Subj : Doubt
To   : RICHARD M. MEIC
From : LEE LOFASO
Date : Sun Aug 05 2001 10:54 am

Hello Richard,

>LL>My, my.  You've managed to miss the whole point of virtually
>  >everything that has ever been said or written in this conference.

RMM>This coming from one who has gone out of his way to ignore the very words
RMM>that prove otherwise?

What words might those be?

>LL>Locking yourself up in your own little box is not going to help
>  >you to be able to think for yourself.  At least not critically.  And
>  >until you manage to start >>using whatever little critical thinking
>  >skills you now have,

RMM>How would you know what skills I have at thinking critically?

From your past posts.  But given that you now claim to *have* those
skills, perhaps you can conduct a test of soundness and validity for a
simple syllogism dealing with Doubt.  As in all true syllogisms, there
are two premises and one conclusion.

Premise 1  - Every firm belief is presumption.
Premise 2  - The existence or nonexistence of God cannot be proven.
Conclusion - Therefore, only a theory of probability can exist.

What this all means, in matters of religion, is that the fact of
believing or not believing is of absolute insignificance.  To believe
or not to believe is a purely intellectual orientation.  Hence, the
need to take refuge in Doubt (which is a philosophy).

This whole thing about the Tree of Knowledge has nothing to do with
the notions of good and evil, since it is impossible to prove the
existence or nonexistence of God.  The best that one can hope for is
probability.  Nothing more, nothing less.  With humility and wisdom,
we might grow to learn and understand.  But only within the confines
of our own experiences.

RMM>You have ignored everything I said after Pogo... and now you
   >even ignore the special grasp I had of that topic.

Nobody is ignoring what you have written.  But it would help if you'd
write something of significance rather than tripe.  You've shown an
ability to write well, and constructively.  But not consistently.

<babble deleted>

--Lee


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