There comes a point

No righteous anger?

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People being dumped in the streets really pisses me off. And justifiably so--I think?

 

I don't necessarily disagree. I suspect that the Dude in the Sky envisioned by many believers is a figment of the human imagination. I really don't have much basis for deciding whether the creative intelligence that may have set things in motion is theistic, deistic, pantheistic or panentheistic. I'm not sure why it matters. I think my religion consists of awe at the wonder of existence, commitment to the example and teachings of Jesus (as well as the Buddha), appreciation of the historical and metaphorical phenomenon of religion and scripture, and a sense of personal meaning rooted in what Tillich calls the Ground of Being--God as a concept, expressing for John Dewey and me the summation of human idealism. I don't see why an atheist couldn't believe that, too, although (s)he'd probably express it in different language. I also have a deep intuitive sense of a Higher Power that is working positively in my life. But I recognize this isn't reliable. So I view my commitment to Christ as a bet. This is admittedly a somewhat different version of Christianity, if it is that, from the one that thinks the most important thing Jesus did was to die for our sins and rise from the grave, although I think he did both, at least metaphorically. I also reject the view that Christianity involves believing unbelievable dogma and creeds. Faith is fidelity, not credulity.

 

Righteous indignation is a mythical creature, a creature with two heads. Like a push me pull you from Dr. Doolittle.
There is no indignity in righteousness and righteousness may not be obtained lest we share it with our brother.
In a space time continuum how do you measure an event? Are you sure you are witnessing the "real drama" of life?
Is your sure and inevitable decline any less "tragic" than theirs?

 

By action you can be saved from judgment, and become a Person of the idealism of the state. At that point realize that you are merely uninvolved.

The event is such a thing of needing people to make your'self' by. And yourself is the Judged, often condemned.

 

Nothing is certain, not even that,and there are lots of things we may not be able to "measure" meaningfully. We can sit on the sidelines on become engaged, and to sit on the sidelines while innocent people have the shit beaten out of them is taking a stand--for cowardice.

 

We are always enormously engaged, there are no idle thoughts.
The individual mind is enormously powerful, the collective mind can marshal the resources of the world. The minds attention to being has resonant effects.
Resonance is large oscillation. Resonance multiplies according to frequency and duration. It has been the evidence of my life that the lion lays down with the lamb. The generation of peace is no small accomplishment.

 

To the original post in the thread, I reply with the fact that I have almost NEVER had a fundamentalist theist respect my opinion, no matter how respectful I approach the debate with them. They just think I'm crazy, try to convert me, and when they find they can't, resort to name-calling or accusing me of having satan in my heart (whatever that means...), etc. etc. The mentality of people like that is that they "have" to be "right" at any cost, and they take it intensely personally if you don't just nod in agreement with them. So the respect has to go both ways. I also try to keep respecting the person, even if I don't respect their opinion, if that makes sense. But they often don't. They're very well-trained to go along with the script, and if you divert them, it really trips them up and they often resort to negativity in their arguments from what I've experienced.

 

Very much a Deist perspective boiled down to great simplicity.