Thalassa
Permabanned
- Joined
- May 3, 2009
- Messages
- 25,183
- MBTI Type
- ISFP
- Enneagram
- 6w7
- Instinctual Variant
- sx
If every man has beliefs, and every man is a leader (even of himself), then every man is religious. The only thing that varies is what a man is devoted to. Even secular humanists hold that mankind has intrinsic value in and of itself. Their beliefs are entirely faith based, whether they admit it or not. Unfortunately, there are some institutions in which faith and intuition have been relegated to the rank of "inferior byproducts of nature"; meanwhile, rationality has become a fetishistic practice of the "intellectual elite". Even among them, the evidence suggests that rationality proceeds from faith, and that the intellect proceeds from the will. Under the house of reason lies a firm rock of faithful devotion; though the house is sometimes furnished to cover the rock up. This 'rock', I believe, is the spiritual relationship between a man and the rest of everything around him, and even further beyond that to God.
Some of you may have a distaste for organized religion, as though it's a sort of oppressor, or as though the social aspect of it somehow exposes it as "fake". I'm not too privy of it myself, just on gut instinct. But you must admit that it is amazing how some have them have created a balance by harnessing the chaos of the spirit and channeling it into the civilized conduct of the common man. The Truth does not only include scientific fact, but also ethics and personal devotion. Therefore, a man who values the truth cannot correctly justify his own conduct by referring to the natural order which has already been established. The backbone of the Judeo-Christian tradition isn't to cover up the facts, but to remind people to love each other. Though this rule is easily dismissed as crude, it is apparent how quickly we may forget it when we forget the existence of an absolute. We may even forget it still.
Really? It reminds people to love each other? I thought it reminded some people that they were "the chosen people" and reminded still others that while homosexuality is a hideous sin, it's okey-dokey to sell one's daughters into sexual slavery, and dammit she better perform!
When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment. (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)