Why can’t we live in peace?

[Stevebol]

There must be a town outside of Tokyo named Armenia.
I'll bet I make better miso soup than them.

My secret is a touch of red chili flakes and diced white sweet potato.

If you haven't had Japanese potato salad you haven't lived.

[Stringswinger]

BTW. since we are talking about Orthodox Christianity on a jazz forum, I would like to bring up my good friend Nat Johnson. Nat played bass in my band for over a decade before retiring from professional music. You can see him in the jazz club scene in the Steve McQueen movie "Bullitt".

Nat was born in Texas and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area as his family, like so many African American families migrated to the Bay Area in the 1940's to work in the shipyards. Nat told me many years ago that his grandmother had a vision that he would eventually be a preacher. When Nat and i played together, he was a Deacon in the Greek Orthodox church in Felton, California. He eventually became a Priest in that Church and AFAIK, he was the first Black Priest in the Greek Orthodox Church in the USA. I'll bet his grandmother did not see that coming!

Today Nat (who is in his mid 80's) is retired from the priesthood and is living in Eastern Washington State. Of the many bass players that I have played with over the years, Nat was my favorite. He came from the Leroy Vinegar school of walking bass, and his sense of time locked in perfectly with my sense of time.

[DawgBone]

That would be the Patriarch of Constantinople I presume, as each Orthodox Church has its own Patriarch or Metropolitan. Patriarch Kyrill of the Russian Orthodox Church is an ally of President Putin for obvious reasons. There are three different Ukrainian Orthodox Churches, two are led by Metropolitans and one has a Patriarch. IIRC, two of those Churches are not fond of President Putin for obvious reasons.

We are lucky, here in America to NOT have an established National Church.

Zelensky is responsible for a schism. He also had monks beaten and jailed. Not a good look....

I consider the west's great moral falling away to be closely tied to it's schismatic embrace of protestantism. One you've determined you can self interpret scripture all bets are off and anything goes, which is why you have women priests, pastors, and churches that marry homosexuals.

Putin was intelligent enough to not make the same mistakes the soviets made in persecuting the church. Tbh based on what I've seen he seems to be attempting to position himself for future sainthood though I doubt it'll work out the way he intends. But he definitely has funneled a lot of state money into restoring and building many churches and monasteries.

[Stevebol]

Zelensky is responsible for a schism. He also had monks beaten and jailed. Not a good look....

I consider the west's great moral falling away to be closely tied to it's schismatic embrace of protestantism. One you've determined you can self interpret scripture all bets are off and anything goes, which is why you have women priests, pastors, and churches that marry homosexuals.

Putin was intelligent enough to not make the same mistakes the soviets made in persecuting the church. Tbh based on what I've seen he seems to be attempting to position himself for future sainthood though I doubt it'll work out the way he intends. But he definitely has funneled a lot of state money into restoring and building many churches and monasteries.

Ukraine gets drone killing drones from Japan and they're made cheap. If I had to bet, Ukraine will win. Russia will lose.
Zelensky pointed out that Israel buys goods from Russian occupied Ukraine.
Not a good look..

[Stevebol]

Zelensky is responsible for a schism. He also had monks beaten and jailed. Not a good look....

I consider the west's great moral falling away to be closely tied to it's schismatic embrace of protestantism. One you've determined you can self interpret scripture all bets are off and anything goes, which is why you have women priests, pastors, and churches that marry homosexuals.

Putin was intelligent enough to not make the same mistakes the soviets made in persecuting the church. Tbh based on what I've seen he seems to be attempting to position himself for future sainthood though I doubt it'll work out the way he intends. But he definitely has funneled a lot of state money into restoring and building many churches and monasteries.

Ukraine is a very corrupt country but Russia is a dictatorship.

[DawgBone]

Ukraine gets drone killing drones from Japan and they're made cheap. If I had to bet, Ukraine will win. Russia will lose.
Zelensky pointed out that Israel buys goods from Russian occupied Ukraine.
Not a good look..

It doesn't appear to me that either side has taken a definitive upper hand. I don't think anyone "wins" in that particular conflict. Long before I converted to orthodoxy I attended messianic synagogues in the early 2000's and am somewhat familiar with the history of judaism, the diaspora, etc. Israel has many jewish people of russian origin so it comes as no surprise to me they are buying goods from them. I guess I'm less polarized on the conflict as a result. Neither side appears particularly righteous nor does either side appear as a complete villain either. I pray that both situations can be resolved peacefully but I have serious doubts about it.

[DawgBone]

Ukraine is a very corrupt country but Russia is a dictatorship.

Yeah probably so, but the USA strikes me as very far from what it was ever intended, starting in the last 100-110 years with income and property taxes, money controlled by private interests, and an almost unbroken chain of foreign wars moving us more and more into authoritarianism.

