HARRINGTON?!? You don't just walk into a room after playing Castaway for 20 years, mate! Welcome back!
On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 8:07 AM, Pat <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On 11 Aug, 11:48, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> wrote: > > One dimension of the perennial debate between Theists and Atheists, > > Spiritualists and Materialists, has been of the kind : > > > > There is spirit. Where is the spirit ? > > > > There is God. Where is God ? > > > > There is One, Whole, Unity. Where is One, Whole, Unity ? > > > > Now, dialectically, the discussion goes far but nowhere. So, let me > > place the issue in a familiar context that may perhaps express the > > separation and the connection between these two poles. Here it goes : > > > > My Father and I are one. >>> Unity > > > > I am the Way. >>> Connection > > > > I know not ; only my Father knows. >>> Separation > > > > These may not exactly be his quotes but they are what Christ seems to > > have expressed at some point of time or other. What they reveal, if > > indeed they do, is that all three exist, are there within us, in the > > way we are, know, think, believe, feel, and look upon upon others and > > themselves. > > > > So, why are the Materialists or Atheists saying they alone are valid, > > true, correct and, by implication and their crusade, have the sole > > right to exist or occupy the thought and knowledge space in human > > minds ? > > > > Or, is their crusade merely reactive, historically speaking, against > > the ( highly unreasonable and destructive ) religious crusades and > > millenia - long ( unreasonably subjugatory ) proselytation efforts of > > ( mono ) theists ? > > > > Why can't the theists realise that atheism is inevitable and atheists > > see the Whole, the Unity, as Universe surely is, even though it is the > > parts that are apparent to us ? > > > > What prevents the understanding, even among people who are so well > > informed, read, educated, and intellectually endowed ? > > What prevents the understanding is a common platform/language in which > to discuss the issues. For example: Science has no problem with the > concept that energy is neither created nor destroyed; however, they > balk at the concept that God is neither created nor destroyed. If God > is an entity comprised of that energy, the two seemingly differing > concepts merge into a greater view that encompasses them both. > Somehow, we (as humans) need to get to that 'bigger picture' where we > can see the forests and the trees (and the leaves on the trees and the > chlorophyll in the leaves, etc.) > What bothers me is that, since Einstein's concepts of space-time have > been fairly well accepted as valid, the philosophical implications of > space-time have been completely ignored. In so doing, humanity hides > its head under the blanket and refuses to believe what we know to be > true because it 'upsets' us (either personally or in groups/ > institutions). We're fooling ourselves by refusing to accept the > truth (the other way of fooling ourselves is to believe what isn't > true). When will we, as a species, face the facts as we know them? > Of course, I understand that 'Law' as we know it, would fall by the > wayside if we accept that there is no free will (a 'truth' of space- > time), but it is, nevertheless worth a rethink. We would need to > understand that, once something HAS happened, that it HAD to be that > way--however nasty WE might think it was. That doesn't give people > any more license than they already have (as the laws of physics allow > for murder, theft, and any other offense)--but we have to understand > that: > 1) In a universe that exists as a space-time continuum, ALL things/ > events that occur within it are necessary and they are EQUALLY > necessary. That means that, if something exists, the universe has > deigned that it is required. So all the homeless people are JUST AS > IMPORTANT and VITAL to the whole as the world leaders and CEOs. Their > existence is proof positive. > With an understanding of that, we should be willing to take onto > ourselves a moral understanding to help one another to be the best > individual that any individual can be. But our society ignores people > and doesn't REALLY attempt to foster the best out of us, nor does it > have much of a safety net to catch those who tend to stray. > 2) In a universe where there is only one thing that truly exists > (the whole), harming another is, essentially, self harm and is not as > beneficial to the whole as it could be. We, as a people, need to be > FAR more empathetic towards one another and foster and aide whenever > and wherever we can. For example, we view ourselves as indivduals > when, in truth, science shows us that we are, in fact, a conglomerate > of tiny individuals (cells) of varying types all working together to > create the macroscopic illusion of a greater being. Society is the > same and, in our society, we 'individuals' are like the cells to the > society. But, unfortunately, without empathy to form the lasting > bonds between us, we fight one another as if we were all immune cells > and everyone else is a malignant cancer cell. This is because we have > no REAL understanding of ourselves nor our place in the universe. > Don't worry, on that last one...I'm working on it!! ;-) > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
