I feel for you, Tatiana. I wonder if my relationship with my mother will ever change for the better. I sympathize.
I'm glad at least she asked for you. Deep down, she cared. Too bad she was blinded all her life by the religion...
for any old-school ex-jws here that remember my many posts about my abusive jw mother and my sister committing suicide because of it...she passed away this morning because she began to bleed out and refused a transfusion.
she had been in the hospital for a month.
it appears she suffered a stroke and wasn't found by the brothers & sisters for three days (they missed her at the meetings).
I feel for you, Tatiana. I wonder if my relationship with my mother will ever change for the better. I sympathize.
I'm glad at least she asked for you. Deep down, she cared. Too bad she was blinded all her life by the religion...
is it the united states of america?
is it democracy?
is it communism?
And I think it won't even be disastrous or untenable.
Untenable, in the sense that cheap labor will no longer come from people, but machines... dependent on fossil fuels or hopefully by them some alternative fuel.
Upper income countries, for example, do a far better job protecting the environment these days than poor countries. -BTS
Tell that to the US and China... They are the main reasons for Global Warming...
Morality is based on objective truths not opinions. -Cofty
And these objective truths are material truths.
Biggest issue right now to solve, would definitely be finding alternative fuels. I wonder how massive migrations due to Global Warming flooding will affect our moral compass. When we are faced with the grim realities of sharing our space with people we don't necessarily agree with... whoooo boy.
is it the united states of america?
is it democracy?
is it communism?
Yes there will always be gaps between the rich and the poor, but for the sake of social harmony, isn't it in our best interest to reduce the gap? - Jgnat
I won't argue with you there. The problem is in the overall consumption these countries will now begin exhert on the earth.
is it the united states of america?
is it democracy?
is it communism?
I don't understand. I am talking about morality and you are talking about resources.
The best thing the Taliban could do for the prosperity of their own society is to emancipate and educate their women. - Cofty
Once those women are educated, along with the Muslim society in general, they will demand and want the same luxuries we take for granted. This puts a huge strain on what is already a taxed world.
You can't separate morality from economy, Cofty. Sorry.
is it the united states of america?
is it democracy?
is it communism?
I highly recommend the book, it is the most lucid and compelling argument against the myth that you "can't get an ought from an is".
Cofty, can you expand on that? I don't quite understand. My understanding is that just because something 'is', doesn't mean you 'ought' to do it?
is it the united states of america?
is it democracy?
is it communism?
The Taliban think it is good to keep half of their society uneducated and dressed in a black bag. They are wrong.
Meh... says you.
We should not excuse this sort of error on the basis or cultural relativism. It is not up to personal opinion, nor is it a matter of preference or might-is-right.
We simply don't have the resources for that. With limitless resources, sure. Reality is a whole other deal. Simply put, the whole world cannot become the US, nor Britain in your case, because the only reason there exists 'freedom' in these countries is the existing infrastructure supplied with quantious resources.
It sounds terrible, but the implications of every single human being moving up to at least the middle class is disastrous and untenable.
i believe christ is god.
when i left the witnesses i believed i had to be agnostic.
through a scheduling conflict, i studied the new testament in college.
Lol.
Beer and sex combine.
I almost typed bear and sex. Not good...
is it the united states of america?
is it democracy?
is it communism?
or for Lot to offer his daughters for rape in Sodom
Lot's daughters got him drunk to get pregnant...making them some what sluttish... there is no such thing as 'consenting rape', lol.
imagine that it was possible to precisely measure the amount of suffering in the world at any given moment - a cosmic "pain meter".
decide for yourself what the unit of measurement would be.. we can only imagine a fraction of the combined suffering that is being felt right now.
physical pain, emotional despair, grief, desperation, loss, terror and hopelessness.. of course if there is an omniscient god then he knows to the last iota what that theoretical meter would read right now.. the bible contains a number of answers to the question of suffering - ever since the babylonian exile one popular answer has been to blame his nemesis the devil, "we know that we are children of god, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
Sorry bout that, cofty. Seeing as you didn't contribute much, it was just me 'n bohm going at it. I tried my best with it, but he bested me.
I still think we can get something out of it, though. If God indeed doesn't exist, and the choices that we can make are in our hands, how can we reduce this "Cosmic Pain" meter? What can we, as virtual gods of this planet, do? Perhaps we are gods in development...
imagine that it was possible to precisely measure the amount of suffering in the world at any given moment - a cosmic "pain meter".
decide for yourself what the unit of measurement would be.. we can only imagine a fraction of the combined suffering that is being felt right now.
physical pain, emotional despair, grief, desperation, loss, terror and hopelessness.. of course if there is an omniscient god then he knows to the last iota what that theoretical meter would read right now.. the bible contains a number of answers to the question of suffering - ever since the babylonian exile one popular answer has been to blame his nemesis the devil, "we know that we are children of god, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
so its not very fair of you to make it sound like i am unreasonable just for pointing out there is such a distinction to be made.
I absolutley agree. The line gets drawn, but in cases like this, it's an opinion based decision. The distinction needs to be made, but the distinction isn't agreed upon.
So do you think sperm+egg is the same as a child, morally? If a man rape a 11 year old, should we then do something to stop the pregnancy even though she might allready be pregnant?
Yes. The fetus is the same as a child. The other question is a hard one. I realize the consequences that having that baby would produce for the 11 year old. Potential loss of gaining education. Ill-feelings towards the baby. Not enough means to support the child.
However, we all face challenges in life, some to a much greater degree, some to less. To know that I took a life, even if the life produced in me wasn't of my choosing or my fault, would be a crushing weight too large for me to handle. I'd know I had committed a crime. It hits home, because my mother contemplated aborting me, and I understand the situation she was in. She decided to keep me, and here I am. That's all I can say.