Why I Choose Peace

Some of you don't like my new sig for one reason or another. That's your problem, not mine. Some of you probably don't understand my new sig and avatar choice, so I will try to explain it as best I can and you can make of it what you like, still not my problem. Some of you think I have gone soft-headed maybe and you think you can mess with me? Forget that, you will just end up face down in the dirt (in a forum/word-play sense) same as always. Just because I choose peace, that doesn't mean I'm going to be a soft target. I will defend myself and those I love with everything I have.

So why did I change my sig to the generic PEACE word and change my avatar to some bits of fruit laying on the grass? It's a long story but it relates to the way I see the world and the stuff that's going on in it right now. We have politicians strutting around making themselves out to be leaders when all they are is puppets for the real power structure and that real power structure is making plans for war. I'm not talking about a small war, I'm talking about a big, nasty, world-get's screwed-up and millions/billions of people get killed war. (If you think you are 'safe' because you are on the 'right' side, you are kidding yourself.)

Look at what's happening in the world. Now go back and look at history. Now look at the money trail and see that it's the same group that has stolen the money in the past that has stolen it all again and it's the same group that leads us off like lemmings towards the cliff of murderous warfare, every time, right back through history, back to the crusades and probably even back before that. They slap a weapon in your hands, a tin hat on your head and fill your mind with the justifications for violence and off you go. Good luck with that.

Now, you might think that you know what is going on and you might think that it all has to go down that way. I'm here to tell you, just about everything you have been told by the mainstream media and the politicians and the Churches and even your teachers at school is a lie. Did they tell you that you are free? That's a lie. You were registered at birth as property of the state. You can hardly draw breath without a licence to do so and a tax payment for the privellege. (if they haven't got an air tax yet, just wait a while) If you are a young man, you can't even choose peace as a way to live if they want you to fight their war. They will lock you up and call you a criminal for doing so. Freedom, liberty, those are just words these days and most people will never even understand that because their heads are full of the junk they put there and reinforce all the time. Advertising, video clips, video games, films, television shows, the nightly news and politicians talking - it's all bs, it's all pollutants. It's also very pervasive and very subtle and it's toxic. Your heads and your bodies are full of toxins and that is no accident.

Do you think it's 'cool' to play the gun-toting gangsta, or the blood-drinking ghoul, or even the cyborg killing machine? Sorry friends, you have been led down the wrong path as far as I'm concerned and it's been done to you on purpose. The world is not all fubar for no reason, it didn't 'just happen'. There are forces at work in the world that I cannot talk about on this forum (and there are reasons for that as well). All I can say is, go and do some research, go and find out the truth. Don't accept the easy lies, go deeper, even if it frightens you to do so.

So I have made my choices and I decided to reject the systems of violence and control. I still have to live in this world, so I have to interact with those systems at times but I do so only when I have to or choose to and I reject their messages of consumption, hatred, lust, greed, selfishness and fear. So, I'm out, even when I'm in (if that makes any sense) and looking from the outside I see a lot of sheeple lost in some sick dream and wandering around completely trapped inside their own heads and what they 'think' they should be doing. I feel sorry for them in some ways but in other ways they make me angry. (that's something I have to work on, I'm nothing like perfect, I never said I was)

I choose peace because it's the only viable option, as far as I can see, for the future survival of the human race. I made it green because I believe we had better learn to respect nature and learn how to live without destroying the natural world because we are a part of it and the destruction of nature will be the destruction of us all. I chose my avatar because it's all about the food. If we screw up the world to the point where the food runs out, what's left? Well, you are meat and I am meat and meat is food, right?
So call me whatever you like, do whatever you want, think whatever you think. I don't care, I have stuff I need to do. So do you, even if you don't realise it.

My first response was going to be a flippant one..

Kids...don't do drugs.

I mean its there for posterity now and still funny in its own right but like I said...flippant.

Obviously you have had some sort of ephiphany(spl?) and fair play to you.

A lot of what you said makes perfect sense but I'm not sure this is the greatest medium to get it across.
All the best
Mark

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Originally Posted by earlofspark

Kids...don't do drugs.

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I lol'd.

Too much text although I'm sure it advocates for Peace. Lovely.

Peace is a three legged stool, Sir Rodri. I agree that as all three leggs are in balance, mankind can reach for the upper shelf.

Yet, history does remind us, when those who cherish peace over security, and lay down their weapons, they neither have peace, nor security.

The study of how to succeed at war, in my view, is the doctrine to securing the peace.

There will always be some group or some idiologue who wants to control you, far beyond where you want to be controlled.

