Sunday, October 16, 2005
You Knew This Already, Right?
Consider the following logic. Human customs and laws differ everywhere you go. Therefore they are unnatural. There must be something permanent and unchanging that defines us as human beings and creates a code of behavior for us to live by. Our choices are self-interest, love, sympathy, and reason. Using nature as your justification, you can choose one of them or any combination of them, or invent one yourself if you wish. You are permitted even to redefine them all as God. Whatever your conclusion, however, it must be universally applicable. Otherwise it is unnatural.
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Unfortunately this would easily be the case was it not for the impact of genetics, pre-conditioning, and past experiences, on our perspective on things.
Many Freudian psychologists (not to say they are correct) would take the opinion that our natural take on life is much like an animal and naturally un-restrained: we're only restrained by society, not by our own conscience, and that the community of society created religions as a defence mechanism again the animal like individuals.
As for God (although I am sure this was not really part of the analysis), if our own religious views were firstly dictated by our natural logic then our religious outlook on life would not differ so greatly. Quite the opposite, it would redefine to a much closer, single outlook, no matter about our individual religious precepts.
OK, crap on the having to figure out the answers to my own questions. My guess on your age would somewhere above late thirties yet below late fifties. Most people this intelligent and philosophical wind up whoring themselves for some giant corporation in some faceless gray job. I'm probably wrong, anyway. If you desire anonymity then I respect that, but I have to say anonymity in such dialogues irks the crap out of me.
At any rate, polytheism is very appealing to me as well, yet I haven't invested too much thought in it, I don't wish to be preoccupied with any sort of religious distraction. It seems more logical when I think of the paradox of life and death, the seemingly kind order of nature, the sun's warmth, a cooling breeze, then the chaos of a giant tsunami, a hurricane, and earthquake that swallows millions. Joseph Campbell wrote The Power of Myth, which I read years ago, yet I found it very interesting when it comes to compounding the evolution of relgions and how often they reflect a society's moral values and laws. An argument I've often heard is that "So many people have believed there is a God, they can't be wrong" oh bah, it's the enlargement of the front lobe of our brains that stimulates a mild schizophrenia, the sense of a presence, etc.
As for absolutes in human existence I would have to agree with Gopher, even demographics and geographical locations change the values of societies. It's like trying to impose democracy in a country that's full of angry dogmatic suicide bombers...
PS When you are making a new post on your blog there are buttons just above the text box and one of them looks like a little chain link. If you want to link to another page, highlight the word with your mouse and click that chain link button. There you type in the page to which you wish it to link. Hope this helps.
Is it so unnatural for human customs and laws to have evolved differently in a variety of mostly discrete environments?
I hope this doesn't appear patronising, but it's hard to gauge what anybody knows about religion.
Christian scriptures originally dictated a Polytheistic belief system of 3 Gods in rule (and I don't mean the Trinity), not the singular that was maintained by 'the church'.
Unfortunately those scriptures were ignored as part of the Old Testament. Hell if I can remember their names... but they were considered two brothers and one sister and they created the Earth in partnership. Only one put Eden on Earth, and the other put Adam and Eve in Eden to the annoyance of the creator of Eden... I'll look it up later.
In addition, Hinduism believed originally in three primary Gods (Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva), the others were considered secondary to these surpreme God-Heads, such as Krishna who was an encarnation of the supreme God-Head of Vishnu (I spent my summers living in a Hindu temple).
I doubt most Christians are happy that they are so closely related to Hinduism. My question is; why believe in any God at all without proof? I find the creation of "man" by God(s) to be less credible than the creation of God(s) by man.
As for the evolution of customs and laws. If you give a group of people a complex task to think about, and then give the same task to another group of people, you will mostly find a completely different approach. However, there must be inherently some relationship between all of the final concepts as human nature is fundamentally the same.
In addition laws and customs would be dictated by experience and two seperate groups would experience different issues occasionally, in addition to the fact that their independent religions would dictate the majority of the base of their code of law.
I am not convinced that we (humans) exist at a higher level than all other species.
Ever wonder at the unrehearsed choreography of a flock of birds while sitting in traffic listening to rush limbaugh? Or the tenacity of the ant dragging a leaf to his colony?
I have yet to decide on the topic of whether humans are considered higher sentient beings than other life. I make an effort to respect all living creatures (just in case).
I'm published - nothing major, but always wanted to be able to live from the profits.
Writing is such a pure form of expression if done correctly. Unfortunately I'm suffering my longest writers block (which is actually lazyness and a lack of confidence, rather than an inability), but I recommend it completely.
I want to write something mind blowing, but my current target is to get something, I'm proud of, completed before I die!
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