Journal BlackHat's Journal: I believe in politics/ I believe in everything 6
Quote:
Morality is injured by prescribing to it duties that, in the first place, are impossible to be performed, and if they could be would be productive of evil; or, as before said, be premiums for crime.
The maxim of doing as we would be done unto does not include this strange doctrine of loving enemies; for no man expects to be loved himself for his crime or for his enmity.
Those who preach this doctrine of loving their enemies, are in general the greatest persecutors, and they act consistently by so doing; for the doctrine is hypocritical, and it is natural that hypocrisy should act the reverse of what it preaches. For my own part, I disown the doctrine, and consider it as a feigned or fabulous morality; yet the man does not exist that can say I have persecuted him, or any man, or any set of men, either in the American Revolution, or in the French Revolution; or that I have, in any case, returned evil for evil. But it is not incumbent on man to reward a bad action with a good one, or to return good for evil; and wherever it is done, it is a voluntary act, and not a duty. It is also absurd to suppose that such doctrine can make any part of a revealed religion. We imitate the moral character of the Creator by forbearing with each other, for he forbears with all; but this doctrine would imply that he loved man, not in proportion as he was good, but as he was bad.
If we consider the nature of our condition here, we must see there is no occasion for such a thing as revealed religion. What is it we want to know? Does not the creation, the universe we behold, preach to us the existence of an Almighty power, that governs and regulates the whole? And is not the evidence that this creation holds out to our senses infinitely stronger than any thing we can read in a book, that any imposter might make and call the word of God? As for morality, the knowledge of it exists in every man's conscience.
Here we are. The existence of an Almighty power is sufficiently demonstrated to us, though we cannot conceive, as it is impossible we should, the nature and manner of its existence. We cannot conceive how we came here ourselves, and yet we know for a fact that we are here. We must know also, that the power that called us into being, can if he please, and when he pleases, call us to account for the manner in which we have lived here; and therefore without seeking any other motive for the belief, it is rational to believe that he will, for we know beforehand that he can. The probability or even possibility of the thing is all that we ought to know; for if we knew it as a fact, we should be the mere slaves of terror; our belief would have no merit, and our best actions no virtue.
Deism then teaches us, without the possibility of being deceived, all that is necessary or proper to be known. The creation is the Bible of the deist. He there reads, in the hand-writing of the Creator himself, the certainty of his existence, and the immutability of his power; and all other Bibles and Testaments are to him forgeries. The probability that we may be called to account hereafter, will, to reflecting minds, have the influence of belief; for it is not our belief or disbelief that can make or unmake the fact. As this is the state we are in, and which it is proper we should be in, as free agents, it is the fool only, and not the philosopher, nor even the prudent man, that will live as if there were no God.
But the belief of a God is so weakened by being mixed with the strange fable of the Christian creed, and with the wild adventures related in the Bible, and the obscurity and obscene nonsense of the Testament, that the mind of man is bewildered as in a fog. Viewing all these things in a confused mass, he confounds fact with fable; and as he cannot believe all, he feels a disposition to reject all. But the belief of a God is a belief distinct from all other things, and ought not to be confounded with any. The notion of a Trinity of Gods has enfeebled the belief of one God. A multiplication of beliefs acts as a division of belief; and in proportion as anything is divided, it is weakened.
Religion, by such means, becomes a thing of form instead of fact; of notion instead of principle: morality is banished to make room for an imaginary thing called faith, and this faith has its origin in a supposed debauchery; a man is preached instead of a God; an execution is an object for gratitude; the preachers daub themselves with the blood, like a troop of assassins, and pretend to admire the brilliancy it gives them; they preach a humdrum sermon on the merits of the execution; then praise Jesus Christ for being executed, and condemn the Jews for doing it.
A man, by hearing all this nonsense lumped and preached together, confounds the God of the Creation with the imagined God of the Christians, and lives as if there were none.
Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is none more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself, than this thing called Christianity. Too absurd for belief, too impossible to convince, and too inconsistent for practice, it renders the heart torpid, or produces only atheists and fanatics. As an engine of power, it serves the purpose of despotism; and as a means of wealth, the avarice of priests; but so far as respects the good of man in general, it leads to nothing here or hereafter.
The only religion that has not been invented, and that has in it every evidence of divine originality, is pure and simple deism. It must have been the first and will probably be the last that man believes. But pure and simple deism does not answer the purpose of despotic governments. They cannot lay hold of religion as an engine but by mixing it with human inventions, and making their own authority a part; neither does it answer the avarice of priests, but by incorporating themselves and their functions with it, and becoming, like the government, a party in the system. It is this that forms the otherwise mysterious connection of church and state; the church human, and the state tyrannic.
Were a man impressed as fully and strongly as he ought to be with the belief of a God, his moral life would be regulated by the forcc of belief; he would stand in awe of God, and of himself, and would not do the thing that could not be concealed from either. To give this belief the full opportunity of force, it is necessary that it acts alone. This is deism.
But when, according to the Christian Trinitarian scheme, one part of God is represented by a dying man, and another part, called the Holy Ghost, by a flying pigeon, it is impossible that belief can attach itself to such wild conceits. [The book called the book of Matthew, says, (iii. 16,) that the Holy Ghost descended in the shape of a dove. It might as well have said a goose; the creatures are equally harmless, and the one is as much a nonsensical lie as the other. Acts, ii. 2, 3, says, that it descended in a mighty rushing wind, in the shape of cloven tongues: perbaps it was cloven feet. Such absurd stuff is fit only for tales of witches and wizards. -- Author.]
