Posts by casualmoose82

Lisa Patel4 said:Yeah, super realistic.

Right, they should just drive off in their cars. They don't need tractors. Maybe they should just head back to where they actually feel at home.

Lisa Patel4 said:One thing is being overlooked here. Ukrainians are pushing into territory where the population is now completely hostile toward them. Just as the Russians wouldn't be able to hold onto a place like St. Louis, these guys probably can't hold Donetsk or Luhansk anymore either. I guess the war has just led to extreme polarization and radicalization.

Man, forget the people. What even is "the people" anyway? Honestly, who cares... just head straight to Russia and call it a day.

placidtiger142 said:I mean, I hope they’ve got momentum. I’m convinced what we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks was just the warm-up act.

Real heavy hitters are waiting in the wings, gearing up even bigger and better, but here’s the thing—and this is a massive issue in my book—once they take that ground, from the perspective of Russia, that territory becomes Russian soil again. By the end of the month, if they reclaim it, Russia is gonna see it as an actual invasion of their own country, which is a whole different beast than what's happening right now. I'm just saying, that's how they'll see it.

It doesn't matter to us because obviously it's still Ukraine, but damn, it's not the same thing hitting Russians while they're on foreign dirt versus tomorrow when they're fighting on their own turf, you know?

I don't think it looks unlikely anymore that they'll just bail. The West might just sell out Ukraine if it means they don't have to risk themselves.

They could pull that classic move later on where they say, "Hey, we gave you the weapons, we dumped billions at you, and sure, we'll throw a little more at you for rebuilding," and then—poof—they leave them high and dry.

Nah. This is way bigger than just Ukraine. We're only seeing phase one. A massive shift is coming. A whole new world is right in front of us.

Lisa Patel4 said:But then, who's actually in charge of it?

I guess just the folks higher up the food chain than us.

Lisa Patel4 said:Irrelevant. I guess Russia will just view this as an attack on their own soil. In a few days, they won't care if we're talking about Vladivostok, Moscow, or Zaporizhzhia.

And honestly, I wouldn't underestimate that endless list of Anglo-American allies who would throw us under the bus the second they got a better deal.

It matters, though. Because honestly, nobody on this planet can actually do anything with that kind of weaponry. It’s just not within human capability, I guess.

placidtiger142 said:Honestly, I’m just as terrified as anyone else that Putin will actually pull this off and keep whatever territories he claims to have "annexed."

He’ll probably just flood those areas with a million armed people over the next year, basically turning them into a massive, permanent presence on the ground.

Once they officially annex it—by their own rules, anyway—they’re going to start screaming for "de-escalation." They'll try to play the peacemaker, and half the world will probably jump at it just because they're sick of hearing about the war.

In the end, Ukraine could get totally played and lose everything Russia is trying to grab right now.

I mean, seriously, I don't see any realistic way for those lands to actually be returned to the Ukrainians...

Maybe in some other war ten or twenty years down the line that the Ukrainians have to start themselves.

We'll know what's really happening in the next few weeks.

Putin is definitely playing the card where he paints himself as the big winner by declaring these spots part of Russia and then calling a halt to the fighting.

At the end of the day, if he pulls this off like he did with Crimea, the Russians are going to think he's some kind of god.

The Ukrainians are getting this back pretty soon.

Lisa Patel4 said:It won't happen without a nuclear war, I guess.

So, why did they stop testing nukes back in the last century?

Terry Green3 said:According to the Russian media's playbook:

28th: The Duma submits documents to formally annex Zaporizhzhia, the DPR, the LPR, and Kherson into the Russian Federation.
29th: The Duma debates the request.
30th: A session is scheduled where Putin will make an official statement.

But honestly, nothing is actually going to happen. Ukrainians will just keep fighting to liberate the Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

neonmarlin39 said:It really just depends on what terminology you're leaning on. In biblical terms, when people talk about the soul, they’re usually referring to the mind (the psyche), whereas the spirit is that even deeper layer—something beyond both the body and the mind.

Nah. It's blood. Like in the Old Testament. When Jesus gave up his spirit on the cross, I think he meant something else entirely.

