Memorandum #5 death by knowledge
"I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." -- Richard Dawkins
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. --Matthew 18:3
I have a question which I would like an answer too. If you could go back to having the unaltered thought process as a little child would you? To not have a care in the world. To not know about the evil in the world. To not know, but to "know" you are safe???
I wouldn't. I guess that's what gets me though everything. I know that I am getting better I am understanding more (or not). But I know that where I am now is closer to where I want to be then where I was as little child.
Some people really do want to go back to that thought process, want to be slaves of ignorance. Of course when I say it that way they turn around and say well no one dose. I just want to not care, I just want to be able to forget.
Better be with the dead, whom we to gain are peace have sent to peace then to lie on the torture of the mind in restless ecstasy --Macbeth
Is that really better. Is it better then to wonder to discover to think? How can a "god" encourage ignorance. Don't think he dose?
Look at how it started Adam and eve No knowledge of there own, completely ignorant of everything! This was the perfect state. I have heard people describe this as being free. FREE? How can that possible be free?
I choose the fruit. I choose to defy "God".
Do you really want an answer to this excellent memorandum?
My answer is, I would not willingly go back to the unaltered thought processes of my childhood.
Although......my experience was nothing like the one you describe.
Not all children are safe and free from care.....and some children know evil from an early age, dear.
But we know the premise and we know what the bible was referring to.
Yes, we do......I mistook your meaning.....thought you were asking for our personal perspective.
You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland. And, I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
- Morpheus
I, too, have a question. Is the monkey that hears no evil better than the monkey that sees no evil?
Whatever system you choose, whichever method you employ, the effect is the same. Christians use faith in the supernatural to justify their lack of understanding. Atheists use science or some related field to explain a universe they know has more questions than we can ever have answers. We, the Discordian Minority, use absurdity and rhetoric as a substitute for any true metaphysical knowledge.
Are we any better than any of the others? Sure, we're open-minded, yet we refuse to open our minds to the close-minded (Cf. The Heresies by the Reverend Roger). As Discordians, we really have to ask ourselves exactly which pill we've taken. Or if it matters what side of the looking glass we're on, if we still only see a reflection.
To your point on Genesis, I think you may have struck a chord with the Gnostic interpretaion. To some of the Gnostics, the apple in the Garden contained more than God would have liked to say. For some, the apple contained a divine wisdom that God hid from us. The snake, to them, was not evil, but a messenger, telling Adam and Eve the truth that God would not reveal. I'm not exactly sure how this relates to your point directly, but I'll stir it around for a while and see what I think in a day or so.
One thing I like about Discordianism is that it proves that God is mocked and Discordianism can exorcise certain evils by simple laughter. And I think that that's what that particular bible verse (Matthew 18:3) meant by being like a child: not ignorance, but just not being too serious and greyfaced about the world. The book of genesis and all that other crap is just some mythology that people tend to be way too serious about. Discordianism is a band-aid on poor ol' wicked Christianity. Christianity looks at it like its either a path of love and life or a path of knowledge, but there is a middle path of love, life, and knowledge. Of course our knowledge has limits if there's any universe out there beyond meself.
Some Discordians use absurdity to explain the universe metaphysically. The again, some of use various occult methods to find out what is really going on. All thoughts are 'substitutes' for 'metaphysical' knowledge.
It is a matter of one's closemindedness how irked you can get when someone categorizes you. The point is to look at the categories and laugh at yourself for being so 'pigeon-hole-able', not to get offended easily when someone doesn't believe your grandeous statements about how un-categorizable you are. And sometimes the categories can be used to your advantage. Woe to the person who solidifies ideas about oneself on the day they are shattered. To think oneself 'un-categorizable' is just another category.
Quote from: St. Hugh, KSCTo think oneself 'un-categorizable' is just another category.
Made me think of this:
Quote from: NietzscheHe who despises himself esteems himself as a self-despiser.
It's all bullshit it's just a question of what bullshit sets you free...
It is not the notion of our bullshit being wrong that is the problem
it's the question of how we deal with that nothin when we believe it to be true...
Quote from: St. TrollaxIt's all bullshit it's just a question of what bullshit sets you free...
It is not the notion of our bullshit being wrong that is the problem
it's the question of how we deal with that nothin when we believe it to be true...
"If shit didn't happen, you would explode."
-An Ancient Erisian folksaying