The study of war, and how to succeed at it, prevents them, by showing strength of resolve through superior force. That is the main idea behind the industrial war complex. Peace through Strength.

Not everyone can be millionaires, but does that mean that everyone should be paupers? Equality of status has never ever been achieved, and will never be achieved. So someone gets mad, and instead of earning their faire, they take it.

Not everyone thinks alike, so does that mean that everyone should be boxed into an authorized pardigm? To achieve a complete peace, it would. Everyone ever, those born now and born to come, would have to think alike, be alike, act alike, show no deviance to the norm. Stafford wives like. All just getting along, cuz only approved thoughts can be thought.

And then the big questionary, is who pray tell will be the one to approve and disapprove, what you think? Who would be the big Who?

K ... well, you may say, no one is the big Who, no one is in charge, for that is the problem, that the wrong ones are always in charge. okay, dont know if you would say that, but lets say the statement is on the table. well, then I say that there would be anarchy. hodgepodge chaos. disorder. and peace therefore be not achieved.

I say, live in peace, but prepare for war, for those who do not prepare for conflict, prepare to loose the conflict.

great subject, btw.

Is this a Hippy thread? ;)

Anyway without trying to break forum rules on politics/religion.. surprisingly I agree with a bulk of what Rodri has said, however only in a Utopian society would true peace ever be accomplished. So it is, I believe, a self-defeating personal quest to seek total "peace". However that is not to say I disagree with peace, I love it, but.. I do not believe that it can be achieved by Humans (this is where I would go off on a religious tangent). History has proven that there is evil inside all humans, that no-one is blameless. To achieve this I believe that an intervention of divine nature is required.

Also King Albion, I agree that we need to be ruled. We need to pay our dues (taxes). We need to be given boundaries. A regimen that treats everyone as equals would be great. However economically it would be entirely inequitable (see lorenz curve) and because of human nature it could never be sustained. The over riding factor that shapes the basics of all economics is "Humans are never satisfied". Until this.. problem.. could be solved it is IMPOSSIBLE to achieve true peace, and bar brainwashing there is nothing much you can do to change ALL 8 Billion peoples minds.

As most cant be bothered reading that.. in summary seeking peace is all fine and dandy but I will be keeping my "day job". :)

EDIT: and whoever said kids don't do drugs.. I really hope you were being sarcastic otherwise you are extremely naive

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lohhy7Cgjc1qhm4vl.gif

but seriously rodri i doubt anyone put that much thought into your sig as to make such assumptions, and all of what you say is true unfortunately but for most of us its something we dont like to think about and out of sight out of mind

What a mixed bag of responses! earlofspark tries to crack a joke but fails (believe me, I built my reputation here on being funny and that wasn't funny). That's one of those lines they feed you over and over again but they don't tell you that the 'war on drugs' is really a war of drugs and you are the target.

Then Hachi does the tldnr line, which just goes to show you. Seven short paragraphs is too much effort to read? Forget about it, you are lost and gone already if that is true. I bet you know all the advertising slogans and jingles on T.V. though.

Grito97 asks if this is a hippy thread?
Nope, I'm too young to be a hippy. I was a child of the 60's but my parents were working class and socially conservative. I knew there was stuff going on but I was too young to be able to really understand or participate and by the time I was old enough, the party was over, the movement had mostly been destroyed and the advertising merchants had turned it into a 'fashion trend'. If anything, I was a punk. But I was a punk before anyone knew what a punk really was and by the time they put a label on it, I had moved on anyway. So what was I really? I don't know, an anarchist, a pacifist, a head-banger, a nehillistic self destructive fool and a seeker who didn't even know what he was looking for.

King Albion, I don't know what to say to you. I know you have invested so much of yourself into what you believe is right and you and your offspring have put it all on the line for that cause. But making war, preparing for war, threatening war has never brought us any sort of lasting peace or lasting security. Just as I can't force you to accept my message of peace, you can't force peace upon others with threats of violence. It just doesn't work. Real peace has to come from within and it has to be accepting and it has to be loving. Maybe in this world as it is right now, real peace is just a dream but what else is left? More wars? More destruction? A global empire ruled over by a global elite that drip-feeds the (reduced) global population just enough resources to survive, while they fly from private resort to private island in their private jets and make promises about how things will get better one day, if we all work a little bit harder and learn to accept the yoke without rancour?

I'm not going to tell you what to think, I'm not going to tell you what to do. make your own choices, even when you don't think you have any choices left. That's free will. But is it really free will when your choices have been limited and restricted and legislated away? It doesn't matter, render unto Ceasar and all that.

