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Monday, May 12, 05:02:37pm

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Subject: Leave my underpants out of this! Author: ozboy [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 03/ 3/02 9:48am In reply to: Damoclese 's message, "Debris" on 03/ 1/02 2:59pm from Damoclese: "Ozboy is a complete hermaphorditic asswipe" >>> so are you saying I’m a skid mark that displays the sexual organs of both the male and the female? Help me Ben! … I’m being flamed! >>> I’m being facetious … and I could easily kill your cat with one kick! anyway.... >>> I don’t think I’ve addressed particular issues as you pointed out... and this probably won't be good enough ... but I'll try and dress them as best I can... Fundamentally you are correct...there is no difference between me killing your cat or me killing a person, but the ramifications are far different. A similar outcome is applied to us by killing a rain forest or the air quality or a blade of grass… it is all interconnected an thus will affect us in the long run … just as executing killers does. There seems to be a direct conflict between things like medicine and bombs or the love of god and killing in his name or building a prison but killing the people you put in it…. I mean we build bigger and better hospitals so we can care for the people who have been blown-up by the bigger and better bombs we made the day before! Doesn’t this seem futile to you ... or at least a contradiction in terms .. or philosophy or ethics? Now after saying that I will redily agree that all this killing we do may very well be part of evolution and probably is! … that is to say that perhaps it is a natural culling of our species in order to protect it! If we look back at the deaths of 6 million jews 60 years ago or Stalin’s estimated 40 million killed or even the sudden disappearance of the ancient Minoan, Mayan civilizations or even the Roman Empire, the exponentional growth of offspring of these otherwise dead people would make life very difficult for me and you today! Most known species show an average time of existence of around 2 million years and we are about 2 million years old today, it just seems we are hurrying things up lately. from oz: Name one religion, past or present, that does not involve the entry to an afterlife through worship of something that is not tangible or agreed upon by everyone?! from Damoclese: I can't, but I fail to see how religion determines knowledge of the afterlife anyway. >>> You can't!?! ... well here's why! ... I think I’ve done this before here but I’ll do it again … pick any culture from any time in history and among many traits they will exhibit are the belief in an afterlife and the maintenance of a place of worship which gains you acceptance to this afterlife. While cross-cultural contact can account for similar ritualistic behaviour among different civilizations generally speaking the traits develop independently. … a quick example would be the Australian Aborigine and the Ancient Egyptians … they never met each other yet they both display these two traits. What I’m trying to say is that all cultures (human intellegence) develop this as a safety net in order to cope with life, it just manifests in different ways! It shows that we are predisposed to be religious… which in turn helps us get through the day and gives us eternal life when it’s over ... our reward.... our evolution. ... because those same two traits develop but are derided by one cultures interpretation of them toward another cultures interpretation of same, conflict is created. Why is there the different interpretation of the same ideal? ... because we all want the same thing but we create an interpretation to suit our societal structure and technology. Re-incarnation is the same thing for those who accept no particular or defined god, but believe in a "natural cycle" of continuance. If the god thing was real it would all be the same for everyone! ... but it is simply a Chinese whisper that originates from a dream! While we are alive we are extremely intelligent... but is that very intelligence that makes it impossible for us to conceive that we will not go on after death… it is we who created the afterlife… therefore there is no god…. and therefore when we die we do not go on but cease to exist… therefore dead people receive no punishment… therefore murderers should be imprisoned for all their natural lives as punishment! Too many people let their lives be shaped by a non-existant god and celebrate the death of those who believe in exactly the same thing! ... only in a different way! i.e. turn on your television an watch the news! No body wants to die… but we all will … and what Abram dreamt about 3000 years ago: i.e. a single unifying god, a beginning ... and an end in paradise suits so well our desire to continue. What Abram dreamt about was revolutionary to the human condition... the next and final revolution in thought … atheism. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Subject Author Date Nice post! Ben 03/ 3/02 10:42am Now we are talking... Damoclese 03/ 3/02 4:18pm