[geeks] Ideas and beliefs

[Tim Harrison]

Mike Hebel wrote:

> I don't think anyone can say that their spiritual beliefs don't affect their
> political ones. ;-)

Some more so than others.  The so called "religious right" spring to
mind.  How the line of  separation of church and state is starting to be
more blurred.  Someone (was it on one of the mailing lists here)
recently said, or at least reiterated, that a society's purity can be
viewed by the amount of laws required for order.  Being Canadian, I find
it difficult to support anyone in American politics.  No one represents
my views.
 
> Two forces for me - positive and negative.  Those take many forms including
> good/evil, creation/entropy, light/dark, etc.  I agree with you that they
> aren't inherently evil - just different directions of pull.

Good/bad, positive/negative, masculine/feminine... it's all the same. 
People have associated good with light, and bad with dark since the
beginning of time (don't get me started on the beginning of time issue
:)), because dark was unknown, hence evil.  We are still creatures of
remarkably small intellect, superstition, and fear.  The feelings we
developed when the organism became significantly complex enough to
experience that type of thing still drives our every move.  So, I don't
follow a belief of any type of "force".  I recognize said forces as
scientific/behavioural classifications, but not as a belief system.

> were pounded into my brain.)  As for spirits I believe that everyone has the
> potential to be good or bad however a balance must be maintained.  That's
> part of the reason things like the campaign against evil by the Catholics or
> even the attempt to create order by the CO$ will never fully succeed.  The
> more you remove evil/negative from the world the more _good_ you remove from
> the world also.  Now can you create more good?  Yes but you also create more
> evil at the same instance.  Now it may very well be that in our small corner
> of this vast universe the balance matters very little and we could "Help the
> world become good!" - at the same time though another world would probably
> fall into complete corruption.

Another oriental similarity being the yin and yang.  The division
between the two is a path.  You forever travel around the circle, going
through the "birth, growing old, becoming sick, and death" circle, until
you learn to walk the path which evens out the yin and yang.  This
allows you to break the circle, having reach enlightenment.

I'm more of a "hands off" type of person.  Humorously enough, the
closest description of how I view things can be found in ninjutsu. :) 
The ways that are taught are thus:

1.  Avoid trouble.
2.  If you can't avoid it, transfer it.
3.  If you can't avoid or transfer, end it as quickly as possible, by
whatever means necessary to prevent more danger.

The ninja families lived in harmony with nature and the cosmos (however
you wish to define that), and, contrary to popular belief, they didn't
sell their services to the highest bidder.  They just followed whoever
was in power that would allow them to live their lives in peace.  The
matters of good and evil are all just a part of the flow of life, and
results of the five elements.  I find Stephen K. Hayes' books on the
subject to be rather interesting (although, the pictures are remarkably
cheesy, but hell, it's a 70s book, IIRC).
 
> While I agree with the unpleasantness of viewing evil I must remind you that
> it depends on which side of the circle you stand on as to what view you
> take.  As for dealing with evil - I believe someone even truly "evil" can
> change.  It's hard to climb out of the hole but it can be done.

This I believe.  Although, if you believe in karma, you'd know why my
life is in the state it is at this point. :)  I was what one might call
"evil" at one point in my life.  Very evil.  Now, I've gone about 85%
the other direction, and I'm finding that the evil that I wrought when I
was younger is coming back at me, and playing havoc with my life. 
Whether or not I subscribe to karma as a philosophical belief structure
is irrelevant. 
 
> A lot of things in this universe but very few can be explained by us.  And,
> yes, that's another topic. ;-)

I think it would be very arrogant of us to think that we could
comprehend the forces and/or theories of universal structure.  In the
grand scheme of things, our species is nothing.  We can no more
understand the workings of the universe than a dust bunny can reason the
inner workings of the Phantom Fury vacuum cleaner.
 
> Mine is just as simple.  One of the things that attracted me to
> Wicca/Paganism is the Threefold Law.  Anything you put out there comes back
> to you threefold.  Thus every decision I make is "What will this bring back
> to me?"  AFAIC everyone follows this law but very few understand that they
> do.  I understand it but I'm just not sure what I've given out to get back
> what I'm currently getting.  Of course some of this is complicated by my
> belief in past lives which means AFAIC that I'm probably paying now for
> something I did previously.

This kind of belief is common throughout most belief systems or
religions.  See my constant references to the eastern beliefs.  I find
it amusing how organized religions tend to teach a particular belief
(say, "Do unto others..."), which is echoed through all the other belief
systems, but one is "right", so the rest must be wrong.  Which, of
course, goes against the teachings of tolerance.  And, then, there's
religious wars (whether military or not), which goes against the whole
teaching of non-violence, all in the name of who's right, which, of
course, goes against the tolerance thing... et cetera, ad nauseum.

It seems the more organized a religion, the more it breaks from it's
fundamental beliefs.  I've never been a religious person.  I grew up in
a very difficult family situation, so I learned to see things from a
distance, before getting involved.  I never felt any particular need to
have religion to explain things around me.  I suppose, had I been born
at the beginning of the development of mankind, I would have been
baffled by the things around me that I couldn't explain (like eclipses,
storms, earthquakes, bad harvests, etc.), and would have needed to find
some kind of mythical/mystical explanation.

I've always been baffled by Catholicism, though.  The master who is my
wife's Tai Chi instructor had a lovely way of expressing his confusion
about Catholicism.  He said, "I'm fascinated by those who go to
confession, lie to the priest by either holding back or hiding, the
priest lies back by promising that they forgive and have the power to
absolve, and they feel they've done their duty.  They then continue
doing "sinful" deeds, only to repeat the cycle".

I don't think I need to start a war.  I tend to do that.  All I want to
say is that religion these days tends more to be a reason to fight than
to make peace, going completely against what the teachings they force
upon followers.

I'm sure this is a terribly incoherent message.  I've been writing it
while editing business plans. :/

-- 


Tim Harrison
Network Engineer
harrison at timharrison.com
http://www.networklevel.com/