Re: Muslim tolerance
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 7:02 am
a short piece of creative writing I made this morning. I think it relates well to the situation here. humanity, no matter what side of the argument it represents, will always find a good excuse to kill one another based on immaterial differences. We all have blood on our hands.
philosophy 101: rules
About 2500 years ago there was a major confluence of spiritual ideas around the world. Humanity had developed societies and cultures and for some reason there was a spiritual awakening on a very large scale. The ancients set down laws to be followed as social cohesive measures. Why did they set down these laws? Was it divine right, or was it as a cohesive measure to keep society from disintegrating? People, if not rained in by some basic rules, tend to follow their baser, more animalistic tendencies. These proclivities are fine in the wild, because humans are essentially animals, and there are very good evolutionary reasons to act like a wild animals. However, humans are also imbued with the ability to use deduction and reason to solve problems. this is a skill that most animals do not have. Getting back to rules: the ancients passed down moral codes to control humanity and make sure that society would not disintegrate. Unfortunately, the ancients were not perfect and handed down imperfect sets of rules which promoted systematized violence as a way to control humanity. Not only did the promote violence by man against man, they also claimed that this violence was justified by an omnipresent god who ultimately guided and controlled the fate of man. The ancients doubtless had very good reasons for doing this and in truth, no man can prove or disprove the existence of a god. There may or may not be a god, no man can tell you truly that there is or is not one. That is immaterial though, the salient point is that ever since those first tracts were set down, man has had a justification for the use of violence and fear against his fellow beings. In the beginning, man was in his natural state. He perpetuated violence and chaos, but he had no motive other than his instinct. Life was brutal and quite short, surely not very enjoyable for humanity. However, since then, societies have risen and fallen and man has held on to his drive to destroy, except that he has been made to feel guilt for his natural state. This guilt has caused him to justify systematic murders of countless millions, destruction of the very earth that he needs to sustain him, and the absolute lack of love and compassion for the beings he shares that earth with. Religion as it exists today is truly a curse of curses. The cause of so much suffering. But I believe that man can use religion and the ideas that it sets forth to bring humanity to a much higher place. The ancients also left a great gift in their tracts of rules: they left the idea of absolute unconditional love. They said that the universe, or god, imbued all things with a great love and compassion and that man could ascend to holiness and be part of that love. When people read the words of the ancients, instead of focusing on the pain, suffering, hate, greed, a derisiveness of their words, they should instead focus on the great love, caring, healing, compassion, and peace of their words. Keeping the people covered in blind hate and fear will only promote the destruction of humanity. It would be much better if we showed each other gentleness, caring, and compassion.
Let these be the new words of the ancients and let us hope that in the future, humanity will be more equitable to one another
In peace.
philosophy 101: rules
About 2500 years ago there was a major confluence of spiritual ideas around the world. Humanity had developed societies and cultures and for some reason there was a spiritual awakening on a very large scale. The ancients set down laws to be followed as social cohesive measures. Why did they set down these laws? Was it divine right, or was it as a cohesive measure to keep society from disintegrating? People, if not rained in by some basic rules, tend to follow their baser, more animalistic tendencies. These proclivities are fine in the wild, because humans are essentially animals, and there are very good evolutionary reasons to act like a wild animals. However, humans are also imbued with the ability to use deduction and reason to solve problems. this is a skill that most animals do not have. Getting back to rules: the ancients passed down moral codes to control humanity and make sure that society would not disintegrate. Unfortunately, the ancients were not perfect and handed down imperfect sets of rules which promoted systematized violence as a way to control humanity. Not only did the promote violence by man against man, they also claimed that this violence was justified by an omnipresent god who ultimately guided and controlled the fate of man. The ancients doubtless had very good reasons for doing this and in truth, no man can prove or disprove the existence of a god. There may or may not be a god, no man can tell you truly that there is or is not one. That is immaterial though, the salient point is that ever since those first tracts were set down, man has had a justification for the use of violence and fear against his fellow beings. In the beginning, man was in his natural state. He perpetuated violence and chaos, but he had no motive other than his instinct. Life was brutal and quite short, surely not very enjoyable for humanity. However, since then, societies have risen and fallen and man has held on to his drive to destroy, except that he has been made to feel guilt for his natural state. This guilt has caused him to justify systematic murders of countless millions, destruction of the very earth that he needs to sustain him, and the absolute lack of love and compassion for the beings he shares that earth with. Religion as it exists today is truly a curse of curses. The cause of so much suffering. But I believe that man can use religion and the ideas that it sets forth to bring humanity to a much higher place. The ancients also left a great gift in their tracts of rules: they left the idea of absolute unconditional love. They said that the universe, or god, imbued all things with a great love and compassion and that man could ascend to holiness and be part of that love. When people read the words of the ancients, instead of focusing on the pain, suffering, hate, greed, a derisiveness of their words, they should instead focus on the great love, caring, healing, compassion, and peace of their words. Keeping the people covered in blind hate and fear will only promote the destruction of humanity. It would be much better if we showed each other gentleness, caring, and compassion.
Let these be the new words of the ancients and let us hope that in the future, humanity will be more equitable to one another
In peace.