Then Grito97 goes on to bring religion and the big lie of religion into the discussion. Nope, I won't go there. Believe what you want to believe but realise that most of the death and destruction throughout history was caused by one belief system fighting against another. Then he slips the slave collar onto his own neck and tells us how much he needs to be a slave because he cannot control his own life. There's the usual stuff about too many people and 'human nature' but I tell you this - if you took all 7 billion people (not 8) in the world and dropped them in the state of Texas, each one could have 1,000 square yards of land with space left over. That's the truth. So keep your day job, keep paying your taxes and be a good little slave. You might even survive and be given the privellege of breeding rights if you work hard enough for your corporate masters, some day. Just remember, Big Brother is watching you - you love him.

I didn't start this thread to change anyone's mind. I'm just putting it out there, as best as I can within the restrictions this site places upon us all. (I can't even link to stuff that would blow your minds because the admins and mods would blow a fuse and shut this all down in a heartbeat.) That's the way it is. We are all restricted in ways that we don't always really understand. Sometimes we agree with those restrictions, other times we don't even understand that they are there. My journey is mine alone and it's mostly internal but even there, there are restrictions and blockages that have to be cleared and there are plenty of false trails and pitfalls along the way. I will stumble sometimes and I will be led astray but there are some trail markers if I look for them that point back to the right path (the middle way) and there is an awareness that comes from being in this different place. Yes, this world is insane and everything and everyone in it is divided and in constant conflict. I can't change that, I can only change myself. So I choose peace. You can choose whatever you like.

To be honest I am not a fan of huge paragraphs , and no it dosn't relate to my intelligence.. I am just fairly lazy when reading these posts and I never seem to thoroughly cover them when I try to reply. ( I just can't)

Now to your little part about mods restricting it, meh if it isn't something gruesome I really don't see why it cannot be posted..

What I read I agreed with though :x?

I don't see reason to close it? good convo:)

To what extent do you envision us as slaves? Can we not choose what we eat? what we spend our time on? who we befriend? who we love? As you say its a matter of perspective. Forgive the cliche quote but, how do you view your glass? half full or half empty?. I agree that there is not a lot here to be joyful about, but I still try to look at the postives in life. Maybe you should consider yourself more fortunate as you are not a true slave. Having no will of choice. Forced to do whatever your masters demand of you. Born into a world of inequality. While you feel enslaved by the "worldly powers" I find nothing to fear, all through history people have been ruled and I am not afraid to be one of them.

As for religion. I could not agree more that HUGE wars have been, and are being caused by it. If you watch your world news then you will see that there has been an incredible amount of hate and violence over a short film. No religion is free of blame. But this is just further evidence showing that no human is without fault. If you think about the philosophy you follow of peace, you must then understand that it is unobtainable. Like I said, people are never satisfied. Yes we could all fit into the state of Texas, but what happens when Cain decides he likes Able's land better than his?..

EDIT: I believe in an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient (God). I have nothing to fear of Big Bro, well that's not true.. I do have fear but I overcome it with the knowledge that all have inequities and I know where i'm heading ;)

Don't get me wrong, supporting the cause of peace is a good one, but I've got several points which you may wish to consider.

First off is the fact that I'm extremely tempted right now to be an asshat and say something sarcastic. For better or worse, I'll save such comments to the end of my post where it's best suited.

Secondly, I believe that if you support peace, it takes more than a single word to do so. You're intelligent and creative enough to know all of the meanings of what I just said.

Third, you're pretty much picking a fight with this very post. What do I do when people tell me that my sig sucks? I ignore them, because they're not worth the time to argue with. I'm pretty sure you spent at least fifteen minutes cooking this stew up.

Lastly, it's my turn to be the jerk here, but it's somewhat necessary. Why the hell would you pick such an avatar? If you're going for an all-out shout to people to wake up from the nightmare we're in, use something like a "No You Can't" meme. They're funny and they get the message across at the same time.


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Also, people always fight. True, ideal peace isn't possible. The human being, without natural predators, will always create an enemy to fight, even if it's other human beings. I really doubt I've got more to say on that front.

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Originally Posted by Rodri

What a mixed bag of responses! earlofspark tries to crack a joke but fails (believe me, I built my reputation here on being funny and that wasn't funny). That's one of those lines they feed you over and over again but they don't tell you that the 'war on drugs' is really a war of drugs and you are the target.

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Keep your knickers on there Betty.

A couple of points...
1) If I think something is funny then in it goes, if others don't find it funny then fine, humour is subjective.
2) I am English and we have a fairly unique SOH and sometimes it is lost in translation, that is fine to.
3) You talk about your having been funny in the past tense, from what I have read that is abundantly evident.
4) I could have ripped your post to shreds, I didn't...I'm not like that.
5) I stand by my comment that posting this thread in a forum of what is essentially a war game is a little off kilter.

