Ah, I understand now. This explains quite a bit. I think the way Hell works is this: if you die and don't accept Christ as your saviour, you go to Hell (doesn't apply to people who can't make decisions like that like young children as you pointed out, every child that dies goes to Heaven). If you die with a mortal sin (really bad sin, like murder) that you haven't seeked repentance for and aren't truly sorry that you did it, you go to Hell. If you've done none of these things, but have committed a venial sin (smaller sin, everyone has done this unless they're Christ), you end up in Purgatory, and your time spent there is based on how many venial sins you've committed (or maybe it's how many have gone uncofessed, I don't know). Purgatory is just temporary Hell I think. Then after that, you get to Heaven. Basically, if the kids in that school were true Catholics and didn't do anything horribly wrong, they had no reason to worry about Hell. The only people that should be worrying are the ones that don't believe, but then they don't believe in Hell either, so really nobody should worry about it, unless you don't want to confess the fact that you killed your neighbor or something.

I apologize, I'm not the most knowledgeable Christian.

I cherish my ignorance, it's when i start thinking i know it all that i'm in trouble, although that does seem to happen a bit.



http://www.qi.com/

Indeed, ignorance is bliss.

oh dam i wrote a text bout an hour googled sumthing in this window went back to this page all gone me noob i am so tired
well it was a good textlol in wich i pointed out how annoying religions are why we shuld save our habitat why the u.s. shuld get themselves toghether
that u.s. radical christs seem for europeans like radical muslims in iran n what a radical is why the... preaty much a story bout everything quantum theorie n stuff well lol all gone
i am yeah rigth a german i wuld consider myself as european or human i am 22 studing biology doin bachelor heading for master etc
i only loged in to this whatwas the name "scrollup" stardock to reply on this i was on i net research for addictiveness of vid games espec. mmorpgs wich are indeed addictive (time n following scientifical researches will provethat in the future years) everythiing els is just bs
to the mother (i hope she reads this threat again (hope that anyonewill) (sumkindafeellikecryingintotheuniversinmycosmonaut/astronautsuit)) try to yeah try to with every love n power u got (wich is much as i can read) to keep ur loved away from this if ur son has a dispo give him an instrument a sport a book anything "real" sotosay
a vid game is ready made (bä wish u culd understand german my english is bad) it has narrow paths of creativity for the consumer his phantasy is NOT educatet maybe his strategy n stuff but thats not the point point is mmorpgs deliver a world to flee to for the psyche its not just a story or a game the consument can totally escape the real world in books u build the story urself if u think bout it a book is just (hereigo) "atoms put in order so that our photo receptors on in our (we call it) eyes can differentiate in (what u or we know as black and white) trough that they become shapes that we recon as symbols these symbols in order makes words for us (here comes the active part) wich are particle(physikally ment as buble/field ) accumulations of sense bits that we can decode every person has a difrent accumulation of sense bits sotosay (when i say horse u reakt to it u have a image u have memories scaredoms etc) then we set these "words" in correlation to each other wich is highly determined by our past (lol u dont have a word for erlebnis well however i cant remember n i net trans doenst give me results) n sum rules we learnd in school (everyone a bit difrent) THEN our brains to what us humans makes so special we create virtual pictures wich are recombinations of the things weve seen in the past we combine things with a vast/tremendous/gigantic amound of data concerning the way that thing is in our mind (fantasy) part of that is intuiton we are active really active wich we are not in vid games however "to play only a bit is okay gibber gibber" it is addictive and noone will say i am wrong when i say there are things that can make u an addict like sex alc heroin work etc n mmorpgs for example is for the 21. century that what kokain was for the 1970 if not worse
just chek out what happens in japan hundrets of thousands of kids n teens locking themselves away to flee from a world that is in fact real shitty (i feel that too but not as u may think becus of evil talibans bombing , mine is a bit more complicatet) and fleeeeeing (people this is no joke i mean yeah this shit shivers me all the time ) they are fleeing they are escaping realitiy they do little suicides every day that sumd up are worse than a suicide they despirit themselves in my opinion worse than death (no religios meaning ment here) just wait a few years mmorpgs will cause a massive kathastrophy and in 100 years one will read the history books n will say "man what did we do back then"
as a sidenote if u know both very well gaming and sports/makeingmuski etc wich i do and u compare the feelings u have gaming sucks u out it makes u relax yeah but if u play 8 hours u feel like shit if u flash in a music jam its just pure pleasure u feel that its something real actually u feeeeel it and after it u feel enlightend and powerd up tv is simmilar tv isnt good for u (speaking of mainstream dull stupid tv) but yeah what shuld one do if he/she hasnd got an alternative well its okay to imagine a smaller you that u take by the hand n say everything is fine i have no solution for the most things i have no solutions but regrets questions critiszm well i am young i guess but there is so much more then video games n tv people SO MUCH MORE i mean just.. i dunno if anyone of u even does this; in studies they found out that the u.s. walk the least per foot in the world take a frigin walk in the wonderfull nature hence the wonderful combinations of colours n shapes dont go there with an aim but with the being there as a selfpurpose listen to the silence question urself ur surroundings be human focus on the feeling that the wind makes on ur skin and ask urself what kind of wonder this shit really is (not ment in a religious way but u can if ya like) and for the christians amongst u christ or god is in every stone in every grass that weaves in the wind in every cell of ur body u are connected to that whole wonder of being and u will (or future generations) will loose the posibility to feel this when u go on and drive ur house big SUV take a break and ask urself why do i drive such a big car what is a car what am i scared of
global warming (that shuld be undoubteble by now for everyone (finally had to wait bout 15 years till most people recon)) is a proven scientifcal fact u or we will destroy our habitat if we go on to release Carbon (C) in the athmosphere that was kept deep in the earth (wich was in the athmosphere bout 50 billion years ago but under these co2 consentrations and temratures we can hardly live) yeah u did read right "we will destroy OUR HABITAT" greendpeace doenst exist because they want to save cutie birdy cuz cutie birdy is so cute NO biry is connectet and active part to a vast network of creatures wich have in whole a major effekt on our climate co2 o2 water etc (all our living conditions wich our species needs to exist) and if birdy dies then tiger dies when tiger dies pig grow to much and eat too much flowers wich makes flowers extinkt wich makes litle worm die out etc etc every species on this planet is sotosay rewired with every other so if birdy dies a whole biotope is turnd into desert wich we cant live in that well thats wy greenpeace cares bout litle birdy u shuld teach that to ur kids instead of creationizm
i read that on a poster with a native amerikan indian on it "we dont own our world we only boroght it from our kids" was saying it was an ancient indian verse deliverd over thousands of years ur reason shuld be to survive so u can strive everything is/mustbe/shldbe strive thats human and to survive we need kids kids need love we as a whole can only survive through love its human and loving our kids means to keep them away from loosing their souls to items (kapitalism causd overconsumtion fixation on the item estranging from oneself)to hate to -izms to fear and yes to mmorpgs and loving our kids is to do everything we can to keep this earth this wonderful planet full of wonder and beauty of riddles they may solve a habitat for them
well as for religion try to imagine ur an human that was born and raised in the quadrant of the earth wich got/is through divers prosesses wich we call history
iran and then u read "i know god exists" "i dont belive in any other god" "they who dont believe will go to hell" "people wich do "good" things (dam u people i guess u have no idea how streachable the word "good" is read kant u people that word shuldnt exist) will come to heaven" well its the same thing for them as for u is to hear about allah and their theories what will happen to believers wich do good stuff and non believers dont u see that farce ?
for example the soldiers that went to iraq to fight terror were thinking the thing they do is good bombing killing people is good no judgement here i believe them thats what they thought but after it came out that bush knew that iraq had no W.O.M.D. and Blair too it all got into a bad strange light soldiers that dropd the A-Bombs on nagasaki n hiroshima (japan had given in before the bombs were dropd) thought they did a great job n they acted "good" (wich was right they believed that they will end/win the war with this in an efficient and fast way) the catholic church of the medival age wich burnd everyone wich wasnt willing to accept the catholic rules and theories as the only ones that are right
well in ur past u kept slaves and that was also good and ok
well in our past a lot of germans thought it would be good and nessesary to kill thousands and thousands of jews becaus jews were stigmatized by the government as to be evil
good and bad shuld be handeld with care

