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You know I never discuss female thermodynamics - Lou; Rescue Me

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The WORD of the Week

Matthew 3:7-10

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Stupid Fact of the Week

There was only one civilian casualty during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg

10 May, 2005

New Posts Coming Soon

I will resume normal posting somewhere in the near future. However, at present, working on a short film script for Mr. Custer is eating up most to all of my creative (or lack thereof) writing "juices." So for now I shall leave you with the following...

There was a post on a friends site several days ago entitled "The Problem of Evil," addressing the issue of evil in this world as it applies to Christians and their having to, I suppose, answer, or justify, its presence while spreading Good news. My comment, for anyone who missed it, follows below. I've also added to it, upon rereading, and noted so with brackets.
---
If we, just for a moment, set aside any religious teachings or writings, and rely solely on our intuition and senses to gather information of this world and determine the existence of a higher power, we come to either one of two conclusions:

A) That there is not now and never was a higher power, and these things we refer to as life, matter, and space are nothing more than the unobstructed happenings of chance; or
B) That there is now, or at one point was, a higher power.

From conclusion B, one can get a multitude of options including:
I) That there was an intelligent designer, but this designer no longer exists as a higher power;
II) That there was no intelligent designer, but there is now a higher power over all life;
III) There was, and shall ever be, a higher power;
so forth and so on.

If conclusion A is decided by an individual to be the true case for this world, it seems hardly distant to consider that evil itself may be, or in fact is, nothing more than the random happenings of chance.

However, if we assume, as do I, that conclusion B is more appropriate, that certain scientific and biological observances mankind has made are far too complex and integrated to be developed by pure chance, we are left with nothing more than the multitude of options with which to solve the, as you say, "problem of evil." Then let us consider conclusion B...

To consider this higher power, which I shall refrain from calling "God" or "Allah" as again I am ignoring momentarily any religious texts or customs and speaking only of human experience, "All-Powerful" is to assume that we as humans comprehend the scope of "Power." What we can truly say of this higher power is that it possesses power above our own, great enough to produce or create all that we can experience through our senses. To think that this higher being does not possess the power, whether it be "All" or no, to control or terminate the creation, reduces the power of the being to a point where it would not be feasible that the being could create all that is created, and thus the thought negates itself. Therefore it seems not that the being cannot control the creation. It would seem more that the higher being will not.

To say that the higher power is "All-Good" once again assumes a comprehension of the spectrum from "Good" to "Evil," or "Bad." Herein lies the crux of the "problem of evil." For if the higher power is, in fact, "All-Good" it would seem that the being is as far separated from "Evil" as is possible. It would stand to reason then that if this world contained evil the higher power would be distant from this world. [As above, we could reason that this higher power is more "Good," or likewise more "Evil," than we, the created, as it would only seem logical that creator, no matter how skilled, could not create something with more of any attribute than he/she/it possesses.] However, since an individual human being only truly knows the integrity of him/herself, if even that, and the integrity of all others remain the intuitive deduction of the senses, he/she can only look within him/herself and see both "Good" and "Evil." But, like Carbauja said, "What is light without dark?... can we have any concept of good without a concept of evil?" We can only compare actions, deeds, or thoughts and classify them as to how we consider them. Is speeding evil? It is illegal. Is killing someone evil? If that person has murdered and been sentenced to death it is legal. If you are defending yourself from death it is legal.

Furthermore, to say that the higher power is "All-Knowing," [or "More Knowing,"] is to say that this being has the most illuminated view of what is "Good" and what is "Evil." Perhaps what we see as evil may not be so. Conversely, what we see as good may, in the all-knowing view of the higher power, be evil.

However, in only examining the human experience, it is impossible to conclude whether the higher power, if one exists, truly possess the attributes prefixed "All-." In the end it all comes down to not religion, but faith.

God is good.

posted by Rockel @ 9:34 PM

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Lyrics of the Week

ON THE NICKEL
by Tom Waits

("I'd like to do a new song here. This is eh, it's about downtown Los Angeles on 5th Street. And eh all the winos affectionately refer to it as The Nickel. So this is kind of a hobo's lullaby.")

sticks and stones will break my bones,
but i always will be true, and when
your mama is dead and gone,
i'll sing this lullabye just for you,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never comb their hair,
well they're lined up all around the block,
on the nickel over there.

so you better bring a bucket,
there is a hole in the pail,
and if you don't get my letter,
then you'll know that i'm in jail,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never say their prayers,
well they're sleepin' like a baby,
on the nickel over there.

and if you chew tobacco, and wish upon a star,
well you'll find out where the scarecrows sit,
just like punchlines between the cars,
and i know a place where a royal flush,
can never beat a pair, and even thomas jefferson,
is on the nickel over there.

so ring around the rosie, you're sleepin' in the rain,
and you're always late for supper,
and man you let me down again,
i thought i heard a mockingbird, roosevelt knows where,
you can skip the light, with grady tuck,
on the nickel over there.

so what becomes of all the little boys,
who run away from home,
well the world just keeps gettin' bigger,
once you get out on your own,
so here's to all the little boys,
the sandman takes you where,
you'll be sleepin' with a pillowman,
on the nickel over there.

so let's climb up through that button hole,
and we'll fall right up the stairs,
and i'll show you where the short dogs grow,
on the nickel over there.