Lines to live by

[MaDuce]

Thought I'd share this with you guys. These are some simple lines I often replay in my head to myself which help guide me through life, and find myself using in conversion regularly in hope to encourage similar behavior among others. While these are ultimately lines I came up with myself, they are mostly based on lessons learned from wise men throughout history, including but not limited to some of our founders and even Jesus.

* The natural punishment for violating the liberties you don't like is the loss of the ones you do like.

* You deserve no better treatment then that which you show others.

* For some mysterious reason people usually only give serious consideration to the words you preach when they see you put them in to practice.

* If you don't learn to control your behavior, you'll repeat history even if you've learned it's lessons.

* All men harbor evil wishes. What separates the good from the evil is not what their bad wishes are but which men have enough love for others and moral grounding to refrain from acting on them, and those who do not.

* Either control your emotions with reason or your emotions will control your reason.

* If it's not proven to be impossible, then it potentially is possible.

* The stronger you feel about something, the more reason you have to question it.

* I'm not religious but if I had to chose between the two, I'd rather live in a country ruled by Osama Bin Laden then a country ruled by Stalin.

* How strong a nation stands depends upon it's treatment of the legs it stands on.

* Very often, the biggest difference between some of the worst tyrants and butchers in history and your next door neighbor is which had the power to do what.

* If religion is man made then it's nothing more or less then what man makes of it.

* We have the power to deny what we believe, but we don't have the power to choose what we believe.

* One of the great challenges for those who wish to prove there is no God is the painstaking task of disproving the existence of each version.

* The man who knows everything has a brain larger then our solar system.

* Never do anything to others without imagining it being done to you.

And last but not least, one for the season.

* My favorite dollar bill is the one dollar bill. Why? Because it has a picture of the man who invented one of my favorite drinks. (Egg Nog)

[unforgiven]

Brother Maduce IMO religious fanaticism and political fanaticism are the same types of methods used for subjugation of the peoples,while IMO the religious aspect brings out a more zealous attitude from the people [as in catholics/protastants,christians/muslims, jews/chirstians and born agains/everyone else]there are more examples these just come to mind.As opposed to political alignments such as communisum-socalisum/democracy.I believe there is a better chance to sway a persons politics then to change a persons religious convictions.IMO.