Mia McDavid <mia_mcdavid at attbi.com> writes: > Yeah, but it's still *there*, isn't it? The differences in our > feelings, perceptions and personalities exist, whether they are > material or explicable or quantifiable or not. DDB would probably > argue that they are entirely the result of neurochemical activity in > our brains, and that if they difffer sharply from the norm, we will > someday be able to "correct" them. He would then remove from my > personality the flaw that makes me feel supported by the love of God. > > Maybe, but he's speculating. He would say I'm speculating, too. No, > I can't pick God up in my hands and bring him to you. And, I can't > say; "At precisely 6:00 this evening, God will prove that he exists by > writing "peace on earth" in the sky." I have experience of God that > is entirely subjective, immaterial, and illogical, and I find it quite > convincing. Sure, but we know quite a lot now about where such feelings come from. Brain chemistry gone wrong, basically. > There's a famous quote that says "Faith is the substance of things > hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." DDB has his own > faith--similar to Asimov or Roddenberry, he seems to believe in the > future of humankind, ever evolving toward something wiser and more > rational. I find his faith quite as repellent as he finds mine. As > to whose hopes will be rewarded, we just don't know yet, do we? I have no such faith, sorry. I have *hope*, a very different thing. Faith, for me, is one of the dirtiest of dirty words. -- David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b at dd-b.net / http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/ John Dyer-Bennet 1915-2002 Memorial Site http://john.dyer-bennet.net Dragaera mailing lists, see http://dragaera.info