God, Brain & Belief.

by Blueblades 25 Replies latest jw friends

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  Terry

  My point was you said 'you aren't likely to want to embrace.....' and many do.

  And if on leaving ones comfort zone is it necessary to become a masochist!

  Oh.
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  fifi40

  So do you like rap music or is it just something you torment yourself with!
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  Narkissos

  Terry,

  I liked what you wrote.

  You might enjoy Camus' novella "The Renegade" (in Exile and the Kingdom): it's the disturbingly fascinating story of a missionary who goes through successive conversions but cannot help preaching contradictory theses, until death mercifully silences him.
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  Terry

  So do you like rap music or is it just something you torment yourself with!

  My purpose in listening to music I don't ___naturally___find myself drawn to is this. I don't want to simply dismiss something because it doesn't appeal to me. That is ignorance. I want to give myself conversancy. I want to get to the point I understand what I'm doing when I react negatively. I want to be open to changing my point of view based on SOMETHING rather than a knee-jerk reaction.

  I've listened to a lot of rap and hip hop to form an opinion.

  My general opinion follows; for what it is worth.

  Any form of musical expression is valid. It is, after all, self-expression. The question then becomes what sort of SELF is being expressed. Look at extremes. Richard Wagner wrote sublime classical music (Tristan und Isolde) yet, was a loathesome beast as a person. The music expresses something that obviously was IN THE MAN which was a counter-balance to the awful part. If we reject Wagner's music because he was an asshole we miss out on a transcendance of expression that nourishes the soul.

  On the other end of the spectrum.....

  Rappers express themselves less in the MUSIC (melody/harmony) than in the words and rhythms. The content directly contains specificity of personal philosophy. What one reacts to is laid out pretty bare. If I reject the content of the words I'm not dismissing anything more than a point of view which is clear.

  I find rap music to be clever, energetic and ignorant on one extreme and brilliantly evocative yet empty on another level. It is artful and instinctive, yet, often derrivative and cliched. It has more personality than regular "white music" because the point of view is extremely strong.

  Mostly, rap music saddens me. I wonder what sort of mind would settle for the downside of life (keepin it real) without creating an upside that improves the situation.

  The yin and yang of music is Country Western (cryin in your beer, my wife's been cheatin on me) and Rap music (bitches and ho's and shootin' stanky cops.)

  I personally prefer jazz from the 50's, classical music, Steely Dan, sound tracks. White bread boy am I.
• 

  Terry

  I liked what you wrote.

  You might enjoy Camus' novella "The Renegade" (in Exile and the Kingdom): it's the disturbingly fascinating story of a missionary who goes through successive conversions but cannot help preaching contradictory theses, until death mercifully silences him.

  Yes, I find the worst thing about myself to me is that I've lost all credibility with me.
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  proplog2

  It is scary to become unplugged from the matrix. Its a choice. But those who have discovered their life is just a story they agree to believe and still choose to be plugged in - become the worst fanatics.

  It is evident that many here leave JW's but they are still plugged in, they are looking for another God, Religion - imaginary "forever".