Sunday, December 08, 2002

You just can't kill for Jesus/Allah/Jahweh/Rama/Elvis.. Spider Robinson writes: It seems to me that if a religion decides, with an entire planet to pick from, to select as its most sacred spot one already in use by another religion, and to kill for possession of it....then and there, that religion is disqualified. Revealed to be bogus, whatever else it professes or does, until the day it recants. It cannot be a genuine, bonafide religion if it permits (much less requires) spilling human blood for God--it must be either a fraud or a severe mental disorder. If the religion already in possession of the sacred spot spills civilian blood to keep the place...they're disqualified too. Any shaman who believes God wants children orphaned or maimed over the zipcode of His temple is by definition out of touch with God, incompetent to preach. I'm calling for minimal standards of shamanic competence. Physicians must swear to "First, do no harm," before we let them use a scalpel on a dead frog; it's time we started requiring that much of our soul-doctors. "First, kill no unbelievers..." Any faith that won't go at least that far should forfeit tax exempt status. All four of the world's major religions are presently in disgrace, and all are hipdeep in denial. How many Arab imams have publicly denounced Arafat or suicide-bombing? How many Israeli rabbis have loudly repudiated Sharon or provocative settlement? How many Hindu or Muslim leaders in India have spoken out against the madness there? How many Catholic cardinals have condemned abortionist-murderers, bishops covering for pedophile priests, or Pius XII's quiet complicity in the Holocaust? I'm sick of all four allegedly godly gangs: I don't even use their product, and I'm disgusted by the shoddy merchandise they peddle. I demand assurances that a given religion will not cause or potentiate mass homicidal psychosis or priestly pedophilia, before we let it indoctrinate helpless children and vulnerable adults. Bloodthirsty, authoritarian theology threatens Canada as much as tobacco, obesity and booze put together, endangers our planet more than global warming, nuclear winter or rogue asteroids. (12/08/02) Reverence for Life and Natural Ethic Donivan Bessinger, MD writes: The ethical model just presented demonstrates that acting ethically requires acting with awareness. Acting ethically is influenced by one's own feelings. It requires bringing into consciousness one's own motives. It requires thinking sincerely of the effects of actions on life systems. Though ethical analysis requires applying logic and reason, ethics is also a matter of attitude. In presenting the ethical model, we have used a direct linear style of thought to build a logical structure. Yet now we say that we must not only think, but "think sincerely". We must consider attitude, even feelings. What place have feelings in philosophy? From the standpoint of the natural systems worldview, and in the light of modern knowledge about the dynamics of the human psyche, we must now reply that feelings have a place in philosophy because they have a place in human functioning. Feelings influence our worldview, and the dynamic unconscious (of which feelings are symptoms) provides images for conscious processing and thus directly influences the conscious processes of reason. Thought is not limited to linear logic, but includes the creative and sublime process of searching for patterns which express meaning. Linear logic is the process by which the knowledge base is constructed. However, linking the knowledge base requires more. Sublime thought is that attitude of thought which provides the energy field in which creative insight first glows. There have been few minds as well prepared to deal creatively with the questions of life and ethics as that of Dr. Albert Schweitzer. In his description of reverence for life, Schweitzer presents the attitudinal dimension of the natural ethic. Since his life story provides an important part of his ethical argument, a brief life sketch is pertinent. (12/08/02) 7:24:57 AM

© TrustMark 2003 Timothy Wilken. Last update: 1/1/2003; 4:07:00 AM. This theme is based on the SoundWaves (blue) Manila theme.