09-17-2020, 03:21 PM
** 17-Sep-2020 World View: Orthodox Amusement
I'm glad that we're amusing you. I'll try to throw in some
additional jokes here and there, to add to the entertainment.
But hey, I guess you're right. There'll never be another war, and the
stock market will go up forever. I guess I'd better shut down the
site.
I was raised as Greek Orthodox, but have only general knowledge of
Orthodox theology beyond general Christian theology.
You can say that dogs and cats are profoundly different, but
they share a lot of characteristics in common -- they're both
animals, they both provide companionship and comfort to humans. Those
are good things. However, they're both dumber than a bag of hammers,
compared to (most) humans.
So dogs and cats are profoundly different, but they have a lot in
common, both good and bad. The same is true of religions.
All religions have characteristics in common -- they provide a
framework for day to day living, they provide comfort and guidance in
difficult times, and so forth. But they all have a "jealous god,"
they all refer to people of other religions as some variation of
"infidels," and they all, at times in their history, committed
genocide and ethnic/religious cleansing on populations of other
faiths. (This is clearly documented in the Old Testament, for
example.)
Furthermore, there are a few major religions in the world, and dozens
of minor religions, and they largely contradict each other in
important ways. This is a simple observation, and it has the
following logical consequence: There is at most one true religion.
So when you say, "you seem to think that people denying the truth of
the world are the same with those who love life/goodness/truth/virtue,
the eternal things, which are of course both God and are of God," I
really have no idea what you're talking about. What is truth? Was
Jesus a man or a god or both? There are billions of people whose
"truth" contradicts Christians. Are Jews really going to hell? There
are billions of people who say they will. And what is virtue? Is
it virtuous to have two wives, or is it more virtuous to leave a
single woman unattached in society at war where she might well
be raped with impunity?
There's one more thing that all religions have in common: A believer
can always find a way within the religion to justify any action.
The examples that I gave -- the Nazis kill the Jews or Maduro destroys
Venezuela or Lori Lightfoot destroys Chicago or Ted Wheeler destroys
Portland -- can all be justified by religion. That's a kind of mental
illness. And that's what I meant.
Cool Breeze" Wrote:> I find dire predictions and sites like this amusing, because I
> believe structurally that there are great problems too, but like
> the economy, it seems everyone predicts calamites for years or
> decades and then spends even more years explaining why "It hasn't
> happened yet."
I'm glad that we're amusing you. I'll try to throw in some
additional jokes here and there, to add to the entertainment.
But hey, I guess you're right. There'll never be another war, and the
stock market will go up forever. I guess I'd better shut down the
site.
Cool Breeze" Wrote:> John, we spoke (wrote) past each other here, but please clarify,
> do you have knowledge of the Orthodox faith? I'm uncertain due to
> the way that you responded; just an honest question. I ask because
> you seem to think that people denying the truth of the world are
> the same with those who love life/goodness/truth/virtue, the
> eternal things, which are of course both God and are of God. Every
> religion and ideology is the same? That's an odd thing for a
> learned man to say, first because they are so objectively
> different even when one doesn't consider (the most important part)
> their metaphysical qualities.
> You seem to unfortunately conclude that all evil or deceived
> "ideologies" or "belief systems" are the same. Well, yes, of
> course they share many sad characteristics. That doesn't mean
> anything other than that in itself --- what's more, you presuppose
> that mental illness is bad (of course) and that the alternative is
> good, which gets at the heart of my real point.
I was raised as Greek Orthodox, but have only general knowledge of
Orthodox theology beyond general Christian theology.
You can say that dogs and cats are profoundly different, but
they share a lot of characteristics in common -- they're both
animals, they both provide companionship and comfort to humans. Those
are good things. However, they're both dumber than a bag of hammers,
compared to (most) humans.
So dogs and cats are profoundly different, but they have a lot in
common, both good and bad. The same is true of religions.
All religions have characteristics in common -- they provide a
framework for day to day living, they provide comfort and guidance in
difficult times, and so forth. But they all have a "jealous god,"
they all refer to people of other religions as some variation of
"infidels," and they all, at times in their history, committed
genocide and ethnic/religious cleansing on populations of other
faiths. (This is clearly documented in the Old Testament, for
example.)
Furthermore, there are a few major religions in the world, and dozens
of minor religions, and they largely contradict each other in
important ways. This is a simple observation, and it has the
following logical consequence: There is at most one true religion.
So when you say, "you seem to think that people denying the truth of
the world are the same with those who love life/goodness/truth/virtue,
the eternal things, which are of course both God and are of God," I
really have no idea what you're talking about. What is truth? Was
Jesus a man or a god or both? There are billions of people whose
"truth" contradicts Christians. Are Jews really going to hell? There
are billions of people who say they will. And what is virtue? Is
it virtuous to have two wives, or is it more virtuous to leave a
single woman unattached in society at war where she might well
be raped with impunity?
There's one more thing that all religions have in common: A believer
can always find a way within the religion to justify any action.
The examples that I gave -- the Nazis kill the Jews or Maduro destroys
Venezuela or Lori Lightfoot destroys Chicago or Ted Wheeler destroys
Portland -- can all be justified by religion. That's a kind of mental
illness. And that's what I meant.
