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- Newsgroups: alt.satanism
- Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!fuug!anon
- From: an8222@anon.penet.fi
- Subject: Morals & Laws (yet again)
- Message-ID: <1993Jan26.023613.8067@fuug.fi>
- Sender: anon@fuug.fi (The Anon Administrator)
- Organization: Anonymous contact service
- X-Anonymously-To: alt.satanism
- Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 01:54:02 GMT
- Lines: 333
-
-
- In article <1993Jan25.044211.8540@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> radinsky@spot.Colorado.EDU (Wayne Radinsky) writes:
- >locklin@titan.ucs.umass.edu (SCOTT C LOCKLIN) writes:
- >> radinsky@spot.Colorado.EDU (Wayne Radinsky) writes:
- >>> My friend, you understand perfectly! If a person is killing innocent
- >>> people, by killing them you may save lives. What about people who kill
- >>> extremely abusive parents? What about those who attempted to kill Hitler?
- >>> If they had succeeded, they'd be heros, not killers! What about war? If
- >>> we do to war, isn't our killing justified, or not justified, by our
- >>> reasons for going to war?
- >>
- >> *shrug* I have no clearly defined (simplistic) set of moralities. Each
- >> situation would have to be individually judged...
- >
- >A legalist with no laws...
-
- I said moralities, not laws. And yes, I have no simplistic set of laws either.
- There are "mitigating circumstances" for every "law," in my life, and in
- the legal system. Perhaps you should say "A legalist with no mandatory
- sentances"
- Because of the way many (most) religions enforce their brand of morality as
- "law" there is not always a clear distinction beetwen morals & laws.
- This logical error carris over into our culture in the form of laws that
- attempt to dictate morality.
-
- >>> My position is even justified by the Bible: read Joshua, where Israel
- >>> conquers the Canaan -- killing and pillaging, not just at God's approval,
- >>> but at God's command.
- >>
- >> As far as _this_ goes, it has nothing to do with what I said in the me
- >> last set of comments. "God's approval" has nothing to do with what I was
- >> speaking of and should never be used as an excuse for anything like
- >> genocide.
- >
- >Well, it might be off the subject, but it =is= what the Bible says. I'm
- >totally amazed we have a satanist arguing for legalism. That's supposed to
- >be the Christian position (lots of them act that way anyway), or so I
- >thought.
-
- What is what the bible says? You are certainly avoiding the subject at hand
- which was your comparison of moral relativity to the xenocide in the old
- testament. My moral relativity is not that which justifies any action or
- order given by a "god", but the moral relativism of mitigating circumstances,
- and individual situations.
-
- >> Saying it was "God's will" removes the responsibility of the Khabiru
- >> (roughly translated as "Vagrants" in Akkadian & the root of "Hebrew") for
- >> their genocidal exploits of the past. Eases their conscience on what they
- >> did & gives them licence for all manner of genocidal adventured (which, to
- >> a lesser extent, continue today among their genetic and philosophical
- >> descendants)
-
- (note the skillful avoidance of the subject at hand again)
-
- >It (non-legalism in general) doesn't relieve anyone of responsibility.
- >People break the spirit of the law (that is, the reason why a law was made)
- >all the time, even if they don't break the letter of the law. Then
- >You have to go back and fill in the loopholes in the laws. Like you say:
- >
- >> Morality cannot be controlled by legislation in anything approaching a
- >> "free" society.
- >
- >Amen.
- >
- >>>> I like legalism. Makes life simpler.
- >>>
- >>> Yeah, too simple. And it backfires, too. The harder you try =not= to
- >>> think about sex, or drugs, or someone you hate, the more it gets stuck in
- >>> your brain. Close your mind and force all thoughts of sex out of your
- >>> mind!
- >>
- >> Er, what kind of legalism tells one not to think of sex, drugs & etc?
