You have heard that it was said 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist one who you think is evil.
- J, quoted in The Disappearance Of The Universe
You'll notice much of the debate in the world goes along "how should we fight evil?" and "who should we fight?", not "should we fight?".
I'm an atheist, meaning I don't take a shine to miracles, faith, and the like.
ReplyDeleteSo this is simply an opportunity for me to point out that religious folk (and their fellow travelers) are fond of defining evil into existence. (They can't let sleeping dogs lie. They can't just stand there. They must do something.)
Examples are certain mind-altering drugs, fellow humans desperate to cross national borders, and the true, unclad human form.
(If goddess had meant mankind to be nude, he/she would have been born that way.)
Peaceful anarchist imp that I am, I'm trying to redefine the Queen City of the West, here in SW Ohio, into existence as Sinincincinnati.
Help me!
BTW, Is the disappearance of the universe some hyperbole on the order of the end of history?
Give us a break! And, while you're at it, give us sin!
Lucid Twilight,
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be fun if Dubya were to announce:
Hey! For the next two years of my presidency, let's pretend the US of A is Costa Rica. Yep. Let's just all lay low... really low.
It wouldn't hoit, would it?
I might even take Air Force One down to Venezuela next year just to give Hugo Chavez a big kiss... on the lips.
It wouldn't hoit.
David,
ReplyDeleteI don't think religion has a monopoly on postulating "evil". Many atheists, for instance, consider religion to be evil! :)
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The problem is the mind. If you're ready to fight, if you're spoiling for a fight, a fight will find you, trust me.
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Lucid, I have not read much in the book yet, but I think you'd get a kick out of it.
The strongest warrior nullifies his foes attacks and renders them incapable of further aggression while inflicting as little harm as possible, killing only when killing cannot be avoided.
ReplyDeleteLucid, I couldn't agree with you more. Having the strength but witholding the power IS THE GREATIST STRENGTH OF ALL.
Besides, The Lord Jesus said, "The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth."
Also, those that live by the sword will DIE BY THE SWORD.
I guess nobody ever read that to Dubya. My Pet Goat is his level of education. Sad, but true. I've never been ashamed of America until he was appointed leader. Sigh.
Many atheists, for instance, consider religion to be evil! :)
ReplyDelete---
The problem is the mind. If you're ready to fight, if you're spoiling for a fight, a fight will find you, trust me.
Eolake, many religions are masquerading as truthbearers but are evil. And yes, if you're spoiling for a fight, you'll find one. Choose your battles carefully if you must fight. But true power is having the power but only using it wisely.
David,
ReplyDeleteYou know, you're making it very hard to us prejudiced people to automatically hate all peaceful anarchist atheist imps. How does one terrorize with the promise of bigots' Hell someone who doesn't believe in Hell?
I think I'll give up! ;-)
P.S.: I like the term "goddess". Since gender implies duality, why decree that "He" is more adequate than "She"? And I've always thought that the way I view God was more as a loving mother than a stern father. But maybe I'm just insufficiently screwed up in my psyche?
Lucid,
Quoting Martin Luther King was prohibited as an intellectual WME (Weapon of Mass Education) by the UFO (United Fascists Organization). I'm SO reporting on you, you pacifist-lover!
Besides, by quoting him you've just ruined the half-decent similar idea I intended to formulate. I'd love to hate you... but you sure don't help! :o)
Ah, well, I still have this :
Reflect on the varying understanding of Jihad among muslims. The most sensible ones view it as a constant struggle against one's inner flaws and tendancy to do evil. The opposite kind take it as a divine justification for all-out, no-holds-barred, hateful bloody war.
I think the concept of "fighting" evil bears definite parallels to that of Jihad... (Litterally: "effort".)
I read a very interesting recent article, explaining that Iran WANTS international tension around it, because it automatically makes oil prices go up, and Iran desperately needs oil money for their nuclear program and internal economical quagmire. Therefore, by sticking to the negociations process, the West would be putting the mullahs in a very annoying situation!
* Analysis by Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, author of « The J Curve : A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall ».
"witholding the power IS THE GREATIST STRENGTH OF ALL."
Reminds me of the "powerful forgiving nazi camp chief" in Schindler's List. That was simultaneously atrocious and funny.
"Also, those that live by the sword will DIE BY THE SWORD."
Well, living by the sword is definitely an efficient way of giving the same idea to your mortal enemies...
"I guess nobody ever read that to Dubya. My Pet Goat is his level of education."
"My Pet Goat"? I've never read THAT book. Guess I must be less educated than Dubya! ;-)
'Cause, you know, I couldn't simply be from a different culture. Ask the leader of the soon-to-be-former-majority :
"Hunh? WHAT other cultures?" ):-P
God (the Lord Jesus) Saviour of my soul is Male. Scripture says so.
ReplyDeleteAnd the scriptures also state that " A fool says in his heart there is no God." (Remember God is saying this, I'm only repeating it.)
Both Good and Evil exist in the world. And nobody has to ask for sin because they were already born into sin. Salvation is only a breath away. (Romans 10:9)
"My Pet Goat" is the book a kid was reading the "president" for several minutes after he had been informed of the WTC disaster in progress.
ReplyDelete"My Pet Goat" is the book a kid was reading the "president" for several minutes after he had been informed of the WTC disaster in progress.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes! A school classic!
P.S.: The photo where Bush is holding the book upside-down is just a humorous Photoshop, as it turns out. Even HE knows how to read. Beware exessively funny pictures everywere.
