A chat discussion with "A"
00/08/22 20:36 Comment
wowzers! Sure looks like you've had a full life already!
whats fu...oo now I forgot how to spell it! lol Was looking
at your info and saw that...before you typed zen...
was wondering what that was.
Very nice web page by the way!
:) and have a good day!
"A"
22:43 00/08/22 Reply
Hi,
Thanks.
Sovereignty - The right to control one's own destiny AND respect the
right of others to do the same.
http://www.xenodochy.org
Sufi - mystics claiming to know the central spiritual core of all religions - in the world but not of the world.
Wisdom - If we could define this we all be ---?
Zen - mysticism deriving from Taoism, but with a Japanese flavor - very enigmatic.
Enough?
Regards,
Ralph.
00/08/25 20:07 Comment
wow--way cool. I appreciate your taking the time to email me back and
explain that. I was just serfin the web one night and looked at your
page--so thought Id email you back. Im real glad I did.
Feel free to send anymore info.
Have a good weekend--
:)
"A"
00/08/25 20:20 Comment
well went to another one of your pages----lol went right over my head and kept going!!! hahahhahah
Its great to find places on the net where people work for the betterment ( is that a word? hahahha) of otheres.
:)
"peace"
"A"
00/08/25 20:23 Comment
hahahah you must be sick of me by now! But I couldnt help myself! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the hugs page!! Thats so cute!
HUGS TO YA!!!
:)
"A"
pssstt..reading on.
00/08/25 22:30 Comment
I had enjoyed your pages until I came to the atheist part. How sad it
is, that one so intelligent, so gifted,claiming to know so much about
the inner spiritual self, could think that there is no God. It seems to
me, the smarter man gets the more out of touch with reality and himself
he becomes, to where he thinks he holds all the answers....
I respect your right to feel as you do, I just feel deeply saddened about it.
Again, I thank you for the good I got out of it....and there was alot. I
wish you all the best life has to offer, and hope & pray one day,
you will come to see that theres no way this world can exist without a
God.
"peace"
"hugs"
"A"
00/08/26 00:08 Reply
"A",
You really can't "know" what my beliefs are just because I have quotes
from Maddlyn Murray O'Hair on my website. (Did you miss the Sufism
tribute?) I am sorry you are so prejudiced against those who you believe
believe differently from you that you have to take the time to send
such a message of pity. Why can't you accept those who believe
differently and respect their right to do so without sending them a
message of pity? I'm sorry if this offends you, but you went out
of your way to tell somebody that you believe your beliefs are right and
that what you believe their beliefs to be are wrong, and in doing so,
you committed an act of disrespect that contradicted your claim to the
contrary. I spent 20 year defending your right in this country to
believe differently than others. One of the things that makes
America great is minority rights and tolerance for different
beliefs. Contrast that with the Middle East where each religion is
trying to wipe out the other, or Bosnia where each ethnic group is
trying to wipe out the other, the ethnic based civil wars in Africa,
etc., etc. If you are not from America, then I might understand
your perspective of intolerance.
Ralph
00/08/26 13:55 Comment
Ralph,
Im sorry if what I said offended you. I am not making a judgement on
you--or not in a condemning way-, more of an observation,I respect
everyones right to choose as they wish--however that doesnt mean I have
to agree with it. I in no way, would fight you over your belief, I just
felt saddened that someone couldnt see how there has to be a God in our
world. I understand what you are saying about the Middle East, but we
are much more fortunate than they in that we have the right to religious
freedom. I commend you on your service for this country...but again, it
was your webpage and it was listed there, so my feeling was that you
must agree with such to have it posted there.
Tell me Im wrong? hahahhah
Anyhow....Im sorry if what I said offended you, but again, I find it sad
that a man with your background, and intelligence would choose to
believe there is no God.
No judgement.
"peace"
"A"
00/08/26 20:48 Reply
"A",
There are many levels and perspectives from which to view the question
of "god". Philosophers and clerics have written many learned
dissertations. There are many arguments for and against the
existence of one kind of "god" or another. When most people use
the term they really have no idea what they are talking about, because
they have only mouthed the words of others, and they have not taken any
time to think about how to describe what they speak of. And those
who claim that "god" is unknowable are just as illogical as those
who mouth the words or quote others without thinking about what they
mean. Anyone who has seriously, and I mean really seriously,
thought about the question, generally does not mistakenly associate
belief (or non-belief) with intelligence or experience.
There are as many intelligent as non-intelligent, compassionate as
non-compassionate believers as there are non-believers. The one
thing that believers have more than non-believers is intolerance for
different belief systems. Every major religion and most minor ones
believe that they "know" the "truth" and that everybody else is
wrong. The American Athiests are just as "bad" as all the major
religions in this regard. But they are a persecuted minority with
as much right to their view as everyone else. Are you aware that
they were actually "stoned" out of Maryland by the "righteous"
Christians?
There are as many understandings of what "god" means as there are
people. All of these I accept, provided the people take no action
to alter my life as a result of their beliefs. "Beliefs" that
command a person to take action to alter my life may require that I
respond in some fashion. Actions are relevant. Beliefs are
relevant only in so far as they command action. It is actions that
I must deal with.
If you wish to understand something of my perspective, you'll need to
read "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral
Mind", by Julian Janes. But it is really not necessary.
There wouldn't be enough time to smell the flowers, to walk in the
woods, to hug a friend, etc. Sadness on your part about someone
else's believing differently than you is really a waste of your time and
emotions. It's actions that really count. Give hugs
where needed. Never pity someone - either accept their life
situation, or give action to help (and sometimes the best action to help
is letting them do for themselves).
Desiderata, Consilium, A definition of Friendship, etc., Take what you
can use, waste not what you cannot, and deride not what you do not
understand.
