traders who are deeply religious

[jem]

Quote from JohnnyK:

jem,

is it true the Catholic church has, since 1972 declined in membership by half? does anyone have numbers on this?

JohnnyK

I have seen people attempt to synthesize numbers based on incomplete data. I have not seen any studies that can give an accurate tally the situation. It is really very difficult to count Catholics in the States. Catholics are much more lax on figuring out who is in their congregation relative to the Protestant Churches in my experience. There are structural reasons for this. It is easier to switch from one Protestant denomination to another. Frequently it involves an altar call and ensuring a proper baptism in your past. It is much more difficult to become a Catholic and go to Communion which is the focus of the Mass. The Chruch is rarely if ever in the back tallying its members.

Catholic chruches are setup differently. First of all many Catholics do not even register with one Parish. Catholics frequently go to numerous different chruches in their area depending on the schedule.

So while their may be some indication that the Chruch has lost members especially in Europe accurate counts in the States are probably non existent. However, if my observation counts for anything, Catholic Churches I have visted are full with people standing at multiple different Masses on Sundays.

I would be surprised if the numbers of Catholics attending Mass was dwindling. I know that after the Priest scandal, there was a decrease in participation but I think that was a temporary blip. I also note that there is a baby boom in suburban Catholic Chruches.

 

[JohnnyK]

Quote from volente_00:

Do the mental masturbators fail to conceive that everyday they waste the most valued commodity in their possession ?

Hey boss!

This is a union shop now! We get a 15 minute break every 2000 years.

JohnnyK

 

[JohnnyK]

Quote from jem:

Many misrepresent the teachings of the Chruch. Others misrepresent history.

jem,

I have a supreme riddle for you. If you can solve it, I will give you eternal life.

Why did Julius Ceasar, in 45 BC, establish a new calendar that counted down for the next 45 years to zero, with the intention of starting from zero and counting forewards?

a. What date was he counting down from?
b. What was he counting down to?

JohnnyK

 

[acronym]

The catholic chruch? Sounds about right.

 

[jem]

Quote from JohnnyK:

jem,

I have a supreme riddle for you. If you can solve it, I will give you eternal life.

Why did Julius Ceasar, in 45 BC, establish a new calendar that counted down for the next 45 years to zero, with the intention of starting from zero and counting forewards?

a. What date was he counting down from?
b. What was he counting down to?

JohnnyK

that would be a good question considering romans did not date their years as 45 or 1945.

 

[stu]

Quote from jem:

that would be a good question considering romans did not date their years as 45 or 1945.

I think you will find they did date their years from the first foundations of the City of Rome
They would probably show something like for example March I 35 , putting AUC after (short for american university clambakes. )

The date is now probably somewhere around March I 2756 AUC (ab urbe condita, from the foundations)

 

[JohnnyK]

Quote from jem:

that would be a good question considering romans did not date their years as 45 or 1945.

We can assume they used some kind of Roman numerals, but for discussion, we can use our own. Principle is same.

Quote from stu:

I think you will find they did date their years from the first foundations of the City of Rome
They would probably show something like for example March I 35 , putting AUC after (short for american university clambakes. )

The date is now probably somewhere around March I 2756 AUC (ab urbe condita, from the foundations)

If the date was designed to go down to zero, then the current Roman date would be more like 2006.

Keep in mind, the Gregorian calendar did not change anything about the Julian *zero point*. The Gregorian simply adjusted for the less accurate tendency in the Julian to gain a day every 134 years. This was done to maintaint the integrity of the time to celebrated Easter.

For discussion sake, we are still using the Julian from the stand point of the start/restart date.

So the essential point is, even if Julian was counting from the beginning of Rome foundations, why would he count backwards down to zero and start over again? More to the point, why would he place the *zero point* 45 years off into what was then the future! Basically, he started a new calendar in the future! Why would he do this?

The original reference date, such as the foundation of Rome is of lesser importance, but may still be helpful in solving the riddle. If, for example, he started counting down from 3,600 (BC), we would want to know why he chose such a date not related to the founding of anything Roman.

Again, why start over, and why start 45 years in the future!

Here's a clue: Why would Julian Ceasar consult the world's best known astrologists concerning historical foundation date of Rome?

This really opens up a Pandoras Box!

JohnnyK

 

[JohnnyK]

Quote from acronym:

The catholic chruch? Sounds about right.

Nice try! Are you suggesting he was counting down to the start of the catholic church? Why, was Julian Ceasar a christian in 45 BC? For your pennance, say five hail Mary's...but you get an extra 45 days anyway for playing the game!

 

[JohnnyK]

Quote from TheConMan:


As for Extra terrestials, many ancient people have sagas that revolve around ET. The Dogon tribe worship amphibious ET gods called Nommo. The Nommo apparantly imparted knowledge of the Sirius star system to the Dogons 5000 years ago. Scroll down the link. http://www.crystalinks.com/amphibiousgods.html

Thanks for pointing this out. Here's another link:

http://www.unmuseum.org/siriusb.htm

This is inside the Pandoras Box relative to the riddle I am posing to jem.

JohnnyK

 

[JohnnyK]

Quote from acronym:

The catholic chruch? Sounds about right.

But to be fair, the phenomenon we know as the Catholic Church is inside the Pandoras Box that is opened by attempting to answer the riddle correctly. A correct answer presents a lens by which we may more accurately view history, institutions, motives, purposes, causes and effects....and to see the internal secrets that are driving outward external events and circumstances. And when inner and outer are one and both understood, we will have some truth.

Just how the Catholic Church is relavant to the riddle...that will be revealed, once the Pandoras Box is opened by correctly answering the riddle. If the riddle cannot be answered correctly, no one can say he has an accurate grasp of reality as it plays out in history.

JohnnyK