Terry,
You believe the Scripture is pure truth. That's your most absolute free right and choice. Just remember that some (atheists) are simply of a different belief. (And that some like me have a very relative notion of respect, mea culpa.) It's called "belief", or "faith", because there is no way to definitely prove it as a fact, only to convince the heart or mind. Just look at the number of various Scriptures that 98% of mankind very deeply believes in. Each is positive that his is "the" Truth. And God doesn't seem to bother very much setting everybody straight once and for all with some undisputable display like a giant talking pillar of fire (for instance) live on CNN. I'm sure you've noticed. Nothing of the sort. Zilch. Why, pray tell? Mankind is left free to err. Even though there's no doubt that such an event would dramatically reduce the sad consequences of religion-based (or religion-biased) conflicts.
My view is, if there was a way to objectively prove God and/or Scripture as 100% undisputable, there would be no merit in believing. And therefore in choosing Good.
Of course, many atheists choose it simply by following their decent nature. And many others are just as fanatically atheist as religious fanatics. It would seem that neither faith nor its absence are fundamental in a person's true nature.
I've pointed this out previously : gender means there are two different forms. How can God be male? It can't be female either, that was just a joke. If God isn't subjected to sexual reproduction, "It" is genderless. THAT is an undisputable fact.
Please bear in mind that many people, since "forever", have sincerely thought that their deep personal beliefs could only be inspired by God. I'm betting Bush and his extremist religious gurus think that way. Who ever bothered (or dared) do a thorough check on the thousands of people who transmitted these scriptures to us? The same people who oft decreed that such or such ancient (and perhaps therefore more reliable) text was "apocryphal" based essentially on their own deep beliefs. What we call Scripture has been written by the hand of man. It wasn't Fed-Exed in triplicate hardcover edition straight from the sky, in view of the masses, on a cloudy parachute. Those who put it in writing (often with centuries of evolution following) were positive that they were inspired by God. Maybe. It's possible. But certainly not absolute. Too many errors that a flawless Creator wouldn't have made.
A few brief examples :
- Cosmology in Genesis. It describes a flat Earth, with the sky as a celestial dome over it ("firmament"), and Sun, Moon, stars, would all be lying on the surface of this dome. Wherefore doth the neder water lie? Is there ANYTHING "below" a spheric planet?
- Biology in Genesis. We know for sure that dinosaurs existed, and did way before us, and yet there's no mention of them. They didn't spew fire like the so-called dragons, either.
- The Flood. Worldwide. Wiping out all mankind save for one family. Never happened on our planet since Homo sapiens exists. The history of climate is well known. The whole Ark preserving all living species is preposterously infantile in itself. There would never have been enough room inside, the math has been done by serious biologists. And bio-genetics gives us a very different timeline for the various individual species. Another cute legend. Or, at the very least, a complacent exaggeration of a wide regional flood, and a guy who probably essentially saved his livestock and pets.
- If the Good Word should reach all of Mankind, how come the Americas were neither sent a non-pagan prophet until 1492 A.D., nor mentioned to those ready to go preach there? (These two continents had been visited even before the Gospel, they weren't out of reach. Vikings, Phoenicians...)
- Read the episode of the Babel tower. It says, to translate my French text, that God mixed the languages because he feared Men could become as powerful as Him [Gen 11 : 6]. How naive! This has been shown to be a direct plagiarisn of a babylonian myth.
Now, I'm certainly not claiming that the Scripture is just a bunch of nonsense. But there's no doubt about it, during the milleniae, whatever divine content there was has been thoroughly mixed with lots of silly human "certainties". I've read Exodus, Levitic and Deuteronomous. The number of appallingly naive stuff that just cannot come from God is incredible:
- [Deut 22 : 28 to 23 : 7] If a man rapes a maiden, they HAVE to be wedded!?!?!
- A woman giving birth to a girl remains impure twice as long as when she gives birth to a boy.
- Leprosy is "treated" by offerings and prayers. The antibiotics present in mold (like Penicillium) would've been infinitely better, all God had to do was reveal this knowledge.
- Read the paragraph about "leprosy of a house's wall". Nuff said.
- Etc.
Believe if you wish, good for you. Just don't let faith sit on your basic sense, that's all I'm saying. God never said you had to abdicate your intelligence to someone else. Clergies everywhere said that.
To be honest, I envy you. I've tried for my whole childhood and teen years to "get" faith and prayer, but the avalanche of nonsense added in by the clergy and the surrounding bigot/superstitious society here didn't help me much. And today, my personnality is formed, I know I can't change. Lord knows (!) I've tried with all my heart to find the Truth in faith. Many times, I really needed the ability to find comfort in prayer, but it just "didn't work", despite my unrestricted sincerity. It seems you have something that I don't. Or maybe I need a God whom I actually DO hear when He speaks to me, not only with my intrinsic conviction. Or, perhaps, we are meant to find our true path alone, freely and responsibly, not with Daddy-God forever leading us by the hand...
Were I still seeking a reliable belief, I'd likely join the Baha'is. Because basically, they don't claim that everybody else is wrong in their beliefs, they say that everybody is RIGHT. Theirs is a spirit of universalism that focuses on the essence of believing, on the elementary notion that there can't be "One True Unique God" that would be DIFFERENT for each religion (therefore Truth has to be One), and that you just have to trust the common part between religions, and take the rest with a grain of salt.
The bottom line is : I don't care what you do or don't believe in, how you do or don't pray. Only about the person you are. This is MY Universal Truth.