They don't contribute anything to society, and they are insidiously changing our society through newspaper and Facebook horoscopes. Our young people are being indoctrinated in this dark art.

I say let's deport them all to Iran, slap them all with wet fish or subject them to a lynch mob.  

muso wrote on Jan 13^th, 2010 at 8:54am:

They don't contribute anything to society, and they are insidiously changing our society through newspaper and Facebook horoscopes. Our young people are being indoctrinated in this dark art. I say let's deport them all to Iran, slap them all with wet fish or subject them to a lynch mob.

;D

That'd make for an awful lot of Dim Sum restaurants opened by ex-Chinese-Australians in Tehran. ;D

I've found the Chinese to be probably one of most superstitious cultures I've encountered... I reckon they even beat the Indians.

I was listening to John Micklethwait discussing his book 'God Is Back'. He reports that Christianity is on an exponential growth path in China and one of the reasons for this, he suggests, is less to do with its theology than the fact that many Chinese have linked Christian religiosity to US prosperity and influence.

NorthOfNorth wrote on Jan 13^th, 2010 at 10:00am:

muso wrote on Jan 13th, 2010 at 8:54am: They don't contribute anything to society, and they are insidiously changing our society through newspaper and Facebook horoscopes. Our young people are being indoctrinated in this dark art. I say let's deport them all to Iran, slap them all with wet fish or subject them to a lynch mob.   ;D That'd make for an awful lot of Dim Sum restaurants opened by ex-Chinese-Australians in Tehran. ;D I've found the Chinese to be probably one of most superstitious cultures I've encountered... I reckon they even beat the Indians. I was listening to John Micklethwait discussing his book 'God Is Back'. He reports that Christianity is on an exponential growth path in China and one of the reasons for this, he suggests, is less to do with its theology than the fact that many Chinese have linked Christian religiosity to US prosperity and influence.

The thing about China is that you can safely stereotype some aspects of Chinese life. They are generally success and prosperity junkies, and don't leave any medicines around or they'll eat the lot, even if it's something like Tofranil (A decongestant). There is this widespread belief that any medicine is good for you, and will somehow restore vitality and prolong life, regardless of its purpose.

Don't get me wrong. I have a lot of time for Chinese people. If we had more people in Australia with similar drive, we'd be leading the world.    

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Should Astrologers be deported?

Yep, along with right handers.

muso wrote on Jan 13^th, 2010 at 1:43pm:

The thing about China is that you can safely stereotype some aspects of Chinese life. They are generally success and prosperity junkies, and don't leave any medicines around or they'll eat the lot, even if it's something like Tofranil (A decongestant). There is this widespread belief that any medicine is good for you, and will somehow restore vitality and prolong life, regardless of its purpose. Don't get me wrong. I have a lot of time for Chinese people. If we had more people in Australia with similar drive, we'd be leading the world.

Yes, a few of the ones I've worked with over the years take to work like ants on a corpse, tireless and undaunted by the size of a task ahead of them.... But geez, the ones who are true to traditional Chinese culture have a sense of the supernatural that's more akin to that of the 14th century than the 21st. Everything seems to exude other-worldly meaning and is focussed on Confucianism, horoscopes and feng shui.

Anyone who believes in astrology is a dope. You want to know about the stars and planets? Then learn about astronomy, chemistry and physics, you know REAL science. Not this superstitious nonsense. Those stupid horoscopes can apply to anyone regardless of star sign. How stupid are people? My cousin was given a small stone by some lady, who is still stuck in the 60s, and was told that if she put it in her bra and she will get great marks in her exams. I mean, give me a bloody break!

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My cousin was given a small stone by some lady, who is still stuck in the 60s, and was told that if she put it in her bra and she will get great marks in her exams. I mean, give me a bloody break!

Yea ,but did it make her tits look bigger?

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Yea ,but did it make her tits look bigger?

;D Yeah that might just afford her higher marks.



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Anyone who believes in astrology is a dope. You want to know about the stars and planets? Then learn about astronomy, chemistry and physics, you know REAL science. Not this superstitious nonsense.

Rumour has it that Ronald Reagan made world decisions based on astrology, although I think that it was mainly his wife Nancy who was the follower of the practise.
But after all, astrology is just another religion of sorts. There's as much chance of getting reliable answers from looking to the stars as there is by looking to God.

skippy. wrote on Jan 14^th, 2010 at 4:27pm:

Yea ,but did it make her tits look bigger?

Hell no, she has two craters on her chest. I'm amazed the stone didn't fall right through.

