On 30 Sep, 23:12, Adam <[email protected]> wrote:
> Just
> The theme is the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham.
> As you wrote, 'we are all a little selfish'. The whole purpose of God
> is to persuade people to rise above that selfishness and treat their
> neighbours fairly.
> Some do, some don't.
> Adam
>
There's nothing wrong with being selfish, so long as each
individual who ACTS selfishly understands that they are part of a
larger 'One'. That way, acting selfishly is, in fact, acting
selflessly for the benefit of ALL, which is One of which we are a
part. In a system where there is only One, all acts ARE selfish, even
if the individual doesn't recognise that. ;-)
> On Sep 30, 11:29 pm, Justintruth <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Thanks Adam,
>
> > I have one important question and one irrelevant comment if you have
> > the time to indulge me. You wrote:
>
> > >... I believe it (the bible) to be true because it all hangs together....
> > >You also wrote: > I found a consistent theme running through the whole
> > >book. This > convinced me that it was true.
>
> > Can you explain more about that? What theme and what does "hangs
> > together" mean and why does that convince you that what is in it is
> > true? Is it that the stories are related or the theme is always there
> > or ??? If there were two books that hung together and had consistent
> > themes but told different contradictory stories how would you know
> > which was true?
>
> > Second question is more of a comment. You wrote
>
> > > That (meaning assuming that selfishness was passed down culturally
> > > instead of genetically) would assume that all cultures teach the same
> > > thing.
>
> > I don't see why you say that. It seems that all cultures could teach
> > all kinds of very different things as long as they all teach
> > selfishness. So I think you must establish 1) That we are in fact
> > universally selfish and 2) That that trait is genetically based.
>
> > I have trouble believing 1) completely. Ok, we are all a little
> > selfish but there is a lot of generosity. One day a man even jumped on
> > someone who had fallen on a railroad subway track and held him as the
> > cars passed over them in order to save his life. That man risked
> > everything for a stranger. I am also reminded of the man from... can't
> > remember the name of the town but it is in the bible..ahh I remember !
> > the good Samaritan, I think he was from Samaria or something. He was
> > from a different place and was the only one to stop and help. So it
> > seems to me that at least sometimes we are not selfish. (Or perhaps it
> > was a wise selfish gene that he had and he was trying to preserve all
> > of humanity as most of our genes are common? Either way he did not
> > seem selfish. Nor does it seem that... was it Peter who wanted to be
> > crucified upside down? .... was that selfish?)
>
> > As an aside I do not think the selfish gene means a gene that makes
> > someone selfish. I think it means that all genes seem selfish because
> > only by creating traits that cause themselves to survive do they in
> > fact survive. In fact there are many "unselfish" genes. Many mutations
> > cause harmful effects and are therefore self sacrificial. Those
> > "unselfish" genes do not survive. So if you had a mutation that caused
> > you to be a terribly selfish person but that made you sterile then no
> > matter how selfish you were, from a genetic point of view, the gene
> > would have been completely unselfish, self sacrificial, and not
> > competitive. It would die.
>
> > But this is just an aside and it is unimportant compared to the
> > question above so fee free not to respond except to the question if
> > you don't have time.
>
> > Thanks- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
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