hua@cmu-cs-edu1.ARPA (Ernest Hua) (04/30/85)
___________________________________________________________________________ > From: dubois@uwmacc.UUCP (Paul DuBois) > > > [Colin Rafferty] > > If we were put on this Earth, then we belong here, and we don't really have > > to worry. But if we sprang up over the course of 3.5 billion years, then > > maybe we don't belong. Look at the dinosaurs: around for hundreds of > > millions of years, then wiped out. maybe that's the way the humans will > > go. BUT NOT IF WE WERE PUT HERE! If we are here for a purpose, then it's > > all right. > > I do not see that this follows. > > > But if we sprang up due to this 'Survival of the Fittest' scheme, > > then maybe we don't belong, and maybe something will come along that's > > fitter than us. BUT NOT IF WE WERE PUT HERE! > > > What the main problem most Creationists have is that they are afraid of, > > not their own, but mankind's mortality. Colin is trying to point out a likely ulterior motive for the creationists' monsterous effort to prevent science from overrunning their beliefs. I personally can see his suggestion as a likely motive. I can name a few more, if you are interested. > I tried to apply this to myself to see if it was true. I really did. > I can't resonate to it. The statement therefore fails in at least one > case. I think that a demonstration of positive confirmation is needed. Say what? You can't "resonate" to it? You mean you can't feel the vibs or what? Do you mean you don't agree with the statement? This is rea- sonable, considering the rest of the paragraph. In that case, what do you expect as "positive confirmation"? Do you seriously expect some creationist to come out and admit this? Colin's accusation can only be speculation, unless ... > > By believing that they were placed > > here, they don't have to worry about what could destroy mankind, but > > Evolutionists do. The political forces that lean toward Nuclear War are > > invariably Creationists: Reagan, Faldwell, etc. Those against are > > You make it sound like they WANT nuclear war. This is irresponsible. I doubt they WANT nuclear war. However, I could see how they would like certain events to happen (like Armageddon, for instance), as this would certainly indicate a milestone in their Biblical cosmic calendar. Why the weapons buildup? I don't see the need for the MX. I don't see the need for Pershing. There is a better future in a PROTECTION device, not an AGGRESSION device. Imagine Reagan, for a moment, sitting with his finger over "the button". He is someone who believes in the Bible and Christianity and etc... He might say to himself, "Gee, if I push this button, God would have known and planned it that way. If not, He will stop me or stop the electrical signals or the missiles themselves etc. Now, the Bible says that the end of the physical world is coming, and that there will be a great battle between the forces of evil and the forces of good. The Soviet Union is an empire of evil. We are obviously a Christian nation, and hence, good. The good Rev. Falwell and Rev. Robertson all say that the events leading to Armageddon is shaping up. Oh, what the heck ... " Click. > > invariably Evolutionists: Mondale, Sagan, etc. There is a definite > > connection. These people (Mondale, Sagan, etc.) fight for the PHYSICAL welfare of the people. Liberals tend to do that. Conservatives tend to fight for something "higher" like spiritual happiness or something like that. This is not condemnation or support for either side. However, it does indicate probable conflict between methods since the goals differ. > Kind of strange. If there is no purpose, then why try to prevent our > extinction? Really. Why? Because you feel like it? Or do you have > a real reason? There is a general instinct common to a lot of people: Survival. I have never really felt the need to evolve another eye, or another arm. I like myself as I am. I think a quality that can be given to all species that survive some time is that they make an effort (consciously, or not) to survive as a specie. That is, they tend to help lesser variants survive and hurt others. Medical technology is a excellant example of this in human beings. If we did not have medicine, we could have survival problems, should an epidemic of significant force spread. I cannot think of a reason to survive. It is just my gen- eral attitude. > > What can we do about this? The one thing that we cannot do is let this > > feeling of safety be taught in the classrooms. If we send out a generation > > of people who don't worry about their own future, and leave it in the hands > > of Something else, then what is left of our future? > > What "feeling of safety" is this? And what should we teach? What we > have now, thanks to the continual fear propaganda is a generation of > kids growing up panicked. Not very healthy. Unnecessary, too, I > think, because death is our lot in any case. It matters more how we > live than how we die. The feeling of safety lies in the dependence upon God to take care of everything. If you believe that God will take care of everything in the end, you would not give a damn if Reagan decided to push the button this morning. Is this ignorance of reality the "healthiness" you refer to? By the way, if Reagan pushed the button this morning, you would not have much living to worry about. > "The world might stop in ten minutes; meanwhile, we are to go on doing > our duty. The great thing is to be found at one's post as a child of > God, living each day as though it were our last, but planning as though > our world might last a hunderd years. I find it difficult to keep from > laughing when I find people worrying about future destruction of some > kind or another. Didn't they know they were going to die anyway? > Apparently not. My wife once asked a young women friend whether she > had ever thought of death, and she replied, 'By the time I reach that > age science will have done something about it!'" Nice thought. As long as one keeps in perspective the reality of the situation, and not just some idealistic attitude. I am not against idealistic attitude; I am against the practical application of such. ___________________________________________________________________________ Live long and prosper. Keebler { hua@cmu-cs-gandalf.arpa }