General Musings

In response to: "Paradise in the present" 385 days old
by Chen,Shun-Chuan [Visitor]

China - Rising by stamping skulls of our fellow countryman who were mercilessly slaughtered
Are you aware that the news you are watching is interlaced with Communist China's propaganda,as
Communist China maps a realm of news with innocent liv more…

In response to: "Paradise in the present" 402 days old
by DominicGee [Member]

It's a theme many have tackled whether hope is necessary to existence. You dismiss the emotional (or spiritual) content of the world (which we experience everyday) as unecessary. First of all, there is as yet no evidence for this (though there might be one day) - either for a single person or an ideology of a number of people.
In that case, more…

In response to: "Paradise in the present" 402 days old
by willofmemory ^Pro

Curiously enough, my father died tonight. I'll see his body tomorrow, and help bury him later.
Whether he's gone to a Christian heaven or not, I have no idea, and don't care much either.
But I do know that some spiritual traditions would see some common ground in how I see that his spirit will live on in those he left behind. As a resul more…

In response to: "Paradise in the present" 402 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

I do not believe in an afterlife. As is common in my entries I think that a major reason that people believe in God, the afterlife and religious doctrines is because they are dissatisfied with the alternative. People fear death and find it hard to accept the harsh realties of existence. So they make up spiritual solutions. The afterlife is a spirit more…

In response to: "Paradise in the present" 402 days old
by willofmemory ^Pro

You seem to be dealing mainly with Christian doctrines of heaven and hell, and especially those from the Middle Ages, but other perspectives, often in the eastern traditions, have a different view of an afterlife and a divine world of which it would be part. These perspectives often wholly reject any idea that our performance on Earth has a bearing more…

In response to: "Paradise in the present" 402 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

Ok. Fair enough that the church and others made up ideas about circles of hell or the catholic church made up purgatory because lots of babies were dying of the black death. However the idea of bothering to separate people in the afterlife seems wrong to me. We should strive to make this world what we want it to be and if we go into another world a more…

In response to: "Paradise in the present" 402 days old
by technomist [Member]

The black and white heaven and hell was approached in varying ways - by the concept of purgatory for instance, or limbo, or by the circles of hell, such as were depicted by Dante. more…

In response to: "When I became an Atheist" 423 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

Cheers dude. Well, intially it seems that you loose meaning and purpose when you loose God. But on closer reflection you 'gain back this earth', learn to live for now and not in the hope of some paradisical afterlife. So you loose alot when you realise you don't believe in a God which, as you put, is daunting and a little saddening. But you soon re more…

In response to: "When I became an Atheist" 423 days old
by willofmemory ^Pro

I looked on death once,
she smiled,
eyeless

I loved death once,
she fled,
mouthless

I knew death once,
She did not know me

The flower vanished more…

In response to: "When I became an Atheist" 423 days old
by DominicGee [Member]

Chorus:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.

Chorus

The purple-he more…

In response to: "Matter over mind: the organic machine" 426 days old
by willofmemory ^Pro

Aaron
When I mention the contemplative, I'm not necessarily invoking the Judeo-Christian god, that hoary old goat. Most religions have their contemplatives and most would reject representation of the godhead, or ascribe to it much specificity.

But, like Einstein's straight line being bent by time until it meets, in the end, itse more…

In response to: "Matter over mind: the organic machine" 426 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

I promise you i am as staunch an atheist as they come. I do not believe in God for there is no reason to. The answers to the questions that lead people to God are either the wrong questions (what is the meaning of life or what hope is there without God) or have material answers. I believe that at the atomic level the universe is deterministic. Any more…

In response to: "Matter over mind: the organic machine" 426 days old
by willofmemory ^Pro

Aaron
Your agnosticism, for that is how it sounds to me, and no more, feels as if it were crumbling. The contemplative would respond that the great determining force you allude to is none other than his or her god. And that such a godhead resides also within each of us. And that both, though seemingly of an illusion, are possibilities, and st more…

In response to: "Democracy: power to the people or power to the educated people?" 427 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

Fair comments. Though i think that what the people decide (when they have all the facts) is the right decision whatever that decision is in virtue of fairness and equality. I've already expressed in this blog that i do not believe in absolutes and am a moral relativist. The majority, when fully informed, will always seem to get it right for the maj more…

In response to: "Matter over mind: the organic machine" 427 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

I do not think the former path exists. The faculty of choice is an illusion. I appreciate your comments. I think there are strands being touched upon. The first is a feeling that your life is out of control and the second is knowing that your life is out of your control but feeling that it is under your control. I feel that i have free will and con more…

In response to: "Matter over mind: the organic machine" 427 days old
by willofmemory ^Pro

Mmm, it is intriguing what you say, but it still doesn't seem to add up. Here's another rebuttal: you seem to put determinism and choice into an either/or system. But what if they co-exist?
In other words, you can recreate a situation to the point of possible divergence. A subsequent path is then followed. This divergence is either under the more…

In response to: "Democracy: power to the people or power to the educated people?" 427 days old
by DominicGee [Member]

I agree with most of what you say, and it is a well written article.