well just look whos fighting in ur wars its the poor the underprivilged
good people (here used as one "good people" u know what i mena with that)that are wastet because privilidged say so

we need u u.s. americans in the world no doubt u are a big country (not as big as u may think^^) but without u its goin to be hard to face future probs overcome mates we count on u

well ive overdone it as always its veryyy late at night now i am tired
i lost the point as always its miserable

work ur body soul and mind thats the best game there is
never expect to be rigth always strive and remember that u are striving question urself and ur surroundings
realize ur fears and worries spread love be onest and let go some time realize ur in and output realize ur postion in time and space
well i strive

p.s. i am not a guy that likes michael moore i dont like hippies or conspiracy nerds i am not religous in religious maners
currently i am building on our house with my dad who started to build it himslef 25 years ago under difrent circumstances
hes 68 now in retirement still working hard each day 12 hours his back aches he wants to finish it to rend it out for us his kids for our studies i am helping him every free second rigth now i have holdiays working for 1 month now 12 h a day i know what hard work is i totally dig rocky 5 lol and i listen to led zep kinda rock (wrote that to characterize me a bit to put all the above in a more precise light to show that i am not one of the moore like peopls)
go on strive
itmes dont make u rich
u need them they are tools
tools to achieve the real richedom
evolving urself and achievment/spreading of love thats the true richedom
lol this shit is like a prayer sry ppl i sound smart-assed like a know-it-all
i totally applogy for that wasnt ment that way the origninal text was more to the toppic but wrighting it kinda got me away dam i feel so bad i dont like being smart-assed i guess u ll get the point or at least i hope so
have a nice life (that really comes from the heart)
greetings from cologne germany
good night (rofl that "good" again)

