For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary. Religion, on the other hand, deals only with evaluations of human thought and action: it cannot justifiably speak of facts and relationships between facts.
The mystical trend of our time, which shows itself particularly in the rampant growth of the so-called Theosophy and Spiritualism, is for me no more than a symptom of weakness and confusion. Since our inner experiences consist of reproductions, and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seems to me to be empty and devoid of meaning.
The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.
I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence could excuse Him.
The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life. To make this a living force and bring it to clear consciousness is perhaps the foremost task of education. The foundation of morality should not be made dependent on myth nor tied to any authority lest doubt about the myth or about the legitimacy of the authority imperil the foundation of sound judgment and action.
I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own - a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms.
cumbersome thoughts
I sometimes wonder why I have a blog at all. I don’t really use it that much. Plus I don’t think anyone is actually interested in reading it.
But what I DO know is that BBC TV’s “Sherlock” is about five billion times better than that Hollywood, Robert Downey Jr - Jude Law monstrosity of a movie franchise that is currently polluting the legacy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. Need I say more? Watch it, please.
BLOOM
(Placing his right hand on his testicles, swears.)
existence
It is not possible to prove or disprove the existence of god, so therefore the concept of ‘god’ is irrelevant.
And if god does exist, any being who allows this amount of human suffering to endure over thousands of years is a being that is not worth believing in.
Just my opinion.
book smart, street stupid
I was sitting in Renaissance Coffee for lunch the other day, watching the world go by the window, when I heard faint singing…a young chorus of voices rising from the deep…and yes, they were singing an Adele song…rather off-key, in my opinion.
Now, in some cases, street singers can be quite lovely. But, in others (as was this instance), street singers can become perverted into a kind of terrorist: an aural terrorist.
Aural terrorism occurs when completely innocent bystanders (like myself) are subjected to unsolicited and utterly destructive performances of absolute horror. Horrific, and oftentimes tragic, performances of song. Such was I afflicted this day.
So, I do implore any who aspire to public performance: please try to practice first.
