[geeks] Ideas and beliefs

[Chris Byrne]

Ok in my last post I raised the subject of philosophical and religious
beliefs. And actually in my case political beliefs since mine tie in with my
"philosphical" beliefs rather strongly.

My wife and I basically hold Deist ideas and/or beliefs (watch "Dogma" and
you'll understand that reference), though mine are a bit more diffuse than
some.

Basically I believe that there are three essential forces within the
universe/multiverse (physical and spiritual dimesions if you will) creation,
entropy, and chaos. Creation takes chaos and gives it form, entropy returns
that form to chaos. None are inherently god or evil, all are necessary.

These are also pretty much the most basic principles of physics by the way.

I believe that all spiritual entities are representations of one both or all
of those forces in their many aspects, as are peoples personal spiritual
experiences. One defines for themselves (or has defined for them in the case
of an "organized" religion) ones gods, goddesses, deities of other varities
etc... and the belief structure that grows aronud tham. That belief is in
and of itself a creative act, giving it form, and with true belief, power,
at least over yourself, and with enough belief, power over others as well.

That being said I do believe in good and evil, wrong and right, and good and
bad in an absolute sense, but I have a very strict definition for it.

To me, evil the causing of non-consensual harm for harms sake. Not
necessarily for pleasure, that's masochism, or for profit or a goal, those
are simply selfishness and callousness, but for the pur sake of causing that
harm. Harm as an end unto itself.

Pure "good" is the causing of "good" without regard for benefit to self of
any kind, including the emotional benefit of doing good.

Most everything else is relative. Some may consider something good while
another bad etc... and who's to say if they are right or wrong.

Needless to say pure human evil and pure human good are very rare things. By
my definition, Hitler wasnt evil, he was angry, selfish, and insane. He was
a very very bad man, but not pure evil.

That said, I have seen what I consider to be true evil in human beings. It
is a VERY unpleasant thing to see, it cannot be cured, it can only be dealt
with.

I have also seen pure good. In my experience it appears most frequently in
those who consider themselves "religious" or "spiritual" but I don't think
it is in any way tied to spirituality or religiousness.

I honestly believe that Mother Teresa helped all the people she did, just
for the sake of helping them, not because god told her to do it, or because
she felt good about herself, or that she would get into heaven if she did.
I'm fairly certain that even if it made her miserable, guaranteed she would
go to hell, and god told her personally she shouldnt do it, she would,
because she truly and honestly knew it was a thing that had to be done
simply to benefit mankind and the universe.

I have also seen many many things that do not fit with most current
religious or anti-religious beliefs, which i would be happy to talk about if
people are interested, but that's yet another topic.

My basic philosophy in all of this is simple, don't do what people or things
tell you to do because they tell you to. Dont think what people or things
tell you to think because they tell you to. Figure out what works, and
what's truly right for you, and then do that thing as long as it doesnt hurt
others that dont want to be hurt.

That last part is pretty important, because for some people, being hurt is
what works for them.

Or as I put it somewhat more humorously (and plagaristically if any of you
are Dennis Miller fans) on my web site

"I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I'm a constructive anarchist.
Basically that means I think, that all things being equal, responsible
adults should be able to do whatever the hell they want to do as long as
no-one's getting hurt who isn't paying extra"

Chris Byrne
=======================================
The eyes may be the windows on the soul
But the word is the doorway to the mind
=======================================