Are Playing Cards Evil ???

[FFH]

This also hurts your case.
It shows that perhaps you do understand that what something represents to someone is within that someone, not the item.

It's not within me, it's something the Lord has whispered to my being/spirit to avoid.

 

[Buttercup]

It's not within me, it's something the Lord has whispered to my being/spirit to avoid.

For you specifically to avoid, right? The cards in and of themselves are not evil. I am not committing an evil act when I play rummy with my relatives am I?

 

[FFH]

People who see evil everywhere actually scare me. Lighten up FFH!

People with flaming monkey heads as their avatar also scare me...

Just kidding...

I laughed when I saw it..

Evil monkey..

Seriously I have totally rebelled against God in the past, many many times in my life, and I've felt the "flames" of hell in my being for doing so..which actually and ironically seemed to cleanse me.. The "flames" of hell seem to cleanse in a way that's undescribable.. I've definitely felt them in my spirit...

I've gone both ways...

God's way is peaceful/full of joy, Satan's way is disturbing/full of torment...

 

[FFH]

Seriously I have totally rebelled against God in the past, many many times in my life, and I've felt the "flames" of hell in my being for doing so..which actually and ironically seemed to cleanse me.. The "flames" of hell seem to cleanse in a way that's undescribable.. I've definitely felt them in my spirit...

It felt like my head was on fire, that's why I laughed when I saw your avatar, I've spiritually been in that situation, where I felt my head and my being was in flames....

Hell is real.

Flames that do not consume, I've felt them on several occasions in my spirit....ironically they serve to cleanse one of all that is within them that is not so good.

 

[Buttercup]

People with flaming monkey heads as their avatar also scare me...

Dang! I knew I should have saved him for Halloween!

 

[s2a]

Boy that was offensive..

I also apologized to you in that thead, or did you forget that...

I see no reason for taken offense in mere illustration of historical error.

And no, I did not forget. Nor should you forget that I recognized your conciliation within that thread.

I Posted those codes for all to see, if they in fact came true in any way.

They in fact...did not. Which was the point....

I've never deleted anything on that thread and all are welcome to scrutinize it and see it for what it is..

As I have never deleted any post that I have contributed within RF. Is that to be considered some exceptional badge of courage amongst RF members?

No apologies here for that thread...

See it for what is is...

Your endorsement is unnecessary, but appreciated. I sought to provide member contributors a linked historical reference reflecting your "style" (shall we say) of opinionated argument...and (as you say) others may decide for themselves the relative weight and credibility (or subsequently tendered efforts in considered rebuttal) your postings of evangelistic fervor and "truth" actually entail, or deserve.

This is a religious forum, so should be all just talk about the wather ???????????

It's really hot here. It reached 102 degrees today (a new record!). Incidentally, I can provide compelling substantiation of my supplemental opinion that it was, in fact, really hot here today. In so doing, my "opinion" may be deemed by many as valuable/merited in further/subsequent estimations of daily observed temperatures. It's what some folks call "credibility".

When you seek to caution the RF community faithful about the attendant "evils" attached to a deck of playing cards...you'd be better served in offering a bit more than some linked-reference, goofy assertions/claims of some ranting evangelist espousing some revelatory "Truth" of heresy, Satan, and impending damnation.

 

[FFH]

I disdain concepts of evil but I do believe in ignorance.

I am an avid Cribbage player (and darn good) and am going to learn the art of Bridge very soon. Evil is as evil does. When you are "good" evil has no meaning. Case closed. By the way: God is a cracker Poker player. Talk about holding ones cards close to one's chest. Oy vey. (Tip: Do not let him be the dealer.)

It's only with God as the dealer can we prosper and live in peace..

 

[FFH]

Dang! I knew I should have saved him for Halloween!

Glad you posted him now, very very funny...

 

[FFH]

When you seek to caution the RF community faithful about the attendant "evils" attached to a deck of playing cards...you'd be better served in offering a bit more than some linked-reference, goofy assertions/claims of some ranting evangelist espousing some revelatory "Truth" of heresy, Satan, and impending damnation.

I'll post whatever I feel like posting, just to get things rolling in any thread..

Don't really care if it's goofy or not... "It's all good," as I seem to hear so many people say these days...

I'm not a perfectionist or claim to be a genius, just a person who's striving for a peaceful life..

