[~ot] why is programming so fun?

Me Here p9e883002 at sneakemail.com
Fri Jun 6 17:51:19 PDT 2008


BCS wrote:

> Reply to Me,
> 
> > BCS wrote:
> > 
> > > have you ever had a pet? Which reason did you use for keeping it? 1,
> > > 2 or 3?
> > > 
> > > > 1/ It enjoys watching us suffer floods, plagues, earthquakes, wars,
> > > > starvation and pestilance.
> > > > 
> > > > 2/ It is so ego-centric that it needs the adulation of billions
> > > > (what would this number mean to an omni-present being?), in order to
> > > > feel good about itself.
> > > > 
> > > > 3/ It a mechanism whereby a few strong minds effect control of large
> > > > numbers of weak minds.
> > > > 
> > Sorry BCS, but I have come to expect better arguements from you during
> > our breif association on this forum.
> > 
> > The direct answer to your question, is "none of the above".
> > 
> > There is a distinct and huge difference between:
> > 
> > - "keeping a pet"--feeding it, taking it for walks, petting it.
> > Simply
> > enjoying the affection it demonstrates--of its own volition-- and the
> > companionship it provides.
> > and
> > *Creating* a entire race of sentient beings, along with a million
> > other
> > species, a world, and a universe containsing millions of galaxies and
> > billions
> > of stars...
> > And then compelling them to subscribe and adhere to a set of
> > (variously) 10
> > commandments; 613 rules; etc. etc. on pain of eternal damnation if
> > they fail to
> > believe, subscribe and adhere...PURELY FOR MY OWN AMUSEMENT.
> > 
> 
> In my world view these is a marked similarity between the two. The sole
> reason for the creation of the universe is that god wants personal
> relationships. God is so powerful that the creation of the universe is easier
> for him than it is for us to even pick out a dog to take home. Out sole
> reason for living is to have a personal relationship with god. And as to
> demanding behavior of us; do we not do that with pets? If you had a dog that
> didn't obey, didn't come when you called and messed on the carpet would you
> keep it? A lot of places the culturally correct thing to do is shoot it.
> Other places you just give it away or kick it out.
> > And that last uppercased part is the point. Give, describe, or
> > otherwise elucidate one reason, justification or purpose to creating
> > sentient beings, endowing them with "free will", decrying them from
> > using it;  and condeming them if they do?
> 
> God wants a voluntary personal relationship with us. 

What sort of "personal" relationship can *you* have with an amoeba?
How about a your bathtub full of mangrove swamp water, and each of its ~6e9
amoeboic inhabitants?

Would you care for their love lifes? Feel for them when their siblings die?
Care much if they we're individually or collectively hungry? Give a monkeys if
a few hundred or thousand fell foul of a "splashing accident"?

The word "relationship" implies two-way communication. Has your god spoken to
you? Or to anyone you know? Comforted you or your freinds with a hug or a cup
of sweet tea in times of need? And note: your /finding comfort/ in the nth-hand
re-interpretations of m-times "translated" stories related by /man/, and
attributed to the will, actions or purpose of a god, don't mean anything other
than you are capable of finding meaning in words.

So am I. Anything from Nabacov's Lolita to Golding's Lord of the Flies, pretty
much anything by Shakespeare. And yes, the Bible. And the Koran. And the
Talmud, Upanishadm, Theravada & Mahayana. Even the works of LaVey, James
Mooney, Even some of those of by Koresh, & Hubbard have some merit in part. But
then again, you can draw an aweful lot of meaning from the Life of Brian if you
go into it looking for it.

Believing does not make things so. And whilst I can appreciate, and am
genuinely happy for you, if you find meaning and purpose and comfort from your
beliefs, to espouse them as if they were fact, is not only individually
arrogant in the extreme, but diminishes them and their purpose collectively.

Please do not choose to be offended by my words. You choose to beleive, and
nothing I, nor anyone, do or say, should have the slightest affect upon those
beliefs. You are secure in the "knowledge" that whatever benefits acrue from
your beliefs, are yours for the taking. And I will get my comeuppance in due
course. I may not understand your belief, or even your need for it, but I do
respect your right to it. As long as you respect mine.

Be well, b.
-- 




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