From: arnaldo (arnaldo@apex.net)
Date: Sun Feb 28 1999 - 17:29:24 MST
J.R. Molloy... whoever Adrian is just tell him what Voltaire would tell... this
world is full of superfluous, so lets get rid of them with the offer of eternal
life from the supreme being, whatever its denomination.... or just ignore them?
arnaldo
"J. R. Molloy" wrote:
> 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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