One loving and courageous person at a time.



Agreed. I'd consider it a potential for greater evil if the national government decided for all the states.

...

Also, I watched the near death experience of a boxer/pastor who witnesses to a heaven populated in part by the souls of aborted children from Christian homes.

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When it comes to beliefs I think consistency are more of a problem when views are being attacked then when they are adopted.
Everyone has inconsistencies.

Like how right-wingers are pro-life and pro-death penalty, and left vice versa, both clinging to "sanctity of life" and "choice" as arguments for the stance.

I think the abortion-issue goes to the deepths of what a human being are.
Some people view humans as having a metaphysical soul seperated by thought and reason/experience.
While other people believe it is consciousness/awareness that makes us human, and they believe those qualities are not there yet in a fetus.

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Is the cup half-full or half-empty? Neither, the cup is the rightful domain of air,
and water are the imperialistic invader that must be fought by all means neccesary.
Drink it.

Agreed. Metaphysics vs. Materialism is a core issue. The theory of a metaphysical man goes back to the philosophy of Socrates (in Plato's writings) regarding the Theory of Forms. If you agree with Socrates that the immaterial is what constitutes the most fundamental kind of reality, then the acceptance of a soul as the most fundamental and enduring reality of the human person is not difficult. But the only way to accept that the immaterial is more fundamental than the material is to give greater weight to the intuitive rather than the sensorial capabilities of the human person. Trust your intuition; not your senses--Socrates says.

What I love about this theory is that the New Physics is now pointing toward a more stable extra-dimensional reality like the world of Forms. By using intuition, logic and empirical evidence, our physicists are expanding our understanding of "reality," and my hope is that some day soon, Socrates's intuitive-logical notions will be proven right by empirical evidence coming from the quantum realm.

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On a related topic, I recommend the book, "Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering Our Biological Need For Meaning, Spirituality and Truth."

http://www.amazon.ca/Why-Believe-What-U ... 0743274970

Good point. I mean, I would totally support a complete ban on abortion but I also recognize that it wouldn't improve things that much unless it was accompanied by a huge change of heart among the general population.

We can start with people like bromide.

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"It is a melancholy fact that massive works of the intellect do not spring from the abstract workings of the brain and the imagination; they are deeply rooted in the personality." -Paul Johnson

INFP, 4w5 sx/sp

Andrew Newberg takes a very interesting position in the Religion and Science discussion. I think it's about time that a person from the relatively young field of applied science called medicine, wedged himself into the debate and started showing one extreme that religious experience is not necessarily based on abnormal psychology but normal processes of a normal brain, and the other that the individual subjectivity has the will to shape the experience of the supernatural. He certainly deepens the discussion as he claims.



It really is all about a change of heart. And of being Salt, Leaven and Light.

Now would be a good time to quote that famous passage from The Little Prince: "It is with the heart that one sees rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." And what I mean by that is that it is only too easy to be overwhelmed by all the bio-physical, psycho-emotional and socio-economic considerations a mother has to go through in this complex world that we lose sight of the fundamental value of human life in its earliest stage.

Thing is, we will fail to grasp the ultimate value of human life if we don't embrace a fundamentally supernatural perspective. We are so weighed down by the negative consequences of the fall of man, and are increasingly losing sight of the immanence of the supernatural in the world, that we fail to see how the Spirit of God moves persons to build supportive communities around children and the families that are supposed to be there to raise them. It takes nothing less than supernatural hope to embrace a fully pro-life attitude - otherwise, we will always be deceived into thinking that the here and now are the primary if not the only considerations - and fail to see how the spiritual has an exponential effect on our capabilities as one enlightened humanity to forge creative, life-giving solutions. I'm not just referring to some floozy notion of supernatural spirituality here - but the C.S. Lewis type of spirituality (read: Mere Christianity) that is inevitably rooted in the very nature of our existence as intelligent creatures.

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The thing that I liked about Dr. Newberg's work is that he leaves space for all types of belief. He doesn't try to dismantle the rightness of an arguement, but shows that people have valid reasons for believing what they do based on what's going on in their noggins.

I believe, in the spirit of this thread, that the book that I linked to above should be required reading for everyone. But then that's just my opinion .

ALL of my beliefs are unpopular.


1) economic growth is unsustainable
2) most "mental illnesses" are no more (and no less) biological than being a musician, believing economic growth is sustainable, or enjoying NASCAR. They all have biological correlates.
3) those who diagnose children with serious "mental illness" that "require" medication should be charged with child abuse
4) the proper and improper use of apostrophes in denoting plurals is not that difficult to grasp.
5) hockey players who engage in fights should be suspended for 10 games, 2 fights in one season should result in suspension for the season
6) women in knee braces or foot casts double their sex appeal

Merry _politically correct holiday of your choice_!

#5 is just crazy, but the rest are OK.

Wow, interesting thread...

