Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Celestial Watchmaker

We cannot control our thoughts completely, so does that mean we can blame our thoughts for our acts of evil? Well in my opinion no, you can't really blame anyone/thing but yourself for you actions, ultimately. But it does raise the interesting issue that not all our acts are of our own choosing, to a certain point our actions are determined by habit, luck and if you believe in it fate or a higher power, that you might like to call god. I have been thinking alot about (the?) religious debate recently, since reading a review for the Richard Dawkins book the 'God delusion'. Which seeks purely to determine the existence of god (your god), and not judge whether the belief that there is a god is a good or a bad occurrence. I think that's (almost?) more interesting, we could debate whether their is actually a god till we're blue in the face and still not come any closer to a conclusion, but whether the actual belief itself is beneficial to individuals and the world is a bit easier to debate, sort of. In many cases belief in religion motivates people to do many good things; donate to charity, be forgiving and generous, lead a positive existence. But of course many will realise the negative things religion can cause. It can cause people to write nasty letters, tell you how to live your life and maybe worst of all the fact that religion (or differences between religions) causes most of the wars in the world. Ok well sometimes its a difference in culture, nationality or politics, things that can be linked very closely in my books (which don't exist) with religion(s). The thing is, belief in an ultimate power or supreme deity fills us with enough 'faith' to believe that everything we do is right. When (if?) we think about it all societies in history have been wrong with some or most of their knowledge of the world, themselves, outer space. To me god or religion is just as complicated or ambiguous as those things. So there is a good chance that alot of what is widely believed today is wrong. So why should any body, nation or society act with so much confidence in their own beliefs that any means can justify these elusive ends? Notice I'm not aiming this particularly at any one group, government or country? Because the more I look into conflict the more I see that usually both sides are right (to a certain extent) its just a clash or situation that is causing both parties to act unfavourably because the circumstance have pitted them against each other so much, that backing down is not an option because it is seen as defeat. So which ever groups you dislike you may assume I was attacking them... but in essence I'm trying to vaguely describe all conflicts. Which are occurring frequently and will continue to do so, and you can't even control your own thoughts!

Its almost unacceptable to think that what you believed in was wrong, but it could be damned helpful in the long run.

Don't be scared... it's only words...

By the way... I'd like to know how many people have ever convert or adopted religion on their doorstep? And if anybody successfully uncoverted someone who came door knocking at their place.... anyway.

If something has to change
then it always does...

What happens when you lose everything?
you start all over again...

1 comment:

Technocrate said...

For a while I thought I was a somnambulist...

Read: The Devils of Loudon (Aldous Huxley) for a detailed and historical account of religion being used to do bad stuff.