Reflections on religion from Ischia 24 May 2011

As I sit with my shapely, six foot, blonde, German girlfriend Gabriele, who takes such good care of me, in the quiet of the morning at a villa on the terraced, vineyard covered, volcanic rock mountainside of the Island of Ischia, Italy, watching the late spring sun as it rises from the depth of the Tyrrhenian Sea, I reflect on how life probably hasn’t changed here much from the times of Classical Roma. As I hear the peel of the church bells for the call to 7am Mass, I sip the local vino bianco and hot espresso and think of all the plunder, murder, idolatry, guilt, pain and suffering that Christianity has brought on to humankind in the name of religion to “save men’s souls” and to have power over others, supposedly in “God’s name” and for man’s “salvation”. I consider that I may have preferred the polytheist religions of decadent, hedonistic, Ancient Rome to today’s Semitic and Christian ancient, mythological religions. Polytheism and hedonism may not be more correct or true but definitely more fun. Then I think back how my own Mormon Cult roots and upbringing forbids so many things that I enjoy so much in my adult life since leaving the Cult behind: wine, whiskey, beer, coffee, women, sex, cohabitation, bachelorhood, dating women of diverse cultures and religions, sleeping in on Sunday morning and playing and watching sports on said day, “too much levity”, delving into the true history of the Mormon cult, reading what I may and watching films of my choice and listening to rock and roll, wearing the clothes that I like, and spending my money and time as I please and not as the cult demands. I have loved my atheist life with the peace of mind and freedom from guilt from Mormon “sins”. My only regret with leaving behind Christian and Mormon guilt is not having done it sooner.

classical Rome wouldn't have had coffee, however it would have had plunder, murder, idolatry, guilt, pain and suffering. whiskey may have been available, but not widely.

AFAIK, there are quite a few 6ft blondes within morgdom, and some of them will be from a germanic heritage - indeed - some of them may even *be* germanic.

but good luck with the good life

EssexExMo Wrote:
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> classical Rome wouldn't have had coffee, however
> it would have had plunder, murder, idolatry,
> guilt, pain and suffering. whiskey may have been
> available, but not widely.
>
> AFAIK, there are quite a few 6ft blondes within
> morgdom, and some of them will be from a germanic
> heritage - indeed - some of them may even *be*
> germanic.
>
> but good luck with the good life

No hard liquor in ancient Rome-just wine and beer. No coffee, tea, sugar or chocolate either.

But lots of sex of any kind made up for that!

AIC Wrote:
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> But lots of sex of any kind made up for that!

Not for nice women. Of course, women didn't always obey the rules. Men could pretty much do as they liked so long as they didn't do it with respectable women or boys

EssexExMo Wrote:
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> classical Rome wouldn't have had coffee, however
> it would have had plunder, murder, idolatry,
> guilt, pain and suffering. whiskey may have been
> available, but not widely.
>
> AFAIK, there are quite a few 6ft blondes within
> morgdom, and some of them will be from a germanic
> heritage - indeed - some of them may even *be*
> germanic.

Actually, I am quite aware of the origin coffee from Ethiopia and distilled beverages from the Europeans in the last millennium. They were both great contributions to modern civilization, in my view. I am also aware of the decadence of Classical Rome, especially in the post Republic era.

I am also aware of the Northern European heritage of Mormons from its beginnings. My late girlfriend of almost fifteen years was of Scandinavian heritage and an ex-Mo. I wrote her exit letter. She was nearly six feet tall, blonde, very shapely and beautiful. She also took very good care of me, and I her, and we enjoyed life to the maximum extent until her death.

But, that wasn’t my point.

Thanks for the contribution.


>
> but good luck with the good life



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2011 07:30AM by nomo.

I was thinking, maybe some uisge breatha plundered from the far north of the empire....
but, a quick look at wikipedia suggests that you are right.... the barbarians did not start distilling spirits until the 12 century

Thanks EssexExMo and bona dea for tearing apart yet another sincere thread with petty Pharisee-like technicalities. Not that the technicalities mean a damn thing to edify the reader, so your point is...?

cludgie Wrote:
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> Thanks EssexExMo and bona dea for tearing apart
> yet another sincere thread with petty
> Pharisee-like technicalities. Not that the
> technicalities mean a damn thing to edify the
> reader, so your point is...?

Thought maybe someone would be interested.Personally, I like to learn new facts and appreciate it when someone posts something I didn't know. If you don't, skip it.I skip things I don't care about. It was on topic more or less.

I understand the Romans tended to copy the Greek culture. Greeks, like many cultures in the ancient world, liked to drink "enhanced wines". That is, they added things like mandrakes, belladonna, lotus flowers, opium, cannabis, esphand (harmala), acacia, and other psycho-actives, to their "special wines". The Greeks even added psilocybin mushrooms, and lysergic fungi, to their brews. The Dionysian rites at Eleusis were based on the latter brew.

Kinda blows doors on "distilled spirits".

"Uh, well... You know, when you say 'ATM machine,' you're really saying 'AT machine machine.' The M in the ATM actually already stands for 'machine.'"

"As I sit with my shapely, six foot, blonde, German girlfriend Gabriele, who takes such good care of me, in the quiet of the morning at a villa on the terraced, vineyard covered, volcanic rock mountainside of the Island of Ischia, Italy, watching the late spring sun as it rises from the depth of the Tyrrhenian Sea, I reflect on how life probably hasn’t changed here much from the times of Classical Roma."


that's one long sentence. It sounds like the start of a bad spy novel..
Then, my weird sense of humour starts to kick in, and I dissect the post.
If you don't like it you are welcome to pass over my posts

EssexExMo Wrote:
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> that's one long sentence. It sounds like the start
> of a bad spy novel..
> Then, my weird sense of humour starts to kick in,
> and I dissect the post.
> If you don't like it you are welcome to pass over
> my posts

Thanks, again. I was aware of the run-on sentence when I wrote it. My sisters are the writers and English professors. I will pass it along for correction. I had the science degree.

I am much too polite to ever have mentioned it (It's one of my main faults) but cludgie's post tore it out of me.

As for passing over it; I am at work and in desperate need of entertainment. It was a choice of reading your post or going back to a colleagues discarded 'Daily Mail'.......and, believe me, your post was a hundred times more eloquently written than anything in that tabloid rag

EssexExMo Wrote:
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>
> and I dissect the post.
> If you don't like it you are welcome to pass over
> my posts

You are also welcome to pass over my posts.

NoMo

Thanks for the thoughts from Italy.

I read most of it, but I remember something about sex and booze.

Yup! Enjoy!

T-Bone

(The closest I've gotten to it is the boat landing in Naples. The devil controls the water, you know!)

Personally, I found your reflections from Italy quite lovely... Wish I were there right now.

knotheadusc Wrote:
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> Personally, I found your reflections from Italy
> quite lovely... Wish I were there right now.

I love Italy and was not trying to hijack your post.I enjoyed it, in fact although I have never been to Ischia. I have been to Capri and it is one of my all time favorites. Just commenting.Those who don't like it, not the OP, can skip it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2011 02:54PM by bona dea.

Stray Mutt Wrote:
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> n/t

Make that 2 house guests.