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And yet not so different after all. What possible reasons could exist that so many of Jesus' messages were so eerily similar to Buddha's.
Coincidence?
DD
No, common sense. Any reasonably intelligent person off the street in any country in any century could have come up with pretty much the same set of moral codes. As our founders said, they are self-evident.
No, common sense. Any reasonably intelligent person off the street in any country in any century could have come up with pretty much the same set of moral codes. As our founders said, they are self-evident.
So then they weren't (as our Christianist brethren would have us believe) "inspired by God the Father"; rather, by common sense.
So then they weren't (as our Christianist brethren would have us believe) "inspired by God the Father"; rather, by common sense.
DD
You're beginning to catch on.
When human beings evolved to the point at which they could make rational choices, it became necessary to have some guidelines about the boundaries for those choices, beyond which social organization would fail. This was probably trial and error at first, and then men discovered that they needed each other in cooperative ways, so killing people was not conducive to the interests of a community. Those who failed to act in a way that befitted the group, found that the group did not flourish as well as groups where a moral code was adhered to. Looking around and seeing the social consequences of killing and stealing was so easy, even a cave man could do it. What fool would not build those into a moral code? And that's really all that there is in any of the moral codes of the followers of Jesus, except for the parts about worshiping God.
or, common sense could also mean... divine inspiration :O
It could mean that human beings have well developed brains, which I'm pretty sure of. And that species that survive do so because they learned to do things that were consistent with survival. There is objective scientific evidence of that.
It could also mean manipulation by aliens. It could also mean that good (vs. evil) is a universal constant, like gravity. It could also mean that human sperm is the highest life form, and they evolved highly complex human carriers to improve their own chances of survival. Or it could mean that there is some vain god somewhere that makes the universe do what he selfishly needs done for his own ego (i.e., divine inspiration). For now, I'll stick with the one that fits the general pattern of observable phenomena, and not go off half-cocked on the tenuous, highly speculative ones.
It could mean that human beings have well developed brains, which I'm pretty sure of. And that species that survive do so because they learned to do things that were consistent with survival. There is objective scientific evidence of that.
It could also mean manipulation by aliens. It could also mean that good (vs. evil) is a universal constant, like gravity. It could also mean that human sperm is the highest life form, and they evolved highly complex human carriers to improve their own chances of survival. Or it could mean that there is some vain god somewhere that makes the universe do what he selfishly needs done for his own ego (i.e., divine inspiration). For now, I'll stick with the one that fits the general pattern of observable phenomena, and not go off half-cocked on the tenuous, highly speculative ones.
What if the aliens were angels, and their "manipulation" manifested as the passing on of divine wisdom, which is consonant with survival both as animals and as thinking beings?
What if the aliens were angels, and their "manipulation" manifested as the passing on of divine wisdom, which is consonant with survival both as animals and as thinking beings?
Well, prove that there are aliens, then, and you'll have proved that there are angels.
Well, prove that there are aliens, then, and you'll have proved that there are angels.
Only if one accepts the premise that they may be one and the same. But don't you find it fascinating that so many of the world's religions and spiritual sects make reference to visitors from on high with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men?
And who, disguised as mild-mannered reporters for a great metropolitan newspaper, fight a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way?
(Sorry about that second paragraph. It just seemed appropriate...)
Only if one accepts the premise that they may be one and the same. But don't you find it fascinating that so many of the world's religions and spiritual sects make reference to visitors from on high with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men?
Theologians widely hold that Man is the center of God's creation. Don't you find that fascinating, since all theologians are Men?
Theologians widely hold that Man is the center of God's creation. Don't you find that fascinating, since all theologians are Men?
Unless one has found a way to discuss theology with non-humans, that's pretty much what what we're stuck with.
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