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Open letter to a philosopher
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Open letter to a philosopher First... my posts are still being manipulated by the powers that be. If an occasional short word and sometimes worse - a single letter - is missing from my posts; rest assured such errors were not in the original writing. I edit documents for a living. 'nuff said. Some of my posts are still being denied outright. Censorship should be the eighth Cardinal Sin. Speaking of sin... my latest novel is all about the idea of sin. It is quite possibly my most intense undertaking as a writer. I tend to question everything before drawing my own conclusion. I was raised Roman Catholic. I call myself a " recovering Catholic " - not unlike a recovering alcoholic or addict. I don't practice the rituals of Catholicism any longer... but they will always remain a part of who I am. Anyway, I occasionally solicit the thoughts of a friend of mine whom I met here on TSdates.com almost seven years ago. She has a brilliant mind and a very stable existence despite all of the obstacles that continue to be thrown in her path. She suggested I ask the hedonistic audience of this<b> forum </font></b>if they might have insight that I might be able to glean in order to flesh-out the characters and concepts a bit better. Up for it? Hope so. The letter went much like this: Greetings fellow humanoid, I'm off work this glorious Tuesday, and with laptop firmly upon my lap found the time and solace to write to you my good friend. I hope this finds you well. I worry about you often because I have yet to hear that you are feeling/doing better. With hardly a detail as to what is going foul... you know me... I always dwell on the worst-case scenario. My concerns are rarely as bad as the realities of situations I find myself in - but knowing what the worst can be usually makes the reality easy to bear. Some call this pessimism. I disagree. The solution to the half-full/half-empty conundrum is quite simple... the glass is obviously too large for the liquid it is containing : ) So, I need to ask more of your level-headed brain in the hopes of moving my latest piece regarding sin a bit more forward. I find many have a difficult time separating God from religion. God, or whomsoever one may choose to call such an entity ( entities? ) is certainly the grand architect of the physical world and the universe that surrounds it. He/She/It exists beyond time and space -- according to some accounts, has counted every hair on your head and knows the movements of every blade of grass in the wind. Religion is a manmade entity ( entities ) which has been handed down from generation to generation, modified as necessary, and is no different than what we call government or even corporations. Basically a set of values - dare I say " morals " - that any and all that claim to be a part of such a community abide by ( or so they claim in public, despite how they behave privately ). So kindly, lovely lady, put aside your religion( s ) and help me get a better grasp on a concept that has been building a wall around what I am trying to write about. Is there an afterlife? Does the spirit actually " go " somewhere after the corporeal body ceases to function? Heaven. Valhalla. Hell. Hades. Purgatory. Limbo. Etc. Knowing what I think I know about the Newton-inspired conservation of energy law ( not a theory -- a physical law ) penned by the French, female philosopher and mathematician Émilie du Châtelet: energy ( much like mass ) can neither be created nor destroyed. Therefore, when one dies, the " energy " of the living being ( call it a soul or spirit or what-have-you ) must " go " somewhere -- like when visible light, heat and smoke are released from a burning log, leaving only ashes behind. IF there is a Heaven/Hell dichotomy, and the soul truly " travels " to one or the other -- is this not what keeps righteous people ( religious or not ) from committing sin? Staying free from sin " just in case " religion is correct? Of course " Karma " - what goes around comes around - plays into this, if one believes in reincarnation, which does not violate the law of energy's conservation. The curveball that keeps being thrown at me - looking like it is about to hit me upon its approach and then sloping down-and-out while pushing me away from home-plate is the concept of Yin/Yang. Despite what my mother may think, and certain texts may convey, I firmly believe that there is exactly the same amount of good as there is evil on this particular planet. It certainly coincides with Karma, and conjecturally dovetails with the law of conservation of energy and mass. So I ask myself, and consequently now - you - is the motivation of a happy afterlife the reason certain people strive to remain sin-free? And if there really is as much good as there is evil among us, what motivates the sinner? Those that read... thank you for your time. Those that comment, thank you for your mind. Cheers! " Her smile had in it something of the intoxication of parched earth after a sudden and furious downpour " -- Henry Miller The Colossus of Maroussi. I sure wish I could write like that! |
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... and here's the obligatory poster-made comment. Your turn : ) " Her smile had in it something of the intoxication of parched earth after a sudden and furious downpour " -- Henry Miller The Colossus of Maroussi. I sure wish I could write like that!
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The missing word situation has persisted here for years. I doubt it is any nefarious plot by the powers that be and instead is a ham-fisted attempt at preventing certain socially unacceptable words from appearing in posts for legal reasons. That said, being a Various, Inc programming endeavour, it is inherently oozing with clusterfuckery of the Class A type. Oddly though, the algorithm doesn't screen the subsequent comments which can be raunchy, inappropriate and politically-incorrect as all get go.
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In some ways, the afterlife and being present with my God in it are factors in my choice to sin or not sin. But for I think mostly, it is the guilt and shame of doing things we know hurt ourselves or hurt others that keeps us from just jumping into the burning pit (proverbial or otherwise). Alternatively, I do believe their are people out there that simply are not capable of guilt or shame and do everything they do (sin or otherwise) in a purely self-serving manner. I think some do become full on sociopaths and some just hide that fact about themselves better to "fit in" with society. I'd like to think that there is more "good" in this world than "bad" - that it isn't perfectly balanced, but I don't have any hard facts to prove that.
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