I have to say, I am living in a perfect example of how multiculturalism DOES work. The large city I live in has a colourful variety of races, religions and cultures, the majority of whom live peacefully side-by-side. We have mosques, synagogues, Hindu temples, Sikh temples, a Jain temple, Cathedral, churches of all varieties, two Bhuddist Centers, Quaker meeting house, etc etc...and a great "inter-faith" council which connects them all. I am proud to be a member of such a large peacefully functioning multicultural society.

Abortion is a sensitive topic. I don't think that women who decide to have abortions should be judged until you've walked in their shoes. I do believe that women who decide to have abortions should be better informed of what the procedure involves. Many don't realise that late-term abortions involve an actual delivery not unlike giving birth full-term...and people get traumatised by this. Women should be educated about the procedure, the developmental stage of the fetus/embryo, and the likely after-effects. Making abortion illegal would not stop women from getting abortions - they would just do what they used to do and have 'back street' abortions leading to many deaths from sepsis. I don't think you should be able to have an abortion on a 'whim' (though not sure anyone actually does). But surely in some cases, for example if there is a condition meaning that the mother cannot carry a child to term without the likelihood of her dying, is it not reasonable for an abortion to be carried out then? Is it not better to take an unborn child than a woman who may already be somebody's wife/mother/sister etc? Also what about when the unborn child has such severe physical/developmental problems that they will not survive when born - should the mother have to carry that child for nine months only to lose it? I don't think it's as black-and-white as "pro-life" or "pro-choice".

Somebody mentioned soldiers killing in war. I think we have to look at the background that leads them there. Some of us are born to parents and families who are anti-war. But some are born to parents who teach them that war can be justified and soldiers are heroes. They grow up watching adverts for battleships and toy soldiers. The military recruits people YOUNG. 16 years old here. While they're still malleable. They then systematically brainwash them and control their every movement. Many people who go to war don't sign up for that. They don't realise that even a cook can be handed a rifle and told to kill. My boyfriend signed up to do bomb disposal - so he could diffuse explosives and make land mines safe, etc. He wanted to save lives. He was sent to Iraq for "peacekeeping duties", but was crossed over to the war effort while he was there, targeting missiles. What could he have done - run away in the middle of a desert? They controlled his existence, his food, his water, his safety, his flight home. They told him that nuclear weapons were being targeted at his family back home and that their actions were averting world war 3...how was he to know that all this was a lie? He now lives with so much guilt he can barely function. He carries that guilt when he was just a pawn in a game controlled by the people at the top we never get to see - but they don't feel any guilt. I believe he is only human and did the best he could with the knowledge he had at the time. He was only 21. He'd gone straight from school into that. I believe and killing is a crime and what he did was wrong. But I also know he was deceived and brainwashed. I don't think it's the same as somebody who goes out and murders in cold blood. I also don't think he is as culpable as the people at the top, who decide to send their loyal troops into such aggressive and dangerous situations.

Just my 2 cents...

Oh, and these are some of my unpopular beliefs:

- killing animals (including fish) should be illegal and as harshly punished as killing human beings, unless there's absolutely no choice (eg in a real survival situation, or if you're being attacked by an animal)

- I don't agree with the 'family unit'...I think things would work better if we lived sort of tribally, with joint responsibility for children etc.

- Children should have the same rights as adults. If they're hit - even smacked/spanked - that should be "assault".

- as others here have said, parenting shouldn't be a 'right' and people should be vetted/educated before being allowed to have children.

- Voluntary Euthanasia should be legal in some circumstances.

I'm sure there are many more, but that's all I can think of right now......

I knew you'd like that one. Good thing I didn't list what should happen for the third infraction...

Another: Yoga with no trace of mental practice isn't yoga. Some of my jock friends really resent this one. So I make sure to mention it a lot.

I can imagine this would remove a lot of society's horrors at the moment. It would possibly help to eliminate child abuse. No secrets in a community, as long as the community is a good one.

SO MANY of society's problems stem from a history of terrible parenting, with nobody breaking the cycle/chain.

Actually, I agree in principle with many of your beliefs... just not as strongly in the cases of animal rights and punishment for children, as I would be a hypocrite there (which is not to say that I'll hit my children--just that I was smacked as a child and it didn't damage me. I do understand that many take it way way way too far though, and that the more sensitive child would be much more affected).

My thoughts exactly.....

the problem is that in multicultural areas what usually happens is that the
blacks, Hispanics, Asians, whites all live together amongst their own and don't interact much with the other races. This is what has happened in
New York City for example. We are biologically designed to want to be around people who are similar to us and race/ethnicity is a factor, as loath
as most white people are to admit it.

as Ilana Mercer explains:

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/putnam-59065-diversity-social.html



Obviously racial diversity doesn't negatively effect everyone. Some people are just fine with it. But those who dogmatically insist we NEED other races living among us are not to be trusted. My mother grew up in a completely white suburb of Minneapolis (Scandinavians, Germans, maybe a few French) and things there were just fine.

_________________
"It is a melancholy fact that massive works of the intellect do not spring from the abstract workings of the brain and the imagination; they are deeply rooted in the personality." -Paul Johnson

INFP, 4w5 sx/sp

Too much hyperbole.