I want Cheap Wine ...
Offline Well, I want wine that isn't severely taxed and I want the LCBO's (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) stranglehold on what wine we get in this province laxed. I want to breathe, or taste rather, the only Reisling I'll drink that's not from the Alsace, but BC's Wild Goose Vinyards. I want to do it on the cheap too, but good luck getting whites.
I found an interesting article in the Globe today about an atheist in Toronto and his quest to find wine that can be purchased through an interesting loophole in our liquor laws. Welcome sacremental wine. Of course, it's not blessed or anything like that. It's just meant to be purchased for sacred purposes and usually requires proof. Well, if the vicor can get boozed (and he well might) at 10$ a litre, I won't be left out or forced to buy 7.25$ three-quarte-litre bottles of cheap Argentinian shiraz (which isn't so bad if your friends are indiscriminate boozers). No, I want the nice Californian or BC bottles or the heavy, heady Italian reds (you know the big hitters I mean, -di Montalcino) and I want it at the same blessed price the religious will pay for it and I don't even want to waste it prentending it to be the blood of a myth consumed with unappealing waffers in a pseudocannibalistic ritual. Well, if I seem pious enough, maybe I'll get it sold to me. Here's to the trial!
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
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You could perhaps reawaken The Cult of Mithras as being one of the historic religious projects that used the sacrament of wine and bread in Roman times. Perhaps you can even get Government funding for such a worthy undertaking? There will certainly be a constant need for copious amounts of sacred wine in order to get the rites going. Oh, and you also get to kill bulls.
"The idea of God is the sole wrong for which I cannot forgive mankind." (Alphonse Donatien De Sade)
http://www.kinkspace.com
Well, have you considered getting yourself ordained? There are a few places that will do that for you online. Here is one link for you:
http://www.themonastery.org/?destination=ordination-form
=
Without; ...... like bragging can I point out that I have put up that LINK at least; no doubt three {3} times. Under the same circumstansis. Plus I added that Gaius Julius Caeser wrote about the devout judaens who lived in his mothers tenament AND still went around the corner to Vatican hill and made offerings to Lord Mithra; .............. in (circa) 90 B.C.E.
I am getting tired of writing a lot of stuff here and being ignored!!!!!!!!!!!!! {arms over chest} Like Huff!!!!!!!!!!! in triplicate!!!!!!!!!
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
What sort of wine to they feed to the flock? Do you really want to drink it? My dad used give the congregation grape juice. This is talking the concept of holy spirit to a new level. D'you think they'll be cleanskins or will the sacramental wine be top shelf?
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
i remember going to a midnight christmas eve service at a small, very charming anglican church in wengen, switzerland, several years ago. i actually enjoyed it. it was elegant in its simplicity. the vicar was a diminutive, unassuming man with a wispy beard who spoke softly and beautifully. the music was very nice as well. if i had to attend any church, it would be that one.
there they gave us large chunks of crusty, fresh-baked bread and a lovely bourdeaux. (yes, the rare times i go to church i still participate in communion, as long as it isn't a "closed" communion. i guess i consider it taking part in a social ritual in a nietzschean sense.)
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Unfortunately I was informed early that taking communion without believing was to sin against the holy spirit, apparently this is the unforgivable sin. I never took communion as a result. I'm very risk averse - despite the fact I'm not wearing a jesus parachute...
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
I will consider getting ordained, but I wonder about the law ...whether there are exceptions based on the religion of the purchaser. It wouldn't be so odd, since the law is discriminatory anyhow ...
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
This of course raises two questions:
1] Why does religion get special treatment?
and
2] Why doesn't the government allow the wine to purchased any other way?
I thought everyone in Canada was so happy to pay high taxes to pay for their government services. So when taxes are high people either stop drinking or find ways around the tax. How is socialism supposed to work when people behave this way?
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
Admittedly, I think the tax on alcohol in Ontario* is quite high comparable to other provinces and other Western countries and I would like to pay less, but how the hell does that relate to your statements or your question? Would your please, please, please, not hijack this thread with such blatant irrelevance and nonesense? Please!?
*I'm not talking about Canada, EXC, I'm talking about Ontario ...and I'm not talking about socialism and high taxes on alcohol have nothing to do with socialism -Ontario isn't a socialist state. Honestly, you are incredibly frustrating and mindnumbingly stupid.
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
2] Ontario is a special place, Captain, where the LCBO is in charge of all liqour/wine/beer imports. Wine made in Ontario can be purchased at the vineyard or at the Wine Rack (a retail wine store for Ontario wine). All other liqour and wine and beer can be purchased only at an LCBO retail location (of which, you can imagine, there are very many) and beer can be purchased at the Beer Store. If you want a special wine, not otherwise imported by the LCBO, you can get it by asking the LCBO nicely, paying them money and hoping. Apparently, religious supply stores can carry wine with the express purpose that it be sold for legitimate religious purposes.
Yeah, I'm not terribly happy about the difficulty in importing wine (or liqour or beer), but Ontario has some of the most stringent liqour laws ...kind of reminds me of some of the silly laws some of the states south of the border have.
(I like the new avatar.)
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
Your gripe is that you have to subsidize another group of people. But you're OK when you're receiving the subsidies. Understood.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
you're a fuckin' tard, exc.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Is that the best you can come up with to enforce irrational group conformity? Maybe I need a gun put to my head since that is your preferred 'rational' method.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
a gun isn't necessary.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
This whole thing to me seems to fall under anachronistic laws which favor religion.
In the US(which depends on specific state, county, town, etc...) the whole not being able to buy alcohol before noon on a sunday or on Christmas day and other such nonsensical restrictions on commerce based on those being 'the lord's day'...
Just clean up the books and ditch this stuff - it's pure rubbish...
"Lisa, if the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girls sports, such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing and such."
Homer Simpson
Agreed, Sterculius, the law seems like an anachronism. It's clearly out of place as we've done away with the rest of those silly Church inspired laws here.
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
I for one hate blue laws.
I was getting groceries at about 2am in the morning a few nights ago, and they informed me that I couldn't purchase my Red Stripe because it is illegal to sell then. I would have to come back at a later time if I wanted to buy it.
On sunday I can just forget about it altogether. Thanks religious nutjobs and remnants of your prohibition.
Oh right, and EXC stop being a bag of dicks all the time. Seriously, it's funny most of the time but you are laying it on too hard, and making it old fast.
Theism is why we can't have nice things.
It's so old that it's a rotting corpse of something that used to be mildy amusing but now reeks of pathetic cliche, ClockCat; it can't get any older.
Blue laws suck. I'm glad we don't have any here ...except, perhaps, if you count cheaper wine for religious purposes a blue law.
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
I live in the US, so bear with me here. If the purpose and intent of the tax is to prevent alcoholism, then this would be a reason why religious would get a break on the tax. The priests would still be able to engage in alcoholism, but the poor sheep would never be able to become alcoholics from religious use in christian worship services.
That may be why they do not pay the higher tax rate. If it were happening here in Chicago, where taxes on everything are high enough, I would simply send out a question via email and hard copy letter to the appropriate political animals involved to get their interpretation on the relevant ordinance.
And that is what it can boil down to. Fuzzy language that can be open to various interpretations. Oh, wait! That sounds like christianity.
Let us know when you get ordained! There is a plethora of places to be ordained in the US. Start up a sect, and you may even get people to give you money hand over fist on top of getting that tax break. Just keep reminding them that their maker hates all the same people they do, and you will be rolling in cash.