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$20 to Mint Your Prayers on “The Blockchain”

eternalprayer.org

61–70 of 93 posts

Re: $20 to Mint Your Prayers on “The Blockchain”

#61
post #2

I think we've reached that point (which I know has a name) where I honestly can't tell if this is a satirical gag or genuine.

Especially considering that there's a surprisingly on-the-nose analog in The Handmaid's Tale . I can't find the actual passage, so I might be mangling the details, but from what I recall there were printing companies that pivoted to printing prayers... only for the paper to be immediately recycled and used for the next order. The point of paying for it was basically to signal that one was pious and/or wealthy enough…

That book was surprisingly accurate in many details, but grossly inaccurate in who the perpetrators were. For instance, I think that analog better parodies the modern day virtue signalling than it does people praying.

Re: $20 to Mint Your Prayers on “The Blockchain”

#63
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

fall, not fail

Thank you. I didn’t quite understand what they were driving at with their comment and now I see that they misread what I wrote.

Yeah, my bad. I was reading it on my phone, didn't quite notice the spelling. That's what I get for drinking coffee after 3pm :p

Re: $20 to Mint Your Prayers on “The Blockchain”

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The point is that God is a Father - like a dad one has a great relationship with. Tell that to Job. Whose "Father" tortured him to win a bet.

God wasn't the one doing the torturing. Yes, you could debate whether an omnipotent God is actually responsible for every single thing that happens given He can intervene. But I don't think anybody who takes Job literally simultaneously believes that God is the one doing the torturing.

"I'm sorry, son. Of course I have the power to stop all these bad things from happening to you (I'm God, duh), but you see I have this bet going with the serpent about how you'll react to having terrible things happen to you, so no."

I'd like to believe it's a generally accepted truth that if you have the knowledge that something really, really bad's happening (by way of Job praying, the topic of this entire thread), the power to do something about it, and have been doing things about it before, and yet refuse because of a wager, YTA.

In such a situation, whether it's God or the world doing the torture is kinda splitting hairs.

Re: $20 to Mint Your Prayers on “The Blockchain”

#65
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's like most other NFTs and is just a pointer to the server where the actual data is stored? If you don't pay, they can just change the prayer to "Jesus, please ignore this prayer" or something.

You think that’s how it works? One person can tell Jesus/God to ignore another’s prayers?

>You think that’s how it works? One person can tell Jesus/God to ignore another’s prayers?

Sure. People can tell Jesus/God whatever they want to.

Re: $20 to Mint Your Prayers on “The Blockchain”

#66
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially considering that there's a surprisingly on-the-nose analog in The Handmaid's Tale . I can't find the actual passage, so I might be mangling the details, but from what I recall there were printing companies that pivoted to printing prayers... only for the paper to be immediately recycled and used for the next order. The point of paying for it was basically to signal that one was pious and/or wealthy enough…

Your recall looks to be pretty good ;) " At the corner is the store known as Soul Scrolls. It’s a franchise: there are Soul Scrolls in every city centre, in every suburb, or so they say. [...] Ordering prayers from Soul Scrolls is supposed to be a sign of piety and faithfulness to the regime, so of course the Commanders’ Wives do it a lot. It helps their husbands’ careers. [...] The machines talk as they print out th…

Ted Chiang is a great writer, while not being showy. I like his writing for how easy he makes it seem to write compelling ideas into narratives. I found his short story collection Stories of Your Life and Others quite a good intro to his oeuvre. I quite liked the film Arrival, which is based on the title work of the collection.

I should read more of his work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stories_of_Your_Life_and_Other...

Re: $20 to Mint Your Prayers on “The Blockchain”

#67
post #49
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's been awhile since I've seen this passage. I forgot how much of the bible is a diss track on the pagans. Ideal marketing is both puffing your product and dissing the competition. The old testament is really full of the latter...the new testament has less. > > Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So why pray at all?

Why are you here? You’re spreading hate because you don’t believe. It’s fine if you don’t believe, but you have to spread your hate to the rest of us? Could you not have simply moved passed this post?

> because you don’t believe

Seems like a strong assertion to make based on a short comment by someone who based their statement on having read the gospels and a good chunk of the Old Testament.

And what’s with the mention of hate? I don’t see any in the comment. And sure, there’s plenty of it in the Old Testament but the New Testament doesn’t even want you to hate the Romans.

Was the Apostle Thomas not a believer? Did he preach hate?

The beam might be in your eye, tekknik.

Re: $20 to Mint Your Prayers on “The Blockchain”

#68
post #67
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you here? You’re spreading hate because you don’t believe. It’s fine if you don’t believe, but you have to spread your hate to the rest of us? Could you not have simply moved passed this post?

> because you don’t believe Seems like a strong assertion to make based on a short comment by someone who based their statement on having read the gospels and a good chunk of the Old Testament. And what’s with the mention of hate? I don’t see any in the comment. And sure, there’s plenty of it in the Old Testament but the New Testament doesn’t even want you to hate the Romans. Was the Apostle Thomas not a believer? Di…

Oh so you’re religious then?

What’s with the “marketing” thing? Can that be taken as hateful or not?

Re: $20 to Mint Your Prayers on “The Blockchain”

#69
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think that’s how it works? One person can tell Jesus/God to ignore another’s prayers?

Isn’t that exactly what some Christian sects do when they proclaim their way is the only way (i.e. “god, don’t listen to them listen to us!” ). Perhaps Islam does this to, but I’m no expert on Islam.

I think you got that twisted. Everybody has the idea that their religion is the only correct one, but not all religions have the same god. So if they’re not praying to the same god, how can they tell that god to listen to them but not the others?

Re: $20 to Mint Your Prayers on “The Blockchain”

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author of Job and the authors of Matthew and Luke obviously disagree about what kind of relationship humanity supposedly has with God. I think it's important to see the Bible as a collection of books from different times and places, each with their own rhetorical goals.

> I think it's important to see the Bible as a collection of books from different times and places, each with their own rhetorical goals. And yet that's not how the bible is taught at a vast majority of churches. "The bible is the word of God. Jesus changed his relationship with us, which is why his behavior is different between the old and new Testament. End of discussion." I still recall the lecture I got when I on…

I mean, that’s how it’s taught in a majority of evangelical churches, which is what I gather you mean. St. Augustine was pretty clear that it wasn’t a literal seven days, and Pope Pius XII in Humani generis accepted that human evolution was a thing. So, granting the numerical superiority of the Catholic tradition, not a majority of churches.
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