- >> (there are laws banning porn & certain sexual behaviors, but none against
- >> thought yet)
- >
- >Thoughts are actually more important than actions. Suppose someone gave you
- >a gift. Great, huh? Now suppose their intent was to make you feel indebted
- >to them, i.e. to manipulate you in some way. Ah-ha -- same action, different
- >thought -- it changes everything.
-
- Again, you avoid the topic. These thoughts to which I refer should have nothing
- to do with laws. The fact that to you "thoughts are more important than
- actions" implies that you seek better mind controll. The modern day example
- of speech codes is one step in the direction of "thought controll."
- The crux of the matter is this; There are two kinds of "morality" that are
- being confused here. We have the obviously harmful to other individuals in
- a society; rape, murder, armed robbery, burgulary, kidnapping etc. These I
- will call _external_ crimes.
- Then we have "victimless" crimes; drug use, prostitution, sodomy etc.
- _internal_ crimes.
-
- The external crimes consist of one or more persons actively harming
- others, usually in an active way. These cannot be tolerated in any form
- of "society." Even in an anarchist culture, groups would be formed (creating
- a "law-enforcing" subculture) to protect their members from such "crimes."
-
- The internal crimes only harm the person comitting the "crime."
- Only by vapid Marxist/Collectivist/Socialist "reasoning" can one make in
- internal crime look external (One of my favorite "reasons" to keep drugs
- illegal is that it would harm some abstract concept called "productivity" which
- is in & of itself a dubious statement, and foolish even should it be a truthful
- statement. Plain old laziness should be a far greater crime by this reasoning)
-
- I would imagine that there is some "grey area" in this admittedly simplistic
- (but powerful) model. Incest comes to mind. In many cultures it is acceptable
- & harms noone involved. Here it is stigmatized & hance extremely damaging to
- some (also debatable, but I have no interest in these things. See
- alt.sex.groups for discussion of these topics)
-
- >What kind of legalism tells you not to think of sex? That doesn't matter --
- >my point is that trying to stop a thought only makes you think about it
- >more. Don't think about purple snakes. Same problem. Or, more practically,
- >suppose you are angry at someone. The more you think about it, the angrier
- >you will get. And the anger is far more significant than specific actions.
- >Suppose you hit him with a baseball bat. His reaction will probably be very
- >different if he thinks you did it out of anger or you did it by accident.
-
- Yes, yes I get the point. To answer my own question, the catholic church has
- strong prohibitions against thinking of sex; it is considered sinful. In
- their "legal system" it is a "crime." Of course this is obviously to create
- guilt in the poor slobs who try not to think of sex, hence keeping them
- under tight controll on peril of their immortal souls.
- To paraphrase Ayn Rand's prophetic words- Of course everything is illigal;
- when everything is illigal, everyone is guilty. This is where the true power
- of govornment arises.
- This "legalism" that makes victimless crimes into crimes is what much of the
- Satanic spirit is all about.
- "Cursed are those who tell truth for lies and lies for truth, for they are an
- abomination"-AL (awright, not the most relevant quote, but it portrays the
- spirit of the matter if not the actual crux. It also has the great virtue of
- being one of the S.B. quotes I remember)
- "The most dangerous lie is the sacred lie, the one told to the child while
- on its mother's knee... We must annihalate these lies, exterminate them root
- and branch..."
- IMHO the biggest root of sacred lies in our society is xtianity. Where else
- does these silly pruderies & puritanisms come from? Certainly not the
- cultures of the greeks & romans that ours is supposedly based on...
-
- >> The ones that attempt to dictate action on these topics (like Prostitution
- >> laws & prohibition), which are moral/religious laws rather than common
- >> good laws, are notorious for their failures and extreme repressiveness.
- >> These laws are the ones that are turning our present culture into one
- >> based on fear, repression, hate & mistrust.
- >
- >I agree. The intent of such laws is to control people's =thoughts=. To
- >legislate goodness into people's hearts -- which never works.
- >
- >That's why I don't believe in legalism. It's like trying not to think about
- >sex. It just doesn't work.
