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A revelation! Peeling back another layer of the matrix.
16 years ago
General
No not the movie you fool! The imaginary social construct and interpretation of our world. I was listening to a book on tape about the "hero story" and an interesting point was explored. The common christian/muslim/jewish belief is that the world is divided into good and evil, and this belief fundamentally alters how we live and interpret the world. Good is defined as anything that obeys the worshipped deity's orders while evil is everything else. Thus the world is divided by beliefs, which are good, and the natural world which is evil. Thus people seek to deny themselves their natural impulses and thoughts under the interpretation that these are evil and wrong. Just look in your own lives how this has impacted the world. Why else would sex be considered evil?
However we have on this world of ours entire societies that are not based on this belief system but instead on the idea that good and evil are merely interpretations of the natural world and that both are necessary for existence. Taoism, buddhism and hinduism all share this world view.
I realized after hearing that that I myself had been constrained mentally in my interpretation of the world using the concept of good/evil, when I know logically that those don't exist :o
However we have on this world of ours entire societies that are not based on this belief system but instead on the idea that good and evil are merely interpretations of the natural world and that both are necessary for existence. Taoism, buddhism and hinduism all share this world view.
I realized after hearing that that I myself had been constrained mentally in my interpretation of the world using the concept of good/evil, when I know logically that those don't exist :o
Took the red AND blue pill for that Purple Haze effect.
That, and the purple pill stops heartburn.
i donno that seems pretty fucked up.
In times of darkness one finds light;But it's in the light that the shadows fight.
When all is lost, hope can find seed;
But hope can be blind, and like a choking weed.
With destruction, creation takes place;
But within creation, our very destruction we may face.
For there is no black and white;
But merely shades of grey.
Thus, the essence of Chaos;
The one true path, the Way.
=^.^=
Not really.... but it sure looks fun!
I do acknowledge that there are 3 forces in nature, not two, being Light, Darkness and the Chaos that binds them. This is after observing that some things are neither good nor evil, they just are.
Only thing I'd believe itself is respect and love, the most basic principles, and yes, respect, not to hurt others emotionally or physically. Love? simple, friends and why not, sex!
hell, my dad used to say "After creating us, God gave the human the most wonderful of all gifts, sex"
and is true, God himself told humans to reproduce XD, I wonder why they always cap that from the book...
anyway, I'm getting too much into religion now XD sorry
The idea of nature as evil is very strange to me, as nature flows from God. I'm still not sure whether there's an absolute good or evil; what's good for one person might be evil for another, and whether you are doing good or not depends on who you are (the psychopath is doing VERY good not to kill or injury anyone in a given day, for example).
I hope that makes some sense and adds some more perspective to your thinking. I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking about divinity and spirituality and things like that. I feel like too few people think about it these days.
-BC
That is all
I'm curious, where do you draw the line? It's easy to say that sex is an impulse which is generally negatively regarded in a lot of the monotheistic dominated world, and that it's perhaps not as bad as people claim. But what about impulses of theft or violence? Would societal needs then dominate what actions are regarded as good and evil?
Also, I know you dabble, or perhaps do more than that, in spirituality. And as far as I understand, a lot of spirituality deals with self-control. Well, in that case how would aestheticism play into this idea that good and evil are not "real"? What is the motivation behind self-restraint when there is no moralistic reason to deny yourself of something?
Just curiosity. I've always appreciated your posts about the metaphysical and morality.
Is desire something that is morally wrong? Or is it more about finding some kind of "correct desire"? For example, I could imagine a situation where that desire could be positive (like say the desire to end world hunger as a stereotypical example).
I may be a little bit liberal in that definition - I'd consider rape to be evil, and kink-play with consent to be good - murder, evil, self-defense as a last resort, good - but I feel it's a good way to go about life.
I dont believe sex is evil but its the bond that ties the person who is special to you and yourself together further. I only do it with my mate, no one else and im planning to keep it that way.
IMHO, the only reason that Christians <old style ones> think that sex is evil is coz theyre not getting some... just kidding just kidding XD. Its because sex usually causes sin (adultery, rape, abuse, taking innocence from children, etc etc) which I totally agree with. But its not the embodiment of sex that is evil but the person who wrongfully does whatever he/she wants to.
Then again this comes to another point. Evil does come from the person in the act... the person who decides to do something that he knows is wrong but still keeps on doing it.
Fun movie, all about an African Bushman who finds a Coca-Cola Bottle
Congratulations, you're one step closer to hitting bottom.
</Tyler Durden>
I agree you're getting into Nihilistic sort of stuff, but I think it's important to understand the whole concept of social constructs to truly understand other people's point of view. When you break out of your own you realize a lot of different problems inherent in any society. It's when you have to try to mold back into it to go on with at least some part of your life, that is that hardest.
Also, the way sex became evil to the eyes of most religions is relatively simple; people realized that's how you reproduced, therefore it must be a "godly" function, and since it's one of the most pleasurable things to do (especially back then) indulging in this activity must be evil if doing so only for fun, because that "obviously" not the way Gods wanted us to do it. So there you have it.
I've never followed a religion in particular since I was 8 (and it was a pain to explain my relative atheism to my christian mother, believe me) mostly because it doesn't make any sense no matter how you see it. It takes only three pages in the Bible to stop making sense (if you only count continuity errors, of course).
Are there any christians here that could tell me where Cain's wife comes from at Genesis:4,17?!
The perfect example is Sex/masturbation/etc, because it is precautioned in the common beliefs, it is often taboo-ed. Of course this its self is a cultural paradox; after all, beliefs such as those following the bible truely encourage sexual acts to an extent (How else did "Abraham have so many sons?").
Other evils often occur as paradoxical sins and taboos, such as homosexuality, in which it is considered a supreme evil; dispite it being an equal, if not greater sin to condemn a person for such an evil; the resulting logic would say it makes more sense to say nothing to taboos/sins/evils, and those practicing them to treat them in the same respect as a none taboo (Homosexuality=Being true to partner/lover, in the same respect as a heterosexual relationship would be handled.)
Brain hurting now.