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Published On: Dec 10, 2006 09:28 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Dec 10, 2006 09:28 AM
DiaBlogue<A>: You Bet!
Dear
Alan,
I appreciate your efforts to be more upfront about your beliefs while Seeking a Better Way. In fact, I agree with pretty much everything you said. Not just that:
I appreciate your efforts to be more upfront about your beliefs while Seeking a Better Way. In fact, I agree with pretty much everything you said. Not just that:
• Love is better
than hate
• truth is better
than falsehood
But also:
But also:
• the way to
improve Christianity is to keep the good stuff and drop the bad stuff, the false
stuff
And even:
And even:
• it might not be
Christianity [as
we know it]
any more when you are done, but what results may be that thing that you are
looking for, a still better way of
living
So, in the spirit of the holiday, I'd like to propose we lay down our arms and focus on those things we have in common (rather than trying to score on each other's goalposts). [Read more] for my summary of what I think those things are.
So, in the spirit of the holiday, I'd like to propose we lay down our arms and focus on those things we have in common (rather than trying to score on each other's goalposts). [Read more] for my summary of what I think those things are.
While reflecting on our various dialogues since
October
31, 2005, I realize that I may have failed to give you credit for the
values you have endorsed on various occasions. In particular, it seems like we
are both willing to bet that:
a.
Happiness is better than
Suffering
b.
Love is better than Hate
c.
Truth is better than Falsehood
d. Truth is
compatible
with both Love and Happiness
e. There are
some
good things about Christianity
f. There are many things
wrong
with Christianity
g. It is both
necessary
and
possible
to improve upon Christianity
h.
Reason and
Empirical
Observation are both key to improving upon
Christianity
Is that a fair summary? Anything you'd add, change, or subtract? I realize you've expressed doubts about, e.g., whether (d) is necessarily true, but like the others I think it is a necessary assumption in order to make forward progress; even if we later discover we need to revise some of our initial assumptions.
Obviously, this sidesteps a number of contentious issues, but -- just for now -- I hope we can focus our efforts on expanding/refining this list of shared beliefs. Willing to give it a shot?
Merry Christmas! (sorry, couldn't resist :-)
Love,
-- Ernie P.
Is that a fair summary? Anything you'd add, change, or subtract? I realize you've expressed doubts about, e.g., whether (d) is necessarily true, but like the others I think it is a necessary assumption in order to make forward progress; even if we later discover we need to revise some of our initial assumptions.
Obviously, this sidesteps a number of contentious issues, but -- just for now -- I hope we can focus our efforts on expanding/refining this list of shared beliefs. Willing to give it a shot?
Merry Christmas! (sorry, couldn't resist :-)
Love,
-- Ernie P.
Posted: Sun - December 10, 2006 at 09:05 AM