Peace.

First up, earlofsparks. If you think you can rip my posts apart, go ahead and do it but realise this - I started playing Evony when server 5 opened. That's when Civony came out of beta and the name changed to Evony and the game first went public. I joined the forums not long after that and I have been through it all, stuff that you couldn't even begin to comprehend. I was doing battle mechanics with the pioneers of battle mechanics, I was discussing the deep and meaningfuls with guys who can best be described as brilliant, or legendary. What you see of these forums now is a shadow of it's former life. Even I am just a ghost here now in many ways.

Grito97, you say this is the wrong place because it's the forums for a war game. This is Off-Topic and in this section we discuss everything and anything except the game. But seeing as you brought it up, this little war game called Evony, let's look at that. Like I said, I started on server 5, I beta tested age II and played on na43. I have been a host, a vice-host and been in top level alliances with some of the best players in the game and earned their respect with my game knowledge and skills. But the game is broken in many ways. it's full of bots and alts and cheats and the base code has been messed around with so much. The old servers lag badly, but players still insist on logging in, trying to do stuff and getting frustrated and angry but they just can't quit. It's worse than a drug for a lot of people but it's messed up. Obviously they get something from this messed up game that they just don't get in real life and that's something to think about.

Some of you guys want to project your thinking onto my words. Jurnis even claims I am trying to start a fight by talking about peace. That would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Sorry Jurnis, it's not going to happen and I'm sorry I checked you so hard in the bar but you were trolling and you pushed the wrong button once too often and you got me at the wrong time on the wrong night, so to speak.

Reasoner, I've been around long enough to know what can be posted and what cannot be posted in this place. I have the infractions and suspensions to prove it. I'm walking a tightrope as it is, trust me on this.

Back to the subject. Everyone seems to think peace is a good idea, but...
... and everyone has their own but's and yes it's true, there are many things that get in the way of real peace, even internal peace. That is the nature of this world. But what if I was to tell you that this world is an illusion and even the universe, as we percieve it, is just an illusion?
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages." William Shakespeare
"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world." Tathagata Buddha

So anything that gets in the way, anything that causes problems is illusory as well and these illusions can be overcome, in time, with right thinking. That's why the journey is an inner journey for the most part. That's why it is difficult for others to understand. We see and touch and hear and taste and smell this world through our senses and we process that information in our minds and it all seems very real, very solid and sometimes, very painful.

But what is mind anyway? Is it the brain in our head? Is it that small? In many ways, the mind is a trap. We get stuck in our own heads sometimes, we forget that we are more than what we appear to be. We forget why we are here and we forget where we came from. We forget so much but memory is never really lost. The business of the world occupies our immediate thoughts for much of the time and when we seek relief from that, many prefer to enter realms of fantasy and play a role there, such as an online game like Evony, or we just wish to lose ourselves for a while in the television or video and switch off. (That switching off in front of the box is a bad thing to do because when you do that you enter a type of hypnotic state and you become very susceptible to the messages that flicker across the screen.)

We are slaves in many ways because we give up our freedom for security and we let others make decisions for us so we don't have to be responsible. That is the truth about freedom. When you are free you are then responsible for your every action and inaction and that is a huge responsibility. So we give our power to others but power is like a drug and power can corrupt and power can become a goal in itself for some people who care very little who they hurt to get what they crave. Did you know that at least 6% of the world population is psychopaths? You will have to do your own research about what a psychopath is and what that means to the rest of us but understand this - if you have 100 friends, statistically 6 of them are psychopathic by nature. Then there is a large percentage of the population who are followers or true believers. They accept the messages they are given by 'higher authorities' on faith, based on their beliefs and they will do things based on that 'faith' that they would not normally do if they were left to their own devices.

So, peace. It has to come from inside and it has to be worked for. I can't tell you much about it because I don't really have the words. I can't force it upon anyone else either, so I can't even really describe how a peaceful world would operate. That's not where my head is at. I can tell you that you must break the chains that bind you first and then seek the peace that is on offer after that. A peaceful slave is a docile slave but still a slave. So get free first, then seek peace. When we get enough people thinking about peace and wanting peace, then the answers will come. Until then, stay real.

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Originally Posted by Rodri

Like I said, I started on server 5, I beta tested age II and played on na43.

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sorry to derail, but you were on 43 too?

Where did I say this was the wrong place?

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Originally Posted by tipperary1

sorry to derail, but you were on 43 too?

