On Thu, 9 Apr 1998  Reilly Jones <Reilly@compuserve.com>  Wrote:
         
        >Half the world's population believes in some form of redemptive         
        >qualities in suffering.  
I quote from Reilly Jones, "Fortunately, majorities don't manufacture truth".  
               
        >Suffering or pleasure are very weak guides to morality.
 
If true then can you give me a reason, any reason at all, why morality is  
better than immorality?  And what does "better" mean anyway?
        >Why would suffering or pleasure matter much at all 
                  
Perhaps leaving my hand in a fire or pulling it out doesn't matter much at 
all, I don't know and I don't care, I'm still pulling my hand out and if  
morality doesn't like it morality can lump it. 
                  
           >especially since such physiological reactions are increasingly        
           >modulated by technological means?
                  
All physiological reactions without exception can be modulated by 
technological means. What does that have to do with the price of eggs?
        >They just don't mean much in the moral sphere 
In my mind you just torpedoed any attempt to take the moral high ground in 
the abortion debate, you were never anywhere near it in the euthanasia debate. 
If your ideas about morality are correct then I'm immoral and proud of it and 
your insults are badges of honor.
                  
        >I could care less about happiness
Your philosophy is cutting edge, cutting edge for the 13'th century that is, 
the same is true of your science.
                  
        >Happiness isn't everything, in fact, it's not much at all.  
Gee, you make your philosophy sound so appealing I don't see how anyone could 
resist it.
        >Is the statement "all things are relative" a true statement?  
No. The speed of light is absolute, it's the same for any observer.
        >Relativism is incoherent.  
And you've also rejected Quantum Mechanics, I think that's part of your  
credibility problem.  After dumping on the two greatest intellectual 
accomplishments of the century it's hard to get people to sit contentedly at 
your feet while you scream insults cry about modern times and preach morality 
to them, the promise to make them stupid and unhappy may not be enough of an
attraction.
                  
        >the society I live in and am trying to raise my children in, is       
        >so much more degraded than the one I grew up in that it shocks me.  
Pissing on a spark plug shocks me.
                     
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------               
John K Clark               | Totalitarian fellow traveler  Ape-like thug
johnkc@well.com            | Unintelligent bigot  Statist  Cannibal Ugly liar
                           | Neo-Nazi  Butcher  Angel of death  Murder
        Serving all your entropic death-worshiping needs since 1994.
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