Megalodon wrote on Jan 14^th, 2010 at 1:06pm:

Anyone who believes in astrology is a dope. You want to know about the stars and planets? Then learn about astronomy, chemistry and physics, you know REAL science. Not this superstitious nonsense. Those stupid horoscopes can apply to anyone regardless of star sign. How stupid are people? My cousin was given a small stone by some lady, who is still stuck in the 60s, and was told that if she put it in her bra and she will get great marks in her exams. I mean, give me a bloody break!

Exactly, but what do we see on News and current events programs all too often? Clairvoyants, paranormal investigators and other such shysters. They don't deserve airplay. Neither do astrologers. They are all just out for a fast buck. There was a recent segment showing paranormal investigators only last night.

We need to take tough action on astrologers now. We need to take a class action on fraud out on them whenever the printed horoscope is wrong - well just once would be good enough.  

What gets me is the way that they casually insert horoscopes into social networking sites such as Facebook.

muso wrote on Jan 15^th, 2010 at 9:12am:

Exactly, but what do we see on News and current events programs all too often? Clairvoyants, paranormal investigators and other such shysters. They don't deserve airplay. Neither do astrologers. They are all just out for a fast buck. There was a recent segment showing paranormal investigators only last night. We need to take tough action on astrologers now. We need to take a class action on fraud out on them whenever the printed horoscope is wrong - well just once would be good enough.   What gets me is the way that they casually insert horoscopes into social networking sites such as Facebook.

;D

And those bloody ebayers, buyers and sellers... the former out to sell shyte for gold, the latter out to buy gold for shyte...

And bankers.... And used car dealers... And pawnbrokers...

And every other bastard selling dreams by singing a rainbow about buying a crock of gold on $100 down and an easy credit plan.

In fact, we need a class action on human nature.

Reminds me of a song from the G&S Opera Mikado.


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As some day it may happen that a victim must be found, I've got a little list--I've got a little list Of society offenders who might well be underground, And who never would be missed--who never would be missed! There's the......(insert astrologers etc)

There's not much doubting that astrology played a major role in the birth of most religions, especially Christianity, so it should have some meaning to the God fearers.

You mean in the same way that Judaism has meaning to the Muslims?

Islam is the unselfconscious parody of monotheism in general, Judaism in particular. Not being a parody, astrology has the advantage, silly though it is.

Soren wrote on Jan 16^th, 2010 at 10:57pm:

Islam is the unselfconscious parody of monotheism in general, Judaism in particular. Not being a parody, astrology has the advantage, silly though it is.

You'd have to say that Christianity qualifies as the parody of monotheism... With it's three persons god, 'n all.

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You mean in the same way that Judaism has meaning to the Muslims?

I suppose so. Same sh!t different shovel.
Similar also to the separation of boxing federations; IBF,IBC,IBO,IBU,WBA,WBC,WPBF,WBF,WBU,EBF.
The problem is that the sh!t needs to be piled all that much higher so that everybody gets to use their shovel.

Astrology was once a decent science for the day until religions bastardised it into fantasmagorical stories, or if indeed the intent of the stories were twisted to suit the (monetory) intents of religious CEO's.

IMO, the history of religion goes something like this:

1. If you want to remember something of importance then the best way (for most people) to do so is to incorporate the instructions into a more understandable form, such as story with familiar characteristics.

2. Take for example, some relatively easy instructions on how to tie a few knots:

Granny Knot

- The rabbit comes out of the hole, runs around the tree, and then goes back into the hole.

Clove Hitch

- The rabbit comes out of the hole, over the hill, tunnels through the hill, and then goes back into the hole.

Fasty Doubleneck

- The rabbit meets the snake, and together they go into the hill and around te tree, and then into the lake.

...etc.

There are plenty of allegories used in knot tying, and they do get more complicated. Personally I alway hated the use of rabbits, trees, snakes, lakes and holes to simulate tying a knot. I don't even give a crap about tying knots.

3. The knowledge of how to tie a knot probably was of great importance several thousand (or hundred) years ago, but it would pale in comparison to the importance of knowing when to sow and when to harvest.

4. Enter the studious astrologists. They studied the movements of the planets and forecast with great accuracy the time to sow and the time to reap. There was probably no more important science than this in the history of humanity..IMO.

5. How did the astrologists instruct the farmers on how to best reap a harvest?  Did they show them maps of the stars and expect them to understand everything that they know, or did they attempt to explain it to them in more understandable terms?

6. IMO, they used allegories, just as we use today to remember a series of events.

7. Was Jesus Christ an allegory?

8. IMO Jesus Christ is an allegory of the sun, as clearly displayed by the sun behind him.

9. Does the story of Christ align with the movement of the planets, ie: when to sow and when to harvest?
There's plenty of evidence to say that  it does. And if it does, would this not be at least, if not more, valuable to human history than the way that we understand Christianity today?