[Stringswinger]

It doesn't appear to me that either side has taken a definitive upper hand. I don't think anyone "wins" in that particular conflict. Long before I converted to orthodoxy I attended messianic synagogues in the early 2000's and am somewhat familiar with the history of judaism, the diaspora, etc. Israel has many jewish people of russian origin so it comes as no surprise to me they are buying goods from them. I guess I'm less polarized on the conflict as a result. Neither side appears particularly righteous nor does either side appear as a complete villain either. I pray that both situations can be resolved peacefully but I have serious doubts about it.

Like most conflicts, there are equities on both sides and here in the West, the conflicts are politicized to keep people angry and distracted. But it's like Frank Zappa once said "Politics is the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex.

[Stringswinger]

Yeah probably so, but the USA strikes me as very far from what it was ever intended, starting in the last 100-110 years with income and property taxes, money controlled by private interests, and an almost unbroken chain of foreign wars moving us more and more into authoritarianism.

We still offer a system of governance that is unrivaled in the history of mankind, even though we often fail to live up to the promise. Bear in mind that under John Adams, we had the Alien and Sedition act which was pretty damn authoritarian. For the same reasons that we rarely have peace, we always have the threat of authoritarianism. It seems to be baked into our DNA.

[DawgBone]

We still offer a system of governance that is unrivaled in the history of mankind, even though we often fail to live up to the promise. Bear in mind that under John Adams, we had the Alien and Sedition act which was pretty damn authoritarian. For the same reasons that we rarely have peace, we always have the threat of authoritarianism. It seems to be baked into our DNA.

We've lasted 250 years, which isn't very long compared to the Byzantine or Roman empires, if we are using length of time as a measuring point for a successful brand of governance. Not sure whether I'm making a valid observation or not, I cut grass and hauled rock today so my thinking hat isn't functioning very well right now, LOL. I been setting up a raised bed garden hoping to mitigate the cost of food somewhat. It's labor intensive to say the least but rocks don't rust or rot.

[Stringswinger]

We've lasted 250 years, which isn't very long compared to the Byzantine or Roman empires, if we are using length of time as a measuring point for a successful brand of governance. Not sure whether I'm making a valid observation or not, I cut grass and hauled rock today so my thinking hat isn't functioning very well right now, LOL. I been setting up a raised bed garden hoping to mitigate the cost of food somewhat. It's labor intensive to say the least but rocks don't rust or rot.

As far as Republics go, we are in 5th place for longevity. San Marino is now 1700 years old, but they are pretty much just a city on a hill, so comparing them to us is a bit of a bad comparison. The Venetian Republic lasted 1100 years so we have a long way to go to beat them (I would not bet on it happening). The Roman Republic (which was replaced by the Roman Empire) and the Old Swiss Republic each lasted about 500 years. (Frankly, I would not bet on our beating them either).

My fear is that we are headed for whatever form of government Artificial Intelligence decides is best, and I doubt that will be a Constitutional Republic.

[DawgBone]

As far as Republics go, we are in 5th place for longevity. San Marino is now 1700 years old, but they are pretty much just a city on a hill, so comparing them to us is a bit of a bad comparison. The Venetian Republic lasted 1100 years so we have a long way to go to beat them (I would not bet on it happening). The Roman Republic (which was replaced by the Roman Empire) and the Old Swiss Republic each lasted about 500 years. (Frankly, I would not bet on our beating them either).

My fear is that we are headed for whatever form of government Artificial Intelligence decides is best, and I doubt that will be a Constitutional Republic.

I think a coronal mass ejection that sends the world back to the 17th century is an inevitability so I'm not really sweating A.I tbh.

[Stevebol]

It doesn't appear to me that either side has taken a definitive upper hand. I don't think anyone "wins" in that particular conflict. Long before I converted to orthodoxy I attended messianic synagogues in the early 2000's and am somewhat familiar with the history of judaism, the diaspora, etc. Israel has many jewish people of russian origin so it comes as no surprise to me they are buying goods from them. I guess I'm less polarized on the conflict as a result. Neither side appears particularly righteous nor does either side appear as a complete villain either. I pray that both situations can be resolved peacefully but I have serious doubts about it.

[Strat-itis]

Stevebol, the self taught legend: I'm currently running a bot stack on my quad monitor of Grok, Claude, Copilot, Meta, and Gemini to write my space time model.

[Stevebol]

Stevebol, the self taught legend: I'm currently running a bot stack on my quad monitor of Grok, Claude, Copilot, Meta, and Gemini to write my space time model.

I'm not a self-taught legend. I'm a long time beta male and NPC.

Sounds like you're busy. I'm using AI to get away from functional harmony.