In my view democracy does not exist in the interests of fairness. When Benjamin Franklin was asked what had been created he said a Republic, not a Democracy. If fairness was the main point in democracy, then voting is not necessary, one could for example be ruled by more…

In response to: "Matter over mind: the organic machine" 428 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

You sense right. This entry was, to a large extent, more diary than essay. But the fact still stands that i am still, philosophically, a hard determinist and do not believe in free will; only the illusion of it. Of course choice is not rational or ever made 'all POSSIBLE things considered'. But it is made 'all things available to you considered' in more…

In response to: "Matter over mind: the organic machine" 428 days old
by willofmemory ^Pro

The first half sounds like a classic early Christian heresy, if I only knew which one:-) I think the position fails on the grounds either that you are assuming that choice is rational and based on complete analysis, which it isn't, or that the occurence of a reaction once turns it into a cause should the instance reoccur, which sounds absurd althou more…

In response to: "Why do we assume that if there is a God that he is perfect?" 428 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

Absolutely to the first half. Realistic analysis. It might sound cynical but not overly so. All i'd say about the second half is that one should be very specific on their definition of purpose. Gravity has a function: it does what it does because it does it but has no intentional purpose. The universe and all that is in it exists in a certain way b more…

In response to: "Why do we assume that if there is a God that he is perfect?" 428 days old
by DominicGee [Member]

What you say is true. I suppose it comes down to a definition of perfection, which as you say is evolving.

If God is eternal, I'm not sure he can evolve as that would imply some passage of time or progression which would mean dividing infinity. Arrgh!

In my definition of God (above), I put him as eternal etc but did not more…

In response to: "Why do we assume that if there is a God that he is perfect?" 429 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

Yeah i see what you are saying. If God is the first and most intelligent being then he is, in a sense of the word, perfect and in a sense, all powerful. But he is still limit to the confines of his nature. That nature may have allowed him to create life and the universes but the life and universes he made may have been his best possible attempt, gi more…

In response to: "Why do we assume that if there is a God that he is perfect?" 429 days old
by DominicGee [Member]

Here's one answer:
If you accept that there is perfection in the universe i.e., logic, maths, geometry and the laws of physics then one would have to accept that God (if he exists) was also perfect, as the creator of these laws.
Science is based on the idea that the Universe is knowable, consistant and understandable. The pursuit of sc more…

In response to: "Matter over mind: the organic machine" 429 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

Of course we strive to be whatever it is we want to. Our personal goals for ourselves are our personal aims of perfection. But perfection is only a relative term and i do not think we are obliged to seek it. I'm not limiting myself to my imperfections, just acknowledging that they do in fact limit me. As is say, i cannot stop how my body can affect more…

In response to: "Matter over mind: the organic machine" 429 days old
by DominicGee [Member]

You can accept that your body will never be perfect, but the important thing is to strive towards perfection. The fact that we have a concept of perfection obliges us to persue it. more…

In response to: "Faith: why do people think that it is ok to have it?" 430 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

I'll check it out mate. Cheers for debating. Fair point. Afterall if one dresses ones arguments with antagonism people will focus on that and ignor the debate. Take it easy. more…

In response to: "Faith: why do people think that it is ok to have it?" 430 days old
by aaronkendall [Member]

We can only know or believe to know that God exists if we have some evidence of that existence. If religious experience is not such evidence then what is? Explaining the experience in materialistic terms is vital as it tells us that such experiences cannot be used to prove God's existence.

God has no nature for he does not exist. Or at more…

In response to: "Faith: why do people think that it is ok to have it?" 430 days old
by willofmemory ^Pro

You say that the object of faith, for you, is god or the supernatural. And that scientific rather than spiritual explanations of this object are sufficient.
However, this introduces the question of the nature of god. And the infuriating kernel of many religious explanations is that gid is beyond understanding. So, if something like a persona more…

In response to: "Faith: why do people think that it is ok to have it?" 431 days old
by DominicGee [Member]

The "Absolutely Not" one I found closest to my view on the subject, third one down. more…

In response to: "Faith: why do people think that it is ok to have it?" 431 days old
by DominicGee [Member]

Not sure I agree with you on the verifiable thing... we've achieved great things without all facts being verified and sometimes being downright mislead.

However, I concede that I am not currently matching your arguments here very well, it must be my flagging spirit ha ha. As a substitute for my weakened mind, why not visit here:
more…