The implications are massive

[Slut_boy]

As you all know the greatsest bone of contention in the Israel / Palestine dispute over territoriality is about who should get control of the Temple Mount part of Jerusalem.

Now the Muslims want it because on it is built the second most holy building in the Islam world - the Dome of the Rock. The Jews want it because it is the site of King Solomon's original temple - the building of which the Jews attribute to a direct and sacred instruction from Jehovah.

Now not many know the prophetic significance of this dispute for Christians (who are not even stakeholders in the temple mount area). Apparently, and in accordance with the visions of the prophet, St John (former disciple) as recorded in the book of Revelations - the dispute that will lead to the final "great war of total destruction" will be preceded by the rebuilding of King Slomon's temple. In other words, the temple, according to them, will be rebuilt. Does that mean that the Muslim Dome of the Rock will be destroyed so that it can make way for a Jewish temple?

I am not sure, and Revelations is silent about that, but Nostradamus does offer a clue in the definitive book of his prophecies "The Man who saw Tomorrow" when he says that the Great War will begin with the fighting over where to whorship.

Strange, don't you think how this Middle East crisis seems to be working itself out? My question to you: if the future is written in the stars, then is the Great War inevitable? Does mean that the negotiations are unlikely to be fruitful? Could this be a sign of the future? What do you think?

 

[SimplySouthern]

Wow....just look at all those big words.

Makes me wanna wear little white panties

 

[Slut_boy]

What .... that's your only reply to me? White panties? Well, I gotta hand it to you SS, you know exactly what is important to me *smiles*. Now come over here and show Slut_boy what kind of panties you are wearing today.

 

[SimplySouthern]

Didn't know I was supposed to wear any.

But, if in fact the thrill is in the hunt, why don't you come over here and hunt for some?

 

[SeXy ReDHeD]

Umm...

I think if you are a believer of the Bible, then of course the Great War is going to happen... the question is just when.

In any case, I do personally think that this could be a sign of things to come... especially when you add in other factors, like the recent ebola outbreaks in Africa, flooding in Italy, different weather patterns, global warming, etc....

or perhaps I'm just paranoid

 

[Slut_boy]

Fuck the temple mount and all those who dwell thereon - tell me everything about your panties, SS. Spare me no detail baby.

 

[ElaineWest]

I'm glad to see that someone is paying attention

My mother has been studying the 'end times' since her retirement about a year and a half ago (she retired from a thirty year career as a Christian Minister along with my father...so she knows what she is talking about).

I believe from what I know and from my Mother's studies that the way things are going we'll probably be lucky to see the year 2003. Well...alright maybe that's a little exaggeration but things aren't going to get better they are just going to get worse. All the events that are happening in the middle east and around the world are happening for a very important reason...the coming of Christ and eventually the end of the world.

"oh boy...here goes the preacher's daughter!" ~ (you should have heard the debates I carried on in high school about evolution! seesh! ~ CAN ANY SCIENTIST PLEASE TELL ME WHY IF WE CAME FROM MONKEYS THERE ARE STILL MONKEYS???!!!)

*ahem* okay I'm focused...well I seriously believe in all of these events and I do believe that it's all going to go down in the middle east. Ever wonder why someone hasn't just bumped off Saddam "Insane"? He's playing a very important role in the 'end times' that most people don't know about...Saddam is rebuilding Babylon as his city, but that is where the fighting is mainly going to go down...and I do mean DOWN...

Well I could go on forever and get everyone all hot and bothered with tales of locusts and plague but I REALLY recommend the book "Are We Living In the End Times," by Jerry Jenkins & Tim LaHaye. It's fantastic!!!

 

[SeXy ReDHeD]

Elaine... I thought this topic was officially "over"!?!

 

[Purple Haze]

The "Great War" has already happened, twice. People have been worried about the end of the world for decades, if not centuries, I've read Revelations backward and forward, and it's easy to pin the clues to the times if you use your imagination.

It's all interpretation of words written thousands of years ago by a man who couldn't describe a spaceship, let alone a good pair of shoes. The word of God has been twisted many ways.

There have always been wars, throughout human history, always.

There have always been prophets that say the sky is falling.

The sun comes up every morning and I've got roughly 2362 Sunday afternoons ahead of me.

I thought the world would end in 1980.

I stand corrected.

 

[Slut_boy]

Back to the issue

Purple Haze, I take your point and I think that it is a valid one. I am not at all religious - although I do come from a family of Buddhists.

I say this with absolutely no disrespect to Elaine (please Elaine accept this in that spirit):

In a recent debate that I had on some or other thread with Expretise and Sparky, we spoke about the impossibility of finding a utopia common to all people - and that together with that idea dies the possibility of an ultimate solution. To say more about this: any idea that we can all co-exist is to me conceptually incoherent. I do not understand what is meant by harmony of this kind. As for the religious .....

