It would be an act of the highest and most incredible faith , to not think, or at least imagine
that there is no other intelligent life
in the universe.
This also rather complicates the question of whether there is only one son of god , or if one can be saved never having heard of him.
What humanity has lost in the wayword imaginings of hosts of trumpeting angels , plagues of demons and spirits , evil jinns , burning bushes, people rising from the dead ...it has gained something fresher and new.
There has been a proportionate decrease in sightings of the above as science has help cleanse the doors of our perception.
Any Religion that cannot embrace and adapt to these new insights of this new age , is as good as dead . But the monoliths are changing slowly , brick by brick , chip by chip ...like children that must finally grow up , and pass the ball finlly , and stop playing monkey make believe. But if there is a God , he was rarely found or learned of
in most religions .
It's been really very wonderful , to see just how changed our attitudes have grown in the last century alone , and actually only just the last few decades towards understanding the true beauty and nature of animals that had been for so long regarded as man's "enemy" . Certain predators like the magnificent wolves and polar bears etc.
And that we have finally learned to look back at ourselves and see that it was we all along that were the worst , most dangerous, destructive , and most wasteful of all living creatures.( It is well that Christianity did have a St Francis , or they would have to invent one in a great hurry!)
(and what other creature after the slaughter , goes home and drinks himself into a stupor , killing his own braincells by the millions, before he goes out the next day to kill some more ?
What other creature would worship at the feet of a monolithic institution , that hasn't had the wisdom to see even into this current century , the devastating effects that overpopulation has caused , and preached a gospel against birth control ?
That goes back to the Christian / Judaic laws concerning sex and the wasting of seed and the sin of masturbation ... the Talmudic Law concerning ejaculation outside of the vagina. In fact the Jewish Law was so strict concerning this , it prescribed the offending hand be chopped off !
jewfaq.org
Jewish law clearly prohibits male masturbation. This law is derived from the story of Onan (Gen. 38:8-10), who practiced coitus interruptus as a means of birth control to avoid fathering a child for his deceased brother. G-d killed Onan for this sin. Although Onan's act was not truly masturbation, Jewish law takes a very broad view of the acts prohibited by this passage, and forbids any act of ha-sh'cha'tat zerah (destruction of the seed), that is, ejaculation outside of the vagina. In fact, the prohibition is so strict that one passage in the Talmud states, "in the case of a man, the hand that reaches below the navel should be chopped off." (Niddah 13a)
Of course you don't have to even blink twice to think what male homsexuality was punished by <g> Interesting enough female sexual relations was not specifcally condemned , but then again they were only "property" to begin with I guess:
Sexual relations between men are clearly forbidden by the Torah. (Lev. 18:22). Such acts are condemned in the strongest possible terms, as abhorrent. The only other sexual sin that is described in such strong terms is the sin of remarrying a woman you had divorced after she had been married to another man. (See Deut. 24:4). The sin of sexual relations between men is punishable by death (Lev. 20:13), as are the sins of adultery and incest.
Interesting turns and twists in Talmudic law concerning abortion , as it is permitted under certain circumstances
in the case of young , pregnant or nursing women ...or in the case of it endangering the mother's life . But under no circumstances are any forms of birth control acceptable where it involves the blocking of the male seed....
Birth control is rather clearly permitted in circumstances where pregnancy would pose a medical risk to the mother or her other children. For example, the Talmud recognizes the use of birth control by very young women, pregnant women or nursing women. However, there is some variance of opinion as to what other circumstances might permit birth control. If this is an issue for you, you should consult a competent rabbinic authority.
It is well-established that methods that destroy the seed or block the passage of the seed are not permitted, thus condoms are not permitted for birth control. However, the pill is well-recognized as an acceptable form of birth control under Jewish law. I have also heard some say that a condom would be permitted under Jewish law to prevent the transmission of AIDS or similar diseases, because preserving the life of the uninfected spouse takes priority; however, I am not certain how authoritative this view is. If this is an issue for you, you should consult a competent rabbinic authority.
Therefore , condoms are out under Jewish/Catholic law , but unlike Catholicism , Judaism sees no problem with the use of oral contraceptives by women . They are still confused as to whether the use of condoms is permissable to stop the transmission of AIDS ....oh well . We must all bow to such superior reasoning, divine insight and holy
altruism , blind as it may be .
So is there Life on other Planets ? There has to be, this just couldn't be the only insane asylum in the universe!
;-)
Mars
PS: Beam them up Scotty ! (laughter) |
