Re: The Flat Earth? - Conclusion
Clint Brome (brome@axnd02.cern.ch)
Fri, 30 Jun 1995 19:35:02 GMT
scott@informatik.hu-berlin.de (Matthew Scott) writes:
>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
This sounds alot like "God helps those who help themselves."
I've always taken this to be a statement of the underlying Agnosticism in our
society -- i.e. Santa Claus exists, but only gives presents to the kids whose
parents go out and buy them -- but Santa Claus gives them the strength.
This is the ultimate cop-out, and the ultimate example of Begging the Question.
>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
Sorry, but, I thought God was Omnipotent?
>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
Therefore, you teach them how to open the door, and put butter their own
bread, and help them understand the chances of someone stealing their clothes.
You distinctly do not spend the first twenty years of their life hiding from them
and watching them stumble around completely on their own. Note that helping them
every once in a while from hiding (buttering bread for them while they aren't
lookin) does not comprise a loving parenthood. Any parent who does this is sick.
>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
>.
Clint Brome
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