Well, happy are those who live under a discipline which they can accept without question. Happy are those who follow their leaders obediently without question. BUT I can only say to those who sleep on this comfortable bed of dogma that they are victims of (in my opinion) self-inflicted blindness. The blinkers make for contentment, but they can't contribute to the intellectual growth of the person. That I can't see.

So, I am really asking you to marry the facts of the middle eastern conflict with rational reason - is the threat to peace enough to throw the world into another war. One that is potentially fatal to this planet.

 

[BrainyBeauty]

Sorry - I am combining 2 threads in one

I would argue that more people have died in the name of religion than for all other reasons (politics, money, land, family, etc) combined. Do I believe the current conflict in the Middle East will be the destruction and end of the world as we know it? No.

As for that other thread, I meant to jump in but everything that I wanted to say was essentially the same thing that was already being bandied about. But here's another over- simplification for you then... (or maybe just my naivete or stupidity) but I think we agree...

How do you propose laws to make weapons (conventional or otherwise) illegal that will govern ALL countries? There ain't no such animal.

What we have now are agreements. SALT, SALT II, Nuclear Nonproliferation treaties etc. These offer no guarantee whatsoever that any involved country or party will adhere to it.

Case in point-
Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons
Article IX

1. This Treaty shall be open to all States for signature. Any State which does not sign the Treaty before its entry into force in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article may accede to it at any time.

However......
Article X

1. Each Party shall in exercising its national sovereignty have the right to withdraw from the Treaty if it decides that extraordinary events, related to the subject matter of this Treaty, have jeopardized the supreme interests of its country. It shall give notice of such withdrawal to all other Parties to the Treaty and to the United Nations Security Council three months in advance. Such notice shall include a statement of the extraordinary events it regards as having jeopardized its supreme interests.

We have the Geneva and Hague conventions that encourage certain behaviors. Who here would argue that everyone will play nice and follow the rules? War itself is the culmination of a passionate (political) belief that will not be discouraged because someone else disagrees with it. Or because a few certain countries met to decide how the issue would be handled. Did the regimes in Germany WWII, Hussein in '90, Yugoslavia, Rwanda or any other area of conflict bother to consult these agreements? Much less abide by them?

I would argue that international laws- human rights specific would be better classified as 'post event control measures' or 'punishment'. They do not seem to rein in anyone's first strike. Or subsequent strikes either for that matter. They do not stop the use of such weapons nor do they prevent any conflicts from arising.

These laws may be used in War Crimes Tribunals years later but I do not believe they are necessarily effective then either. Does a Hussein or a Milosevic really care? Do they even fear the world's wrath? No, they laugh in the face of our laws and conventions. They flaunt their blatant disrespect and thumb their noses at the rest of the world. Same for terrorist groups. How do you reason with that? There is no defense against such twisted logic. Except maybe a potent offense.

But I digress! lol I am fearful of the dissension in Israel but I am hopeful that both sides will settle down and eventually learn to coexist even though that seems impossible considering their positions.

 

[Slut_boy]

An excellent assessment of the problem

I think that you are exactly right, BrainyBeauty. International law is for that very reason less effective than domestic laws (the internal laws of a country). Domestic countries have parliament to legislate and the police to enforce the law. The closest to these organs in international law is the United Nations. Much of the UN's effectiveness is lost by the veto power that the five permanent members of the security council have - as your post refers to.

But, I still can't help wondering exactly how much of a threat this middle east unrest is to world security.

 

[Expertise]

My $0.02

Although there is a possibility of this instigating another Arab-Israeli war .... Armageddon is unlikely. At least, far less likely than it would have been 10 years ago. Since neither the US or CIS (Russia) is likely to start plinking nukes at each other or anyone else over it.

Israels neighbors are, i'm sure, aware of Israels capability to turn their capitols in to parking lots with nuclear weapons should they be backed too far in to a corner.

Although there are a ton of ill effects, for the world as a whole, that could come from yet another Arab-Israeli conflict those effects would principly be economic and social. That a conflict of this nature would develop in to anything more than a "regional" one is unlikely.

Now, SS about your undergarments....

 

[SimplySouthern]

I can't talk about panties with all these big words floating around. A dumb blonde like myself gets confused easily ya know!

My undergarments shall be disclosed in a thread that hasn't taken a turn for the smart or a carefully guarded email.

 

[Gaucho]

Damn, SS! Now you've got me on the edge of my, er, seat. Who gives a shit about the Middle East when we can talk about something really important like panties?

 

[ElaineWest]

laugh all you want...

...brush it off and carry on, talk about panties or how looney people can be (damn religious fanatics!)but that's okay...I know I'm right and where I stand

...you'll all see your wrong...you'll be sorry then!!!

 

[Slut_boy]

Elaine, its difficult to tell from the tone of your post if you are serious or only joking - and my eyes are so bad that I can't tell from those smilie faces iether, and my back is sore from ......... oh god, somebody put me out of my misery.

