I just googled for your home phone and I came up with your exact address. I suppose Mapquest would help me find you.

Debbie Gleason said:

I just googled for your home phone and I came up with your exact address. I suppose Mapquest would help me find you.

I tried to add my own comment, which went something like this:

Oh, my god, my government has me address? What will they think of next.

You, Miz Debbie, are welcome anytime. We'll set an extra plate and put another potato in the pot. Love, R

RicH,

You can find most anybody on Google. They have their own directory.

If I ever have cause to come your way, I'll let you know.

I grew up in New York City. There are pictures of me in FBI files from the late Sixties. I've ALWAYS known big brother was out there and IF THEY can find US, WE can find THEM.

I just put my address here for the wild naysayers who thought I was a figment of their imagination. That would take a lot of imagination.

I meant it too. I think IF some of the people who were giving me such a hard time stopped by the house, I could make them comfortable enough to accept one more "oddball" into their lives. There is probably a "tipping point" for acceptance of "other" in each of US too. One more just might do it? You never know: It might work.

You are, as I said, welcome anytime. I've moved a long way from the main road, even though I live in a small village in Upstate New York. IF you know what I mean. Thanx again, R

RicH,

I am used to oddballs of all stripes. I cannot be anything other than a non-conformist. I seem to attract very intriquing minds to me. Each are odd in their own peculiar and often endearing way. As you can surmise, I am pretty accepting. Most people. Most religions. Most lifestyles. As long as no one bothers me, I don't bother them.

"Intriguing, peculiar and endearing." Now that is a challenge I can accept; I hope I can live up to it. Peculiar gonna be a lead pipe cinch. Peace to you, R

I figured peculiar was going to be easy enough for you to maintain. But then again, I prefer eccentric people, being one myself. I doubt you're endearing all the time, but you certainly do, at times, have adorable working your favor. Friend of mine says that being cute is what has saved his life on a number of occasions. His wife hasn't killed him yet, after thirty years of marriage, and I can certainly see that he's given her cause. And intriguing, yes, you are clearly an man of ideas and who has read a great deal. I would think that conversations with you would be very interesting.

What do you mean not "endearing at all times?" AND here I was waitin' for me sainthood. R

Saints are NOT endearing. Saints tend to be rather dour and not particularly known for their sense of humor. Saints by and large can try the patience of... well...a saint. I prefer more fallible humans.

Since it's Ash Wednesday, Saints won't be partying for at least forty days. I keep thinking, I"m gonna be perfect, or sometimes even better then I screw something up and get readjusted in my own mind. I got a guy name-calling on another thread: Separation of Church and State. This is what I meant when I said, I was "worried about confronting just more of the same here."

I know this is a projection, but will it stop the name-calling? R

No one expects you to be perfect, and if they do, they will be delusional in thinking it's possible.

Won't stop the name calling. Nothing ever does. And being online can be rough. I've been on online forums since late fall, '98. Oh, I have been called names that would curl your hair. Even with community standards in place. And I've seen names told to other people that are really terrible. Most pertain to a person's lack of intelligence. Not just your run-of-the -mill moron or idiot, either. Or dope. Or jerk. But worse. Way worse. This community is very civil in comparison, and, even here, tempers flare. Don't try for perfect, please. Just be the best Richard Makepeace you know how to be. You seem pretty good from this vantage point.

Named calling aside, now I have one quoting scripture at me. I have to laugh, though. He is very worried about the splinters he sees in my eye (and yours), and doesn't notice the timber in his own. Oh well.

By the way, were you still thinking of taling about beliefs somewheres? Some of what I have written over there in the Separation thread is to set the stage for arguing from a non-orthodox, but religious stance. The parts that are unknown and unknowable are tentative, and I may change my mind later today. Some days I don't know anything, but I hate the agnostic label with a passion. I know way more than most who claim certainty of belief. With you I really want to explore things.

A good friend who I haven't seen in years, roommate for my first semester at MIT, and an orthodox Jew. We were talking about God and he told me he wasn't sure of anything about God and belief, but the traditions and practices that had been handed down through the generations, that was a real connection. It was interesting that he had chosen to follow the dietary and other stringent rules. His parents were Isralli (lived near Detroit) but not very religious in that way. He eventually emigrated to Israel and is probably raising a gagle of kids. Come to think of it, at least some of his kids are probably young adults now.

Debbie probably hasn't mentioned that she is Jewish, and I never converted (lapsed Catholic as I have mentioned).

Gerry Gleason said:

Named calling aside, now I have one quoting scripture at me. I have to laugh, though. He is very worried about the splinters he sees in my eye (and yours), and doesn't notice the timber in his own. Oh well.