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Yes I was.

http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/q...ame55/rod1.jpg

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Originally Posted by Grito97

Where did I say this was the wrong place?

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Apologies, that should have been directed at earlofsparks.

No problems dude:) I was actually wondering if I was going blind looking through my posts

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Originally Posted by Rodri

Yes I was.

http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/q...ame55/rod1.jpg



Apologies, that should have been directed at earlofsparks.

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arbalest is na32 not 43 lol

Peace sells... but who's buying?

That's right!

Nobody with enough money/power to cause it!

Let's face it. The system's broken and there's no way to fix it. Sure, a popular revolution could happen. Sure, that could fix it for 10 minutes. But then it would just fall back to greed and the decadence of the human population will continue.

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Originally Posted by Agent Smith

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.

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Tipper, it was a long time ago. I quit I didn't keep track. Tbh I was thinking of joining 43 when it opened but I gave myself an uppercut and came to my senses.

Acer, are you showing your true colours now? I don't have anything to sell, it's not a marketing scheme. That Matrix quote is wrong. There were plenty of people, still are in some isolated places, who have found a balance between population and resources and they live/lived in harmony with their environment. If there is a disease, a virus amongst humanity, it's the civilization and empire builders, the resource exploiters, the power-trippers and the greedy mo-fo's who want to own more than they could ever need. But their time is coming, that's obvious to anyone who is paying attention. I don't have to do anything about them, they will destroy themselves.

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Originally Posted by Rodri

Tipper, it was a long time ago. I quit I didn't keep track. Tbh I was thinking of joining 43 when it opened but I gave myself an uppercut and came to my senses.

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wise of you, i however broke my retirement and returned starting 43 on request of some friends

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Originally Posted by Rodri

There were plenty of people, still are in some isolated places, who have found a balance between population and resources and they live/lived in harmony with their environment.

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i have 2 monstrous kids under 8, 2 dogs, a cat, 4 chooks, a horse and geese on the way with the enclosure already built, i just added 2 bedrooms, a new lounge and a huge veranda that's been under construction since before last christmas

today i had 6 grey roos less than 5 metres from my clothes line

that's is balance with nature baby :D

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Originally Posted by Balaam

i have 2 monstrous kids under 8, 2 dogs, a cat, 4 chooks, a horse and geese on the way with the enclosure already built, i just added 2 bedrooms, a new lounge and a huge veranda that's been under construction since before last christmas

today i had 6 grey roos less than 5 metres from my clothes line

that's is balance with nature baby :D

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I choose peace because Im married - man i need peace! ;-)

.....of course a new born baby to keep me awake - woot....treat myself

ave some

Rodri...first off, listing your credentials as some supposedly Evony big cheese means diddly squat, as far as I'm concerned this could have been post one by John Smith.

Have re-read this thread a couple of times and whilst you make some salient points that I do agree with I am left at a complete loss as to what you are trying to get across?

Peace is an ideal that any right-thinking person should hopefully strive for but as one poster pointed out 'the system is broke'. You mentioned often that this is your personal journey and its up to others to do what they must. Well lets say your post inspired one other person to your train of thought, perhaps ten people, a hundred or even a thousand. You are still not going to change mans basic inhumanity to each other. You may give an individual some inner peace and well being but you are not going to change the world stage one iota.

I don't want to get religious but Jesus was really a bench-mark when it comes to talking about being peaceable and applying it in your lives. But the peace he talked about wasn't some self-serving idea for personal betterment, it was linked in to other qualities such as goodness, kindness, long suffering, self-control etc...all things which involved said peace in relation to others. But lets face it even he failed.

It also has to be said (and sorry for the use of a hackneyed argument here) that your freedom to even express such thoughts as you have has been won through blood and far from peaceable means. The price of peace some would say huh?

I appreciate that you shared your thoughts, made a thread that was a little different and thought-provoking but in the end to me just asks a whole lot of questions with answering very little.

First of all, apologies to acer. You are just expressing the frustration of your generation in many ways but the thing is it's all programmed into you in so many ways. People are not as bad as you might think they are, once you get them outside of their self-image and into a place of honesty they can be wonderful. This stuff should be more important to you than it is to me. I'm pretty old and my life is mostly done in many ways. Yours is just getting started and the future and what it holds should be important to you. It's still important to me, even though I'm much older than you.

Nothing would mean diddly-squat to you earlofsparks because that is the way you are. I wasn't big-noting myself, I was just giving you some background so you could see that the reason I choose to post in this place about stuff like this is because I have history here and I have friends here and this place is as good as any other place. It doesn't matter if only one person gets it. If one person gets it then that's something and that's better than nothing isn't it?