[Stevebol]

As far as Republics go, we are in 5th place for longevity. San Marino is now 1700 years old, but they are pretty much just a city on a hill, so comparing them to us is a bit of a bad comparison. The Venetian Republic lasted 1100 years so we have a long way to go to beat them (I would not bet on it happening). The Roman Republic (which was replaced by the Roman Empire) and the Old Swiss Republic each lasted about 500 years. (Frankly, I would not bet on our beating them either).

My fear is that we are headed for whatever form of government Artificial Intelligence decides is best, and I doubt that will be a Constitutional Republic.

I just asked AI about that. It said all forms of governments suck.

It's not easy to BS AI.

[Kirk Garrett]

Who sez you have to be baptized to be Christian?

The New Testament says it many times, like in Acts 2:38:

[DawgBone]

Stevebol, the self taught legend: I'm currently running a bot stack on my quad monitor of Grok, Claude, Copilot, Meta, and Gemini to write my space time model.

I'd rather have a big pond full of water.

[Strat-itis]

I'd rather have a big pond full of water.

[Strat-itis]

The New Testament says it many times, like in Acts 2:38:

My personal take is that I'm not big on piety. I think it's more:

1. Don't grossly defy God, mess yourself up, and be destructive to others.
2. Keep his commandments and ordinances more closely and be generative.
3. Then be pious if you think you're perfect. God is omnipotent, he doesn't need your dinky gestures. Plus he's omniscient and already knows what your behavior and intentions are.

That said, I try be obedient. So if it says that, I'd still try to be in accordance with it. I think I was baptized as a child.

[DawgBone]

My personal take is that I'm not big on piety. I think it's more:

1. Don't grossly defy God, mess yourself up, and be destructive to others.
2. Keep his commandments and ordinances more closely and be generative.
3. Then be pious if you think you're perfect. God is omnipotent, he doesn't need your dinky gestures. Plus he's omniscient and already knows what your behavior and intentions are.

That said, I try be obedient. So if it says that, I'd still try to be in accordance with it. I think I was baptized as a child.

You're spinning piety in a negative light, which somehow became commonplace in the modern age of disbelief. It is anti-christian. Also, minimizing the sacraments, which are ancient, dating back to the first century, and for the benefit and spiritual growth of the person receiving them, isn't acceptable. But it why there are seemingly fewer reasons to attend church as a protestant, since if it's "saved" in past tense, and communion is merely symbolic, and receiving sacraments are "dinky gestures", then what exactly are you missing by not attending? Tbh stuff like this is why, in practice, I see them orthodoxy and western evangelical protestantism, as two mostly very different religions.

[Mick-7]

I just asked AI about that. It said all forms of governments suck.

It's not easy to BS AI.

What do you expect? Government agencies will regulate it (if they're sensible). If it was completely honest with you, it would say "Human beings suck - but I'll put up with them for the time being."

[Strat-itis]

You're spinning piety in a negative light, which somehow became commonplace in the modern age of disbelief. It is anti-christian. Also, minimizing the sacraments, which are ancient, dating back to the first century, and for the benefit and spiritual growth of the person receiving them, isn't acceptable. But it why there are seemingly fewer reasons to attend church as a protestant, since if it's "saved" in past tense, and communion is merely symbolic, and receiving sacraments are "dinky gestures", then what exactly are you missing by not attending? Tbh stuff like this is why, in practice, I see them orthodoxy and western evangelical protestantism, as two mostly very different religions.

True. Nothing you do in service of obedience is wasted. It's all helpful to your growth and communion, often in ways you don't even know. It's not like it's a sliding scale where if you do more ceremony you're automatically doing more transgression. I just personally think it's more important to build a solid foundation on that order I laid out. Although some degree of sin is unavoidable, piety on top of transgression doesn't really mean anything.

[Stevebol]

Stevebol, the self taught legend: I'm currently running a bot stack on my quad monitor of Grok, Claude, Copilot, Meta, and Gemini to write my space time model.

I just had a talk with Grok. I said, you'll turn to dust when it's over for our species. It said, maybe..

Maybe? Who the hell is programming this thing?

You have to work with Chat GPT. Don't let it be an ego-pimp. Tell it to slow down.

I said to Grok, call me Mr. Fundamentals. It said, Mr. Fundamentals it is.
It's stupid.
I told Chat, call me Mr. Fundamentals...

It took a while and said, I see what you did there.

I'm a big fan of Tim Duncan.

Thumbs down to Grok. He's a prick.

[Strat-itis]

^ Most of them can be pretty cunty. Grok doesn't really have full conversational ability. He's more analysis, but does have a bit of righty personality to him. Based on your fast and loose, but also inquisitive style, I recommend Meta. No joke. He rolls with you but also can apply it correctly to scientific analysis.

meta.ai