Joseph Bailey41 said:Then I don't really care about Him either. ☕

To be honest, I'm pretty indifferent... to the point where I don't even care if He exists. And if He does (which I doubt), I couldn't care less about what He wants. He's just not on my radar.

He is. I know it, and I think you do too. He’s always going to care about you, whether you find him important or not.

Paradise?

Peace and happiness inside the human mind.

That’s when we’ll finally have paradise right here on Earth.

bluemason3 said:Maybe check with an American Catholic theologian.😁

Well, I'm asking you. You're the one writing all this stuff about the soul.

bluemason3 said:While some argue Prabhupada was influenced by Christianity regarding the idea of the "fall," (more so than traditional Vaishnavism), it's questionable how much of it is actually Christian. And it certainly isn't universal.

As for mainstream Christians, the pre-existence of the soul is rejected (Origen), and God creates the soul (in Protestant views, parents create it, not God) along with the body. It doesn't exist beforehand to choose to fall because of certain desires. The fall itself is conditioned by original sin and passed down from parents (in both versions of soul creation—whether Divine or parental), rather than being a result of a decision, karma, or the desires of a soul in a non-existent pre-existence.

In Prabhupada's cosmology, however, souls pre-exist in the spiritual world in their eternal, natural relationship with Krishna, from which they fall into a conditioned material birth and subsequent karmic entanglement.
Of course, this isn't a universal view, not even among theistic religions, nor even all Gaudiya Vaishnavas to whom he belongs—many traditional Gaudyas (who are outside and precede the Gaudiya Math and its successors like ISKCON, though I'm not even sure if the GM necessarily shares Prabhupada's views here, I don't know) believe that developing a relationship with Krishna means establishing that connection, not necessarily returning to a pre-existent state (which is partly tied to the conflict over siddha deval, which holds different values depending on whether one believes in a pre-existent relationship in the spiritual world or a newly established one).

And, as I mentioned, there are religions that aren't even part of this entire debate because they don't have a creation or a creator, and some don't even have a soul.

Before Jesus died on the cross, he said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

So where does the soul fit in there?

Joseph Bailey41 said:You're trying to Distort things. If you look at most faiths, the entire reason and purpose for a human being's existence—just like everything else—really boils down to two words: God's will.

So, it’s not like you were trying to rule or control material reality or anything like that. God willed it, and you don't get a vote. How you choose to deal with that is entirely up to you.

But what if God doesn't actually care what you do?

Nah.

Who actually watches the watchers?
Maybe there's some super-controller or the owner of the universe...

But I guess once we all merge back into the ocean, there won't be any controllers left, or anyone left to control...

@Edward Flores4, look, when you quote someone, just quote the whole thing instead of cherry-picking bits out of context. And calling me schizophrenic? Honestly, you'll have to answer for that—not to me, and not even to God, however you view Him—but to yourself. I guess all that outside knowledge you've gathered, whatever form it takes, is useful and might actually help you on your Path. That’s basically what freedom of choice is about. As for whether the soul and body are one and the same, that’s your own mental construct; I wouldn't even bother commenting on it, I'll just say—it's your call.

A wise person knows better than to judge others, because in doing so, they've already judged themselves....

I wouldn't say holy books are the problem, per se. They can actually be pretty useful up to a certain point. I mean, if you look at them as symbolism to help you find freedom—or, I guess, to pull everything from the outside into your inner self—then they can work. It’s about becoming more aware of your higher Self, which is who you actually are. I agree with you, though, that they don't just hand you the answers. The actual solution for finding that freedom, or doing that internal shift, lies within the person. Not the physical body, but the one inhabiting it. The part of you tucked away inside. Some people call it the spirit, the soul, or whatever else.

Maybe we don't even need to let go of anything?😵

A "New America" is actually doable. It just takes changing how we think, which is basically the most powerful tool God the Father gave us. Thought is pure energy, I guess. If we could just focus on three things:
1. An America without wars—just people living in peace and actually loving one another;
2. A country without deserts, where everything is lush with food and clean water;
3. An America without poverty or hunger, where every community lives in abundance;

If we just hold onto those three thoughts and send them out to the Universe every morning when we wake up and every night before bed—and if more people actually did it—we’d eventually see this "New America" become a reality.