here's an off-topic line from abec (alt.binaries.erotica.cartoons) that I started
to stir the imagination of peeps.

umm, this goes along the lines of opinions to things understood that I haven't
seen yet; however, it looks interesting... =D
(it was posted by the same person who believes that Osamah is "dangerous"...
On 8 Nov 2006 14:48:03 -0600, "Miowarra Tomokatu (aka Tomo)
+=+=+=+=+=+

On Tue, 07 Nov 2006 23:00:08 -0600, Uncle Grumpy
<unclegrumpy1@REMOVEgmail.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 06 Nov 2006 21:03:01 -0800, Slow Poke
><SlowPoke@CountryCowland.edu> wrote:
>
>>
>Here's something to consider. "Good" and "Evil" need each other to
>exist. Without "Evil", how would we know what is "Good", and vice
>versa. It's all a question of balance and balance is the root of
>existence. For every positive there must be (and is) a negative.
>
>And that's where the "Big Three" - Christianity, Judaism and Islam -
>are all fucked up. They sell their "God" short. They believe that
>their "God" is all good and created humanity in "His" image. Now, if
>that were true, then "Evil" could not exist!! But it does!! Why?
>
>First, in our human arrogance, we have created "God" or gods in OUR
>image!! Our feeble minds can't quite wrap itself around the idea that
>we humans might not be the very best there is, and that, in the
>overall scheme of the universe, we are a totally insignificant species
>on a totally insignificant mud ball in an insignificant solar system
>in an insignificant galaxy, one galaxy among billions!!
>
>Secondly, for a deity to create "Good", that deity must also be
>creating "Evil". It's all balance, + & -, up & down, left & right,
>etc..- you get the picture.
>
>And all of that gives me a headache.
>
>Me? I believe in Bob. Why? Because Bob can do everything. Just look in
>the Yellow Pages. You find Bob's Electric, Bob's Garage, Bob's Lawn
>Care. See!! Bob can do anything and everything!!! So let's hear it for
>Bob!!!!!!!
>
>As for the rest?? Kill 'em all and let Bob sort 'em out.
>
>UG
>

One of the problems we face is that we are trained from infancy to see
"Life the Universe and Everything" (TM Douglas Adams) in terms ONLY of
a dichotomy (as quoted good/evil, light/dark, black/white,
male/female, up/down (up/down.up/down,up/down - Oh God!!!!! it's
happening again!!!) instead of what it all really is, a multi-valued
system.

The best analogy I can give is of the colour spectrum which can be
viewed either as a linear spectrum of progresively increasing
wavelengths, each of which gives a discrete and absolutely valid
colour or instead as a circular colour disc where the three colour
elements (as printing inks - RGB) blend gradually one into the other
to give all the different colours, again each discrete colour being
valid in its own right. Either example is a genuine multi-valued
system.

Historically we need to go back to the common source of those three
related Middle Eastern religions, (in chronological order, Judaism,
Christianity and Islam - hereafter "the JCI complex", as I think of
them).

Zoroastrianism was the origin of the dichotomy in religious thought
when it introduced the concept of The Adversary. Their two deities
were Ohrmazd (or Ahura-Mazda) and Ahriman forever locked together in
opposition. The three younger religions took their structure from this
model and the influence of that system of beliefs has permeated all
our thinking since then and gives us such mental poison as "He who is
not with me is against me", "Us or Them", My Way or the Highway".
(Ptcha, I speet on theees limited model of theeenkeeng!! Ptui!!)

These modes of thought do not permit us to examine other options (such
as bringing in a third force to create a three-way balance) and
instead impel us directly into conflict, in just about every fucking
thing we do, dammit!!.

Let us visualise these adversarial modes of thought as a playground
see-saw (in the USA I think they're often called "teeter-totters")
where if one end is UP, then the other one must be DOWN. A balance CAN
be achieved but it ain't easy.

Now consider the circular swing (Description for those who haven't
seen one - it's an annular seat, about 10-15 feet in diameter,
supported by multiple chains fixed around the outer edge of the seat
and suspended by these chains from a central post. From the side it
looks like a cone.) Such a swing will hold maybe twenty kids and is
almost always naturally balanced, whther there's three kids or all
twenty on it.

That's my analogy for a polytheistic religion, all the gods are there
on the seat, some sit closer to others, some are opposed to each
other, but the overall effect is still largely balance, with minor
fluctuations from time to time.

A society which has this mental model at the core of its religious
beliefs is more likely to accept multi-valued logic instead of the
see-saw dichotomy that's been forced upon us, and I believe that a
multi-value logical system is far more likely to be capable of solving
problems than one that's constrained only to a two-value logic system.

So, I say, ditch your old worn-out theologies and invent your own gods
- the more the merrier. Of course, the goddesses are essential too,
can't party without them, and the weekends at the top of Olympus are
reported to be REAL FUN, especially after a couple of kegs of soma and
ambrosia have been cracked!


>
>........It's not just a name, it's a way of life...........
>
>For yEnc info here's a start...
>
>http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=yEnc
>http://www.yenc.org
>http://www.yenc.org/apple.htm
>http://www.geocities.com/zenwebpage/yEncFAQ.htm
>
>They always talk who never think.
> - Matthew Prior
.
.
When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped
in the Stars and Stripes.
Huey P. Long,
Governor of Alabama