Listen: don't think!

[Checkmite]

Pokemon teaches children to control demons:

cmNb3xJFzkc

[KingMerv00]

Captain Howdy, I choose you!

[Fnord]

I thought that the Bible teaches us to control demons and devils...

"He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach, and to have authority to drive out demons." Mark 3:14-15 (NIV)

"And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues..." -- Mark 16:17 (NIV)

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." -- James 4:7 (NIV)

So what's the problem? Are those fundies afraid of a little competition?

[Brainache]

"Everything in life is real..."

Except for that guy's hair.

[The True Scotsman]

Pokemon Trainers control Pokemon
Pokemon are demons
Jesus controlled demons
------------------------------------
Ergo, Jesus was a Pokemon Trainer

:D

Note: Don't worry about checking my premises and conclusion for truth value, because "everything in life is real."

[Trent Wray]

Jeebus.

You know, watching this I finally realized .... why shouldn't these people be afraid of Pokemon? I mean, they're already believing the boogey man is hiding around corners. Pokemon and teletubbies and all that crap are even more real than their boogeymen.

I never realized before that perhaps one of the underlying drives in religion is that it's adherents NEVER understood that there was no monster in the closet. I know it sounds redundant and "duh!" .... but I just realized it in "that way". And so to finally rationalize it .... the only reason they open a closet and find no monster is because another invisible force, equal to or more powerful than the monster .... removed the monster. It's the only thing that will make sense, and take care of that fear.

And so monsters end up dwelling everywhere. They hide in their bodies, in their minds, in their consciousness, in their thoughts and feelings. "Must get rid of the monsters!". Stamp out sin and evil from all the places it lurks waiting to "getcha!". Sin is the worst monster ... the demon within. And in trying to run and hide from the demon, or fight the demon, or cast it out or live in fear of it .... their life starts to revolve around the "demon." And so they become the lie. It's like staring into the abyss for too long. Perhaps.

[Resume]

Jeebus.

You know, watching this I finally realized .... why shouldn't these people be afraid of Pokemon? I mean, they're already believing the boogey man is hiding around corners. Pokemon and teletubbies and all that crap are even more real than their boogeymen.

I never realized before that perhaps one of the underlying drives in religion is that it's adherents NEVER understood that there was no monster in the closet. I know it sounds redundant and "duh!" .... but I just realized it in "that way". And so to finally rationalize it .... the only reason they open a closet and find no monster is because another invisible force, equal to or more powerful than the monster .... removed the monster. It's the only thing that will make sense, and take care of that fear.

And so monsters end up dwelling everywhere. They hide in their bodies, in their minds, in their consciousness, in their thoughts and feelings. "Must get rid of the monsters!". Stamp out sin and evil from all the places it lurks waiting to "getcha!". Sin is the worst monster ... the demon within. And in trying to run and hide from the demon, or fight the demon, or cast it out or live in fear of it .... their life starts to revolve around the "demon." And so they become the lie. It's like staring into the abyss for too long. Perhaps.

A young Pentecostal woman in my employ does indeed find the Teletubbies satanic. Stays home every Halloween and prays with her family until the trick-or-treating is over too.

[Trent Wray]

A young Pentecostal woman in my employ does indeed find the Teletubbies satanic. Stays home every Halloween and prays with her family until the trick-or-treating is over too. I honestly never realized how terrifying it must be for some ... to see not just their closets but the whole world as full of invisible monsters.

And after fighting them for long enough, and still believing .... but never seeing them .... naturally you would start to find them to be not so invisible. You'll start to find them in humans and animals. And then when you start finding them in humans and animals .... those beings become the embodiment of the monsters.

And so your neighbor who lets their kid watch pokemon ... becomes the enemy. A real life enemy, and a representative of the hidden that you never could find outside of your own imagination and public hysteria.

Hmm ....

[Schrodinger's Cat]

:jaw-dropp

[Robo Sapien]

I honestly never realized how terrifying it must be for some ... to see not just their closets but the whole world as full of invisible monsters.

And after fighting them for long enough, and still believing .... but never seeing them .... naturally you would start to find them to be not so invisible. You'll start to find them in humans and animals. And then when you start finding them in humans and animals .... those beings become the embodiment of the monsters.

And so your neighbor who lets their kid watch pokemon ... becomes the enemy. A real life enemy, and a representative of the hidden that you never could find outside of your own imagination and public hysteria.

Hmm ....


Some people aren't afraid...

http://smartasatack.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/nunchucks1.jpg

[Trent Wray]

:jaw-dropp Hey is that new avatar you? :)

Some people aren't afraid...

http://smartasatack.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/nunchucks1.jpg

Dude this photo is honestly motivating as hell.

