tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post3905171635419021364..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: When Religions DieStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-69693863571012351392012-03-04T05:40:47.778-08:002012-03-04T05:40:47.778-08:00I do believe however believe in Global Warming, al...I do believe however believe in Global Warming, although I am not joining any environmentalist cause because of several reasons.<br /><br />First of all, even if these groups have a valid point, they seems to be like Pharisee, easy to condemn a government, political party, a business institution etc, when they themselves also indulge in the comforts of the goods that they claim to leave ecological footprint. like posting "save the earth" article on facebook, using a notebook that was produced in heavily polluted China, such an irony....<br /><br />I myself would prefer a proactive stance in fighting global warming without finger pointing. If I see that oil based fuel is creating more pollutants, then I will choose to become solar panel engineer to create a more eco friendly source of energy. That way I solve the problem without casting a single stone on the so called "sinner"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-65730241905583889582011-12-01T14:27:31.036-08:002011-12-01T14:27:31.036-08:00We are playing follow the leader, Mr. Schneiderman...We are playing follow the leader, Mr. Schneiderman. My comments are left, as I presume others as well, in response to your identification and presentation of "issues of merit", which are not normally discussed in so-called "polite company".<br /><br />I have my perceptions and, hopefully, insights, and so do others. I appreciate that you and others are willing to share your knowledge and opinions. Of course, it helps that we are like-minded; but, I don't think that necessarily prevents us from reviewing the issues comprehensively.<br /><br />We are not of the same mind, and there is assuredly a perturber waiting to make their presence known (i.e. "the second gunman on the grassy knoll") given the proper context. Well, maybe later, but not now.<br /><br />For now, thank you.n.nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252447117532342957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-1825414115897119932011-12-01T07:36:14.051-08:002011-12-01T07:36:14.051-08:00Chesterton on nature-worship:
"All the same,...Chesterton on nature-worship:<br /><br />"All the same, it will be as well if Jones does not worship the sun and moon. If he does, there is a tendency for him to imitate them; to say, that because the sun burns insects alive, he may burn insects alive. He thinks that because the sun gives people sun-stroke, he may give his neighbour measles. He thinks that because the moon is said to drive men mad, he may drive his wife mad. This ugly side of mere external optimism had also shown itself in the ancient world. About the time when the Stoic idealism had begun to show the weaknesses of pessimism, the old nature worship of the ancients had begun to show the enormous weaknesses of optimism. Nature worship is natural enough while the society is young, or, in other words, Pantheism is all right as long as it is the worship of Pan. But Nature has another side which experience and sin are not slow in finding out, and it is no flippancy to say of the god Pan that he soon showed the cloven hoof. The only objection to Natural Religion is that somehow it always becomes unnatural. A man loves Nature in the morning for her innocence and amiability, and at nightfall, if he is loving her still, it is for her darkness and her cruelty. He washes at dawn in clear water as did the Wise Man of the Stoics, yet, somehow at the dark end of the day, he is bathing in hot bull's blood, as did Julian the Apostate. The mere pursuit of health always leads to something unhealthy. Physical nature must not be made the direct object of obedience; it must be enjoyed, not worshipped. Stars and mountains must not be taken seriously. If they are, we end where the pagan nature worship ended. Because the earth is kind, we can imitate all her cruelties. Because sexuality is sane, we can all go mad about sexuality. Mere optimism had reached its insane and appropriate termination. The theory that everything was good had become an orgy of everything that was bad."David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-48865944495969610802011-12-01T06:32:42.397-08:002011-12-01T06:32:42.397-08:00Thank you, Dennis, for articulating something I ha...Thank you, Dennis, for articulating something I had been thinking. I very much appreciate the high quality of the comments on this site. You and n.n. and David make some excellent points in your comments and advance our understanding. The comments are also very well written. Thanks to all of you.Stuart Schneidermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-961287408246688482011-12-01T06:14:23.474-08:002011-12-01T06:14:23.474-08:00One of the reasons I enjoy this site, besides the ...One of the reasons I enjoy this site, besides the quality of Stuart's commentary, is that both David and n.n responses are well written and thought out. One additional comment.<br />The problem for most of these progressive religions, such as AGW, is that the underlying aim is to remove a vast majority of humanity from existence. As in all secular cults only the anointed ones have the right to life and or ascendance into utopia. All others are a disease.Dennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14962996070458991675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-46081481350921205792011-11-30T19:20:10.749-08:002011-11-30T19:20:10.749-08:00"a return to a prelapsarian state, a state of..."a return to a prelapsarian state, a state of community life that preceded the advent of factories, steel mills, steam engines, and cotton gins"<br /><br />The most fervent advocates of this religion are generally not the people who would do particularly well in the prelapsarian environment. I think a pretty good comedy could be made with the scenario of transporting one of these types via time machine to, say, the Sioux territory in 1840 and trying to persuade the members of the tribe that he would be a valuable addition to their number...David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-28432682716140933262011-11-30T17:30:57.778-08:002011-11-30T17:30:57.778-08:00So, they replaced divine gods or God with mortal g...So, they replaced divine gods or God with mortal gods. How utterly regressive and masochistic.<br /><br />The most noteworthy outcome of enlightenment is that people recognized their own dignity and rejected superior or exceptional dignity. We no longer readily defer judgment to authoritarian or expert interests. The people of the post enlightenment era have acknowledged that resistance exercised to preserve dignity is a virtue.<br /><br />It's also worth noting that everyone accepts articles of faith or axioms. There is a fundamental and insurmountable division between what we know, don't know, and are incapable of knowing. I attribute this limited potential to existing inside the system which we hope to characterize.<br /><br />The Earth's system, including atmospheric dynamics, resides largely in the second class of knowledge, and as it is influenced by extraterrestrial forces, it may remain there for the foreseeable future. The best we can hope is to characterize the system so well that we can reasonably predict and preemptively adapt to changes in our environment. For now, it is even difficult to reliably distinguish between cause and effect.<br /><br />As for the secular cult, it is presumably derived from a selective adherence to the science process, but a selective reality in general. By definition and design, science is a faith which is necessarily constrained to a limited frame of reference. The proponents of the AGW agenda have exploited that faith and a progressive deferment to authority exhibited by secular zealots. They supported it for the most common of reasons: dreams of material instant gratification through redistributive and retributive change; and in this they reaped corruption of themselves, scientific enterprise, and society.<br /><br />The secular cult, especially atheism, relies on displacing a common moral code with totalitarian policies. With this premise it becomes progressively incompatible with optimal liberty through self-moderating behavior. The principles which guide its adherents are inconsistent and often vary widely, which predisposes them to fanaticism and pursuing extreme behaviors. The destructive history of secular regimes is only matched by Islamic imperialism, and where the latter achieved in over 1000 years, the former achieved in less than 100.<br /><br />I think every religion and its underlying faiths should be judged by the principles it engenders. The Judeo-Christian faith which underlies Western civilization has demonstrated a superior -- though not perfect when its adherents submit to corruption -- ability to preserve individual dignity and elevate the human condition.n.nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252447117532342957noreply@blogger.com