the "I love penn and tellers Bullshit!" thread.

[AceLuby]

Well, I really haven't seen enough of the episodes to argue against that. I'll take your word for it though, with a pinch of salt if you don't mind =)

I'mma watch some episodes back to back when I get the right kind of down-time

No problem, I've just seen that 'neo-liberal' term thrown around lately. To be honest, I'm not even sure what that means, can you explain it?

[Johnisfaster]

oh, I didn't realise dousing yourself in gasoline and setting fire to yourself was part of the Buddhist doctrine.


you learn something new everyday I guess.

I didn't realize things were either political or religious but couldn't be both.

His religion was supposed to be his strength to pull off the political act. The dude that actually pulled it off which most people have seen pictures of meditated rigorously before doing it as he wanted to do it without making a movement or a sound during the act, thereby using his religion for the peace and strength to complete the political protest. The guy that failed at it was attempting the same thing but failed, which could lead some to believe his religion failed to give him the strength and peace he was hoping for.

[dum]

Typical americans are taught to buy into the religion smoke screen. The truth is, desperate people, regardless of creed - can be driven to violence & suicide. It's not because they're jealous of your freedoms, or god told them to do it. It's because they're being socially, politically & economically fucked with - wholesale. Someone's religious faith might make a convenient way of identifying the players in the theatre of war, but it's certainly not the motivation to their actions.


but ya, if I saw a guy burn himself I wouldn't be having an epiphany about his faith. I'd be more interested in what drove him to such a desperate act of defiance. When the guy was meditating before successfully burning himself - do you think he was contemplating heaven ? Or reflecting on the gross injustices which drove him to such extremes ?


Really, religion is nothing to do with it. At most, it provides a little comfort in very difficult circumstances.

[davepermen]

Typical americans are taught to buy into the religion smoke screen. The truth is, desperate people, regardless of creed - can be driven to violence & suicide. It's not because they're jealous of your freedoms, or god told them to do it. It's because they're being socially, politically & economically fucked with - wholesale. Someone's religious faith might make a convenient way of identifying the players in the theatre of war, but it's certainly not the motivation to their actions.


but ya, if I saw a guy burn himself I wouldn't be having an epiphany about his faith. I'd be more interested in what drove him to such a desperate act of defiance. When the guy was meditating before successfully burning himself - do you think he was contemplating heaven ? Or reflecting on the gross injustices which drove him to such extremes ?


Really, religion is nothing to do with it. At most, it provides a little comfort in very difficult circumstances.

+1

(and who would have expected that?! at least none of us )

[Johnisfaster]

Typical americans are taught to buy into the religion smoke screen. The truth is, desperate people, regardless of creed - can be driven to violence & suicide. It's not because they're jealous of your freedoms, or god told them to do it. It's because they're being socially, politically & economically fucked with - wholesale. Someone's religious faith might make a convenient way of identifying the players in the theatre of war, but it's certainly not the motivation to their actions.


but ya, if I saw a guy burn himself I wouldn't be having an epiphany about his faith. I'd be more interested in what drove him to such a desperate act of defiance. When the guy was meditating before successfully burning himself - do you think he was contemplating heaven ? Or reflecting on the gross injustices which drove him to such extremes ?


Really, religion is nothing to do with it. At most, it provides a little comfort in very difficult circumstances.

who said anything about jealousy of my freedoms? certainly not I. Do me a favor and don't go thinking you know anything about my outlook of the world because of the country I come from and the fact that we've exchanged a few paragraphs of conversation online. I'll do that favor for you to.

I wasn't even passing judgment on the guy or his religion, I was simply pointing out how I could see how someone might walk away with an impression of that guys religion after watching the event take place. If you can honestly say you don't think someone could walk away with an impression of someones religion after watching them attempt a political suicide in meditation pose then I strongly encourage you to consider what goes through peoples minds (right or wrong) when confronted with a traumatic experience. I don't condone the reaction they might have, I'm only saying I can understand how it might effect them.

if I saw a guy burn himself I wouldn't be having an epiphany about his faith. I'd be more interested in what drove him to such a desperate act of defiance.

I myself would think the same thing. All I was really saying is I'm not surprised someone would walk away with an a different outlook on religion than they had before they saw something horrific like that.

And don't ever say "typical American" there are somewhere around 350,000,000 Americans from every country in the world. Saying there might be something typical of all Americans is simply an act of ignorance, bigotry and prejudice.

[ThrowAway]

The guy who tried to back out of the sucide was an american student. The guy on the ratm cover was hardcore.

I loved the episode on second hand smoke!!

[dum]

Saying there might be something typical of all Americans is simply an act of ignorance, bigotry and prejudice.

wrong as usual my brain challenged friend.

For starters - a typical american is obese.

[Johnisfaster]

ohhhhhhhh nobody told me this guy was a troll. There should be a warning label or something.