God and Sin

Your opinions are all interesting. They have little to do with our mission as Libertarians, who already agree on the outcome of this discussion, but what the hell, I'm gonna throw in my opinion too. This is my opinion, not any command to agree with me. Skip or read at your leisure.

Before I go there, I am wholeheartedly against using public funds to build monuments to the (perhaps widely misinterpreted) ten commandments. My opinion and Steve's and Rob's (and others) should be well respected by libertarians, since the monument is NOT NECESSARY for a government to operate, and we all agree (I think) on not wasting public funds.

-Mike

<MY OPINION ONLY>
There is no God, if God is a manlike creature up in the sky, or if God created the universe in an act that occured in time as we know it. To me, God *IS* the universe. Alpha and Omega? Beginning and End? That makes a lot of sense if God *is* Time and Space. The great "I AM"? "I think therefore I am" ... Hmm. A great I AM? Maybe that is the core of my consciousness, the part that maybe doesn't die. The part that makes no sense from a purely materialistic perspective, but is obviously there from a subjective self-awareness perspective. But maybe not. I don't know. Maybe God is Time+Space+Consciousness.

I agree with Mike Denny's statements about Law. Law is something that states what will happen, what time and consciousness and physics and nature are going to do, how cause results in effect, what effect will occur given certain circumstances, NOT what an outsider is going to impose on you. American legal system "law" is terribly misnamed. It is not law (how haughty) illustrated by the fact that they can be broken. It is contract, mutual agreement of the public.

As for the 10 commandments, I think they are not only poorly interpreted, but were a poor way of stating wisdom at the time they were stated. Jesus said it much better. "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12) That was wise. The point being, IF you follow this, you will find yourself in heaven. Life will be good. If you don't, you will be in hell, life will be bad. The whole ideas of an actual physical temporal heaven and hell are very fucked up supernatural mystical interpretations.

Here is my interpretation of the 10 pieces of advice:

1. You do not live in any other universe, you live in this one, stop being so damn mystical!
    [if god=universe, then "no other gods" leads to this interpretation]
2. Don't get too engrossed in likenesses: reading, watching TV, looking at photographs, porn, etc. because you will lose touch with reality.
    [worshipping "any likeness of any thing"]
3. Don't discount the laws of physics!
    [if name=reputation, then "take the name in vain" leads to this interpretation]
4. Take breaks.
    [resting on the 7th day]
5. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
    ["honor father and mother"]
6. Don't kill anyone
7. Don't sleep with someone who already has a lover
8. Don't steel
9. Don't lie
10. Curb your desires. (a very buddhist commandment indeed).

I find the bible to be a fascinating book, and when I read it, I am amazed at how badly "Christians" misinterpret it. Most bible authors just didn't get it, obviously. I discount most of it. They got it a little bit, but they weren't all that smart, and a lot of superstition was wound up in there. But if you look at the quotes of a guy named Jesus, he was pretty damn smart in some ways, but then he went off and got himself killed because he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Now, when I read Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, I find much more concentrated wisdom, much more accurate explanation of reality, consciousness, time, and space, and our interpretations. How differences in things create them, how the distinctions we create affects what we see the world as. But still, the guy was IMHO overly passive. Passiveness creates peace, absolutely, but peace isn't what I personally value most at all times. So it's a guide, but only useful if I feel like going in that one direction. Other days I feel like going elsewhere.

When I read Principia Discordia, I think these guys got it even better! They make light of what should be made light of, and subtely expose the true funkiness of reality. All Hail Eris!

I've just been reading Ludwig von Mises, Human Action. This guy is brilliant, and if you read the first 2 chapters, you will get a really good grasp of how to think about consciousness and the human mind... that there very well might be lots of stuff that we cannot possibly comprehend, but that since we can't, no sense talking about it.
</MY OPINION ONLY>