Re: The Flat Earth? - Conclusion

Matthew Scott (scott@informatik.hu-berlin.de)
30 Jun 1995 16:52:13 GMT

rogerw@cisco.com (Roger M. Wilcox) writes:

>In article <3sinfh$a4a@dingo.cc.uq.oz.au> shelter@peg.apc.org (Madhudvisah dasa Swami) writes:
>>cca93039@sun1.bham.ac.uk (ET Chilton) wrote:
>>
>>>ahh I seee its all so clear now. By the way if I want to work out how far away
>>>a star is how do use your theory to get an answer?
>>
>>We have books... The Vedas. You just read them. It's very simple.

>That's odd, I don't remember any of the Vedas mentioning the distance to
>Alpha Centauri or Betelgeuse. What was the method the Vedas proposed for
>measuring interstellar distances again?

>>
>>There is a nice story about an old lady who was collecting firewood in the
>>forest. She had collected quite a big bundle and was carrying it on her
>>back. Then something happened and the bundle fell on the ground. It was
>>very heavy and she didn't know how she would pick it up again. So she
>>cried out "God help me.." And God appeared saying, "Yes, you called Me.
>>What do you want?" So she said, "Please God could you put this bundle on
>>my back again..."

>And ... ? Well, don't keep us in suspense, Swami, tell us what happens next!

I've been watching this thread, and figure it's time to put in 2 cents for the
fun of it. You will notice, that the old ladie's answer to gods question was
not "please send my bundle home so that I can use it" She asked only very little
of God.. that he help her to carry her own load in a moment when her strength was
too little. This is exactly what our relationship with God should reflect. We
accomplish what we can with our own power. If there is something that is particularly
important, but we can not manage it alone, it is time to ask for help. Not in that
God makes everything easy for us, just possible. First of all, it's not really
a particularly important question (in the large scheme of things) what the distance
to the stars in question are. Second, our capability to measure this distance is
adequate. Therefore, it is by no means time to expect an emergency message from
God about the distance to a star. Keep in mind that God is a parent with a lot of
responsibilities. If he spent his time answering such relatively insignificant
questions, his kingdom would surely fail because there wouldn't be enough strength
left to answer the really important ones... like how might people manage to get along
with eachother and act as one. We develope ourselves when we practice our skills.
This is Gods desire. If you want God to answer your question, then you'll have
to wait until he feels that it is important for you to know, and that the personal
developement that you might acquire by seeking the answer yourself is
relatively insignificant. As a dad, I don't appreciate it when children come and
interrupt me every five minutes to open the door, or to put butter on their bread,
or to post guard in their rooms to make sure no one borrows their clothes. My life
consists of more important matters, and my children develope in that they begin to
manage their own concerns. Do you catch the drift? I don't consider swami to
be any sort of super authority. I think he talks too imprecisely, and I doubt
he could answer a lot of significant religious questions like..where does God come
from and why should he exist? He would probably give the same old "we mortals are
just too puny to understand such great truthes". On the other hand, he seems to
have a few well screwed bolts even if others are a little loose.

scott@informatik.hu-berlin.de
.