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A Philosopher and 3 Theologians Go Into a Bar...

5/26/2012

5 Comments

 
First an experiment:

A Fall From Grace

He fell so gracefully
for a moment it looked liked he meant it.
The fall was perfectly balanced like the sweep of a dancer's arm in reverence
or the endless curve at the base of a spine inviting the hand or head to seek asylum.
The fall from grace can be subtle, a flower following the sun
or sudden as the jerk of the rope.
I never learned what caused his fall
something simple, a mere turn of the screw
or complex as the port de bras.
For me it was the arch of an eyebrow
and blindness in a careless moment.

rs


I recently listened to four talking brains discuss the question "Do we need a new morality for the 21st century?" Three of the brains belonged to theologians and one to a philosopher.  The religious brains agreed that it is time for a new moral compass, maybe because the ones they have been selling aren't working very well.  They worry that their various Abrahamic religions can't handle a world where barriers between people are dissolving and personal identities are fluid.  Our atheist brain notes that building barriers between groups of people is what religions are good at, their "divinely inspired" beliefs are justification for our natural tribal instinct. He believes we should fix the compass we have in hand by putting our faith in this world.  The churches find themselves in the unfortunate position of having to find a new ethic to replace a worn out system of beliefs.  They need to convince people that god has changed his mind and life in this world really does matter as much as singing his praises with the heavenly host in the great beyond.  Yeah, good luck with that.  

On one point all the brains agreed - responsibility must regain primacy over rights. Nonsense.  Let's ask the poor and oppressed and I suspect they have had quite enough of responsibility - for feeding families, for causing the rich to pay taxes, for doing the jobs no one else wants, for famine and over breeding....  Responsibility and the common good are fine ideas for the affluent fortunate enough to live in democratic societies relatively free from religious tyranny...fine ideas they tend to ignore in favor of rights, the right to take as much as they want, to pull the ladder up after themselves, to rape, pillage and kill the planet like drunken pirates and robber barons in a meth fueled frenzy.

Oh this is becoming boring and preachy.  Sorry to anyone who is still reading this swill.  That's all I have for now.
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