different versions and they are sometimes very different. Does this make the Bible less valid? Probably not. Most sects of Christianity tend to use the verses most relevant to their own agenda. (This is from my own personal experiences.) No matter how one thinks of the Bible, it is full of useful stories and valuable lessons for all ages.
Do Ghosts and Reincarnation exist? Yes. If one believes that our soul survives after death, one believes in ghosts. A ghost is the soul/spirit of a person outside of the human body. I don't necessarily think that the spirit is "stuck" in the earthly plane, but I do believe that the spirit may want to visit things known in life. Reincarnation/Rebirth: I tend to agree with Sylvia Browne somewhat on this one: an all-loving God would give us more than one chance to "get it right." Also, there are so many people who have irrational fears and memories of past lives, why wouldn't we have more than one life? Think about it, you have a paralyzing fear of water. You can't even take a bath without fearing drowning. Maybe in a past life you drowned. Maybe this is a weak argument, but it makes sense to me.
Church: I think Church is a wonderful place to meet like-minded people and worship God. I personally feel closer to the Divine out in nature. Sitting outside in the evening, breathing the fresh air, watching the birds, feeling the sun's warmth, feeling the moon's light, so relaxing! It is a very spiritual experience for me. I feel very uncomfortable in a Church setting, but in nature I feel free to worship in the way I choose.
Once again, these are some of my personal spiritual beliefs. Spirituality is a journey, so my beliefs do tend to change based on my experiences though life. We all are on our own spiritual journey. I wish you the best with yours.
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