Author Topic: Greed?  (Read 1064 times)

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Offline Awf Hand

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Greed?
« on: March 24, 2006, 02:50:13 AM »
I hadn't intended to, but I got a bit off-topic on another thread and I had posted this question?

My previous questions have really helped me sort out who's who and where everybody stands...

I'd like to know:

What is greed?   :?
Just my Awf Hand comments...

Offline beemanbeme

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Greed?
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2006, 03:14:30 AM »
I think that jealousy and greed are so closely related that one can define the other.  
if a man were alone on an island, he probably wouldn't pile up more coconuts than he could use, cut more fire wood than he needed, nor catch more fish than he could eat.  
It has to be  competitive before jealousy/greed comes into play.  Someone has to have something that you feel is rightfully yours.  No matter how illogical your reasoning.  
So that I can really get torched, I think the current fasination with large, heavy recoiling rifles, despite the fact that they have to put all sorts of gadgets on them to keep from having the snot knocked out of them, is tied in with the greed/jealousy drive:  you know, mine's bigger than yours.

Offline FWiedner

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Greed?
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2006, 03:49:36 AM »
Quote
What is greed?



A word another man uses when he offers his unwelcomed and misguided opinion regarding my efforts at personal fulfillment.

 :wink:
They may talk of a "New Order" in the  world, but what they have in mind is only a revival of the oldest and worst tyranny.   No liberty, no religion, no hope.   It is an unholy alliance of power and pelf to dominate and to enslave the human race.

Offline rifleman61

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Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed?!
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2006, 12:55:13 PM »
Aw comon' TM7
You know
and
I know
that we really can't define greed
But we know it when we see it
Ya' know?!
It's that other guy with a nickle more than we got!
"Damn he musta' stole it from me"!!!!


Anchor's Away/Semper Fi
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Offline williamlayton

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Greed?
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2006, 02:46:17 AM »
Greed--hummmm, lets see here.
It is natural for man to desire comfort, security. It is good that man would lay up stores for his old age that he might not be a burden. It is good that man might have enough to share with those who would be less fortunate.
The poor will always be with you.
Provide for those less fortunate.
If you see your brother who is in need---.
That pretty well sums up the good part--it is ok to be rich, well off, have plenty.
Then there was the man who built stores and the Lord said tonight I will require your life.
Whats the deal???
Money/wealth can become, and more than often does, a god before them. They worship it. They worship the power, the prestiege, the adolation it brings. they give no heed to God, from whence it comes, no praise and glory to Him.
It is all about me and how much it takes to make me happy. How much does it take---well, just a little bit more.
Share!!??? I made mine by the sweat of my brow--let them boys take care of thierownselves.
Greed cannot be satisfied.
Greed makes the bones grow brittle.
Greed will make one paranoid.
Greed breeds fear.
Greed denies God.
We are all guilty of greed to some degree and are a sorry lot.
Look to God for forgiveness, grace, mercy and repentance.
Blessings
TEXAS, by GOD

Offline Brett

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Greed?
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2006, 03:13:30 AM »
Well said Williamlayton,  The only thing I might ad is that greed is an uncontrollable desire to attain more of something for ones self even at the expense of someone else.
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Offline rifleman61

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2Layton
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2006, 03:15:24 AM »
God bless You
God make His face to smile upon You, William Layton

Anchor's Away/Semper Fi
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Offline magooch

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Greed?
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2006, 02:55:35 AM »
Greed is a word used by the envious to describe the ambitious.
Swingem

Offline beemanbeme

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Greed?
« Reply #8 on: March 26, 2006, 04:26:44 AM »
It depends on what drives the ambition.  Altho that would make no difference to the jealous.

Offline rifleman61

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Greed?a valued judgment
« Reply #9 on: March 26, 2006, 06:47:43 AM »
Greed is one of those ineffable qualities that we rightly ascribe to human nature; it is not present in the lower orders of the animal kingdom of which we are members.  For, in the end lions and tigers, bears and all other animals are only being what they are; they are not "vicious" or "greedy"; they are what they are.  Greed is a part of our human nature which part is animal to a given degree; the fact that we recognize it in our discussions and debates is proof unspoken that we know that there are indeed better ways to live than as so many violent beasts.  All of these ineffable qualities greed, avarice, thoughtfulness, generosity, cowardice, bravery, caprice, altruism et al., are what makes us so peculiarly human among all of the animals.  Human nature is consistent in all times and in places of human history in that it has displayed all of these qualities in all ways; this is inarguably so and exists as a fact in history.  To deny or seek to deny "any" of these qualities to humanity in general or in specifics is to deny man's basic free will, and to deny his basic humanity.
   The word "greed" is a word that is indeterminate in its qualities; it cannot be rationed or quantified in any reasonably logical senses, so much so that it is legally incapable of a definition that satisfies all parties to any question.  Greed is as much determined by the mores and culture of a society as it is determined by personal attitudes and juidgments.  Therefore "greed" is a considered valued judgment.  Anyone who says otherwise or who purports to define by any lexicon, in reality, is a fool for a teacher, an idiot for a thinker, and a lair if he tries to make others believe him.  The "Fathers" of our faith in the Old and new Testaments are silent on the definition of "greed" and rightfully so.  They pronounce on its effects and condemn it, but in the end they are silent on it, even our  "Messiah".  What they all say is, though, that "greed" is a Sin.  Greed is a great sin of the Spirit against God; it is the Sin of ingratitude against the Father who has given each and every one of us general gifts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and safety and particularly gifts to each and every one of us that are particular to each one of us only.  It is saying to the father: '...no thank You this is not enough...".  Greed can be forgivable among men, but I do not know that it is forgivable by God because it is such a great sin of Spirit, ingratitude.  Often as not, those who preach against the wealth of individual people, against "too much money" for some and not enough for "the people" are likened unto Pharisees.  On the outside they are gleeming and white; they are seemingly pure and beautiful; they have salvific visions that will "save us all".  They stand in our asemblies beating their breasts crying "...Lord, Lord..." all the while blocking the doors to the temple letting no one in because they are really full of dead men's bones and rotting and are themselves filthy, vile and hypocritical.  They are themselves "greedy" and they mask it by making that which is political moral, and moralize upon that which is essentially political.
This is my pronouncement on "Greed"; if it  causes derision, contempt, cynicism, or offends I do not care.
You have asked and I have spoken.


