A Theology Question

[Cypress]

Had 18 holes of Zen moments this morning...which ended as I handed cash to my opponent. I missed three...THREE...THREE...THREE putts of less than three feet.

But I didn't let it bother me.

Not for one goddam minute.

Good man, there's never a reason for non-professionals to get upset about a game. That defeats the purpose of the Zen in playing it

[Doc Dutch]

Does he still have Bible quotes for his sig line? (I have sigs turned off, can't even see mine anymore. lol)

Yes. He claims to be a Christian without ever acting like one. Same for your nemesis and Lig. They can claim anything they want, but their actions reveal who they are.

[Into Тhe Night]

Superman is a space alien. Are you saying space aliens don’t exist? Or are you saying you don’t know due to a lack of evidence?

If John has evidence, I’d like to see it. Bob is a fucking moron for declaring space aliens don’t exist because he can’t see one in front of his nose.

IMO, the more logical position is not to accept something as fact without evidence. Same for declaring it to be non-existent because of an absence of evidence.

Extraterrestrials are a possibility that fits within the confines of reality. Faries and deities are not.

[IBDaMann]

Extraterrestrials are a possibility that fits within the confines of reality. Faries and deities are not.

I have a minor quibble with your wording. "Reality" is not the correct word.

Extraterrestrials are a possibility within nature. Fairies and deities are supernatural.

[Doc Dutch]

Extraterrestrials are a possibility that fits within the confines of reality. Faries and deities are not.

Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law of Prediction comes into play here: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Regardless if it's space aliens or our future selves visiting from the future, they would certainly have impact upon the unwashed primitives who made up the human race thousands of years ago. It's not a stretch to see how some might form a religion around such visitations.


Arthur C. Clarke formulated the following three “laws” of prediction:

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

[Doc Dutch]

Atheism is non-belief.

Bullshit.

I am saying that anyone who uses the descriptor "atheist" does so because of a "belief."

Either they "believe" there are no gods...or they "believe" it is more likely that there are no gods than that there is at least one.

I've asked you about that.

You have dodged the question.

Gotta wonder why you continue to dodge it.

Agreed on all points, Frank. Atheism is a belief that there is nothing beyond the Natural Universe.

[Cypress]

I just don't think armadillos, wild dog packs, or water buffalo think this deeply and abstractly about ethical perfection.


Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 16
Fearlessness, purity of being, knowledge, generosity, discipline, sacrifice, sacred study, austerity, honesty, non-harm, truth, non-anger, letting go, peace, non-slander, kindness to living things, non-greed, gentleness, modesty, non-caprice, energy, forgiveness, resolve, cleanliness, non-aggression, non-arrogance -- those exist in one born to godly assets

Zhuangzi:
humans who have freed themselves from the slavery of conventional standards of judgement and desire can no longer be made to suffer. Poverty isn't anymore desirable than affluence, life isn't any more desirable than death. But to withdraw from the world would render a judgement on the world. So the Daoist remains within society but refrains from acting out of motives that lead conventional humans to struggle for wealth, fame, reputation, success, security. He maintains a course of action that is not purposefully motivated by any gain or reward. In such a state human action becomes spontaneous and effortless. Humans become one with heaven, and merge with the Dao.

Analects of Confucius, Chapter XVI-10:
Confucius said, “There are nine things upon which a gentleman focuses his attention: in regard to using his eyes, he is anxious to see clearly; when listening, he focuses on being discerning; in his countenance, he is anxious to be amiable; in his demeanor, he focuses on being reverent; in his speech, he focuses on being dutiful; in his actions, he focuses on being respectful; when in doubt, he focuses on asking questions; when angry, he focuses on thinking about the the difficulties he may cause others ; and when he sees gain to be gain, he focuses upon righteousness.

[IBDaMann]

Yes. He claims to be a Christian without ever acting like one. Same for your nemesis and Lig. They can claim anything they want, but their actions reveal who they are.

Actions? On an internet forum?

It looks like Terry is role-playing Judge God. How nice. Terry really gets a fix pretending to be the wrathful God of the Old Testament.

Terry, Terry, Terry.

[Doc Dutch]

Isn't it against the forum rules to give your password to someone else?

No. Did you ever read the rules?

[Margot]

Actions? On an internet forum?

It looks like Terry is role-playing Judge God. How nice. Terry really gets a fix pretending to be the wrathful God of the Old Testament.

Terry, Terry, Terry.

Amen

[Margot]

There's a lot of overlap between religion, history, philosophy, culture, anthropology, even science. To get the full picture, I think ones needs to be aware of the entire context

It would help to try and connect each and find a common denominator

[Doc Dutch]

It would help to try and connect each and find a common denominator

There is a common denominator: Homo sapiens sapiens.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Homo-sapiens-sapiens

Homo sapiens sapiens, in anthropology and paleontology, the subspecies of Homo sapiens that consists of the only living members of genus Homo, modern human beings. Traditionally, this subspecies designation was used by paleontologists and anthropologists to separate modern human beings from more-archaic members of Homo sapiens. H. s. sapiens is thought to have evolved sometime between 160,000 and 90,000 years ago in Africa before migrating first to the Middle East and Europe and later to Asia, Australia, and the Americas.

Pioneer 10 space probe https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/mission...r-10/in-depth/

[Cypress]

It would help to try and connect each and find a common denominator

From what I have read in the sociological sciences, all strands of human experience and thought are not strictly independent from one another, but framed by an underlying code of culture, language, and ritual that I believe Claude Levi-Strauss and other sociologists called structuralism.

[Doc Dutch]

From what I have read in the sociological sciences, all strands of human experience and thought are not strictly independent from one another, but framed by an underlying code of culture, language, and ritual that I believe Claude Levi-Strauss and other sociologists called structuralism.

Agreed with Structuralism. Consider a new CEO of a large corporation. There are people who have worked there for years, if not decades. There is a corporate culture. There is a physical structure to the office, which may or may not be efficient but unlikely to change due to costs. While the new CEO may have some grand ideas and seek to implement them, it's like turning a large ship, a megatanker. It takes time.

In government, Presidents often lament that 8 years isn't enough to enact change. To turn the ship using the analogy above. The underlying structure is labeled by the Trumpers as "the Deep State".

Of course, being paranoid fuckwits, the Trumpers think of the "Deep State" as being guided by the Jews, the commies or "the Woke", but the reality is that it's the same as the previously described corporation: thousands of career workers who have been there for years.

[Cypress]

Agreed with Structuralism. Consider a new CEO of a large corporation. There are people who have worked there for years, if not decades. There is a corporate culture. There is a physical structure to the office, which may or may not be efficient but unlikely to change due to costs. While the new CEO may have some grand ideas and seek to implement them, it's like turning a large ship, a megatanker. It takes time.

In government, Presidents often lament that 8 years isn't enough to enact change. To turn the ship using the analogy above. The underlying structure is labeled by the Trumpers as "the Deep State".

Of course, being paranoid fuckwits, the Trumpers think of the "Deep State" as being guided by the Jews, the commies or "the Woke", but the reality is that it's the same as the previously described corporation: thousands of career workers who have been there for years.

LOL @ deep state.

Even science tends to be driven by an underlying code of human cultural and ritualistic bias. Aristotle, Copernicus, even Einstein really wanted the universe to be symmetric and static in it's overall framework -- because there is something about symmetry and unchanging gracefulness which just appeals to human nature