Yes, I raise a lot of questions and I don't really give many answers. Is that so bad? I'm not here to preach a religion or form a cult. I want you and others to think for yourselves and question things for yourselves and do some research and not accept the easy lies of the world. Question everything, especially the fixed views that you hold yourself. Did Jesus really fail in his mission or did he fulfill his task at that time and what did he have to say about the future? That's all I have to say about that, this isn't about religion.

Don't worry about what I'm trying to get across. It doesn't matter as much as getting people to think and ask questions and get stirred from their slumber a little bit. As it says in the Bible - "Seek and you will find. Ask and you will be answered." - but not by me. Nope, I don't have the answers for you. That isn't what I'm about.

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Originally Posted by Rodri

Is that so bad? I'm not here to preach a religion or form a cult.

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id join a rodri cult, would definitely kick ss' trans-bombing cults :modedit:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rodri

First of all, apologies to acer. You are just expressing the frustration of your generation in many ways but the thing is it's all programmed into you in so many ways. People are not as bad as you might think they are, once you get them outside of their self-image and into a place of honesty they can be wonderful. This stuff should be more important to you than it is to me. I'm pretty old and my life is mostly done in many ways. Yours is just getting started and the future and what it holds should be important to you. It's still important to me, even though I'm much older than you.

Nothing would mean diddly-squat to you earlofsparks because that is the way you are. I wasn't big-noting myself, I was just giving you some background so you could see that the reason I choose to post in this place about stuff like this is because I have history here and I have friends here and this place is as good as any other place. It doesn't matter if only one person gets it. If one person gets it then that's something and that's better than nothing isn't it?

Yes, I raise a lot of questions and I don't really give many answers. Is that so bad? I'm not here to preach a religion or form a cult. I want you and others to think for yourselves and question things for yourselves and do some research and not accept the easy lies of the world. Question everything, especially the fixed views that you hold yourself. Did Jesus really fail in his mission or did he fulfill his task at that time and what did he have to say about the future? That's all I have to say about that, this isn't about religion.

Don't worry about what I'm trying to get across. It doesn't matter as much as getting people to think and ask questions and get stirred from their slumber a little bit. As it says in the Bible - "Seek and you will find. Ask and you will be answered." - but not by me. Nope, I don't have the answers for you. That isn't what I'm about.

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Fair play to you Rodri.

By no means was I attacking you but if felt like there was some meaning you were trying to get across that was hidden between the lines and perhaps I should have taken your original post more at face value.

I didn't use Jesus as an example lightly either, but the blood shed in his name since his death (if you believe in Jesus as a real person at all that is) makes you wonder had it better had he not been born at all.

I am by nature a peaceful person and perhaps on another medium would relay the trials and tribulations of my life in seeking it...it can be very elusive. As it is I treat others as I would like to be treated (perhaps not always in Evony) and seek peace in my family and friend environment but to me this world is simply too far gone. For every scientific leap in medical science there is ten new ways to kill people in more interesting and varied ways.

To quote the bible one last time it says the Devil is walking about like a roaring lion seeking to devour someone, even when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and offered the kingdoms of the world if he offered one act of worship to the devil at no point did he say they were not his to give. Look around you at the madness and chaos that pervades human society, if there is a God looking on then he is merely a passive bystander.

Peace out. ;)

The place where Rodri quoted was Luke 11:9 ;)

Earl stop trying to bighead yourself, Rodri is a boss on these forums so just accept it and don't make yourself a powerful (but friendly) enemy.

The problem I find with your train of thought Rodri is that those destructive people will bring their destruction upon you. Look at WWII where innocent Jews were killed for nothing bar Hitlers personal hatred of them. Do you believe that you will be left alone if you segregate yourself from society?

Hmm.. I think your idealology is more of a "movement" as you say? Besides which whether intentionally or not you are forcing your ideas upon people ( in a matter of sense preaching). Might I ask, is there a figurehead of this movement? Or are you on this quest individually?

I must say though, well done on keeping the hate out of your responses (i'ld be flaming inside right now) :)

EDIT: earl keep your religious views out of this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rodri

Acer, are you showing your true colours now? I don't have anything to sell, it's not a marketing scheme. That Matrix quote is wrong. There were plenty of people, still are in some isolated places, who have found a balance between population and resources and they live/lived in harmony with their environment. If there is a disease, a virus amongst humanity, it's the civilization and empire builders, the resource exploiters, the power-trippers and the greedy mo-fo's who want to own more than they could ever need. But their time is coming, that's obvious to anyone who is paying attention. I don't have to do anything about them, they will destroy themselves.

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You might want to re-read the first half of my post again, since it kinda supports what you're saying.