Anchor's Away/Semper Fi
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Offline Greysky

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Greed?
« Reply #10 on: March 26, 2006, 10:07:47 AM »
Sorry to burst the bubble of the materialistic, but those who collect the most toys before they die don't win the game of life.
If at first you don't succeed, by all means try again. But if this doesn't work, give up, because there is no sense in making a darn fool of yourself.

Offline DakotaElkSlayer

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Greed?
« Reply #11 on: March 26, 2006, 01:10:43 PM »
Quote from: williamlayton
That pretty well sums up the good part--it is ok to be rich, well off, have plenty.


Or is it?  Way back when, wasn't there someone who said it was easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than it was for a wealthy man to reach the Kingdom of Heaven?? :shock:

Jim
He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.

- Albert Einstein

Offline FWiedner

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Greed?
« Reply #12 on: March 26, 2006, 04:39:36 PM »
Quote from: DakotaElkSlayer
Quote from: williamlayton
That pretty well sums up the good part--it is ok to be rich, well off, have plenty.


Or is it?  Way back when, wasn't there someone who said it was easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than it was for a wealthy man to reach the Kingdom of Heaven?? :shock:

Jim



That's just the jewish version of the greek sour grapes fable...

 :wink:
They may talk of a "New Order" in the  world, but what they have in mind is only a revival of the oldest and worst tyranny.   No liberty, no religion, no hope.   It is an unholy alliance of power and pelf to dominate and to enslave the human race.

Offline rifleman61

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« Reply #13 on: March 27, 2006, 10:47:14 AM »
Copy it you may; be pleased to be my guest
I do caution you, my most worthy adversary [ I do mean that in the most fulsome of senses], that you are more in my corner than you are willing to grant.


Anchor's Away/Semper Fi
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Offline rifleman61

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« Reply #14 on: March 27, 2006, 11:02:51 AM »
The utterance of our "Messiah" was not against wealth.
He did not inveigle against the wealthy.
What He did was to warn us that often the getting of wealth is so demanding that those of "Us" who make it principal to our life and work run the serious risk of dehumanizing ourselves.  There is a risk entailed that we actualize that or many of the same things that we are against and become a caricature of them.  In the end it were better and easier that a camel should fit through the eye of a needle than for him who has "lost all" through becoming wealthy to get into"paradise"
Our Messiah said that "...the poor will be with you always..." which is to say that the wealthy will also be. It is the mark of an ugly god to damn the one because he has the sufficiency of material goods that others do not have simply because he has earned them or has had the good foertune to be born into them.  It is what one does with wealth personally on a moral level that helps to establish the possibility of salvation, and create the dynamic of social good not the other way around.  Far too many people mistake wealth for greed; far too many people use the words intercghangeably.  There is no jsutification for that.

Anchor's Away/Semper Fi
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Offline DakotaElkSlayer

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Greed?
« Reply #15 on: March 27, 2006, 01:01:57 PM »
Sure, Jesus wasn't against personal wealth, but he knew how trying to attain wealth had a way of corrupting many people's souls.  Take the "eye of a needle" quote...  He didn't say the wealthy do not go to heaven; the statement illustrated how FEW actually do make it.   :D

Jim
He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.

- Albert Einstein

Offline williamlayton

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Greed?
« Reply #16 on: March 27, 2006, 10:48:15 PM »
Well, some sure nuff good thinking here, and, well, some justifying, also.
Wealth is given or grabbed.
Wealth without social consciousness and thanksgiving is not a proper attitude, well, er, sin.
Wealth is not justifyable by any means.
Huummmm, why are we talking about wealth exclusively???
Greed can be a complex desire for the abundance of anything, one brought up the most toys thing.
Greed='s pride and pride ='s greed, if one would follow the chain of thought without tangent [good luck, I says to myownself].
Pride is the first and original sin--I will make myownself.
I would love wealth, I would think it could be fun. I would also agree that it could/would become a god before me.
I would fear the responsibilities of wealth and fear that I would not be able to care for the blessing properly.
I can think of a lots more things that would be just as much fun.
I fear pride more than I fear any other thing that satan has to offer.
Blessings
TEXAS, by GOD

Offline rifleman61

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« Reply #17 on: March 28, 2006, 10:42:32 AM »
God bless You
When I think of "wealth"  "Reb Tevya" the milkman of Ana Tevka comes to mind from "Fiddler on the Roof":
"...if I were a rich man...!"
Yes it would be nice thing indeed, but I have other concerns more pressing right now.  If I can only lay by a little "modestly" for my grandchildren I shall be happy.  Mine own comfort is of little consequence.
Besides I love the character of "Reb Tevya", the man actually has a speaking relationship and is on speaking terms with God.  Who else can say that??????


Anchor's Away/Semper Fi
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