[Schrodinger's Cat]

yes. I am wearing a polar bear hat. Can you tell? I mean I know what I'm looking at because I know what it is, but I'm not sure if someone without previous knowledge that it is a polar bear hat would recognize it as such with the picture so tiny. (input from other posters on this totally off topic question would be appreciated)

I've been going back and forth between this picture and another one, so not sure if this is the same one you saw earlier.

[yy2bggggs]

He's got a point:

"But they're so into this make believe world that they cannot distinguish between fantasy and real."

Unfortunately, I suspect he made that point accidentally.

[Schrodinger's Cat]

He's got a point:

"But they're so into this make believe world that they cannot distinguish between fantasy and real."

Unfortunately, I suspect he made that point accidentally.

What do you mean? We all watched cartoons as a kid. I may have pretended to be various cartoon characters, or played with toys of those characters, but it's not like I ever thought I was a ninja turtle and went to find Shredder, and neither did any other kid I ever heard of.

[Trent Wray]

yes. I am wearing a polar bear hat. Can you tell? I mean I know what I'm looking at because I know what it is, but I'm not sure if someone without previous knowledge that it is a polar bear hat would recognize it as such with the picture so tiny. (input from other posters on this totally off topic question would be appreciated)

I've been going back and forth between this picture and another one, so not sure if this is the same one you saw earlier. I can't tell it's a polar bear hat :( But it's adorable !!! LOL It's so cute! Yes make it bigger! LOL

[Schrodinger's Cat]

I can't tell it's a polar bear hat :( But it's adorable !!! LOL It's so cute! Yes make it bigger! LOL


I don't know why it's so small. On my computer it's a big picture, but when I load it up to JREF, that's the size it is. Is there a way to resize our avatars? I'm very computer illiterate for a twenty something.

[Trent Wray]

I don't know why it's so small. On my computer it's a big picture, but when I load it up to JREF, that's the size it is. Is there a way to resize our avatars? I'm very computer illiterate for a twenty something. Well, the forum will resize it to fit in that little square. If you are reeeeaaaaallllyyyy computer illiterate, just crop the picture in the same basic shape as the avatar shape (cropping it around the part you want to show the most, like your face and head/hat/mask). Then when you upload it, it will still resize it of course, but it will use what you cropped instead of all that excess around it. And it will fill the square/rectangle as much as it can.

I don't have Windows (assuming you do), so I don't know what program you could use to crop it. The last time I used Windows, "paint" was still how I did everything LOL! I use photoshop and screencaps, etc and and so forth to crop images. So I can't help you a whole lot with what program to use :(

[Simon39759]

Paint still exists...
Microsoft picture manager also let you crop your pictures...

(I did recognize the hat from seeing similar ones regularly advertised in the margin of one of the many webcomics I read)...

[yy2bggggs]

What do you mean?
Well, here's the point that I allege that he made accidentally again:
"But they're so into this make believe world that they cannot distinguish between fantasy and real."
...and you are saying:
We all watched cartoons as a kid. I may have pretended to be various cartoon characters, or played with toys of those characters, but it's not like I ever thought I was a ninja turtle and went to find Shredder, and neither did any other kid I ever heard of.
So, let me get this straight. You're saying that you were not being lured unknowingly into participating in a training program for controlling demons as part of an evil conspiracy concocted by Satan and his minions in order to corrupt your eternal soul, but instead, that you were simply watching a fictional television show and harmlessly playing pretend with toys?

And you expect me to believe that? ;)

Anyway, yes. I mean exactly that he has made an accidental point--that someone is indeed so into a make believe world that said person is having difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality.

[Shrike]

A young Pentecostal woman in my employ does indeed find the Teletubbies satanic.

Well, that at least is true.

[Scott Haley]

I wondered who the preacher was--I think he's Phil Arms of Life Reach Ministries. Phil wrote a whole book about the evils of Pokemon and Harry Potter. Amazon.com sells
used copies for a penny.

[Simon39759]

Paint still exists...
Microsoft picture manager also let you crop your pictures...

(I did recognize the hat from seeing similar ones regularly advertised in the margin of one of the many webcomics I read)...

FuzzHats (http://www.fuzzhats.com/)! That's it! The shark one is especially cute!


Anyway, back to the topic people.

[ExMinister]

Because if the preacher thought it in his head, it must be true!

Especially that part about New Age masters being able to boss evil spirits around all the time. I'm here to tell you that is totally true! We did it all the time, channeling through our Pokemon symbols and through the power of the Teletubbies. Yeah, that was cool.