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Dear Mr. Meyer,
To specifically answer your question, it was not my intention to single out Judaism, or any other mysticism, particularly. Rather, I condemn them all.
Mysticism takes many forms. To me, all of its forms are equally destructive. They all have this defining characteristic: they cannot be found to have any existence, or any real power, through a process of reason.
To me, all of the following are forms of mysticism, or mystical symbols, and they are all equally mystical and destructive. They all lack any basis in reality. They are all impotent:
crystal balls
"magic" wands (or any other form of "magic")
anything "supernatural"
voodoo
witchcraft, witches, wizards, etc.
magical leprechauns
astrology
all religions that rely on the supernatural, magical, etc.
tarrot cards
ouija boards
etc.
Also, the following commonly referred to sources of mystical power or special insight: "the working class", "society", "the state", race, sex, ethnicity, or national origin seen as a standard of reference for assessing good and evil. There are many others...
So what is THE ANSWER? Reason. What I mean by this is that, in order for humanity to survive, reason must supplant mysticism in all its forms. When it does (it inevitably will, because mysticism can produce nothing - follow the course of history to observe mysticism in its death throes) then man's free life will be seen for what it is, the highest possible value. And terrorism, violence against man's free life, undertaken to serve some "higher" value, will rot on the vine.
The Omega Man
----- Original Message -----
>Mr Omega Man
>
>I read this post yesterday and it really pissed me off. I thought I would
>read it again today to see why. So let me see if I understand you
>correctly. I'll use exact quotes where I can.
>
>Mysticism is the cause of all our problems. Mysticism is "an irrational
>belief in a higher power". A higher power can be, among other things, "a
>god". Am I right so far? To me, belief in "a god" means religion.
>Religion = Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc. So in your original
>post we should be able to substitute the words Christianity or Judaism for
>the word mysticism. Right? Am I assuming too much here? Well lets try it
>just for fun and see what happens.
>
>This is the last sentence of what you wrote with the word Judaism in place
>of the word mysticism. ***No, the answer does not lie in Proverbs or in any
>of the above empty gestures. The answer lies in reason. When reason
>trounces Judaism, when ALL Judaism is seen for what it is, anti-life, only
>then will we have the real weed by its roots.***
>
>Now I'm pretty sure that's not the way you wanted that sentence to be read.
>So tell me where my "reasoning" went wrong? What do all these euphemisms
>really mean? And what exactly is THE ANSWER? And what is the solution to
>this mysticism problem?
>
>It is just so difficult to understand you "Enlightened Ones" these days.
>There is so much anti-religious bigotry on the loose.
>
>gm
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: the_omega_man@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:the_omega_man@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
>Sent: Friday, September 14, 2001 11:42 AM
>To: krf01
>Cc: omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx; BobR
>Subject: THE ANSWER
>
>
>
>BobR wrote:
>
>> The evolution of consciousness requires that mankind first survive, and
>> second to find common ground to co-exist. He must rise above his
>"concepts"
>> of god.
>
>and Kim wrote:
>
>> I don't agree with everything Ayn Rand offers but the most important thing
>> ever written by her (not sure if OM will agree), is the concept that the
>> sovereign entity is NOT the 'group' (company, county, state, country,
>> religion etc.). It's the self - the individual.
>
>
>Well, Kim, you are close... but go deeper. Why is the sovereign entity the
>individual and not the "group"?
>
>**
>
>What you find at the heart of any political fanaticism is mysticism: an
>irrational belief in a "higher power" (the state (fascism), a god (Islam,
>among others), "the working class" (communism), race (Nazism, among others),
>etc.) Every barbarism in history has been justified by reference to some
>mystical higher power. The current barbarism is no different.
>
>As long as any value is placed above the value of free life itself, as long
>as belief in mystical "higher powers" exists, there will be those willing to
>give and take the lesser value (life) in order to obtain, or achieve the
>success of, the "higher" (mystical) value. And as long as that is the case,
>there will be "terrorism".
>
>Pull the weed of terrorism up by the roots? Turn "the offending countries"
>into parking lots? Do you honestly believe that this will stop "terrorism"?
>
>Let us be clear: what we are discussing now does not have much to do with
>obtaining justice. The 18 or so perpetrators of the terrible acts in New
>York and Washington are all dead. There is no more justice to be obtained
>from them. Everything being done now is either justice at the margins
>(punishing accomplices and the like) or it is about preventing future
>similar acts. So the important question is: how are such future acts to be
>prevented? I submit the following: you may kill as many people as you
>wish, but you will not stop terrorism as long as mystical beliefs in "higher
>powers" exist anywhere.
>
>To those of you who believe that terrorism can be eradicated by a military
>campaign I ask: How do you plan to find every person who is willing to give
>his life (and take yours) for some "higher power"? Are you able to read the
>minds of everyone on earth? Are you under the illusion that such people
>live only in "foreign" countries? Do you believe that Islam is the only
>mystical fanaticism that exists?
>
>So what is the answer? Increased security at airports? Will increased
>security prevent the boarding of martial artists who kill without weapons?
>More prayer vigils and remembrance services (fighting mysticism with
>mysticism)? Singing patriotic or religious songs? Perhaps we should light
>some more candles? Who's for bringing back the yellow ribbons from the
>Carter years?
>
>No, the answer does not lie in Proverbs or in any of the above empty
>gestures. The answer lies in reason. When reason trounces mysticism, when
>ALL mysticism is seen for what it is, anti-life, only then will we have the
>real weed by its roots.
>
>
>The Omega Man
>
>
>
>
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