Ham, I would agree with your friend that what is important is value. I would express it as what is of primary importance is value. I think that it is value that is fundamental to the life-experience. Right here, right now.
I love you, Ham. Marsha At 03:57 AM 9/23/2007, you wrote: >Hi Marsha -- > > > > > I think that which is prior to our experience is best left > > undefined. To me, using the word 'primary' is saying too much. > > The word 'purpose' seems very presumptuous. While unknowable, > > within my frame of reference (constellation of overlapping, > > interconnected, ever-changing static patterns of value) I find > > events and relationships very interesting and exciting. Therefore, > > I try to make the 'best' of these events and relationships. I live my > > life. And I'm happy corresponding with you is a part of that life. > >Far be it for me to try to push a metaphysical hypothesis on you when you >are obviously not ready for it. I'm glad that you find the ever-changing >patterns of events and relationships exciting, and can understand why you're >presently content to leave the "unknowable" undefined. Yet, there are many >out there who are hungry for understanding beyond factual knowledge. These >are the folks I'm trying to reach. A great many subsist on faith in >religious doctrine, others seek the wisdom of the venerable philosophers or >the spirituality of New Age mysticism, while some are convinced that >scientific objectivism will eventually resolve all their questions. > >What troubles me is that our society, with the help of Hollywood and the >media, has succumbed to emotional fads based on issues which have no logic >or wisdom behind them. One of these fads is the belief that the desire for >higher understanding is a relic of the past that "intellectual >enlightenment" has overcome. Elitists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher >Hitchens play on this ruse by trying to convince the vulnerable that >religion is the root of all evil and that it's time we put spirituality >behind us. They profit from the sale of books pitting Science against >Religion, as if this were not a battle already played out in centuries past. >Yet, they say nothing about the values that have been trashed by a culture >which has made "having fun" the first priority, with little if any concern >for fiscal, moral, or civil responsibility. > >In a small book titled "Roots of Freedom", John Danford wrote: "The hedonism >of individual pleasure-seeking, the sense that there is no limit to what is >permitted in the name of individual fulfillment or 'actualization', the >disappearance of any sense of obligations-these are early warnings of a free >society's decay." Unfortunately, he's right. I would venture to say that >most citizens today are so accustomed to enjoying the latest technological >gadgets and an affluent life style, they've come to believe that America is >invulnerable. The sad truth is that they're in a state of denial about many >"realities" confronting them, not the least of which is the threat of a >barbarian culture fully committed to the destruction of their way of life. > >A retired chemistry professor, and friend of many years, told me recently he >thought value is really only "what's important". I would turn his >definition around and say that what's really important is value. In seven >decades on this planet I have watched the values that made this nation great >fall by the wayside to be replaced by the hubris of power, the deferment of >individual responsibility, the mediocrity of multicultural egalitarianism, >and the senseless rejection of metaphysical reality. > >By the time you reach my age, Marsha, I suspect you will be expressing some >of the same observations. Hopefully by that time you will have sensed a >need to revisit the concept of "primary source" and discover what is >fundamental to your life-experience. > >Thanks for a stimulating discussion. > >Essentially yours, >Ham > >Moq_Discuss mailing list >Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >Archives: >http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
