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International Cuisine Conference on Traditional Asian Diet Panaji, Goa, September 2-5, 2007 - http://www.indologygoa.in Online Media Partner: http://www.goanet.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hei Rui, Thank you for your compliments and encouragement. You are making a GoaNet monster out of me as the veteran GNetters know not to stroke my ego... it only goes to my head ;-) To answer your first question, I am a professional (companion animal veterinarian) with more than a passing interest in the theory of evolution though not as a career. I apologise for misleading you by putting the two words together (for GL's benefit) but have come to the realization that after studying evolution for the last 25 years, but only the last 5 from a secular perspective, it is understandable why the Church banned Darwin's 'Origin of the Species' for over a hundred years. His thoughts and conclusions have been verified by many unrelated scientific disciplines and the body of proof in biology is as incontrovertible as the Theory of Gravity in physics. A true understanding of evolution is incompatible with a belief in God unless hermetically sealed in separate intellectual compartments. As I have said before, there can only be ONE truth and it is up to each one of us to question the integrity of our own beliefs. As to your second question, I can no longer revert to the bliss of a 'simple belief' without suffering some catastrophic cerebral accident! In fact, one of my greatest fears is that in the coming years I might suffer the misfortune of a right temporal lobe injury which might relegate my current understanding of life to the darker recesses of my memory, instead stimulating the delusions of my indoctrination to the delight of the organized religious. I am making this public proclamation as I wouldn't want to be misunderstood in the future in the unfortunate circumstance that the injury is an invisible stroke as opposed to a gunshot wound or inadvertent nail gun misfire :-( http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2004/05/05/nail-skull.jpg My sincere conviction today is that of an unapologetic atheist. I don't expect convince anyone other than myself that there cannot be a god or afterlife or soul or any other of the myriad of convoluted explanations that accompany faithful belief of angels, etherous spirits, psychic communication with the dead, heaven, hell, purgatory etc. etc. I have come to this conclusion entirely on my own, coincidently after converting to vegetarianism. I see a connection between that dietary change and a deeper understanding of our (human) connection with all life forms which, I am convinced, all had a common ancestor approximately 3.5 billion years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ancestor's_Tale I would answer your question 'is HOPE a stronger currency then BELIEF and is belief an insurance policy which is a tradeable commodity milked at the alters of all religions?' with a resounding YES! But for the right and wrong of alcoholic addiction (or for that matter ANY addiction including belief) I would suggest a neurological predisposition or chemical imbalance which may actually have an inheritable component. In my opinion, there is no difference between 'mind' and 'the physical process of neuronal computation' or 'body'. Sincerely, Kevin Saldanha Mississauga, ON. ======= Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:54:22 +0200 From: "rui nuvo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Re: Evolutionist Kevin? But Kevin an evolutionist or Kevin a believer or Kevin both an evolutionist and a believer would be very interesting to know in private or in public. -- Be impeccable with your word - Don Miguel Ruiz http://www.nderf.org/4AgreementsReview.htm ------------------------------------------------------- Goanet recommends, and is proud to be associated with, 'Domnic's Goa' - A nostalgic romp through a bygone era. This book is the perfect gift for any Goan, or anyone wanting to understand Goa. Distributed locally by Broadway, near Caculo Island, Panjim & internationally by OtherIndiaBookStore.Com. For trade enquiries contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------