Tony\'s God (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Saturday, November 26, 2011, 18:57 (4750 days ago) @ dhw

DHW

".. the mere act of challenging people’s deeply held convictions can seem offensive in itself, which is why I’m immensely grateful to people like yourself, who are prepared to discuss their views in a spirit of give and take."

People are naturally resistant to change, especially to long held belief. Strangely, it almost seems as though the brain interprets someone challenging your views in the same way that it does a physical attack, and just like you can train yourself to respond appropriately to a physical attack, you can train yourself to respond appropriately to having your beliefs challenged. When you challenge my beliefs, it does frustrate and irritate me. I expect it to, and in most cases I am able to respond appropriately to the challenge. When other stresses are involved though, it erodes that ability.

DHW

As I see it, the technological forces we’ve developed will eventually cause destruction on a global scale, because sooner or later there will be enough idiots in power either to unleash them (weapons) or allow them to tip the ecological balance (pollutants). None of us can stop the process anyway, because there are simply too many autonomous power structures (which means autonomous idiot authorities) that are or will be capable of mass destruction. As individuals we can only enjoy what we can while we can – though I doubt if the human race will wipe itself out completely. By then, we might even have found the means to colonize somewhere else in space, so we can start the process all over again.

I don’t think faith in a god of love will make any difference. History will run its course unless he intervenes – again on a global scale. I don't suppose you imagine he’s going to appear from on high and make all the idiots into geniuses to save the planet! Even when, according to Christians, he did try a non-violent intervention by sending a peace-and-love-preaching Messiah, the outcome was the usual human mixture of peace and war, love and self-seeking, and it didn’t make a blind bit of difference to the onward march towards the abyss. A global intervention would probably have to be a comet that would finish us all off. So...and this is where our discussion may take a different course... perhaps what you have in view is a paradisal afterlife. Any thoughts you’d like to share on that?

This is a hard question to answer, primarily because any answer I give is a) pure speculation, and b) subject to being interpreted as subscribing to a particular belief system despite the disclaimer that it is merely speculation. I don't have time to go into it here at the moment, but when I get back later on tonight I will sit down and try to write up a few possible scenarios that I have played through as intellectual exercises. Suffice to say for now that I am 100% in agreement with you as to the ultimate out come of mankind in the foreseeable future barring any outside intervention.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.