Yom Kippur Dilemna

[tikay]

Posts about religion? No problemo. That's not to say we would not edit or delete any posts that were non-blonde compliant, but as a subject, it's fine. Whatever floats your boat.  I'm not religious, but many are, & they are entitled to discuss the matter.

[Ironside]

i aint religous in the slightest but have no problem with people talking about it, as long as they dont doorstep me and try and covert me its ok with me, politics is a subject that can be debated by adults and as long as people dont start flaming each other i see no reason why we can't debate politcs on blonde

[The Truth]

I have to agree. To say no discussion on religion or politics will suit only those who do not have an interest in either of those subjects.

Trying to balance gambling (for that is what poker is) with the accepted doctrines of most recognised faiths can be quite a dilema for the 'religous' poker player.

My own beliefs are not common knowledge to many (if any, Angie excepted) on this forum and that is from my stand point the way it should be (for me) however, poker is also a part of my life as is the community on this and other fourums. That is why if somebody is struggling to balance their faith (or the teachingsof their religion) with their poker playing the obvious place to discuss it is on a poker forum or on a faith/religion based forum. If the subject has no appeal then fine, don't add to the thread. Another member of the forum community may however be able to share their view, experience or insight to help the original poster.

My own view is based on my own faith is that there are certain days upon which I will not gamble. Which days these are are irrelevant but on these days I do spend my time in reflection and what some may call meditation. I am not proposing anyone else do this, its just what I try to do.

I for one would be interested in how others combine their lives with their beliefs and poker. Andy Black, Negraneau and Brunson spring to mind although there are others.

Hopefully we can all be tolerant and open minded and inteligent about such matters without getting into wars of words.

[AndrewT]

The problem with internet discussions on religion is that they can never actually go anywhere, because the people who will contribute to them generally already have well established positions which they're not willing to budge on.

A good internet discussion (like we have on poker, or spelling or whatever) goes like this.

Person A: I think Viewpoint A is correct.
Person B: Well, I think Viewpoint A is wrong, because of Reasons X, Y and Z.
Person A: Reason X is wrong, because of Fact J, and I don't think Reason Y is right either, but I take your point about Reason Z - I hadn't thought of that.
Person B: Ah, I didn't know about Fact J, that makes a lot of sense.

And so on. Whereas a discussion about religion tends to end up like:

Religious Person: I believe in God.
Atheist: You're an idiot - there is no God.
Religious Person: Yes there is - my holy book says so.
Atheist: Sod your book, God isn't logical.
Religious Person: You wouldn't understand. BTW, you're going to hell because of your sins.
Atheist: Don't tell me how to live my life, you Nazi.
Religious Person: F*ck off you Satan spawn.

Now a dozen other religious people and atheists start hurling insults at each other and the forum melts under the weight of the flamewar.

Let's not do that here...

[tikay]

Andrew, It would not happen that way here.

In your hypothetical exchange on religious debate, we'd intevene the moment someone called the other guy an idiot for his religious beliefs. His beliefs can be wrong, & that can be debated, but he cannot be called an idiot for believing them.

The UKPoker saga was horrible, but we learned a great deal too, & we will act quickly in the future if things get personally offensive. We promise..

[AdamM]

Life as a devout athiest can be tricky some times. I find it hard to discuss religion with people because my firm belief in the absence of a god seems to offend some people so much. My greatest annoyance is when people assume atheism is a void to be filled, rather than a firm belief in itself. I'm no more likely to be converted to a religion than I am to start believing in magic. I keep saying next time I get doorstepped I'm going to let them in and attemp to convert them to atheism but I always bottle it.

[AndrewT]

Cool Tikay, glad to hear you're on the case.

OK then, back to poker. Buddha is on the big blind with QJ. Jesus raises Buddha's blind from the button for the third round in a row. What should he do? 

[Robert HM]

Cool Tikay, glad to hear you're on the case.

OK then, back to poker. Buddha is on the big blind with QJ. Jesus raises Buddha's blind from the button for the third round in a row. What should he do? 

go all in and pray?

[Acidmouse]

Its all down to personal choice.

What really is amusing though is all the jewish people arriving at my local synagogue today that park their cars just around the corrner out of sight. Like who they trying to fool!

[AndrewT]

What really is amusing though is all the jewish people arriving at my local synagogue today that park their cars just around the corrner out of sight. Like who they trying to fool!

Ha ha, I love stuff like this. Religion is fine when it's just a personal relationship that someone has with their god - it's when it's used as a way of proving to others that you are more devout than them (and thus, by implication, better than them) that all the problems start.

[tikay]

Cool Tikay, glad to hear you're on the case.

OK then, back to poker. Buddha is on the big blind with QJ. Jesus raises Buddha's blind from the button for the third round in a row. What should he do? 

Buddah (by the way, there IS a guy at Walsall known as Buddha) should let go, as presumably Jesus can change his hole cards into whatever he wants. In this case, probably KQ. But if Buddha can work a miracle with HIS hole cards, I guess he'd change HIS into AQ.

[Karabiner]

Its all down to personal choice.

What really is amusing though is all the jewish people arriving at my local synagogue today that park their cars just around the corrner out of sight. Like who they trying to fool!

To be fair to those who drive and park around the corner.

It is more because of a desire not to offend the more devout members of the community

than to pretend that they have walked the five miles to the synagogue.

PS Yom Kippur is a pretty good deal. You fast for 25 hours and get one year's sins absolved.

[Rod Paradise]

Life as a devout athiest can be tricky some times. I find it hard to discuss religion with people because my firm belief in the absence of a god seems to offend some people so much. My greatest annoyance is when people assume atheism is a void to be filled, rather than a firm belief in itself. I'm no more likely to be converted to a religion than I am to start believing in magic. I keep saying next time I get doorstepped I'm going to let them in and attemp to convert them to atheism but I always bottle it.

I got stopped one time in Liverpool by 2 young lassies, "Can we talk to you for a minute about God?"

Now I thought they were aiming high on an obvious training expedition for the Jehova's or Mormons (I could see a bloke in a car watching us) - becasue I'd long hair & goatee - long black duster coat &  a heavy metal t-shirt on. Basically I looked like Beelzebub - the rocker years

So i had a think, then said OK, but only if I can talk to you for a minute about Satan.... (they started edging away at this point) - See that bloke in the motor - he's telling you all this stuff to ensure you live the same boring life as him, it's crap - sex is f***ing GREAT, as are drugs alcohol & allt he other stuff they're warning you off... (they're in full flight to the car & I'm shouting after them at this point)... funny thing - we didn't get nearly as many conversion attempts at the door for a while

======================================

Anyway - religion - whatever floats anyone's boat. I think there's some very good ideas in most religions, I just struggle with the faith part. I must admit to liking the idea of a day of inrospection & assessment of how you are living, that would benefit most people.

[tikay]

Who is Beezlebub?

[Rod Paradise]

Who is Beezlebub?

Auld Nick, Satan....

PS I'm not one of Satan's helpers - my duties are purely ceremonial