lol ps somthing i wanted to say to the isue in scotland maddybadger pointed out
man ur probaply a bit fammiliar with the ire/northernireland issue
its very simmilar its intresting to hear that its kinda a similiar situation in schottland protestants and catholics concerning
i dont know if i got u right on this but protestant is a very whide expression martin luther (not the u.s. the german a bit earlier ^^) started it first protestant was really yeah sotosay as the name says a protest against the catholic church to be too much repressive and failing in interpreting the bible right wich he translatet into german (wich then was the first german trans earlier all bibles were in latin)(he createt sotosay "the german" languadge through that book btw) so that everyone culd understand it from farmer to lord he critizised that the church at that time took payment for absolution so u had to pay and the priest gave u absolution for ur sins the people relly believd that lther pointet out that this is wrong and that god alone can give absolution for sins and that the people shuld pray and approach god in a more spiritual way
however what i want to say is the british protestants are totally difrent
as far as i know there was a english king wich wanted to marry again (catholics dont allow that) so he banishd catholic from england and createt a new religion the british protestant high church (or so) with him as the head of this church (kinda pope/king then is still like that today queen is "pope" of the brit prots) then he murderd his wife and married a new one lols
u c same word difrent meaning

"Although i didn't used to mind so much till the UK government started selling schools to business men who teach creationism and UK fundamentalism muslim leaders started saying vaccines are bad an people shouldn't use them and NOBODY challenges this!"

i totally dig this
there were attempts like this to do the same in gemrany to sell schools to enterprises that wuld e.g. (overexaggerating now) do a "why coke is good for u" lesson for 10 year old kids and spam the school with advertismend etc this shit is mad
edu needs to be free and independent as science does or else the result will be (overexager. again) brainless job specialized workaholic zombies without a trail to their heart or soul or even religous fanatics (as seen in the middle east (eurocentristic therm lol) AND in the u.s. and even sum few in europe aswell)
e.g. i heard that schools in ghettos on the u.s. work closely toghether with the u.s. army a perfect way to recruit cannon fodder for the next war for military industrial complex i am getting away again but shu know if u voted bush look away now (( government points out enemy stigmas him says hes evil send troops make sum war sum ghetto kids die lot of material trashd state hightens up etat for weaponry becaus of danger through evil enemy weapon industry gets money n money lot of jobs secured billions of dollars made good for the state good for the weapon industrie wich gets mightier n migtier through that big lobby much pressure on govern/ well truth is one tool to save a free market economy from a crash or from a deep recession is to start a war thats a prooven fact))
fact is i am going to die tomorrow lol my father will laugh at me silly ass

I think the popularity of video games stems from the pretty much total control you as the player has. In real life, you have a boss telling you what to do at work, co-workers to deal with, and then when you get home you have to deal with the wants, neeeds and issues of your family. You can't just tell your boss, or your co-workers or you family to just jump off a bridge, but in a game, if you want to send billions of people to their death to conquer a planet, you can do that and usually there's no one to stop you (save multiplayer and certain game features). The problem is that absolute power and control corrupt absolutely. Some people get obsessed with the power/control and don't want to or can't give it up, which leads to the "addiction". The computer is mainly my myslef or "off" time in the winter, when I can't go golfing, but now that my daughter is almost an age where she can understand me, it'll probably get decreased more. Real life always has to come first.

Unless a person had a specific personality or disorder, I think that games are a choice, not an addiction. On a different note, religion really gets a bad rap because of all the extremists. All you see on the news or read about are extremists Muslims or extremist Christian groups. Many people, like myself, have a simple, faithful belief in God but don't want to go blow up an office building to prove it.

Hmm, I think I can agree with some of what you're saying about games being non-social and the accomplishments being meaningless in the "real world". I've felt that way and thought about it too. Especially in a single player game like GC2, no one will ever even know what I've overcome or achieved. Yet, putting it in perspective, I feel that as long as these accomplishments have meaning for me, they do matter in the "real world". I matter, and the things I do, both in and out of games, matter insofar as they keep me interested in living and breathing and caring about anything. The same can be true for every individual, if they so wish. It's the caring, and the ambition that matters, in defining "real life". Games are a waste only if you don't find any challenge or meaning in them, or if they hinder your survival. What you say sounds true to me only if one plays games dispassionately, as a way to kill time, or is a hard-core addict who can't function as a human being.