This has been my main goal since I was about 22. I recognized there were things in my life that were causing my mind to be cluttered.

I prayed to know what the reason for this was...

It took me several years to get to a point in which my mind was relatively peaceful, most of it was accomplished by getting rid of things that seemed to harm my spirit, certain books, music, movies, games, etc... (Poker cards of course were one of those items)

To each his own...

Just posting this stuff in case it might be of benefit to another..

 

[FFH]

For you specifically to avoid, right? The cards in and of themselves are not evil. I am not committing an evil act when I play rummy with my relatives am I?

Some people say that they can't be around alcohol, because they then become addicted.

There are many vices that grip us with strong chains...

Poker cards seem to be one of those things that leads to other things...

I watched as a co-worker bought a craps table and had it shipped to the store here...

We opened it up and checked it out and he was soooo excited....

I knew he was in for some trouble.... Manager meetings with the owners of this business (one owner being LDS and the other an inactive LDS member), began to be poker playing events....

The very next LDS conference the evils of gambling in any form were discussed heavily..

The main LDS owner of the biz I work for promptly put a stop to their manager/"poker" meetings....

The manager, who I used to work with, as an assistant manager, later was fired for various reasons, mostly stemming from money problems...

He became obsessed with poker and it ruined his life...

He lost more and more money...

I also worked with another manager who gambled on the net and regularly went to Wendover to place bets on football, baseball and baskeball games. He would steal money from the store I worked at and then would go blow it on sports bets in Wendover, Nevada. He said he made money, but if that were true, why did he have to continue stealing money from the store.

I ignored the stealing for a long long time, then he was fired and then rehired as a delivery driver and stole from me as the assistant manager, which affected my food cost and I was chewed out for that on several occasions with one of the owners threatening me...

I had to come down hard on this guy and tell him to stop. He wouldn't so we let him go, a couple of days later the store was broken into and about 3,000 dollars was lost and I took a severe cut in pay and was severely chewed out for this happening and was again threatened by an investigation by the police..

I was soooo (fill in whatever word/words you want here)..

I took hits for both of these managers. I watched them steal from and ruin stores, without saying a word, until the owners came down on me hard, then I spilled the beans and both managers are no longer allowed to work for the company...

Poker and poker cards suck, plain and simple. It can ruin a person's life..

I'm finally working under a manager who doesn't gamble...

 

[Buttercup]

Poker and poker cards suck, plain and simple. It can ruin a person's life..

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on gambling and your co workers but, how does playing rummy with poker cards turn into something evil?

I agree there are people who have gambling/addiction tendencies in general and perhaps they should stay altogether away from playing cards.

But, you still haven't answered the question....what about us folks who don't have an addictive personality? Certainly you don't see the cards "themselves" as evil, right?

 

[storm2020]

Poker cards seem to be one of those things that leads to other things...

Alcohol is a drug. Last time I checked a card was not. Gambling and winning can release endorphins and so become addictive but a card does not make you gamble. You could play snap?

But it is the responsibility of the person, not the fault of the cards. Is that to say you do not use a knife of any sort because one day it might make you stab someone?

"Please officer it wern't my fault I stabbed my wife twenty seven times. Knives are evil! It made me do it! I knew they could lead to somethin.."

One way ticket to the loony bin methinks?

 

[doppelganger]

I'm a cribbage player. The wholesome godliness of the angels living on the pegging board does battle with the evil powers of the little demons that cling to the cards. The result is that cribbage is an exceptionally balanced game.

"God" is found in the fifteens.

 

[FFH]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on gambling and your co workers but, how does playing rummy with poker cards turn into something evil?

I agree there are people who have gambling/addiction tendencies in general and perhaps they should stay altogether away from playing cards.

But, you still haven't answered the question....what about us folks who don't have an addictive personality? Certainly you don't see the cards "themselves" as evil, right?

It's what they represent, a gazillion dollar money sucking industry that does no good for society...

Surely these cards represent this...

Can this be a good thing ??? No, it makes me feel sick in my spirit/spirt being, when I see them, possibly for this reason....

How can thee face cards, which are exclusively used in the gambling industry, facilitate anything good in one's life, by using them in our homes ???

I grew up nearly every weekend in the mountains/outdoors...and just don't see any good in just sitting around playing with poker cards..

I've done everthing I've ever wanted to in my life, instead of just sitting around watching cable or playing cards, for instance...

