@caesar-salad saidWhose this now? Another who teaches others to teach themselves?
... does not require your worship or your attention.
... imparts no wisdom or guidelines for behavior.
... has no verbiage to remember or preserve or distribute, which is just as well, because verbiage and its attendant folkways only occur in some of the habitats and venues throughout the Cosmos.
... is content to abide, just so, without ambitions or expectation ...[text shortened]... though of course things do happen somehow anyway.
... by any other name would do and be the same.
@hakima saidNot all who wander are lost.
I particularly like this one from the holy book by Harry Nilsson:
Finally, the two travellers reached what appeared to be the entrance to the Pointless Forest.
It was a huge stony barrier with a small sign at its base which read '
THIS WAY'.
Once on the other side of the barrier, Oblio and Arrow had their first encounter . . .
with the Pointless Man or the Pointed Man . ...[text shortened]... ing a few yards ahead of Oblio - disappeared into a bottomless pit . . .
to the point of no return.
@caesar-salad saidI have reflected on this, that some people have such a need, and come to the conclusion that the problem is not that some people find some religions pointless, but that they find pointlessness problematic.
Have you ever reflected on your implied need for there to be a point?
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-Removed-Well then, let me formulate it differently. Suppose the following: Jesus taught "Keep the Ten Commandments, but above all love God and love thy neighbor as thyself," and that was it. No life after death, no personal immortality, no resurrection, no eternal consequences of any kind whatever. You live once, you die, you stay dead, and if you love God, love thyself, and love thy neighbor, that's all that matters. Open question to all Christian posters: would there still be any point to Christianity? Would the ethical bits be enough for you (plural y'all), without the promise of immortality?
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-Removed-Yes, there is a difference because I'm assuming there is a God who has a message for man but does't impose any sanctions for non-compliance or disbelief and is "content to abide." So, I'm exploring a nuanced difference by asking Christians here whether they would follow commandments (instructions, guidelines) even if there were no eternal consequences and no "requirement" to do so.
@ghost-of-a-duke saidDo you do any? I mean generally, not just this morning.
I wandered into work this morning.
“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
@moonbus saidMaybe some Christians do need both the carrot and the stick: the carrot for the Easter bunny, and the stick for egg-rolling races.
Yes, there is a difference because I'm assuming there is a God who has a message for man but does't impose any sanctions for non-compliance or disbelief and is "content to abide." So, I'm exploring a nuanced difference by asking Christians here whether they would follow commandments (instructions, guidelines) even if there were no eternal consequences and no "requirement" to do so.
As for Chirazolam, I'm not sure It would have a message for humankind or the cosmic diversity of critterkind, or that It even intends to lead by example.