<DIV>Ralph,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Everyone has an afterlife, regardless of if you believe in God or not and regardless of if there is a God or not. Every person leaves something behind. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Happy New Year,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Donovan J Arnold<BR><BR><B><I>Ralph Nielsen <nielsen@uidaho.edu></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">What a strange message, Donovan. You claim that 95% of the population <BR>of this country "believe in a God and afterlife", presumably <BR>including those who take an oath of office but "they just do what <BR>they do for $$$$$, not for the interests of the people they are <BR>suppose[d] to be serving." Or are the politicians the 5% to whom <BR>"number three doesn't mean anything"?<BR><BR>Don't you know, Donovan, that believing in God doesn't necessarily <BR>entail belief in an afterlife? Haven't you read the Bible?
Some weeks <BR>ago I asked "heirdoug" to tell us how many people died and went to <BR>heaven in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament to Xians). He said he was <BR>"working on it" but he still hasn't told us the answer. Maybe you can.<BR><BR>Back to the Bible!<BR><BR>Ralph<BR><BR><BR>On Dec 27, 2006, at 10:03 PM, Donovan Arnold wrote:<BR><BR>> Chas,<BR>><BR>> I don't trust politicians, for the most part. I think they are <BR>> mostly there for the purposes of self, not public service. I feel <BR>> that an oath of office offers at least some type of assurance that <BR>> the person taking the office is promising to do so for the purposes <BR>> of the people, not themselves.<BR>><BR>> Taking a public oath of office provides three major purposes;<BR>><BR>> 1) It provides an actual legal time and place of handing the office <BR>> from one person to another and creates a public record of the <BR>> person being swore into office.<BR>><BR>>
2) It provides for the tradition of a place and time for people to <BR>> gather to say goodbye to the old people of power and a welcoming of <BR>> new people coming into power. It allows people to finalize the <BR>> previous administration, to protest it, or praise it in a public <BR>> manner.<BR>><BR>> 3) It offers those that believe in a God and afterlife that the <BR>> person taking the office will use their power for the good of the <BR>> people and face a higher being for their actions even if we cannot <BR>> get to them.<BR>><BR>> I know that number three doesn't mean anything to the 5% of people <BR>> in the country, but it does to the other 95%.<BR>><BR>[snip]<BR>><BR>> I don't agree with you Chas, that the office holders are <BR>> incompetent, I think they are very competent, they just do what <BR>> they do for $$$$$, not for the interests of the people they are <BR>> suppose to be
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