Mesmerizing

Ehh.. This is evolving into a much bigger thing... I disagree that the Eucharist is Christ's 'actual' body and blood. The tradition is only useful as long as the meaning is understood. And there may be a lot more meaning than I can think of... If taking the Eucharist represents living and breathing Christ's teaching, and you actually do what he said to do, then it is meaningful. If it gets all messed up with a demand that believers take it literally, holding multiple irreconcilable beliefs simultaneously, then the meaning is lost. In that case I feel pretty confident in saying that Jesus would tell you to cut it out.

And I guess I have to balance this out by also criticizing the evangelical belief that all you have to do is confess belief and you'll be saved. Jesus said what you have to do to be saved. Its not just say the magic words. The Eucharist should be a reminder of that.

But also, no way I'm putting that spoon in my mouth that everyone already put in their mouth. That's gross.

Ha, that's funny how St. John of Damascus won by being in Muslim lands, won against the Muslim position.

Anyways, its nuanced. I do think veneration is the same as idolatry, but I also can't be an iconoclast because I would never smash art. The paintings inside Orthodox churches are really interesting, sometimes even beautiful, but I don't see any need to bow and scrape before them. Just... Have art.

Yeah I saw your post today about the Talmud. It seemed like it fit quite well with what early protestants said - that the Pope is "the" Antichrist (Quotes because I'm not sure if a definite article is theologically sensible).

I've had a hypothesis, which I can't verify because I don't know enough, that Islam was really an outgrowth of iconoclasm. It seems like it sprang into being at a time when the church was having that fight. Their destruction of any human image in art seems like a reaction to idolatry, whether the supposed idolatry is in Christianity or other religions. And that Orthodox thing with the desert fathers - the only desert around is where Islam started.

simply? Calling it a philosophy is high praise

Ah, the tracking disruptor thingy worked. Weird. Yeah, I thought that's what he was saying. I think I need to know more about Barron.

Can't open it - the webpage knows its X but pretends there's an error. No error, just using Tor... Anyways, I'm on God's side, which means truth, beauty, love, and freedom.

Well.... We will soon find out!

The biggest critics of Zionism are the Jews that didn't go. They're not all bad... In fact, I'd like to learn from them. They've maintained traditions - specifically symbolic meaning - that I think are key to understanding.... something.

Antisemitism is dangerous not only because it can lead to violence, but also because it doesn't stop with the people calling themselves Jewish. Christians are a kind of Jew. I would argue that Christians are the true Jews, and Paul wrote some stuff that would support that - but of course, I understand that non-Christian Jews would disagree. So anyways, pointing out the false Jews has to be nuanced - the point is to course correct, not hurt people.

Seems like most Jews are fake Jews. And Israel the state is not the Israel of spirit. Christians easily have more of a right to the name of "Jew" than most Jews do, unless they're Zionists, which is absolute proof that they've understood nothing.

Sorry for the very strong opinions. Some things just need to be said.

That hill needs a citadel on it.

Is he advocating smaller blocks? That would be great. IMO bitcoin was designed correctly before taproot.

Diamond is technically "my stone," according to some thingy I read once. Meh... Never thought much of them. I like sapphires.

Beauty is a self referential language. That which is beautiful is beautiful because its beautiful. It should be appreciated because it can be appreciated. The whole world is bursting with such beauty... Its everything... But of course, for men, one thing in particular is the best.

Covering up beauty is surely the greatest sin. Technically, any sin is equal to another because they all fall short of infinity by a magnitude of infinity. But I digress...

The beauty of Islam is twofold, from what I can see as an outsider. You can see God's grace proclaimed in the geometric designs on mosques. They definitely see it. And the other thing that's beautiful is that it unapologetically proclaims God's opposition to oppression.

But this is where it goes off the rails. Fighting oppression with oppression is like fighting fire with fire, or hate with hate. Its nonsense. Any victory by such means will be pyrrhic, because the method creates the conditions for the system which follows. Hate must be countered by love. Oppression must be countered by truth. Falsehood is slavery ; ugliness is falsehood.

And what could be worse than to see God's grace and then cover it up? Hide the beauty that God created? Be ashamed of being the best you can be? All of creation weeps.

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That's a good one.

Turns out, I never registered. The anarchist side won by planning ahead.

Decent. Not bad. A bunch of stuff I didn't care about. Trump seemed more human, less bombastic.

GM ☕

The anarchist and the capitalist within are having an argument about whether to vote today.

Yeah but the value of the sats will go up, so the people bidding for block space will also be thinking, "jeez, I could buy dinner for two at a really nice joint for 300 sats..." There will be a stronger incentive to not be wasteful. Whenever I look at mempool.space I'm aghast at these crazy fees people are paying. Crap, its gonna make that a link...

I'm not certain it will be bid up. You can pay less than 1 sat/vbyte. And price travels backwards from end consumers. And there's lightning and liquid.