Of course not. It is far too easy to use reason to prove that they did not mean what they said and wrote.On Apr 7, 2005 5:07 AM, David Bandel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Apr 7, 2005 2:14 AM, Roger Oberholtzer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Thu, 2005-04-07 at 05:00, Collins Richey wrote:
From: Michael Scottaline <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Linux tips and tricks <[email protected]> Date: Apr 6, 2005 8:49 PM Subject: Re: semi-informal survey for those using nvidia cards
[ fine signature ]
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei
A really good quote, but unfortunately quite un-PC. It's not really accepted practice these days to tout that God endowed us with anything, most especially not in courthouses <grin>.
And there are those who claim that these human characteristics are courtesy of the guy downstairs. Or, at least, our desire to use them in certain ways originates there. Never a simple problem.
No, I suspect it has more to do with whatever diety's disciples have done for themselves and to the rest of the world, and the courts have become as jaundiced as many of us "non-believers".
Every religion I've had contact with has always preached:
tolerance, love, servitude. Every religious fanatic that invokes the name of a diety, however, tends to display intolerance (because how could you _not_ believe as
they do), hate (historically, the most protracted wars, the heinous
actions were all in the name of a diety), and they expect you to serve
them (vice their diety).
No, I expect little of hateful, close-minded, hypocritical folks. And once the name of a diety has been invoked, you can forget using reason.
I have a few friends who are priests (protestant) and they agree with me.
I have little concern about whether a person believes in a deity or not, but I loath the tendency in recent years of those who do not believe to want to eradicate every trace of belief in our society. I've known just as many non-believing bigots as believing bigots. The writings of our country's founders are replete with references to God (or god, if you prefer), but that's not good enough for the non-believers of today.
I don't think it applies here, but, I think people are offended by an absolute standard of right and wrong. God implies such an absolute standard, and that really gets some of the "progressives" juices flowing. They can change society, but they can't change God.
Most people have something that they believe in, so faith is in ample supply. Ex. I am studying Electrical Engineering, yet I know of no one who has ever seen an electron. We model the effects and get consistent results, but we have never seen.
Reason is a tricky thing to use. It is not sufficient to reason well, one must reason correctly. Reasoning well leads to logically sound conclusions, like what Jane Fonda used to give aid to the enemy. Reasoning correctly is also logically sound, but it gives morally and ethically correct results. Too often we use reason to justify our actions, hence, lowering the ethical bar to match our behavior, rather than elevating our behavior to reach the ethical bar. Personally, I find changing my behavior is easier through a belief in God. YMMV
-- Alma _______________________________________________ [email protected] Unsub/Pause/Etc : http://mail.linux-sxs.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/general
