Past Postings

Previous William Thomas Sherman Info Page postings, quotes, observations, etc.

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In posting these excerpts I would not have you infer that I always concur with a given Church Father whom I otherwise express an agreement with. For instance, and as I have mentioned before, they (be they Church Father, forger/impersonator, or other) are sometimes distorting and irresponsible in their treatment and surveys of ancient philosophers. And in addition to using philosophy when and as it suits them, a number show a pronounced proclivity and fondness for, if not idol worship of, classical rhetoric and traditional courtroom argument (including the most disgraceful insertion of personal invectives and rancor) in discussing matters of faith and theology. Though this sort of hypocrisy and these sorts of tactics, as politics, may have been pardonable in their day, readers should be careful to not blindly ignore such defects now. Nor are the modern editors of these volumes of Church Fathers themselves above dogmatic pettiness and small minded prejudice; one of them, I believe Bishop Coxe, speaks of poor Porphry with unChristian disdain and vituperation -- as if Porphry was a dangerous threat to Christendom! Which brings up another point. On what basis did such Church Fathers come to think philosophers had much or any influence over more than a few people in any case (such that they required explicit censure and continued ridicule?)

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[Chapter 18] Some one will say, Why then does God permit these things to be done, and not apply a remedy to such disastrous errors? That evils may be at variance with good; that vices may be opposed to virtues; that He may have some whom He may punish, and others whom He may honour. For He has determined at the last times to pass judgment on the living and the dead, concerning which judgment I shall speak in the last book. He delays, therefore, until the end of the times shall come, when He may pour out His wrath with heavenly power and might, as

“Prophecies of pious seers
Ring terror in the 'wildered ears.”

But now He suffers men to err, and to be impious even towards Himself, just, and mild, and patient as He is. For it is impossible that He in whom is perfect excellence should not also be of perfect patience...

...In the third place, because the spirits which preside over the religious rites themselves, being condemned and cast off by God, wallow over the earth, who not only are unable to afford any advantage to their worshippers, since the power of all things is in the hands of one alone, but even destroy them with deadly attractions and errors; since this is their daily business, to involve men in darkness, that the true God may not be sought by them. Therefore they are not to be worshipped, because they lie under the sentence of God. For it is a very great crime to devote one's self to the power of those whom, if you follow righteousness, you are able to excel in power, and to drive out and put to flight by adjuration of the divine name. But if it appears that these religious rites are vain in so many ways as I have shown, it is manifest that those who either make prayers to the dead, or venerate the earth, or make over their souls to unclean spirits, do not act as becomes men, and that they will suffer punishment for their impiety and guilt, who, rebelling against God, the Father of the human race, have undertaken inexpiable rites, and violated every sacred law.

[Chapter 19] Whoever, therefore, is anxious to observe the obligations to which man is liable, and to maintain a regard for his nature, let him raise himself from the ground, and, with mind lifted up, let him direct his eyes to heaven: let him not seek God under his feet, nor dig up from his footprints an object of veneration, for whatever lies beneath man must necessarily be inferior to man; but let him seek it aloft, let him seek it in the highest place: for nothing can be greater than man, except that which is above man. But God is greater than man: therefore He is above, and not below; nor is He to be sought in the lowest, but rather in the highest region. Wherefore it is undoubted that there is no religion wherever there is an image. For if religion consists of divine things, and there is nothing divine except in heavenly things; it follows that images are without religion, because there can be nothing heavenly in that which is made from the earth. And this, indeed, may be plain to a wise man from the very name. For whatever is an imitation, that must of necessity be false; nor can anything receive the name of a true object which counterfeits the truth by deception and imitation. But if all imitation is not particularly a serious matter, but as it were a sport and jest, then there is no religion in images, but a mimicry of religion. That which is true is therefore to be preferred to all things which are false; earthly things are to be trampled upon, that we may obtain heavenly things. For this is the state of the case, that whosoever shall prostrate his soul, which has its origin from heaven, to the shades beneath, and the lowest things, must fall to that place to which he has cast himself. Therefore he ought to be mindful of his nature and condition, and always to strive and aim at things above. And whoever shall do this, he will be judged altogether wise, he just, he a man: he, in short, will be judged worthy of heaven whom his Parent will recognise not as abject, nor cast down to the earth after the manner of the beasts, but rather standing and upright as He made him...
~ Lactantius (c. 240?-c. 325? A.D.), Divine Institutes, Book II

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"PRESERVING THE NATION’S HONOR: Capt. Joshua Barney and the Patuxent River Flotilla of 1814," for which in .pdf see: http://www.gunjones.com/Joshua-Barney.pdf

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"If they won't buy what I put up for sale,* then it doesn't seem fair to me that people should be permitted to buy what you are selling." (Therefore, he won't let you sell it.)