Should I list all the things I've done and the places I've been in this world, it would surprise any of you reading this...

What is so appealing about poker cards that people just have to have them ????

It's what they represent, something for nothing..

I've literally worked 6 days a week for the past 18 years, with the exception of being out for a year, last year, due to a motorcycle accident and a total of about 55 days traveling thoughout Europe, and have not had the need to borrow from any bank or any person...

Seriously is card playing really all that interesting ???

I've body surfed on Oahu's North Shore, skied the black diamond runs in Breckenridge, Colorado and of course all the resorts here in northern Utah, been to Atlanta (scarey place) and as far east as Boston (just a stopover on our way to Europe, to pick up my wife's mother who lived in Springfield, Mass.) and been as far west as Washington state (on a layover coming home from Japan) and have layed in the warm California sun on several occasions), tried surfing at Huntington beach at "The Pier", but nothing compares to Hawaii (paradise on earth).

Lived in Japan for nearly two years and have toured Europe twice...

Been to Mt. Fuji several times (lived at the base of it for 8 months) and the mountains of Switzerland and Austria twice, been to the beach in Monte Carlo and toured the canals of Venice, been to the Louvre and the Eiffel tower in Paris twice and the leaning tower in Italy and the Colliseum and Vatican in Rome, and attended the Octoberfest in Munich and have walked through Hyde Park in London, been to London twice, lived in Kawasaki city, which is right on the border of Tokyo, for six months, ten minutes by train from the heart of Tokyo, less than five minutes by bike to the border of Tokyo, and have seen been to all the major cities in Tokyo, including Harajuku and Akihabara, lived in Yokohama for another 8 months and have seen the coutryside of all these places, the endless sea of grape orchards in France, the endless rice fields of Japan and the rolling green hills of England and Scotland and the sea/ocean of pine trees in Washington state....

I also ride a bullet bike to work each day and have been for the last year, through the winter...

I enjoy going 110 on two wheels..

I'm not a sedentary person and so cards don't appeal to me at all.

Not interested in sitting down and playing cards in the slightest...

What others think of as fun I think of as boring...

 

[McBell]

It's not within me, it's something the Lord has whispered to my being/spirit to avoid.

So it is within you, it is just not from you.
That is fine.
However, why do you feel the need to push the restrictions God personally placed upon you unto everyone else?

Some people say that they can't be around alcohol, because they then become addicted.

Yes.
And this merely furthers my point.
It is the person, not the alcohol, that has the 'evil' tendency.
For you to say that it is the alcohol or cards that are evil is merely putting the blame on the cards or alcohol.
When are you going to take responsibility for yourself, your thoughts, etc?

There are many vices that grip us with strong chains...

Yes there are.
And instead of blaming the tools for the deed, people need to take responsibility for themselves.
How is this going to happen if everyone takes the same escape artist attitude that you have and blame the cards/alcohol/internet/dirty pictures/drugs/etc instead of taking responsibility for themselves?

I watched as a co-worker bought a craps table and had it shipped to the store here...

We opened it up and checked it out and he was soooo excited....

I knew he was in for some trouble.... Manager meetings with the owners of this business (one owner being LDS and the other an inactive LDS member), began to be poker playing events....

The very next LDS conference the evils of gambling in any form were discussed heavily..

The main LDS owner of the biz I work for promptly put a stop to their manager/"poker" meetings....

The manager, who I used to work with, as an assistant manager, later was fired for various reasons, mostly stemming from money problems...

He became obsessed with poker and it ruined his life...

He lost more and more money...

So did he take you cowards way out and blame the cards?
Did he take any responsibility for his own actions or was he to busy shuffling the blame any and every where else?
Did you promote this opinion of yours that it was not his fault but in fact the fault of the cards?
Did you help him to avoid taking responsibility for his actions?

I also worked with another manager who gambled on the net and regularly went to Wendover to place bets on football, baseball and baskeball games. He would steal money from the store I worked at and then would go blow it on sports bets in Wendover, Nevada. He said he made money, but if that were true, why did he have to continue stealing money from the store.

So he had an addiction to gambling.
Believe it or not , not everyone does.
Nor does everyone blame the tools of the addiction for the their addiction.
That is something the addict does to avoid taking responsibility.

