PeakOil is You
THE Atheist Thread (merged)
Re: Are most peak oil'rs here atheists?
by threadbear » Sun 14 Oct 2007, 15:21:14
Pillowhead, Gnostics had/have interesting things to say about the iron prison of human existence. I recommend Philip K Dick to get a feel for how deep and self reinforcing the delusion of "freedom" can be. There is a reason so many people are depressed... they're waking up to the reality.
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Re: Are most peak oil'rs here atheists?
by Pops » Sun 14 Oct 2007, 18:26:57
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pillowhead', 'T')echno-science, or instrumental rationality, concern with the hows rather than the whys, is the end result, the culmination of Western Metaphysics.
Wow phd I really have no idea what you are talking about.
Mostly the things I think about are; why some plants get along with other plants in my garden, why a cow likes this grass or that, or why some calves live and some die, that sort of thing.
As to being, it seems a fairly moot point because as far as I can tell I am.
If you have the wherewithal and time to contemplate metaphysics or the space needed for each individual on an angel dance floor then more power to you, those things my animals really don’t give a hoot about.
As I pointed out earlier, each of our tribal beliefs in the improvable (notwithstanding citations) tend to separate us rather than bring us together, and though I really can’t comment on your point as it is far beyond the seemingly more practical realm of my thoughts, you appear to have made mine.
Of course as I said I don't really think about thees things much.
The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities.
-- Abraham Lincoln, Fragment on Government (July 1, 1854)
-- Abraham Lincoln, Fragment on Government (July 1, 1854)
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Re: Are most peak oil'rs here atheists?
by jboogy » Mon 15 Oct 2007, 01:33:29
I would appreciate it if some of you christians could answer a question for me , if there is a God what is he waiting for before he puts in another appearance ?
Perhaps the population would be less swayed to socialism if we had fewer examples of socialism from our "Free Market Capitalists". -----fiddler dave
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Re: Are most peak oil'rs here atheists?
by roccman » Mon 15 Oct 2007, 01:37:50
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jboogy', 'I') would appreciate it if some of you christians could answer a question for me , if there is a God what is he waiting for before he puts in another appearance ?
$300.00 oil
"There must be a bogeyman; there always is, and it cannot be something as esoteric as "resource depletion." You can't go to war with that." Emersonbiggins
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Re: Are most peak oil'rs here atheists?
by Fredrik » Mon 15 Oct 2007, 16:50:09
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('roccman', 'T')he following writers/scribes/historians lived during the time Jesus was suppose to have walked the earth in the region he was to have preached within --snip-- Jesus never was human...never walked the earth...never existed. Get over it.
Actually, there is a scholarly consensus thatthe shorter mention of Jesus by Josephus is authentic. The vast majority of the authors on your list didn't live in Palestine. A failed Galilean cult leader would have been for them about as relevant as some sectarian Mormon preacher in Utah, with a few hundred followers, for a political commentator of the New York Times.
I find some atheists' certainty about the non-existence of Jesus fascinating, given that most skeptic scholars admit his existence as possible if not probable. Even G.A. Wells, a pioneer of the modern Jesus myth hypothesis, has later acknowledged that the Gospels (and the Q source) could have been at least partially inspired by a real person.
"Only scarcity and effort make life worth living."
"A fundamental, devastating error is to set up a political system based on [individual] desires." -Pentti Linkola
"A fundamental, devastating error is to set up a political system based on [individual] desires." -Pentti Linkola
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Re: Are most peak oil'rs here atheists?
by bodigami » Mon 15 Oct 2007, 18:59:18
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('zensui', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'I') couldn't be an atheist if I tried. As difficult as it is for some people to develop a spiritual sense, I am wired to ponder "otherness" from an intellectual standpoint, but more importantly to feel it, to the point of almost touching it, or being touched by it.
I'm immersed in another presence at all times. It seems to appreciate honest emotion, if this makes any sense. It also seems to be nourished by grief and compassion, the kind of sweet sorrow that lies just a little shy of a sentimental O'Henry short story, and down a little dark alley that begins to slope upward slowly, and broaden into a field blazing with light.
It seems to be me and not me, at the same time. Whatever it is, it helps me whenever I request help.
I've been tempted to call on it to curse people who have driven me crazy with hurt, which usually segues into intense anger, but was able to contain myself. That was tough.
I know I'm not alone here. Many people feel the way I do and unfortunately many rush to take this body of experience and sensation and define it through a religious belief. I don't know what it is and I don't know what exactly is going on, but it seems to be a good thing.
My father's mother's family were ancestral Lapp shamans, though my father, himself is/was atheist. Maybe that's where it comes from.
Wayyyyyy too much information here. Oh well, perhaps some of you will relate to my experiences here and write more in depth about your own.
I'm immersed in another presence at all times. It seems to appreciate honest emotion, if this makes any sense. It also seems to be nourished by grief and compassion, the kind of sweet sorrow that lies just a little shy of a sentimental O'Henry short story, and down a little dark alley that begins to slope upward slowly, and broaden into a field blazing with light.
It seems to be me and not me, at the same time. Whatever it is, it helps me whenever I request help.
I've been tempted to call on it to curse people who have driven me crazy with hurt, which usually segues into intense anger, but was able to contain myself. That was tough.
I know I'm not alone here. Many people feel the way I do and unfortunately many rush to take this body of experience and sensation and define it through a religious belief. I don't know what it is and I don't know what exactly is going on, but it seems to be a good thing.
My father's mother's family were ancestral Lapp shamans, though my father, himself is/was atheist. Maybe that's where it comes from.
Wayyyyyy too much information here. Oh well, perhaps some of you will relate to my experiences here and write more in depth about your own.
Through meditation I've developed an almost steady serene state... with sudden burst of pure happyness and absortion (but those were experienced on a short period of time... I haven't being able to be absorted in that way lately).
I suggest you search for within, cuss there lay all the important answers that you may have... cuss that pure feelings can be experienced on its essence, and you may be happy knowing thyself...
hehe, is that kind of the reply you were expecting?
People spend far too much time searching within. It can be a trap, a one way cul de sac of self reinforcing delusion. It can also be the road to atomization, alienation and self rejection from the tribe. Rudolph Steiner had some interesting things to say about why further detachment, through a life devoted to meditation, can be harmful for Westerners.
We come from a culture that is devoted to self. Oriental philsophies and super focus on meditation, which try to restore a necessary sense of self and serenity, aren't always appropriate for Westerners. We should be spending more time enhancing our ties to those around us, building real communities, becoming politically, intellectually, and emotionally articulate.
I WAS a big meditator several decades ago, and quit, never to return, because the world became just perfect for me. I was an untouchable behind bullet proof glass. Utterly detached and completely nonjudgmental. Not bad as a relaxation exercise, but it took over and creeped me out. I wasn't becoming more peaceful and loving, I was becoming autistic. I had WORK to do and meditating wasn't helping.
I'm speaking from my own experience here. I don't think life should actually be a quest for happiness and feelings of peace. It should be an education and a quest for compassion. Some of the most detached people I know, think they're loving when they really just couldn't give a sh**.
Meditation is but one of 8 (10 if the practitioner is a buddha... it's part of the eightfold path, but there are other types of meditation) efforts that has to be practiced at parallel. It's a great practice to make more serene the mind. It reduces anger, and makes more comfortable the relationships with others.
There's loving kindness meditation for example. If a meditator isn't increasing its compassion to others, then it may just quit.
I concur, peace is not everything, it must be complemented with compassion. But compassion in itself isn't everything either. And why quit meditation when that makes the practitioner happier? How can a mind that is not serene be compassionate to others?