-
- Assuming you still hold that some thoughts are "immoral" and should be
- avoided, what is your modus operandi for this? (forgive the hacked latin)
-
- >> Morality cannot be controlled by legislation in anything approaching a
- >> "free" society. With any luck, people will begin to realize this in our
- >> own culture.
- >>
- >>> I agree with Paul the apostle, that this kind of legalism leads to
- >>> judgement, condemnation, self-hatred, hatred, etc, etc, etc.
- >>
- >> Paul (who was not an apostle) is the fellow who is primarily responsible
- >> for this "legalism" in xtianity. He is the one that emphasised purity of
- >> the body & spirit. Shit, Jesus was the one who associated with
- >> prostitutes, not Paul.
- >
- >Paul was not a "disciple", you mean (i.e. he never knew Jesus before he was
-
- I meant exactly what I said. You called him "Paul the Apostle" and I corrected
- you. I made the very large assumption that Paul actually follows the teachings
- of Jesus, which, though it is "common wisdom," is doubtful as shown with a bit
- of reading.
-
- >crucified). Although Jesus spoke out against "adultery", Paul had a much
- >more anti-sexual attitude. He says "it is better for a man not to touch a
- >woman" -- however, I think being married is a much more natural state for
- >people to be in. (I'm getting off the subject again)
-
- Exactly (on all regards with slight exception to marriage; it may be true
- for you, but there are others to whom this does not apply).
-
- >>> Q. How may I know when the will to a couse of action is
- >>> justifiable, or when I am forcing my own personal will which
- >>> may lead to inaction which is equally unjustifiable?
- >>>
- >>> A. By listening within -- there is the answer. For, the
- >>> answer to every problem, the answer to know His way, is ever
- >>> within -- the answering within to that real desire, that
- >>> real purpose which motivates activity in the individual.
- >>
- >> I prefer to use logic & deductive reasoning rather than listening to
- >> hallucinated voices. I think most would agree.
- >
- >Why don't you prejudge words by their author...
-
- "Listening within" sounds like hallucinated voices to me. Many fundies hear
- "the voice of god" in one way or another. Its origins are a mild form of
- psychosis... I've been reading a book by Jullian Jaynes called
- "Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind"
- It is heady stuff & I am still under its spell a bit; I suggest you check it
- out to see of what I speak. It is not accepted by the mainstream but
- at least some of his theory is close to the "truth," as disturbing as it may
- be.
-
- >He did not say to listen to hallucinated voices. He is saying each of us has
- >an intuitive notion of what our purpose is in this world, and we can
- >=choose= whether or not to live it out. Figurtively speaking, we can
- >"listen" or not.
-
- According to Jaynes thesis, there may be very little difference between the
- two...
-
- >In other words, we all know inside whether we are doing what's right or not
- >-- and that's why we don't need legalism.
- >
- >"To thine own heart always be true."
- > -- Shakespere
- >
- >>> These appear at times to become contradictory, of course;
- >>> but know -- as the illustration has been used here --
- >>> attunement, atonement and at-onement are *one*; just as the
- >>> inner self is that portion of the infinite, while the
- >>> self-will or personality is ever at war with the infinite
- >>> within -- for the lack of what may be called stamina, faith,
- >>> patience, or whatnot. Yet each entity, each soul, knows
- >>> within when it is in an at-onement.
- >>>
- >>> -- Edgar Cayce
- >>
- >> Yah, Edgar Cayce probobly _would_ rather listen to his hallucinations.
- >> BTW, I am waiting for atlantis to rise (was supposed to happen in th
- >> 1960's & a couple of volcanoes do not count in my book)
- >
- >Well, the Bimini Wall was discovered within that time frame. (And he didn't
- >exactly say Atlantis was going to rise... Although (obviously) he did
- >believe it existed).
- >
- >Cayce has his prophetic blunders. China was supposed to become the "Cradle
- >of Christianity" by 1968. Check your history book -- Mao and the Communists
- >came in the "Cultural Revolution."