It has been the scheme of the Christian church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the Creator, as it is of government to hold him in ignorance of his rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, and are calculated for mutual support. The study of theology as it stands in Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and admits of no conclusion. Not any thing can be studied as a science without our being in possession of the principles upon which it is founded; and as this is not the case with Christian theology, it is therefore the study of nothing.--Paine
We could place old Tom into a third position/view between the Physiocrats and the Tories. I will add a fourth view in the next JE. Until then.
News:
The unkindest cut. The US could learn from Venezuela's elections, says Philip James.
The Vicar is a drag on the Dems? "Britain needs a Bill Clinton!" Are you sure? England needs a bi-polar Cromwell-lite? No Benny Hill before tea-chips.
Ché remembered. On September 20, a chargé d'affaires wrote to George Brown that "Major Ché" was "perhaps the most influential figure in Cuba after Fidel Castro", but since his mysterious disappearance in April 1965 "nothing definite had been heard of him". A letter from Guevara written in that month and released six months later merely said he had left "to pursue the revolutionary cause elsewhere. Since then Guevara has been integrated into the revolutionary hagiography". The diplomat's note, released yesterday at the National Archives at Kew, went on: "He is an able and hardworking man who was perhaps the most competent and clearest-headed of the inner circle. He can show himself cultured and soft-spoken as well as cold and contemptuous." Referring to his Irish and Spanish descent, he went on: "This bearded Argentinian, with his Irish charm and his inevitable military fatigue uniform, has exercised considerable fascination over many men and women."
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami called on Muslim countries Friday to hold an urgent meeting to discuss the ``catastrophe'' in Iraq, particularly the 2-week standoff in the holy city of Najaf. Khatami urged the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference to hold an emergency summit and said immediate action should be taken to end the escalating violence in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, where militiamen loyal to militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces. ``What is happening in Iraq is a spiritual and human catastrophe and immediate action must be taken to stop the spread of the catastrophe, particularly in Najaf,'' Khatami said in a telephone conversation with the head of the OIC Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. "Immediate action", yes, but there's still time to play the age old game of smack'a'jew. Iran threatened this week to attack Israel's nuclear facilities. Israel ominously warned that it ``knows how to defend itself.'' Tensions between the two arch enemies have suddenly escalated, underlining the other great enmity that has been bubbling on the sidelines of the Arab-Israeli conflict for more than two decades. [golf clap]
Crude Costs. New York light crude rose as high as $49.40 after reports of a new attack on an Iraqi oil pipeline, but then slipped back to close at $47.86. Get ready for it. A massive wave of swings in prices, that is.
Mongol election results. Mongolia's parliament has named a new prime minister, ending two months of deadlock following disputed elections. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj of the Democratic Coalition was appointed after agreeing to share power with the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP).
NGOs have got to go, says Mugabe.
Suspected mercenaries accused of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea have pleaded not guilty to breaching Zimbabwe's security laws. A state prosecutor told the Zimbabwe court that the 66 men had attempted to acquire weapons from the state arms firm Zimbabwe Defence Industries. The men say their plane landed in Harare in March en route to a job in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A map of Equatorial Guinea's capital was found on board, the court heard. Tizer and rye Twelve sheets of foolscap, don't ask me why.
Back up to 123 Spanish police have rearrested two men in connection with the Madrid bombings. Algerian Abdelkrim Beghdali, 41, and Syrian Safwan Sabagh, 41, were arrested days after the 11 March attacks but released because of lack of evidence.
Neelie Kroes, the woman in line to take over as the European Commission's competition tsar, once gave an honorary degree to Microsoft's Bill Gates. In her new role, Ms Kroes will have the power to settle an anti-trust case that Brussels brought against the world's largest software company. A former Dutch transport minister, Ms Kroes said that her past prize-giving will not affect how she does her job. She then turned bright blue and fell over. New RollXP: A hollow blue bun served at full price [butter is provided later as a download].
EFF doing their part to muddy the waters. Doesn't their arm ever get tired from tossing them into them the briar patch?
OYAITJ:
43162 : Pauline Hanson, the controversial founder of Australia's anti-immigration One Nation party, has been sentenced to three years in jail for electoral fraud. , The attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad, in which the Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello died, might have been carried out not only because the Iraqi resistance objects to all occupiers. There could have been a specific reason as well, tied to a vote in the Security Council last week. On 14 August the Council gave its approval to the recently formed Iraqi Governing Council and it also approved the establishment of a United National Assistance Mission in Iraq (Unami). , John Dryden and more.
Texttoon:
Fumetti : Stock photo of George Bush in his flight suit as the deck crew salutes. Thought bubble has him thinking; "Flying squirrel?"
Re: (Score:2)
Re:I've never agreed with Robert Mugabe before (Score:2)
When opportunity knocks, he's always in.
Oh boy (Score:2)
Time to start stocking up on guns and gold, the new currencies of the Untied State of Bush, circa Nov, 2004...
Re:Oh boy (Score:2)
Ain't say'n my spelling is any butter. [/;-)
The Red-Headed League (Score:2)
He'll be back in time for tea.
Heinz Baked Beans!
Re:The Red-Headed League (Score:2)
But digression aside. Yes, it does look more and more like it's one part/thread of a larger plot. Popcorn!!
Tall doors opened up/ I leave my friend no fear/
The jacket man with piercing suit/ Is looking for a tear/
He, his words in monotonal hums/ And draws a picture clear/
Needs more cow bell [imdb.com]?
And more Beans for Mr. Gilliam, pl