I have had another response to my Saturday morning essay. SZ writes:
Hallo Timothy,
A nice letter to energy resources. I hope you will not be offended if I offer a couple of thoughts of my own.
Facts and knowledge are functions of the temporal. Truth and wisdom are functions of the spiritual. Facts change with new and more extensive knowledge. Truth never changes. More knowledge does not mean more wisdom, but you already know that.
What we suffer from is a spiritual malaise friend. The problem is not one which will be solved politically or scientifically. We already know what the problem is and how to solve it but self-interest rules. Governments, countries, religions, individuals do what they do and defend their abuses logically using facts and knowledge, mind and intellect, functions of the temporal.
What is lacking is love. What proceeds from love needs no justification and does no harm. Only that which is wrong requires justification. Love does not recognize race, religion, nationality. Love does not seek to increase anything other than love. No monetary gain, no national interest, no creedal adherence. Love requires neither laws nor rules. What proceeds from love is only good and all love is the same thing and comes from the same source. The difference is only social relationship and cultural conditioning. Name and form change but the thing remains the same. The love you have for your parents, your children, your spouse, your neighbors and friends is not separate and different. Only how it is exhibited changes. (And I am not speaking of carnality here. Sex may either be an expression of love or merely a physical act.) Love requires at least 2 things. The first being selflessness and the second service to ones fellows. Perhaps more, but at least those two things.
I'm not pushing any particular religion here friend, just displaying a different point of view for you to check out. And yes, I know I sound like some kind of idealist and perhaps I am, but I have been around the barn once or twice. I'm 57, have grandchildren, spent 8 years in the military with 33.5 months of Nam time.
Science and religion have more in common than organized religion would have us believe. I am sure you are familiar with the scientific method. Operational terms defined, allowing for experimental duplication pr repeatibility, emperical observation and induction, analytic-synthetic thinking, prediction and falsification and the scientific public consensus of truth. Well that pretty much defines religion, true religion that is. The difference is between the objective and the subjective. Fact, knowledge, objective. Truth, wisdom, subjective. Wisdom is love applied to fact and knowledge. Individual positive example and loving service change hearts and when hearts change so do minds. Temporal methods will not fix a spiritual problem, but spiritual methods will produce the desired temporal action to fix the problems we have. Temporal methods will give us temporary results and a false sense of actual progress. They are quicker than spiritual methods but shorter lived. In the long run a well-intentioned failure. Love fulfills all the requirements. Not the sit-on-ones-hands thing folks call love, but the love that demands service to ones fellows and sacrifice of ones self. Freedom, whether spiritual or political require self-discipline, -responsibility and -restraint and we have both political and religious freedom. The choice is ours to make.
Just a few thoughts friend. I hope I have not offended you or wasted your time. I have not as yet visited your web site. I just checked my mail and saw your mail and thought to give you a personal response. I will visit your site tomorrow. Today I am suffering from a particularly nasty sinus infection and Sudafed and Excedrin do not seem to be dulling the head or earaches and I have my wife's grandmothers 100th birthday party to attend today.
Thank you kindly for suffering this fool friend. It is good to see that there is more than economics, politics, self-interest (whether personal or national) and science/technology biased one way or the other on the list. Stay well and happy.
Sincerely,
SZ
5:58:46 AM 
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