On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 6:43 PM, John Mikes <[email protected]> wrote:
> Telmo: > and what is the difference between interfering with a superstition FOR a > *mountain* and interfering with a superstition FOR removing an unwanted > parasite from a womb that might evolve into a human baby? Or ... I could > list long lines of similar (dualistic???) superstitions humanity widely > observes > in today's belief? > Well, there are countless examples of horrible things being done in the name of mysticism. For example the people being condemned to medieval-level torture in Saudi Arabia for thought crimes, or the people being thrown in a cage for years for smoking an herb. But if you really think about it, the followers are useful idiots. It's always, always about power. If History has taught us something, is that nobody can fix power structures. Thing get better slowly and painfully, maybe. Notice what happens in the tolerant west when someone really defies power. See what they did to Bradley Manning, for example. What we can do is provide safe haven for the people who were unfortunate to have been born in an oppressive society but value freedom. But I don't think that interfering at the source works. This has been tried over and over again, and the results are always terrible. > Fairitales abound, people take it for granted from times BEFORE doubt > arose. Agnosticism reduces the items we take for granted, without replacing > them by other fairy tales. > Agreed. > We don't KNOW a lot, but exercise violence in cases we THINK we KNOW. > Agreed. > Also: we are far, far away from seeing clearly and acting on reason. > Agreed. Telmo. > John M > > On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 8:34 AM, Telmo Menezes <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Disappointing, but I imagine a truly advanced civilization to have >> something akin to the "prime directive" à la Star Trek. And respect the >> fact that, superstitious and unsophisticated as the other cultures might >> appear to you, they were there first and their land is not your land. >> >> We might have to adapt quickly to such a way of thinking, if we are not >> to let the Donald Trumps of the world destroy our culture in a fight >> against the Donald Trumps of other cultures. >> >> >> On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 6:56 PM, John Clark <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> The death of the Thirty Meter Telescope seems complete. In a sad parade >>> construction equipment has been coming down Mauna Kea for the last several >>> days probably never to return. The state said the equipment could stay >>> there if the Thirty Meter Telescope people want to appeal but that would >>> take years and jittery donors are terrified of offending religious >>> imbeciles; so it looks like they're not even going to try an appeal and are >>> just throwing in the towel. Kuuipo Freitas, a native Hawaiian imbecile, >>> said: *"It's all pretty much cleared now. We know right now there's no >>> construction that's going to be happening on Mauna Kea. We need to stop >>> bowing down to the dollar and starting bowing down to the Mauna. She can >>> just stand majestically without being harmed."* >>> So instead of an instrument to help us understand the universe we have a >>> bunch of ignorant dimwits bowing down to a mountain. You'd think they were >>> trying to build a glue factory and not one of the most noble structures >>> ever built by humans on the planet. >>> >>> John K Clark >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Everything List" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Everything List" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
