Roughly the same thing going on here with confessional schools. The avoidance motif is where I see the problem begins.
On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 1:20 PM, rigsy03 <[email protected]> wrote: > Catholic schools are rebounding to avoid public schools and are > attended by several faiths. The tuition is adjusted if one is a > parishoner, i.e. less tuition since you are expected to tithe, so it > probably works out to the same amount. >> >> >> >> > Hello Gabby --it's great to meet you too. I don't know what happened with >> > the name thing --I'm sure one William L. Houts is enough for anyone. >> >> > --Bill >> >> > On 10/1/2012 10:02 AM, gabbydott wrote: >> >> > Hello Bill, I noticed that your screen name on the group website is rather >> > long. It reads: William L. Houts William L. Houts Lukaeon William L. Houts. >> > I was wondering if this was your intention. >> >> > Maybe yes. Just so much, I do differentiate between heaven and >> > afterlifeand their individual usability for corruption. Both terms are >> > somehow >> > related to the future, but the access is different. Sorry, I forgot to >> > introduce myself. My name is Gabby (short for Gabriele), I am a Protestant, >> > my first language is German, and I believe in God. I like to listen to >> > other people's stories which is why I have learned to keep my own very >> > short. Nice meeting you. :) >> >> > On Friday, September 28, 2012 7:17:08 AM UTC+2, William L. Houts William >> > L. Houts Lukaeon William L. Houts wrote: >> >> >> I wonder if humans do dream of uncorrupted worlds, in general. You'd >> >> think that would be universal, and it does seem to be borne out by >> >> Western mythologies, with some exceptions. For instance, the Greeks had >> >> Olympus, but except for Heracles no one got to go there; everyone else >> >> went to Hades, which was gloomy and boring if you were lucky enough to >> >> land there in general population, and terrifying if the gods put you in >> >> Tartarus. And the Romans didn't seem to place faith in any sort of >> >> afterlife at all, which is one of the main reasons whyChristianity sold >> >> like hotcakes. Eastern religions such as Buddhism had various hells and >> >> heavens, but they were sort of besides the point: your karma is / was >> >> supposed to boil down to nothing and liberate you from the Wheel of >> >> Rebirth, which was supposed to put you in Nirvana, which was less a >> >> Heaven than it was a Nowhere. And Taoism doesn't have much to say about >> >> heavenly afterworlds; its whole point is to make this world more just >> >> and balanced and leaves heavens to the individual to figure out. >> >> >> But as to your question of whether humans long for uncorrupted worlds, I >> >> think that besides the Abrahamic religions noone takes them very >> >> seriously. And I think they've got a point: I mean, if you're taking >> >> your present existence at all seriously, then just what is an afterlife >> >> supposed to be about? Are we supposed to be eating bonbons all day and >> >> living in some version of American luxury? I'd like to believe in >> >> Heaven --which for me looks like a kind of liberal college town, with >> >> libraries and funky old cinema houses-- but all of that seems kind of >> >> empty if there's no gravitas, no seriousness. Without death, without a >> >> final marker which howls at us, Do what you must do NOW and die knowing >> >> that you've used your life well--without that, I think heaven would >> >> become kind of slouchy and boring, or worse. Unless, of course, what's >> >> waiting for us on the other side is something superrational but >> >> beautiful, like being absorbed into the godhead, if such there be. >> >> >> So in answer to your question, I think we do dream of uncorrupt worlds, >> >> but if we examine them too closely, they tend to be bustable soap >> >> bubbles. And maybe I lack imagination, but I wonder, how could it be any >> >> other way? Frankly, I'd like to be told how. I sound sensible about all >> >> of this if a little pessimistic, but in reality I'm a scared ex-Catholic >> >> who is terrified of death and wants to solve the Big Question before >> >> they're performing Last Rites on his sorry ass. >> >> >> --Bill >> >> >> On 9/27/2012 7:20 PM, rigsy03 wrote: >> >> > I wonder where you put the mythological and religious other-worldlies- >> >> > from gods to guardian angels, etc.? Or the construct of Dante's >> >> > "Divine Comedy", for instance. Do humans long for uncorrupted worlds? >> >> >> > On Sep 27, 6:23 pm, William L Houts <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> I'm with the pragmatists on the question of intelligent alien species. >> >> >> Many scientists who speculate on this sort of thing --though there >> >> >> really aren't that many of them-- say that such species wouldn't >> >> >> resemble anything so comforting as a humanoid physiology, but I think >> >> >> they're partly mistaken. Surely there would be surprises in the way >> >> >> nature cooks up life on other planets with radically different >> >> >> chemistries than our dear old Mama Earth. But I think there's reason >> >> to >> >> >> suppose that many alien species