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Topic: Fresh blood for the Liberty Tree (Read 1332 times) |
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Enoch
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In it to win it.... My Ninjas!!
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Fresh blood for the Liberty Tree
« on: 2004-11-15 00:19:09 » |
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I'm new to this site. I ran a websearch on memes recently and pulled up a site that had a link to this one. I enjoyed very much reading the Lexicon and found it most enlightening.
If I understand correctly most of the posters on this site are agnostic or atheist. I may be mistaken in this assumption but I for one am not either of these. I do believe in God and a higher authority though I also believe that Dogmatism will be the death of humanity if it continues and get along a hell of alot better with most atheists and agnostics then I do with any hardcore catholic or even new age churchgoers.
I also have an interesting belief on free-will and the question of it. If God controls our every action does it make my life any less enjoyable? (Or for those of us who do not believe in God) If I am simply a reflection of every meme I have picked up in my lifetime being evolved and passed along through time does this mean that life is meaningless? The answer in my mind to both questions is to leave it to philosophers. It really has no affect on my day to day existance and the very idea that we 'should' care is a meme I feel we have passed along for far to long. Quite possibly one of the oldest ideas we developed as we moved out of the trees and into caves.
Anyway just figured I would share a bit about myself and my beliefs and say hi. Some fresh blood for the liberty tree 
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David Lucifer
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Enlighten me.
 
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Re:Fresh blood for the Liberty Tree
« Reply #1 on: 2004-11-15 09:54:38 » |
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Welcome!
Quote from: Enoch on 2004-11-15 00:19:09
If I understand correctly most of the posters on this site are agnostic or atheist.
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Your assumption is correct according to two related Meridion votes:
Does God exist?
Does a deity exist?
I encourage you to vote so you can register as the first Virian theist 
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I may be mistaken in this assumption but I for one am not either of these. I do believe in God and a higher authority though I also believe that Dogmatism will be the death of humanity if it continues and get along a hell of alot better with most atheists and agnostics then I do with any hardcore catholic or even new age churchgoers.
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Do you consider your belief in a deity to be rational? If so, do you think you can convince other rational people to believe as you do?
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I also have an interesting belief on free-will and the question of it. If God controls our every action does it make my life any less enjoyable? (Or for those of us who do not believe in God) If I am simply a reflection of every meme I have picked up in my lifetime being evolved and passed along through time does this mean that life is meaningless? The answer in my mind to both questions is to leave it to philosophers. It really has no affect on my day to day existance and the very idea that we 'should' care is a meme I feel we have passed along for far to long. Quite possibly one of the oldest ideas we developed as we moved out of the trees and into caves. |
Though many find the seeming paradox of free will an interesting philosophical quandry, many others find it interesting because of a very practical reason: the assumption underlies our legal system and more generally society's notion of accountability and responsibility. In fact in a recent poll of eminent thinkers, one singled out the undermining of free will as the world's most dangerous idea. (anyone have a link?)
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Enoch
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Re:Fresh blood for the Liberty Tree
« Reply #2 on: 2004-11-15 12:30:39 » |
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Quote:Do you consider your belief in a deity to be rational? If so, do you think you can convince other rational people to believe as you do?
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I consider my belief in God to be rational. As far as if anyone else would that is open to debate. The alternative would be that I am crazy, an explanation I have considered but dismissed. I actually did not believe in a higher power for the first 20 years of my life. The change came suddenly and literally overnight. As far as the second question I do believe I could convince other rational beings of the existence of a Supreme Being but only those who had put most of the puzzle together for themselves. Open your eyes and look around some time. Evidence is everywhere but don't fall into the trap of Dogmatic or Organized religion. My experience with God is a personal one.
Quote:| Though many find the seeming paradox of free will an interesting philosophical quandry, many others find it interesting because of a very practical reason: the assumption underlies our legal system and more generally society's notion of accountability and responsibility. In fact in a recent poll of eminent thinkers, one singled out the undermining of free will as the world's most dangerous idea. |
I have examined these practical reasons as well and find the logic faulty. When a lion gets loose from a zoo and begins to attack pedistrians we do not question it's freewill before locking it back up. We do so to protect ourselves from a predator. The same can be said of violent criminals. It matters not to me if they have a choice in it. It only matters that I have desire to survive and protect the people I care about from anyone or anything that would jeapordize our survival. Freewilled or not.
The biggest danger in not having freewill is the accountablity and excuse factor of it I agree. I imagine it will be a long time coming before we hit a stage in our mental evolution to face the question of Free-will with out fear of our ownselves going ballistic. Our current legal system is based almost entirely on the notion of accountability. Does this mean that free-will must exist in order for us to live harmoniozly? I disagree. While some may see chaos as the order of the day when it comes to the universe around them, I do not. I see order and harmony everywhere. Everything is exactly as it was intended to be. My own will and choice has little to do with this.
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David Lucifer
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Enlighten me.
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Re:Fresh blood for the Liberty Tree
« Reply #3 on: 2004-11-15 22:59:03 » |
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Quote from: Enoch on 2004-11-15 12:30:39
I consider my belief in God to be rational. As far as if anyone else would that is open to debate. The alternative would be that I am crazy, an explanation I have considered but dismissed.
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You seem to be saying that there are only two possibilities, either god exists or you are crazy. That looks like a false dichotomy to me. What if there are other possibilities?
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The biggest danger in not having freewill is the accountablity and excuse factor of it I agree. I imagine it will be a long time coming before we hit a stage in our mental evolution to face the question of Free-will with out fear of our ownselves going ballistic. Our current legal system is based almost entirely on the notion of accountability. Does this mean that free-will must exist in order for us to live harmoniozly? I disagree. While some may see chaos as the order of the day when it comes to the universe around them, I do not. I see order and harmony everywhere. Everything is exactly as it was intended to be. My own will and choice has little to do with this.
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Personally I see a tremendous number of things that could be better. There is far too much injustice and suffering in the world. I confess I have some envy for those that are satisfied with everything the way it is.
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