This timber in my own eye is hardly worth ALL the fuss they are making, but I agree with you that keeping the focus on myself, or on the inerrancy of the Bible as I have been working to do seems to work for me. There's a Yiddish proverb: "The fella that can't dance says the band can't play."

By the way, were you still thinking of taling about beliefs somewheres?

Yes! Let's make a place, not just for the unorthodox, but for ALL of US to show the rich diversity of human thinking about, what I am going to call here, the Great Mystery for lack of a better word, and in deference to a couple of good friends who keep working to convert me to modern Native American beliefs. Just between you and me and the fence post, I don't go there either. Although I have gone to several of their gatherings/services to support my friends for one reason or another. Ah-hoo!

Some of what I have written over there in the Separation thread is to set the stage for arguing from a non-orthodox, but religious stance. The parts that are unknown and unknowable are tentative, and I may change my mind later today. Some days I don't know anything, but I hate the agnostic label with a passion. I know way more than most who claim certainty of belief. With you I really want to explore things.

I am gonna agree here too. I question, doubt and struggle, but I am not an agnostic, per se. I'm gonna say that in the final analysis, for me, that MOST of the "God-thing" doesn't matter AT ALL. What matters is how I treat you and Joseph and Therese Fitspatrick. My wife nearly loses her mind when I tell her, "It doesn't matter how THEY treat me, it only matters how I treat THEM.

As you can tell from my posts, I am not a "doormat" by any stretch of the imagination, but I do not have it in me to defend myself today. I lost that war. Admitted complete defeat, was taken prisoner, held and tortured for a long time and them released on my own parole. I am digging at the foundation of the Kingdom to free my people and to build a structurally sound foundation for the new society.

I am not afraid AND even IF the whole Kingdom falls down on me, I will not stop digging. Like Obi-wan, "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful then you can possibly imagine." Don't believe me, ask Stephen Biko.

Debbie probably hasn't mentioned that she is Jewish, and I never converted (lapsed Catholic as I have mentioned).

I consider myself, what is called today, a born-again Christian, although I think I got it right the first time. In the present climate of religious hatred, mostly generated by those who call themselves "Christian," I am ashamed to say that I am a "saved Pentacostal," or even a Christian. These Christians, like Muslims who spew hatred, have given Christians a bad name by spewing hatred and intolerance.

Hell, I was even a Pentacostal youth minister, but I do not hate women, peacemakers and gays. I do not hate anyone. I believe I was "instructed" to go forth and love one another. I began as a ten year-old to return hate-chapter-and-verse with loving quotations until I got old enough to realize THEY weren't listening anyway.

I don't know how well I manage to "go forth and love one another;" the "fan club" seems to be split on that little decision, not that I would feel much remorse "firing" the whole damned fan club. I don't worry too much about how well I love, I keep busy loving. It is like the old saw about the boat: "The fella rowing the boat doesn't spend much time rocking the boat."

I'm serious about creating a place for sharing religious views and I want to help with the "consensus-thing" since I feel my confidence and my skills at managing this site are growing.

Stay in the boat, my friend. Love RicH

What part of NY is Unadilla?

I was born in Rochester, grew up mainly in NYC, attended several colleges in NYS.

Michael Maranda said:

What part of NY is Unadilla?

Unadilla is 12 miles west-southwest of Oneonta, New York on route 88. Where are you now?

I was born in Rochester, grew up mainly in NYC, attended several colleges in NYS.

Chicago

Chicago? Did they make that a place? I was once stopped for smoking pot in Chicago, a long long time ago. The cops were very polite.

You know what I appreciate about you RicHARD? You are so uninhibited. It's very refreshing.

I must be the inhibited counterpart. My initial post was to be:

Chicago, center of the revolution.

Michael Maranda said:

I must be the inhibited counterpart. My initial post was to be:

Chicago, center of the revolution.

You got that right!! "The whole world IS watching!!" and "The revolution will not be televised."

They WATCHING now, too. And WE fuckin' up.

Present company excluded, of course.

I'd be worried if I thought they knew WHO to watch. Hiding in plain site.

Hey RicH,

I'm going to be coming out to Rochester in March to meet with my committee. It would be fun to get together and hang out. How far is Unadilla from Rochester?

RicHARD Makepeace said:

I'm serious about creating a place for sharing religious views and I want to help with the "consensus-thing" since I feel my confidence and my skills at managing this site are growing.

Hey RicH,

SolSeed is trying to be such a place. Would you consider sponsoring it's creation as a group and bring your prodigious enthusiasm to make it a meta-religion that helps accomplish the goals you've been articulating so thoughtfully?

Peace,

Brandon

Brandon: committee for what? I was born in Rochester, and most of my family are there, so I go back fairly often. (But not this March)

Michael, My dissertation in computer science from UofR.