The Hall of Fire

And yet, as vison put it, I always, always, feel - do I have the right to judge? Do I know all the information about that person, his/her situation to make a sound judgment? I don't know if we have a "right" to judge per se, but we do have a need to do so. Regardless of whether we have al...

In a way, yes. The way we tell stories, the details we choose to subtract or add, all contribute to either making that story seem true or seem to expose some truth or do neither. A story may be factually true... a police blotter, but what are the qualities that make a story seem true for you? If you...

I'm not sure I can explain why something feels like Truth to me. It's in the gut. It's a recognition of something I've always known but had no words for That's a perfect explanation. In The Things They Carry one of the qualities of a true war story that the narrator discusses is whether you can fee...

TED-- In terms of verisimilitude, the second sounds more like a narrative, while the first sounds more like a police blotter. My problem with answering your question is that I smell the tools of narrative from a long way off, which makes it impossible for me to answer without bias. :D Oh, you are s...

Well, if they were the same, then the difference would be one is bare bones and one is more in depth. Would one of those resonate as more true? What are the qualities of a true story? So many movies are "based on true events," but what makes those less true than their true events or more t...

I'd say all stories are about truth-seeking in some way. Some are more overt than others. To go back to my opening, which story seems more true to you? Any reason why? *Note: there is no "right" answer to my question. I'm just curious what makes a story resonate as true for different people.

Truth may be relative to what you are seeking from a story.

Which story is true: A) A family van nearly careens off a cliff after hitting an icy patch on the road. Quick reaction from the father (driver) results in the van only crashing into the guard rail. The son suffers a broken arm in the crash. B) A family van nearly careens off a cliff instead hits an ...

Good quote, Lid.

That final verse is the key to the whole poem. Someone in my class pointed out an interesting aspect to the "I have not" lines. I have not lingered I have not parted I have not held I have not become I have not become I have not worshipped I have not been I laugh I sleep Interesting breakd...

Interestingly, I discussed a poem in class tonight that highlighted that sentiment that you are expressing, Holby. "I have not lingered in European monasteries" by Leonard Cohen.

That wouldn't be insulting. What is insulting is making disparaging comments about other people's beliefs. Suppose I said I viewed the Muslim prophet as obscene and lecherous, or as a brute and a bully. Would I be thanked for being respectful? But no one has said those kinds of things about anyone'...

This is what intrigues me and strikes me as peculiar -- why predicate the thread on a negative, rather than offering a parallel to the other -- ex., 'The nature of your atheistic beliefs'. This makes the thing rejected the focus of the discussion. I should think it would be preferable to atheists t...

At any rate, the thing that strikes me now about my actions then is how easily I simply stopped being religious in any real sense of the word. I came to the conclusion some time ago this was due to any lack of spiritual feeling on my part underlying the religiosity. I went through all the education...

I certainly wish there was an afterlife, where I could be reunited with all of my dear family members who have died. I wish there was a benevolent and all powerful guy up there, personally interested in my welfare. I wish I could change things with prayer. But wishing and believing aren't the same ...

axordil wrote:TED--as I understand them, the question of what ethics to subscribe to is a point of ongoing conversation there, which is one reason I thought you might be interested.

Ahhhhh! Sounds like my kind of place...

Ax, I have not looked into ethical societies. I'm unsure which ethics I'd subscribe to anyway.

Why should saying "I believe differently" be offensive? Why should my sense of identity impinge on yours, or vice versa?

Good point. Sharing your thoughts shouldn't be offensive.

My parents tried to teach me (they aren't that religious). I was catholic and lutheran. I did everything from baptism to confirmation. I was never a strong believer in things that rely on something outside of my senses (for me, it's the imagination). I have an active imagination, so if I could creat...

“Hansson ought to avoid travelling to Ireland ever again,” reads the headline of his Thursday column. And one Swedish referee, Anders Frisk, was forced into retirement after receiving death threats following his decision to send off Chelsea’s Didier Drogba during a 2005 Champions League match again...

Why do you say "one reality behind them, Prim?"