Well, you've outlined nicely what the ancients have identified as two of the many pitfalls on the road to enlightenment. One is thinking you already have the answer... the other is veering from the path of your life's true purpose onto the path of infinite self-analysis.
Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/
Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme"
http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/votm.htm
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-----Original Message-----
From: owner-virus@lucifer.com [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com]On Behalf
Of David McFadzean
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 1999 1:22 PM
To: virus@lucifer.com
Subject: Re: virus: The Alleged Virtues of Faith (was: The Energizer
Bunny)
At 11:08 AM 3/16/99 -0800, Deron Stewart wrote:
>David McFadzean wrote:
>> I guess I'm still looking for a clear, unambiguous
>> statement about the alleged virtues of faith.
>
>Imagine talking to a person wearing a Mexican sombrero who says to you:
>"Show me the benefits of wearing a hat and I will. But until then I'll stay
>just the way I am."
I don't think this is a fair characterization. Most of us admit to having faith right now in the form of unexamined and possibly inconsistent beliefs. The question is whether this is something to be sought after or avoided. Is faith something that is simply unavoidable, as Reed sometimes seem to suggest? If so, should it be accepted, even cherished? That, to me, is akin to celebrating our most primal instincts over more thoughtful courses of action.
Maybe that suggests where the conflict lies: some of us suggest that we can and should be more than animals while others say that we *are* animals and it is great to be animals. My use of the word "animal" in this context is not meant to be derogatory in any sense, and I don't think it really conveys what I'm trying to say. Hopefully it provides enough clues for subscribers willing to give it a charitable reading.
-- David McFadzean david@lucifer.com Memetic Engineer http://www.lucifer.com/~david/ Church of Virus http://www.lucifer.com/virus/