The ideal society would be those in the isolated places, however all it takes is one person to ruin it all. Just one person has to want more, and all is lost. It's within human nature to be greedy. It's within human nature to want power. To want dominance over everything.

Peace is possible. It's just that nobody is ready for it yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grito97

The place where Rodri quoted was Luke 11:9 ;)

Earl stop trying to bighead yourself, Rodri is a boss on these forums so just accept it and don't make yourself a powerful (but friendly) enemy.

.

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Jeez how much do I have to repeat myself? What does being a boss on these forums have to do with the price of fish? Does a couple of thousand posts make his opinion somehow more valid or correct?

Rodri posted an evocative thread that has led to some interesting discussion and dialogue, I would no more agree with someone because of 'forum status' than I would the pope if he said something that didn't sit right with me.

Believe it or not this is how 'grown-ups' talk.

EDIT...Religious views? I agree with some of the basics of christianity and am fairly well read...so sue me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by earlofspark

Jeez how much do I have to repeat myself? What does being a boss on these forums have to do with the price of fish? Does a couple of thousand posts make his opinion somehow more valid or correct?

Rodri posted an evocative thread that has led to some interesting discussion and dialogue, I would no more agree with someone because of 'forum status' than I would the pope if he said something that didn't sit right with me.

Believe it or not this is how 'grown-ups' talk.

EDIT...Religious views? I agree with some of the basics of christianity and am fairly well read...so sue me.

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No, but its against forum rules ;) And yes reputation does count for something.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by earlofspark

Jeez how much do I have to repeat myself? What does being a boss on these forums have to do with the price of fish? Does a couple of thousand posts make his opinion somehow more valid or correct?

Rodri posted an evocative thread that has led to some interesting discussion and dialogue, I would no more agree with someone because of 'forum status' than I would the pope if he said something that didn't sit right with me.

Believe it or not this is how 'grown-ups' talk.

EDIT...Religious views? I agree with some of the basics of christianity and am fairly well read...so sue me.

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the price of a fish is worth the pound of flesh, it takes to hump up that mountain to find that creek where they are biting, and sir Rodrick has caught many an elusive predator. just saying.

http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/...et/novcont.jpg

the thing is, we need to sidetrack the religiosity of this thread a tad. for me thinks it be smooshing the fine line of the rules.

to Balaam:

What the salsbury cream cheese is a chook? down under blokes sure come up with cool names.


to Sir Rodrick:


I think I am beginning to understand where you are coming from. In my humble estimation, you found it. the place most will seek after and never find. A place we could possible call Peaceville. Again, aggressing my guesstiment, in ethereal terms, a gate was opened to you, you entered, saw the wonders of contentment and decided to share that with us. if so, then there is nothing at all wrong with that.


I think you have partially or wholly achieved inner peace. You are not far from ascension. The last task remaining is to leave a mark, a fingerprint upon the dirt of earth, or a shadow on the northern rock wall, as Master Po did. All one hundred seventeen of the Ascended Masters want and desire world peace. They know, wisely so, that their attainment of inner peace, would of been much easier had they just settled down and cooled the fire that was scorching their blood at an earlier age. As such, their desire for world peace is expressed in this wisdom of their experiences. The world would live in complete harmony, with nature and the Way, if the world too would just try to settle down and cool the rage that plagues the human heart.

the question of how to attain world peace I think you answer by the expressions you give in your first post and subsequent posts. Man is a slave whether he realizes it or not, and is in dire need to break those bonds.

however, I must re-itterate my first response. Peace [world peace] is like a three legged stool.

I know you see this to be true, if not, then you cloak the reality of the situation.

lets say that everyone but one person, lays down their arms. quits the study of war, developes nature's love and coexist without over comsumption. k ... the one who does not lay down his arms, has free reign to go on a killing spree. recent history in my country proves it. A place in colorado, comes to mind. horrible. monday morning quarterbacking does the dead no good.

So I ask you this one favor, Rodri. Let the world sort it out in its due time. I know that many good men will fall in order to stop the bad men who want to kill the innocent. What the Ascendent Masters eventually find out, is, is that there will be only a few who see Peaceville, the way they do and you do. That is why it is such an exclusive club, with very few members. For the world too must go through the riggors of trial and error to attain the calm of contentment. But for now, to allow the few the freedom to discover those paths of inner contentment, men trained in the proper use of violence must sit on walls.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grito97

No, but its against forum rules ;) And yes reputation does count for something.

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surely you dont mean the bars on the top right hand corner?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grito97

The place where Rodri quoted was Luke 11:9 ;)

Earl stop trying to bighead yourself, Rodri is a boss on these forums so just accept it and don't make yourself a powerful (but friendly) enemy.