10. Last commandment. There's probably more flawless analogies to be found between Chrisitianity and astrological studies than the one at the bottom here, but it's not a bad hint that it's about time that we opened our eyes to the realisation that Christianity (and all of it's offspring)  is merely an illogical twist on a once valuable science. Call me a Pagan if you like, but you will never be able to argue with reasonable logic.

http://members.cox.net/deleyd/religion/bibleastrology.html

Please give me some input on your knowledge of the subject, astrology and religion.

Amadd wrote on Jan 17^th, 2010 at 2:18am:

4. Enter the studious astrologists. They studied the movements of the planets and forecast with great accuracy the time to sow and the time to reap. There was probably no more important science than this in the history of humanity..IMO.

Surely you mean studious astronomers.  The term studious astrologist is an oxymoron. Astronomers became astrologists when they started relating the movement of the sun through the zodiac and the interaction with the planets, with some kind of concept of destiny and how it was shaped.

OK, I realise that (for example) Isaac Newton liked to play at astrology and alchemy, and that lines of distinction were blurred, but what you are describing in point 4 above is a science, astronomy, and not a superstition (astrology)

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Surely you mean studious astronomers.

Not really, if the discplines were essentially the same thing back then, then I mean astrology.

NorthOfNorth wrote on Jan 16^th, 2010 at 11:13pm:

Soren wrote on Jan 16th, 2010 at 10:57pm: Islam is the unselfconscious parody of monotheism in general, Judaism in particular. Not being a parody, astrology has the advantage, silly though it is. You'd have to say that Christianity qualifies as the parody of monotheism... With it's three persons god, 'n all.

It is not three persons but three aspects of God. None the less Christianity and Judaism are Duelist faiths believing in both God the good being Jehovah etc.. and god the evil being the Devil.  

Sappho wrote on Jan 17^th, 2010 at 9:26pm:

NorthOfNorth wrote on Jan 16th, 2010 at 11:13pm: Soren wrote on Jan 16th, 2010 at 10:57pm: Islam is the unselfconscious parody of monotheism in general, Judaism in particular. Not being a parody, astrology has the advantage, silly though it is. You'd have to say that Christianity qualifies as the parody of monotheism... With it's three persons god, 'n all. It is not three persons but three aspects of God. None the less Christianity and Judaism are Duelist faiths believing in both God the good being Jehovah etc.. and god the evil being the Devil.

Christianity goes a fair stretch further than merely aspects of god... The personages of god include the familial definitions of father and son, for which, in the case of the son, there is also a birth mythology.

In early Judaic mythology I believe Yahweh had a wife, Asherah.

Sappho wrote on Jan 17^th, 2010 at 9:26pm:

It is not three persons but three aspects of God. None the less Christianity and Judaism are Duelist faiths believing in both God the good being Jehovah etc.. and god the evil being the Devil.

We're getting way off topic here, but my original post was intended to be flippant anyway.

Christianity has the 3 in one, but then in the Catholic branch, you also have the Holy Mother who has a much higher significance as the main intercessor.

So we have Mum, Dad, the Kid, and the Ghost, and Satan who has of course turned to the Dark Side. Of course it was Dad who created evil and everything else. Go figure.

Apart from the major Deities, there is a whole pantheon of minor deities. In Christian tradition, Michael, Gabriel and friends on the bright side, together with Samael, Lilith etc on the dark side are really minor deities in the classical sense, but the definition of Deity itself is changed in Christianity.    
 

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We're getting way off topic here, but my original post was intended to be flippant anyway.

I realise that the subject is tongue in cheek and that you are talking about the horoscopes, etc. that we know today as astrology, but my point is: How can a once decent science which used stories so that people could better understand the movements of planets, the seasons, factual future predictions , etc. be raped of it's historical worth and have the parables (intended as a tool to aid understanding, such as the knot tying example) to their science taken as "gospel"? That's what religions did.

So now when we see the sign of the zodiac (as we still do above churches) we think of outlandish ancient mumbo jumbo, but we revere the baseless (well, based on theft, misinformation, lies and gullible followers) crap that we know as religion.i

You make a very good and interesting point there Amadd. What you say made me instantly think of the beautiful cave paintings of Lascaux.

Thanks for seeing a litle bit of logic in there locutius.
The cave paintings of Lascaux would be something to see. As much as 16,000 yrs old and they have insightful reference to what we know today as fact about planetory movements? We really must be slow learners.