Saturday, July 25, 2009

Perhaps I was created by a God who got bored and who was seeking some way to entertain himself. He came up with the idea of creating a planet and populating it with people who he have a strong disposition to accept religious teachings without question. He then went to different groups and said, “You are God’s chosen children. You have a right and a duty to rule over the world. All others are infidels who should be either converted or killed.”

When he was done, he sat back in His heavenly recliner with his heavenly beer and potato chips and watched the unfolding drama of Survivor Earth, and he saw that it was good. Or, at least, he was entertained.

Would I prefer to be a toy built to generate conflict and drama for the sake of entertaining some God?

It would be true, in such a case, that I was created for a divine purpose. However, what matters is the quality of the purpose, not its source. In this case, the purpose has a particularly low quality.

Not only would I prefer NOT to have such a purpose, I would go so far as to actively thwart God's purpose if that were the case, and would count my life as having meaning in doing so. I would work to promote cooperation and well-being over conflict and suffering and, if this went against the purpose of my Creator, then so be it. These purposes still have quality, regardless of whether they are consistent with or in conflict with whatever purposes some God might have in mind.

So, not only is it not the case that would prefer to have a divine purpose. Depending on the quality of the purpose, there are cases in which I would be actively opposed to having a divine purpose. Again, i do believe, what matters is not the source of a particular purpose. What matters is the quality of a purpose.



Its a sick world, sick,sick,sick.

4 comments:

  1. hmmm ..."perhaps" is right !!!

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  2. Pity has an almost ludicrous effect on a man of knowledge, like tender hands on a Cyclops.

    Friedrich Nietzsche - again.

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  3. heavenly beer. tripped out.

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  4. does it occur to you that half the reason why fighting corrupt human beings are entertaining (to a super-being, if one such exists) is that they are conditioned to believe that being peaceful and cooperative myt be the 'right' thing to do? perhaps if you're fighting against urself the whole time trying to figure out what the holy purpose is and why you should do the 'right thing'...maybe all ure doing is fighting ur true self. according to Hobbes, Man is an animal...and maybe...we were meant to be. maybe the problem with the world is that we tried too hard to be civilised. maybe not.

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