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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (78018)	10/21/2003 4:55:10 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

I always thought you were an agnostic, but I think we should label ourselves in these matters. It is hubris to decide what someone else is, imo. I think by the act of living, and thinking, you make the effort to know more- I don't think it has to be a guided effort. I learn many things everyday- hundreds and hundreds of things a week- it's fantastic how much is out there to learn, and to experience.

To: Lane3 who wrote (78018)	10/21/2003 7:42:37 PM
From: Solon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

"Unlike an atheist, I have no belief that there is no God, I am simply unpersuaded that there likely is one." I have a serious question for you. And I mean it to be addressed thoughtfully: Are you agnostic in regard to the tooth fairy? To elves that live in your fridge, etc. Is there any assertion so absurd that you would claim to NOT believe in it? And, if so...how does the magical idea of a supernatural being strictly predicated on an imaginary effort such as the millions of fiction books that people have imagined over time, escape this scepticism? Are you agnostic as regards the myth of Zeus? Of Thor? Do you believe that RA (The Sun) "might" be God? It is a serious question because I waver myself between atheism and agnosticism. Naturally, I don't give any credence to primitive conceptions of God as reflected in any religious movements. But I might allow for some sort of conception of a mind/energy essence as underlying matter...and I wonder if that is intellectually dishonest? Of course, I am absolutely convinced that individual lives are meaningless except in the living. All life forms are related on a continuum and each is as valuable cosmically as any other. I kill trillions of entities each time I breathe and move, and nature kills without any moral basis whatsoever (you are aware of the ichneumons?). It seems easy to declare (as did Lucretius) that "life goes on; it is the lives that die." Certainly there is nothing more certain than death. How can anyone be agnostic about THAT without disowning their faculty of reason?!