Finding joy in God can fix the economy?

Loomis

Experts are deeply divided over how we can escape the economic mess we're in. The government simply hopes that if it pulls enough levers something will eventually work.
But the policy of trying to take every possible euro out of the pockets of ordinary people is highly questionable from a moral point of view.
We are told that "greed" brought us to where we are. And it did. But we cannot leave the issue there. It was not just that many individuals were greedy. Rather, the very system was built on greed.
It could only work by fostering discontent with what we had and a never ending desire for more. That's how consumerism works, of its nature.
The political parties are only divided at present on how to get the system working again. Nobody proposes a new system, one that sets aside greed and never satisfied desire. Yet that's what we need.
We can begin with ourselves in our own homes. We can decide that, with material things, enough is enough. We can find our happiness in having the essential rather than in scratching the bleeding wound of perpetual longing.
But to escape the consumer mentality we need something greater in our lives. We need, above all, to be able to find our real joy in God.
Only a dynamic longing for God will give us a true perspective on material goods. Why squander our lives on anything less than him?

Article

To me that translates to - we can fix the economy if we give up our material possessions. But in order to do that we need the will power. And to have the will power we need God.
Am I being too cynical?

The line in bold also made me laugh.

First time poster on the board btw. Hello all.

seamus

What's that from?

In order to fix the economy, we need to stop buying anything more than the essentials and focus on God.

Definitely not an economist anyway.

Fairly standard religious diatribe tbh.

1. <something> is missing from your life
2. You drink/shag/gamble/consume to replace <something>'s void in your life
3. <insert religion> conveniently possesses <something> or knows how to get it.

GO_Bear

seamus wrote: »

What's that from?
3. <insert religion> conveniently possesses <something> or knows how to get it.

The Economy won't be getting any of the money it needs if we don't Drink/Shag/Gamble/consume !

Lets fix the economy by going on a absolute country wide binge !

Loomis

seamus wrote: »

What's that from?

Some religious newspaper that gets stuffed through the letterbox. Actually opened the one that came the other day and couldn't believe the rubbish that was inside.

robindch

Mr. Anderson wrote: »

Some religious newspaper that gets stuffed through the letterbox. Actually opened the one that came the other day and couldn't believe the rubbish that was inside.

Sounds like the catholic pulp fiction 'Alive' magazine.

Ah, yes, it is -- bottom of page seven, here.

Zillah

What's a dynamic longing for God?

"Yahweh...no, Thor! No, Allah! No, Zeus! Wait, I mean, Aphrodite! Wait, no, Set? Er...Buddha? Is he a God? Doesn't matter, I'm all about Baal these days. Hail Tuomi!"

Loomis

robindch wrote: »

Sounds like the catholic pulp fiction 'Alive' magazine.

Ah, yes, it is -- bottom of page seven, here.

That's the one.

I especially love the large '385,000 Copies Nationwide' declaration across the front page like it's some sort of achievement while ignoring the fact it has an even larger 'FREE' note alongside it all while forcibly shoved through a person's door.

Mark Hamill

Zillah wrote: »

What's a dynamic longing for God?

Its were you pray while on a rollercoaster

:pac:

Zombrex

Only a dynamic longing for making Wicknight happy will give us a true perspective on material goods. Why squander our lives on anything less than Wicknight?

Worship me peasants.

Cavehill Red

In Alive, it doesn't matter what the question is, the answer is always more God.

Unless the question is 'Why aren't these mongs prosecuted for continuing to shove this sh!te through my letterbox despite being told in no uncertain terms to stop?'

Dades

Ireland is officially in a foxhole, it seems! :pac:

Loomis

robindch wrote: »

Sounds like the catholic pulp fiction 'Alive' magazine.

Ah, yes, it is -- bottom of page seven, here.

What's the greatest threat to modern society?
Murder? Rape? Poverty? Famine? War? Disease?

Nope. Loss of religious faith according to page 16.
Perspective, where are you?

cavedave

As well as being underpants gnome reasoning I also believe this to be false.

The definition of a recession 'a general slowdown in economic activity' would be caused by not consuming as much.

Theres an interesting post here An Exodus Recession? arguing that one of the things keeping us in recession is peoples willingness to sit on forums arguing rather then be out buying stuff.

Galvasean

Whats that? The shit hit the fan? Pray!

Good old religion. Still preying on society's vunerable and downtrodden.

housetypeb

quote
Sexuality is placed within
God’s creation and is
good. Indeed, after the creation
of man God saw that
it was not merely good (like
the rest of creation) but
very good (1:31).
Adam and Eve have a
child “with the help of the
Lord” (Gen 4:1). They
cooperate with God in the

procreation of the child.quote

Lol-god had a threesome with adam and eve.-hope there was no crossed swords that night.

Loomis

housetypeb wrote: »

quote
Sexuality is placed within
God’s creation and is
good. Indeed, after the creation
of man God saw that
it was not merely good (like
the rest of creation) but
very good (1:31).
Adam and Eve have a
child “with the help of the
Lord” (Gen 4:1). They
cooperate with God in the

procreation of the child.quote

Lol-god had a threesome with adam and eve.-hope there was no crossed swords that night.

lol was thinking that myself. Either that or cuckold.

crummymummy

Mr. Anderson wrote: »

That's the one.