I ignored the stealing for a long long time, then he was fired and then rehired as a delivery driver and stole from me as the assistant manager, which affected my food cost and I was chewed out for that on several occasions with one of the owners threatening me...

I had to come down hard on this guy and tell him to stop. He wouldn't so we let him go, a couple of days later the store was broken into and about 3,000 dollars was lost and I took a severe cut in pay and was severely chewed out for this happening and was again threatened by an investigation by the police..

I was soooo (fill in whatever word/words you want here)..

I took hits for both of these managers. I watched them steal from and ruin stores, without saying a word, until the owners came down on me hard, then I spilled the beans and both managers are no longer allowed to work for the company...

And how is this the fault of the cards?
You saw something that was being done and repeatedly allow it to happen.
The blame is yours, not the cards, not the people who you knowingly let do these things...

Poker and poker cards suck, plain and simple. It can ruin a person's life..

Only if that person allows it to.

I'm finally working under a manager who doesn't gamble...

That's good.

But it is the responsibility of the person, not the fault of the cards. Is that to say you do not use a knife of any sort because one day it might make you stab someone?

"Please officer it wern't my fault I stabbed my wife twenty seven times. Knives are evil! It made me do it! I knew they could lead to somethin.."

Good to know that I am not the only one who thinks so.

 

[Popeyesays]

FFH,

Where did you get the ideas that cards are used exclusively in the gambling industry?

In neither sense is this true.

First, anyone who plays solitaire at home is not playing cards within the gambling industry.

Second, the gambling industry uses cards--and dice, and wheels, and cages, and sporting events, political events, horse racing, athletic events,and even races cockroaches in some settings.

Gambling can inflict abuse upon one's family, that is the greatest evil.

Regards,
Scott

 

[MaddLlama]

it's the same principle/thought pattern, regarding poker cards, by which I started this thead.

They are disturbing to me. Just seeing a deck of cards disturbs me...

I'm not perfect in any way, only one person, who has ever lived on this earth, can claim to be perfect...

Posting this stuff so others might consider what they have not considered before...

I'm interested in bringing my life to a place of peace, while on this earth. Is that not what we're all striving for...

Just because you personally don't have the ability to handle something doesn't mean it's "evil".

For you, the temptation to do something bad with playing cards may be so great that you personally are forced to avoid them, but there's nothing evil about the cards themselves. They're little pieces of cardstock with pictures on them. And, the history you believe is wrong (mainly because you're more interested in finding someone who agrees with you than doing any real research. I noticed that's a trend with you).

Is my grandmother in the grip of Satan if she wants to play Bridge with her church group?

If you get addicted to gambling, it's your fault. Putting the blame on the cards is just avoiding responsibility for your own actions.

What exactly is it that makes a pack of paper with pictures on them I can buy at the drug store infused with evil? For that matter, do you believe that Satan personally goes to the factories or stores to infuse every tarot deck with unmitigated evil, and somehow because the pictures are similar the evil wafts down to them?

Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[FFH]

Where did you get the ideas that cards are used exclusively in the gambling industry?

So I worded it wrong, you know what I mean. When a person sees poker cards they think of poker/gambling not "go fish".

The cards are heavily if not exclusively associated with gambling, not bridge or "go fish".

The cards are inticing in and of themselves...if they weren't people would just buy plain numbered face cards. They appeal to the dullest of senses and/or human beings, that's the only way I can describe it..

 

[MaddLlama]

He became obsessed with poker and it ruined his life...

So, how exactly is it the cards fault? Did the cards somehow magically force him to be addicted to gambling? Does everyone who plays poker, solitaire, bridge, rummy, go fish etc etc get addicted to gambling? Does the gambling industry somehow psychologically force people to gamble when they buy a pack of bicycle cards?

 

[MaddLlama]

So I worded it wrong, you know what I mean. When a person sees poker cards they think of poker/gambling not "go fish".

The cards are heavily if not exclusively associated with gambling, not bridge or "go fish".

The cards are inticing in and of themselves...if they weren't people would just buy plain numbered face cards. They appeal to the dullest of senses/beings, that's the only way I can describe it..

In your mind maybe. When I see a pack of playing cards, I think of magic. I must have 50 decks laying about the house since my husband is a magician. Neither of us even play cards.

Not everyone associates cards with gambling, and not everyone who plays card games is in mortal peril.

Maybe if you stopped for a second to think about it you'd realize that everyone in the world is not just like you.