To me, games are about challenging my mind, against the computer AI, against the game environment, or against other players. There are other, more social kinds of challenges, and others ways besides gaming of pursuing them, but why should I choose my activities based on how popular they are? That can be very limiting in its own way, preventing me from following my own interests and passions. This to me is more important than having others' "approval", which is a fleeting and subjective thing.

If my friends or family members don't take interest a game I'm enjoying, then too bad for them. They are missing out on a great experience by not trying it themselves. If gaming detracts from my work, that's certainly a concern, but only because the loss of income might interfere with my gaming. Work itself is just an unfortunate fact of life, and games can help to relieve that burden. As for God, I think He should get into video games, He might even get some cool ideas for improving this buggy, incomplete, rushed-to-release, space-hogging, virus-infested, DRM-crippled crashfest that is the human race.

segerman

west scotland and ulster/ northern ireland/ the teddy bears brain naturally often face the same ethnic / religious nutters stirring up trouble because of the proximity and overspill from both populations and to some extent the shared history and culture in places

Interestingly I note that the German chancelor Angela Merkel, the first european leader in a long time not to be ancient and have suspicously dark hair, is making a push for a renewed EU constitution that forces christinaity on everyone.

sadly i am painfully aware of the divisions in protestanism, prestbyterianism in scotland is a spin of of calvanisim where as just south in england anglicanism (apppears to me to be) just catholisim without the pope, my wench is english and is a bit vauge on the specifics but thats english schools for you i suppose haha

I like video games...but I can't really say that I'm addicted to them. When I'm bored they help me pass the time and if they're especially good I'll set aside some time to play them. However, as a college student I really don't have a family or a whole host of responsibilities so I can kind of afford that time. As long as I get my work done and earn decent grades there's no problem. Even if a game is really good...I will take a break for awhile...I just get tired of it. I always come back and play them...but I can take several months off from playing a game. Kinda strange, I guess...but at least I'm not addicted or at least not totally obsessed.

~Zoo

I think one has to take into account how utterly stultifying and same-old life can be, and how damaging that is to emotions and intellect. Games offer variety, challenge, and can make a person think about things they might never have thought about otherwise(much like a really good movie or book, granted). In the medium to high levels of difficulty, they also require a high state of consciousness and promote a person learning to be more aware and logical than they otherwise would be.

My point is, if you don't do anything fun, your mind isn't being stimulated. If you don't use it, you lose it, and it's entirely possible to go through life without using your brain. Games can help stimulate and grow the mind, or at least give it a good exercise to keep it lively. They don't always, there's a lot of big-budget games now that simply require trial-and-error to get to the end, with no real learning taking place. I'm looking at you WWII FPS #417.

I really have to comment on the theism versus atheism thing. I think some people have been affected by religious wackos and so they have a really strong opinions against theists. People do some really nasty things in the spirit of 'doing what's best for someone', for instance telling kids they're horrible little beasts and are going to hell, presumably so they'll see the light and change their ways. I think, most people have more sense than that, theist or no.

What's really important is what kind of person you are, and there are reasons to be a good person both from atheism and theism alike. When you don't believe in a higher power, you may realize that there is no guaranteed paradise and if you want to live in a good, caring world then it is PEOPLE that must be good, caring, and active in promoting a better world. Then again, some people may find that religion rises them above the murk, selfishness, and unhappiness of worldly ways and allow them to aspire to making the world a better, nicer place. Those two beliefs can be used to make one a bad person too, from sociopathic nihilism to ruthless fanaticism.

I'm not sure if having such strong beliefs, for or against, makes one a better or worse person necessarily.. probably a more interesting person, but I digress. I do certainly call both atheism and theism belief systems deliberately, as a 'conscientious objector' in that debate I don't see a difference. Either way you could be wrong and there is no rational way to know, until you're deceased and it's assumedly 'too late', to know what the right answer is. I figure it's safe enough to be non-religious, because if you choose any given religion you're still 99.9% likely to be damned to an unpleasant after-life. Whatever the answer is it's probably set in stone, sure, but one has no way of knowing. A devout Hindu is just as positively certain that they can return to life as a bovine if they do good, as a devout Christian is positively certain they'll go to heaven if they do good, though I apologize if I'm getting that wrong since I've done no research.

I think it's dangerous to put one's loyalty behind any concept that allows you to be manipulated by other people, but there's many ways of this beyond religion. Nationalism, corporate pride, political or ethnic affiliation, even fanclubs, can also put a person in the position of being manipulated by their 'better'. Someone getting pushed around by their manager is no better than someone getting pushed around by a priest or a senator. In all these cases, one puts their faith behind a greater force, beyond the individual, yet individuals in power mutate it to take advantage of others. Human selfishness and greed sucks, the particulars of the means and ends doesn't change that.