I especially love the large '385,000 Copies Nationwide' declaration across the front page like it's some sort of achievement while ignoring the fact it has an even larger 'FREE' note alongside it all while forcibly shoved through a person's door.

They're great for setting the fire though
Certain politicians telling us that ''all we can do is pray'' isn't helping the situation either.

recedite

housetypeb wrote: »

quote

Sexuality is placed within
God’s creation and is
good. Indeed, after the creation
of man God saw that
it was not merely good (like
the rest of creation) but
very good (1:31).
Adam and Eve have a
child “with the help of the
Lord” (Gen 4:1). They
cooperate with God in the

procreation of the child.quote

Lol-god had a threesome with adam and eve.-hope there was no crossed swords that night.

Hundreds of years later, He is still at it; impregnated virginal Mary at 13 or 14 years old.
Hugh Heffner in the hapenny place. :pac:

roosh

Without reference to God, what the article is trying to get at, is that there is a need for a change in the psyche of people of the country - which will inevitably affect the economy. Issues from our past, such as being the colony of an imperial power, and being dispossessed of land, lead to an almost insatiable desire to own land and property, which helped to fuel the property bubble, which is at the heart of the economic problems of the country.

The issue of an insatiable desire for materialisitc things, is another issue, that is not specific to this country. We can often seek pleasure and happiness in external objects, and because this pleasure only endures for a limited time, and we wish to experience pleasure most (if not all) of the time, this creates the insatiable demand for material possessions. Our material possessions also forms part of our self-image. Such things as the size and cost of our houses and cars, are often seen as a reflection of ourselves, so we can find ourselves in a constant stride to boost our self-image by acquring bigger and more expensive possessions and gadgets (not just limited to houses and cars).

Spiritual practice and spiritual philosophy is largely concerned with recognising our own innate happiness, and realising that true happiness and fulfillment cannot be found in external objects, due to the impermanent nature of all things. It is also concerned with investigating our self-perception and correcting it, which again means not having it tied up in material objects. If such philosophies were followed, it could lead to a change in the psyche of an individual, and if followed on a wide scale basis, could lead to a change in the psyche of a nation.

Dades

A renewed interest in Catholicism doesn't really strike me as the best getting people to recognise their own innate happiness. Perhaps some form of state-sponsored Buddhism would be better?

Though personally I think what the country really needed in 2010 was to get the World Cup. :pac:

roosh

Dades wrote: »

A renewed interest in Catholicism doesn't really strike me as the best getting people to recognise their own innate happiness. Perhaps some form of state-sponsored Buddhism would be better?

Though personally I think what the country really needed in 2010 was to get the World Cup. :pac:

I would tend to agree on all counts, particularly with the catholocism/buddhism sentiment.

recedite

mangaroosh wrote: »

Issues from our past, such as being the colony of an imperial power, and being dispossessed of land, lead to an almost insatiable desire to own land and property, which helped to fuel the property bubble, which is at the heart of the economic problems of the country.

LOL when in doubt; Blame the Brits...
Nothing to do with the FF govt. of the last decade and more, or inappropriate rezoning, crooked banks and crooked politicians etc...

Anyway, no more land can be owned regardless of the nation's mental or spiritual state. God stopped making it a few thousand years ago

I'm all for a bit of escapism now and again, but the trick is to get back to reality afterwards.

roosh

recedite wrote: »

LOL when in doubt; Blame the Brits...
Nothing to do with the FF govt. of the last decade and more, or inappropriate rezoning, crooked banks and crooked politicians etc...

Anyway, no more land can be owned regardless of the nation's mental or spiritual state. God stopped making it a few thousand years ago

I'm all for a bit of escapism now and again, but the trick is to get back to reality afterwards.

FF Govt., crooked banks and all the rest are the manifest symptoms of the problem, which is ultimately greed, or seeking satisfaction and self-image in material objects.

Traumatic national events, do affect the national psyche, and the issue of colonisation, whether we want to pay lipservice to moving on or not, was a traumatic occurence in the history of this nation, and from a purely psychological viewpoint, will have materially impacted on the psyche of those that were directly affected. Given that children sub-consciously learn from their parents, and societies pass on beliefs and behaviours through "indoctrination", these sub-conscious issues would have been passed from generation to generation.

This learned behaviour includes (or included) a certain pre-occupation with the ownership of ones own land, which one might guess is down to the fact that people were dispossed of land by the coloniser. While no more land can be owned, the land that is there can be, and was, redeveloped to allow for the possibility of owning ones own home.


The whole thing about it is facing up to the reality of what drives our actions, and addressing those, because it is our actions that lead us to the economic position we are in.

ArtSmart

well i think the article has a point

i mean look at the economic activity which occurs outside knock. - it would put any commercial enterprise to shame, it really would. - you name it, jesus car keys, jesus earrings - it'a all there.

if we, as a nation, started to make hand crafted wooden crucifixes rather than the cheap plastic ones made in Asia, that would raise lots and lots of dollars - which would make us joyous in the lord

and would solve everything.

everything.