From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Sun Feb 28 1999 - 09:15:00 MST
Adrian wrote,
> ...I also believe
>that such a supreme being doesn't want or need to be worshipped by us or
>anyone else. But I do believe that he is good and will bring us back in an
>afterlife a la Frank Tipler (Massive "Holy" computers with data retreived
from
>the light cone).
Sounds like a cagey kind of supreme being. Anyway, whatever created this
"supreme being" seems immensely more deserving of my attention than a paltry
deity that can't even provide evidence of its own existence (or even make
its name known -- some call it Allah, others call it Jehovah, etc.). The
Natural Laws that formed the universe, accordingly appear more interesting
than a bank of holy AI dedicated to retrieving ego-laden protoplasmic
carbon-based molecules.
As an aside, the so-called Western religions seem somewhat cheap, in that
they only supply one supreme being among them. Other religions supply
thousands of gods. In fact, I think someone mentioned on another list that
cataloguing all the gods mentioned by theists of all persuasions (worldwide)
yields a total of around 2,500 gods. But since you only believe in _one_
supreme being, that means that you and I share a disbelief in 2,499 gods. By
eliminating belief in that last remaining god, we'd have perfect agreement
between us, since we've just now established that we agree except for that
tiny percentage of theism.
>I still call him God because this theology is also for non extropians.
Well, if "God" exists for non-extropians as well as for extropians, it would
appear that no advantage accrues to connecting oneself with extropy, because
the Supreme Being (rather than self-determined responsibility) will decide
who has been naughty or nice. So, if the Supreme Being wants the Extropy
Institute to prosper, then nothing anyone can do will prevent it. And if the
Supreme Being wants the Extropy Institute to fail, nothing anyone can do
will save it. So, just pray to your Supreme Being, and let the less
spiritually enlightened extropians toil away at their nanotech and neural
networks, never knowing about the Supreme Being's grand plan. In addition,
if it doesn't matter whether extropians believe in this Supreme Being or
not -- "such a supreme being doesn't want or need to be worshipped by us or
anyone else" -- then why mention the rascal at all?
--J. R.
PS: If this all seems too off topic, we can resume the discussion privately
if you choose.
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