Spudboy100@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 03/18/2000 7:06:23 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> starman125@hotmail.com writes:
>
> > Religion and the human take on God and the afterlife has been the mental
> > framework for generations in viewing a better world. And so even among
> > extropians, raised in the culture, you could expect the same.
> >
> >
> > sincerely,
> >
> > John Grigg
> Yes, moreover, it needs to be treated as a problem rather then ignored;
> however one focuses on it. Otherwisem its as if one is saying that there is
> no dental problem, even though there are toothaches. Constructive solutions
> welcome.
"The human take on God and the afterlife" should be treated as a problem??
What other "take" could there be, unless we vastly expand the scope of
our inquiry to include putative extraterrestrial cultures?
Why should any belief-system be treated as a problem? While the Zen I
practice is, I suppose you could say, both adeistic and atheistic, the
vision of a post-human existence found within any of these systems is
never an infringement of my own views. I respect every religion for what
in principle it is -- a guide to character-formation and value-definition,
a consolation for grief, a rational basis for hope. Yes, RATIONAL.
It is totally illicit for non-religious rationalists to attempt to adopt a
stance superior to theists by depriving them of rationality.
Regards,
Bob
=======================
Robert M. Owen
Director
The Orion Institute
57 W. Morgan Street
Brevard, NC 28712-3659 USA
=======================
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