-
- Hmmm. Maybee old Ed did get it right (like the Cybelles; close to the truth).
- In many important sociological & historical ways, communism is an outgrowth
- of xtianity, a similar social phenomenon.
- Examples? "Fundamentalist" fervor & purging (similar to historic witch hunts)
- Anti-intellectualism
- Collectivisation
- Attempted Thought controll
- Deification of leader etc
-
- >Still, his prophecy of "freedom" in Russia has proven to be remarkably true.
-
- Wishful thinking at the time...
-
- >But more still has to happen... Russia's religious development, guided by
- >the US, must become the hope of the world. (But I digress again).
-
- Ah, so Russians are going to become the Satanist nation?! I have always (well
- since the attempted coup) thought this place is primed for a "Captain of
- Industry" (or "Robber/Baron" depending on you point of view) to take charge..
- And yes, these folks are Satanic in deed & occasionally in word. See the life
- of Carnegie & co for many examples.
-
- >>>> Well then Wayne, what about sex? Should we (xtains) let the Homosexuals
- >>>> do their thing if it is of good intent?
- >>>
- >>> I don't know. The only plausable cause of homosexuality I've ever heard
- >>> is the reincarnationist viewpoint: namely, a person incarnates as one
- >>> sex, say
- >>
- >> You call this a plausible cause? Do you have any evidence of
- >> reincarnation?
- >
- >Plausible if you believe in reincarnation, I should have said. And I believe
- >I've already discussed what "evidence" I have of reincarnation.
- >
- >> I'll take the psychological theories as more useful, untill better models
- >> are proposed.
- >
- >What are the psychological theories?
-
- I have heard one that male homosexuality is a way of its practitioner to deal
- with unresolved fears about important male figures in their childhoods.
- Is this true? I dunno... A good test is to see how many homosexual men
- have internal conflicts over male role models vs the ratio of
- similar conflicts in non-closeted "straight" men. I really do not care if
- it is true, but it is a more useful, and testable hypothesis than
- reincarnation (who's prime "evidence" is hypnogogic regression; the same
- technique that brings us UFO abductions, Satanic snuff cults, hidden
- Incest and "abuse" memories & other such dubious things. I find it interetsing
- that most when they regress were nobility of some kind in past lives. How
- is this possible when most people were peasants [my mom's $0.02 BTW. She does
- these regressions as therapy])
-
- >>> and there's also no "why" of quanta, and no "why" of particle-wave
- >>> duality, and no "why" of the uncertainty principle, and no "why" it's all
- >>> probabilistic, with (apparently) nothing deterministic "behind" the
- >>> probabilities.
- >>
- >> Even if everything was rigorously deterministic, I still say there is no
- >> "why" in physics.
- >
- >I agree. However, the lack of determinism does mytify things a bit...
- >don't'cha think? I mean, the location of an electron in an atom ought to be
- >determined by =something=, right? But no "something" has ever been found,
- >just that it's "more likely" to be in one place than another. Maybe it's
- >God, in control of everything after all.
-
- Maybee it is a funny little elf. Maybee you subconsciously controll the
- "determinism" in your sleep (Ever read LeGuin's "Lathe of Heavan"?). Maybee
- QM "indeterminism" is correctly explained by pure wave mechanics (many-worlds
- theory). Untill there is some evidence for any of these ideas (actually there
- are some good arguments for the latter to make QM consistant with general
- relativity) the question is moot as there are in infinite number of equally
- likely theories.
- >
- >> There are, of course deeper levels of "how," & eventually you get silly
- >> questions from asking "how" as well (or perhaps merely unanswered
- >> questions).
- >
- >That was my point... I think we agree on the physics, once the difference in
- >interpretation of "human logic" is cleared up.
-
- Cool. It seems to be a language problem. One must formulate questions with
- a minimum amount of information...
-
- -Scott
-
-
-
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