Live long and prosper,
Ralph.
00/08/27 04:56 Comment
hmmmm....somehow a nice "stroll" of the internet has lead us to this. It still saddens me, perhaps its my own sadness ......
I have been down the road of how "religions" have judged...I do not want
to condemn someone for their belief ....however it doesnt hurt to "shed
a litttle light"...like you have just done to me.Its good to be
"challengened" now and again.
I have given a great deal of thought to the concept of whether there is a
God or not. I KNOW there is a God, and I feel its a God for ALL of
us,.....
But tell me, in all your infinite wisdom, how we find ourselves living
in a society today as we are. Its pretty messed up no matter how you
look at it. I see most of that coming from the fact that people dont
believe in a higher power, not from believing in one. Most religions
attempt to live a better life...do good, etc. whereas most that dont
believe are out there to take the rights from those that believe...like
those you posted on your page. That woman has done a lot of damage
from her belief, and taken away a lot of others rights. Maybe you
should think more on what shes done before posting it on your website.
Posting something on your sight is saying I agree with what this says,
unless you say otherwise. Which you havent.
Her organization fights to take healthy shows off the air, and just many
other things as well. Whats so wrong with someone saying "god" or
"Lord"? If some good is coming from it--it shouldnt matter. Those words
arent harming her in any way. The same way with all this satanic crap
around us. You dont see me screaming at every song lyric....but most of
that stuff works against us--our kids, our society as a
whole.....tell me where theres a good satanic person....?
Looking back on what I said to you, I shouldnt have responded I guess.
But your a big boy and can handle it Im sure. I responded to how I felt
while reading your site. As you know, there were many good things I said
about it as well. But it seems its always the negative that gets more
attention. I didnt mean to make a judgement about your belief. That was
wrong of me. I guess I get frustrated with the way some people just seem
to give so much thought and energy into THINKING EVERYTHING
through...they have to examine and reexamine,,,and on and on. Its
sickening. What ever happened to just DOING something? Or letting a
thought BE!
Im not really referring to your site..although I wonder about some of
the thoughts posted there. Perhaps its just my lack of education or
knowledge of it to be able to understand it......
as long as someone is getting good from it...
You seem like a wonderful person and I dont want things left like this.
Again, I apologize for what I said--or the manner I said it. I responded
to how it made me feel, good, bad, or ugly, its how I felt.
*sigh* words escape me as its 5:44 and I cant sleep for crap tonight...or think hahah as you can well see.
OH WELL....
thanks for responding...
"A"
p.s. I guess this means Im no longer a member of your "hug club" hahahhaha
By the way you said that you dont really care what someone believes as
long as they dont try to alter your life......tell me Maddeline hasnt
done that to many lives? Shes shoved her belief down everyones
throats...shes fought to change TV shows because they say the word
"LORD"....tell me what harm that word does to people or the harm that
can come from such a show??? But she doesnt seem to mind all the satanic
shows on air...or the other crap our children see......
It all comes down to what helps and doesnt help society as a whole.
In some way, what we believe DOES effect others, whether we like it or not. It reflects in our actions etc.....
Dont forget---no matter how "out there" you might like to think you
are---or would like to be--your still human--you still make judgements,
etc...cause its just human nature.
...remind me never to serf the net anymore! lol
00/08/27 07:41 Reply
Never stop seeking new experiences. The alternative is stagnation and death.
You like "lord"' or "god". Others like "Allah". The
Christian Scientists think of god as a "divine principle", but don't
care about the word used. The founding fathers of this
country - number of them were agnostic- said freedom of Religion
and meant freedom from a state imposed religion. The Pilgrims came
here because they were denied their religious choice in England due to
an oppressive State imposed religion.
Maddlyn Murray succeeded in stopping the majority of Christians from
FORCING their belief behavior on non-Christians (Believers in Islam,
Buddism, etc., as well as non-believers.) The majority in this
country does not have the right to force their views and practices on
the minority. The Constitution of the United States
guarantees the rights of minorities, but sometimes the majority tramples
those rights. The Christians managed to dominate our society and
force the saying of a Catholic prayer in school every morning - The
protestants didn't care because the prayer was among the ones they use,
even though congregationalists prefer the 23 Psalm. Jews
left things alone because they were already subject to anti-Semitism and
didn't want to exacerbate their situation. Many of the rest
tried, but could not "fight city hall". Maddlyne Murray succeeded
where all who had gone before failed.
Here you and I are free to pursue and practice our own individual
approaches to spirituality without interference from the state and
without state sponsored institutions (like schools) forcing us to behave
in ways we deem inappropriate. Enforcing this founding
principle has been a continued fight against those who would take our
rights away and force the behavior practices of some on all the
rest. Maddlyn Murray O'Hair is a hero in this fight - in spite of
the fact that I do not advocate her "militant atheism".
The majority of "lay" persons conceive of "god" as an anthropomorphic
being that is all-powerful, all-knowing, and takes a personal interest
in the activities and thoughts of every person (and animal). Such a
definition turns out to be impossible. It is logically
inconsistent. "God" cannot be both. Those who claim that
"god" is mysterious and cannot be understood by the mind of man, go on
to claim things about "god" that they have no basis for - having already
said they cannot know. These people do not know what they are
talking about - by their own admission. So, before you say you
KNOW that "god" exists, understand what you mean by "god". I have a
faith that the universe has a structure or order that can, within
certain limits, be found out by carefully constructed experiments.
(See the philosophy of Karl Popper.)
My attitude about behavior was formed early and is essentially the
golden rule. (See Kohlberg's levels of moral and ethical
development - level 6.)
If we meet, you can certainly have a hug! (Provided you want one.)
Regards,
Ralph.