aeq@pucc-h (Jeff Sargent) (11/27/84)
>> = Jeff Sargent > = Ken Perlow (ihuxq!ken) >> neurosis is a result of sin -- holding to false beliefs about >> oneself and one's environment. > "neurosis is a result of sin"--what an intriguing hypothesis. > Don't stop there, Jeff. Surely other diseases are caused by sin, too. > Especially the really disgusting ones like cancer of the pancreas and > the black death. The so-called "germ theory" is an even more > invidiously humanist plot than evolution. Neurosis is a form of, or a result of, sin -- holding to false beliefs about oneself and/or one's environment -- believing lies, lying to oneself. Lying is a sin, even if one lies to oneself. I said nothing about physical diseases in my previous posting; thus the rest of the paragraph seems inappropriate sarcasm. However, now that the issue has been raised, I could mention that certain physical diseases are indeed caused, or at least fostered, by practices which I strongly suspect of being symptoms of underlying neurosis (itself a symptom of underlying sin); but I won't swear that they are because I have no experience with them. The obvious example is that alcoholism contributes to cirrhosis of the liver. -- -- Jeff Sargent {decvax|harpo|ihnp4|inuxc|ucbvax}!pur-ee!pucc-h:aeq Clearing /tmp
rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (11/28/84)
>>>neurosis is a result of sin -- holding to false beliefs about >>>oneself and one's environment. [SARGENT] >>"neurosis is a result of sin"--what an intriguing hypothesis. >>Don't stop there, Jeff. Surely other diseases are caused by sin, too. >>Especially the really disgusting ones like cancer of the pancreas and >>the black death. The so-called "germ theory" is an even more >>invidiously humanist plot than evolution. [PERLOW] > Neurosis is a form of, or a result of, sin -- holding to false beliefs about > oneself and/or one's environment -- believing lies, lying to oneself. Lying > is a sin, even if one lies to oneself. [SARGENT] Now I know why Christians believe themselves all to be sinners! :-) > I said nothing about physical diseases in my previous posting; thus the rest > of the paragraph seems inappropriate sarcasm. Not at all. If one arbitrarily declares that X is a result of Y for no apparent reason other than that which one would like to believe, then extrapolating that A through and also Z are also results of Y is EQUALLY LOGICAL!! (i.e., not logical at all) > However, now that the issue > has been raised, I could mention that certain physical diseases are indeed > caused, or at least fostered, by practices which I strongly suspect of being > symptoms of underlying neurosis (itself a symptom of underlying sin); but I > won't swear that they are because I have no experience with them. The obvious > example is that alcoholism contributes to cirrhosis of the liver. Jeff, I thought you had explicitly said to me that you were specifically going to avoid presenting your subjective views as if they were ipso facto the way that the real world really is. Yet once again you make statements that you cannot support (and you admit this) as if they were facts. Granted, you submerge the statements in milder tones ("I strongly suspect") to appear less dogmatic, but isn't the thrust the same? Frankly, I believe that the need to believe in such things as you've mentioned is a SYMPTOM of neurosis itself. Do I run the risk of being called a liar once again, this time for making the same type of statement that you've just made? (Upon request, I will provide my reasons for believing the statement I just made. Actually, I've done so many times in the past, but I'd be pulling a Larry Bickford if I said that. :-) -- "So, it was all a dream!" --Mr. Pither "No, dear, this is the dream; you're still in the cell." --his mother Rich Rosen pyuxd!rlr