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So Reason is THE ANSWER. Unfailing. Absolute. Uncompromising.
All-Encompassing. The Alpha and the Omega.
Immune from evil. From pettiness. From rationalization. From prejudice.
Reason. It almost sounds, well.. mystical. Supernatural even.
I understand what you are saying. None of those moldy old religions for you,
right? But if you honestly look at your philosophy, through a process of
reason, isn't it just another religion? Is it not just as susceptible to
fanaticism, or prejudice, or hatred as any other religion?
Don't get me wrong. I've never had any use for organized religion. But I
believe in God. I *have* seen real power in spirituality. I've seen it bring
people back from the edge. People who didn't want to come back. People who
had lost all hope. When all reasonable explanations had failed, the fact
still remained. It was something outside of them that saved them. Go figure.
Well you're attitude toward religion still pisses me off. But that is my
problem. And I'm not Jewish, by the way. And I appreciate anyone who knows
what he believes and says what he thinks.
You have chosen to put all your faith in mankind. You've got all your eggs
in one basket. We'll have to wait and see which one of us got duped.
Good luck.
gm
The sages have a hundred maps to give
That trace their crawling cosmos like a tree;
They rattle reason out through many a sieve
That stores the sand and lets the gold go free;
But all these things are less than dust to me,
Because my name is Lazarus and I live.
-- G.K. Chesterton (circa 1900)
-----Original Message-----
From: the_omega_man@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:the_omega_man@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2001 9:23 AM
To: meyer
Cc: omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: THE ANSWER
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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