The problem I find with your train of thought Rodri is that those destructive people will bring their destruction upon you. Look at WWII where innocent Jews were killed for nothing bar Hitlers personal hatred of them. Do you believe that you will be left alone if you segregate yourself from society?

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Grito97, I have known the fear you talk about here. I have put myself 'out there' in places where people with the power to harm me might take notice and as I came to a certain level of awareness, the fear was massive. I was quite disturbed but I had to get over that and calm my mind so I could function in the 'real world'. Nothing bad has happened to me yet and I don't think it will but even if bad things did happen to me, it doesn't matter. I'm just going to point you at this other thread in this section about fear: http://bbs.evony.com/showthread.php?t=206855

The thing is, I'm not segregated from society. I live in it, I interact with it but I do it on my own terms and I work to change it in my own small ways. But I won't be a willing or passive victim.

King Albion, a chook is a chicken, a hen, that's all. It probably comes from generations of people saying "chook chook chook" at feeding time, idk. It's a part of Australian language now and has taken on other uses. An "old chook" is a slightly derogatory term for a woman of maturity. We even had a state premiere (Joh Bjelke-Peterson, Queensland) who used to refer to media conferences as "feeding the chooks". It might be interesting to trace the etymology of the word and find out when and how it first came into use.

Peace is a three legged stool? that's fine. A three-legged stool or a tripod is one of the most stable structures you can have. How to enforce peace in a world of peace is a big question and one that hasn't really been answered completely to my own satisfaction. I will say that I do not believe that force and violence are any way to achieve a real and lasting peace. Wars only end when one side decides it has had enough of the death and destruction and is so heart-sick that they will take any conditions imposed upon them to finish the madness. But resentments persist and old wounds never really heal. Even the 'victors' are constantly looking over their shoulders, fearing an attack from this source or that because what they have done, others must be capable of doing as well (or so they think).

Perhaps we need to examine the sources of conflict, how these issues first arise, why some seek to impose themselves upon others and why they think they need to do that. There's much work still needed, that's for sure.

No I was not referring to that Tipperary.

You add one link and the post get's held up in moderation and the thread dies.

Summation:
The world is ruled over by insane mind/s.
Causing suffering of others causes suffering of self.
Hatred is the ******* child of fear.
Humanity is divided and individuals feel isolated from everyone else.
Humanity is enslaved by the world that we live in and those who would rule it.
We are more than this physical form and we are more than the brain in our head.
We are conciousness having an experience in a world that seems real but isn't really real at all.
Eventually, all conflicts must end when those involved grow weary of the fight.
This is how the internal conflict must end as well and when it does, peace is the only choice that makes any sense.
Do not look to others to provide you with the answers to all of your questions.
Do not look to others to lead you, unless you are sure that you wish to go where they will take you.
If you wish to be free then you must also accept full responsibility for all of your actions and inactions - no excuses.
Inner peace can only come from a place of quiet calmness and loving acceptance.

That's pretty much it, where my journey has taken me so far. I don't see myself as being anything special compared to other people in any significant way. Eventually, I think we all need to come together in peace. It may not be possible right now and much may need to occur before we are ready to do that. But each individual can seek some inner peace for themselves at any time they wish, just stop judging everything, including yourself and calm your noisy mind.

I dont do peace because war is profitable.

And fun :flame::princess:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MrHawk

I dont do peace because war is profitable.

And fun :flame::princess:

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george bush the 2nd.........

While I have followed this discussion with interest, I have not the wisdom to really contribute to it at this point in time in my life, but recently found this quote on the matter that seems to tie in with what Rodri be saying. Though whether it does or not I can't be sure, as Rodri speaks of things that I'm not sure I quite understand. But here.

"People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within." -Romana L. Anderson

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LadyMariana

"People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within." -Romana L. Anderson

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Lady M. this quote is very much relevant to the discussion. These days, in our consumption driven societies, people also try to fill their lives with material stuff to fill that hole inside but it never seems to fill up that way, no matter how much stuff they accumulate.

Another disturbing modern trend is for people to spend their lives trying to live out some sort of fantasy role, rather than just being themselves. I find this disturbing because many people caught up in this fantasy-reallity seem to reject their own self in favour of some imaginary role and if you try and interrupt their fantasy, they can get very upset. Is real life really that terrible that it must be blocked out at all costs? If so, why?

After reading this entire thread, I've formed one inevitable, ironic conclusion:

Peace in the end is only earned by those who fight for it.

It's likely not completely true, but nonetheless it's something to think about.