 

[jobob]

don't get me started on evolution...

"CAN ANY SCIENTIST PLEASE TELL ME WHY IF WE CAME FROM MONKEYS THERE ARE STILL MONKEYS???!!!"

I'm not a scientist, but I believe I can answer your question.

In the course of the history of this planet we all live on there have been many many many different types of creatures that have lived. Most of those are extinct now. We know of their existance because of fossils, their bones transformed through natural processes into rock, which have been lying around under ground for millions of years waiting to be analyzed and classified.
According to evolutionary scientists, many millions of years ago, before the advent of man or apes, their was a species that is the common ancestor to both. What typically shapes the direction of evolution is the environment. By this I mean a myriad of different factors, such as temperature, rainfall, habitat (forest or savanna or ocean, etc...) and others. The environment of the earth influenced some members of this early species in such a way as those specific creatures developed the characteristics of early man. This means a walking upright, the use of the oposable thumb, the development of speech and the specific social interactions which makes man different from other primates, and many other things which make us different from apes or giraffes or clams or bacteria.

Different environmental factors from different places on the earth affected other members of the pre-man/pre-ape species differently, and so those creatures developed the charactistics of apes and other different primates, of which their are over 250 on the planet today. Those species have gone on to much success, and if you could ask an ape whether or not they prefered being an ape or a man, I think they would probably like being an ape. Of course that is only my opinion, but the point is their seems to be a snobbish attitude among homo sapiens that we as a species are the end all and be all of life on this earth. Certainly if this attitude continues we may be the "end all" of all species because often times we don't respect or appeciate other life forms on this earth, which contribute to the functioning of the planet and the maintainance of a stable environment as much as we (man) do.

Evolution is the basis of modern biology. I am amazed by people who bash evolution in their ignorance of the subject, but yet drive cars, and use plastics, and take medicine... What do you think powers those vehicles? Fossil fuels. What is used to create plastics? Petrolium, again fossil fuels. If we didn't understand biology and geology and the climatalogical processes of the earth that do indeed exist we wouldn't be able to develop the medicines we use. What about the superbugs that are resistant to most if not all antibiotics? Why is that? Fifty years ago penicillin was the cure, but now it doesn't work. The reason is because bacteria have very short life spans, and evolve at a very fast rate, and some as a species have evolved a natural resistance to penicillin. The next time you go to the doctor with an infection and you get a prescription of antibiotics, think about it. Without the use of evolution as a tool to understand biology many of the advances we all appreciate (and some take for granted) would not be available to us.

Finally, remember, evolution and Christianity are not mutually exclusive. Many evolutionary scientists are christians. For me, my understanding of the process of evolution amazes me in it's simplicity and effectiveness. I am astounded by the beauty of the system. I have a mind and am curious. I want to know about God's creation so that I can better understand him. The eloquence of the system of evolution is proof of the existance of god, at least to some. Also, evolution does not explain the beginning of life, but mearly describes the process that has gone on since life started. The true origins are as yet unexplained, and probably will be for the entire history of this planet.

A few good books to read concerning this are "The Time Before History- 5 Million Years Of Human Impact," by Collin Tudge, and "Bones Of Contention," by Roger Lewin. Also, check out any high school or college biology text, it would really be worth your time. You might learn something.

 

[Merelan]

If the world would just hang out here at Literotica, and wear white panties, there would be no more war!!!

Am I right Professor Slut Boy?

 

[Expertise]

Please don't hurl things at me

Merelan

Just months and months of intense "negotiations" over our respective positions .... female superior, missionary, doggie style, 69........

 

[Slut_boy]

Hi Jobob, that is quite an interesting post. But isn't there a distinction between 'evolution' on the one hand, and mere 'adaptation' on the other. And doesn't your post offer more to the latter than it does to the former?

 

[Merelan]

Expertise...
Yes, but we would have to demonstrate the various positions to the negotiaters. Of course that might cause a bit of a ruckus too, but its all done in love baby.
And if all the ladies here start wearing just their favorite lingerie, then the men, who are the real war mongers, will forget about fighting and capitulate.
Any that dont't we would have our parlimentarian, Mistress Hecate, punish for disobeying the common law.

 

[Expertise]

Merelan

Of course there is the argument that men have engaged in combat for, and for things far less, noble than pussy. Please excuse my crass language.

 

[jobob]

evolution vs adaptation...

"Hi Jobob, that is quite an interesting post. But isn't there a distinction between 'evolution' on the one hand, and mere 'adaptation' on the other. And doesn't your post offer more to the latter than it does to the former?"

call it whatever you will, it does (roughly) explain "how their are still monkeys if man evolved from monkeys."

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

The Dome of the Rock........?????

Fuck it!!! If I could I'd blow the mother fucker - nobody'd get it. Fuck'em!