would resemble us. After all, any >> >> >> species we might imagine has to cope with gravity as it evolves. So >> >> >> they're much more likely to evolve some form of locomotion which >> >> >> involves two, four or six pedal extremities (as Fats Waller calls >> >> them) >> >> >> rather than three or five: even-numbered legs are less wobbly and >> >> more >> >> >> amenable to balanced movement which consumes fewer calories. . Also, >> >> >> sense organs like eyes and ears are likely to be located in or close >> >> to >> >> >> a head, as there is survival value in having sense organs located >> >> close >> >> >> to a brain, or whatever such species might use for brains. Finally, >> >> >> everyone in the cosmos requires energy to get going, so they're >> >> either >> >> >> going to evolve photosynthesis and take their energy directly from >> >> their >> >> >> sun or suns, or they're going to take their sunbeams indirectly by >> >> >> consuming something lower in the food chain. I'm sure there are lots >> >> of >> >> >> evolution pathways I'm leaving out, seeing as I'm a curious poetrather >> >> >> than a serious scientist type of guy, but I think these notions are, >> >> as >> >> >> Allan named other ideas of mine, sensible provisos. >> >> >> >> PS. I left out centipedes and millipedes with their scores of legs, >> >> but >> >> >> I think y'all's get what I'm saying here. >> >> >> >> --Bill >> >> >> >> On 9/27/2012 3:57 PM, archytas wrote: >> >> >> >>> I haven't seen any UFOs and tend not to be much interested in people >> >> >>> who claim to have - at least without Bill's sensible provisos. The >> >> >>> speed of thought as a brain process is slower than light-speed - but >> >> >>> then I'm basically a tropical fish realist. I'd have a bet that no >> >> >>> one in this group would really have much of a definition of light- >> >> >>> speed and the Ricel curvature tensor, Euler Langrangian and the rest >> >> >>> of Einstein's field equations. I mean no offence and don't do much >> >> of >> >> >>> this science myself. >> >> >>> If you point out to a physicist that the people from the future who >> >> >>> have invented the time machine are in extraordinarily short supply >> >> in >> >> >>> our present he may come up with some mathematical guff on the shape >> >> of >> >> >>> the universe that explains this or makes time travel only possible >> >> to >> >> >>> the future. I have seen demons - plodding back to camp after a >> >> week's >> >> >>> endurance exercise with no food for two days I was visually >> >> convinced >> >> >>> the sentries were vampires but still asked them where the Naffi was. >> >> >>> My guess is that we travel through space as primitive life-forms with >> >> >>> evolution built-in and waiting to unfold. We may thus have come >> >> from >> >> >>> a much more advanced civilisation than ours bound by the speed of >> >> >>> light, capable of the biological engineering but not space-flightmuch >> >> >>> more advanced than our own. Calculations give 28 years as the time >> >> to >> >> >>> reach the edge of the known universe - but this is the time insidethe >> >> >>> ship accelerating to near light speed fairly slowly. Space is not >> >> >>> friction free and it's doubtful we or our instruments could take the >> >> >>> radiation of light-speed flight. >> >> >>> I rather hope there are some nice, genuinely civilised aliens >> >> thinking >> >> >>> of coming here. In my speculation, intelligent life tends to worry >> >> >>> about food chains led by apes as these have been notoriously war-like. >> >> >> >>> I'm into bees and ants rather than UFOs at the moment. Bees use >> >> >>> 'pharma' to combat fungal infections. Ants take slaves - killing >> >> the >> >> >>> adults of another species and taking the larvae. These slaves then >> >> >>> raise the slaver brood. Interestingly, the ant slaves rebel and >> >> kill >> >> >>> the pupae of their masters - an act that does not favour the >> >> >>> individuals a they will die, but does seem to be altruistic in favour >> >> >>> of other colonies of the enslaved species. I mention this to >> >> suggest >> >> >>> science is not a human invention, just something in evolution we are >> >> >>> expanding. >> >> >>> UFOs remind me of religion generally - people seem to bond around >> >> >>> ludic claims about golden salamanders and what cannot be proved. I >> >> >>> guess we will find life or past life-sign on Mars. Salvation may >> >> come >> >> >>> from a mother-ship, but my own feeling is that our inability to >> >> >>> develop science as we could is a more important thought experiment. >> >> >>> In respect of this problem I recommend 'Bad Pharma' by Ben >> >> >>> Goldacre, He finds a �600 billion industry in which more money >> >> is >> >> >>> spent on marketing than on research and development, where the >> >> results >> >> >>> of clinical trials of new drugs are massaged, and in which >> >> regulators >> >> >>> fail to regulate. Papers supposedly by respected academics are >> >> >>> ghostwritten by drug companies, and patients' pressure groups are >> >> >>> covertly sponsored by pill >> >> ... >> >> read more »- Hide quoted text - >> >> - Show quoted text - > > -- > > > --