* And they don't.

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These things will end up costing him far more than he is in his right mind to appreciate.

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I just received positive feedback on ebay for a lot I sold, and asked Pay Pal if I could now have my payment from the buyer that they, Pay Pal, have been withholding. Today, 14 Sept. 2011, this is the reply they sent. (Can you say Looney Bin?)

"Dear William Sherman,

"Thank you for your email. Customers who contact us using this form tend to have questions around money being held from an eBay sale. In order to provide you with assistance as quickly as possible, I have included some basic information that may help you.
"Many members have limits placed on their account or certain items until they confirm certain information or establish a positive selling history. These limits will help you become a successful seller, in addition to ensuring a safer experience for all eBay customers. These holds are placed to ensure that buyers, your customers, get the best experience possible while on eBay and return to purchase again.
"Please keep these points in mind as to why this is happening:

- While never easy to be in this situation, this does allow us to review account activity and confirm certain information from the seller
- Limits vary by seller and may be increased based on your overall selling activity; we did not single you out
- Seller has received a payment, but the payment is temporarily unavailable and placed in their Pending PayPal account balance

"I am providing some basic tips to improving your DSR (Detailed Seller Rating) and also avoid this in this situation in the future:

- Ship the item
- Obtain positive feedback from the buyer
- Develop a consistent and reliable history of selling

"You will also be able to view most of your account-based limits in My eBay. Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages, sign in to your account, then select the All Selling option in the Sell section on the left side of the page (or in the Selling Manager Summary).
"You are probably wondering why this has happened to you. Let me reiterate that we did not single you out. In certain categories, for certain sellers, we limit the number of items that can be listed in a calendar month. These limits may apply to your account if:

- You registered your account less than 90 days ago
- You have not sold multiple items in this category before
- You have not sold in this category in over a year
- You have had eBay Buyer Protection cases opened for more than 3% of your total transactions in the last year

"Regarding releasing the funds, this is automatic after 21 days without a case. If you are an existing seller, using an established account, positive feedback is an option to release. Regardless if you are an established seller, or new to eBay, funds are released within 3 days.
"It is not ideal in your situation, so below I am including some links into eBay that may provide you with some additional information to help you understand and, more importantly, improve your rating to avoid this in the future.

"Global Seller Performance Standards
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/global-seller-performance.html "Seller Performance Standards

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/seller-non-performance.html

"Limits on eBay Sellers
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/sellinglimits.html

"We realize that this email may not have answered all of your questions. If you would like additional information or assistance, please log into your account and visit our Contact Us page (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/helpscr?cmd=_help&t=escalateTab) which can give you additional support or feel free to call us. If you would prefer that we email you back, please reply to this message.
"The more details around your issue that you can provide me, the better equipped I will be to assist you. I have included some additional questions/information below that may help guide you.

"Yours Sincerely, PayPal"

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There is a great line in the somewhat surreal and bizarre spaghetti western "Twice a Judas" (1969), starring Klaus Kinsi I watched the other day. Dying from a gunshot wound, one of the characters, an elderly drunken doctor, says (or in effect says) "The bullet burns worse than the whiskey."

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Everyone and eveything, at best, is only good for a day. Only in God are they good forever.

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Oftentimes the most pernicious villain is disappointed would-be philanthropist who, being deceived into ludicrous self-importance by a devil bestowing great powers on him, comes to trust brute strength rather and more so than wisdom, probity and virtue.

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An accusing devil, needless to say, is himself no moralist, but rather one who uses morals to serve the ends of evil.

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The WTC and Pentagon attacks? For my money they were, at their root, merely pyrotechnic movies produced by witchcraft people; designed to divert attention from the dramatic take over of this country and this country's businesses from within by some of the same people who control the mass media, including now the internet. Certainly such persons possess the requisite rottenesss, duplicity, and insatiable penchant for crass sensationalism. (I would include here a photo of the 1995 draping over of the Empire State Building by Microsoft, but can’t, despite the famous nature of the event and prolonged searching on my part, locate one. Though I could, I suppose, come up with an appropriate clip from the movie "Independence Day.")

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In war there is no worse enemy than your blind spot.

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There is no Hell, only hells.

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