Post Category → Philosophy

Question & Thought and AND for September 1st, 2016!!!

Question & Thought and AND for September 1st, 2016!!!
Welcome September!
1. Question – Have you ever given yourself credit for one virtue  whether that be ambition, talent, intellect, charm or just plain ol d__________ness?
2. Thought – I can even forgive myself, though when I look back at various stages in my life, I groan. What an ass. What timidities. What stupidities. What indecisions and flounderings.
But then I take another look. I spent childhood and adolescence examining my conscience and finding myself in a perpetual state of sin. That was the training, the brainwashing, the conditioning and it discouraged smugness, especially among the sinning class.
Now I think it time to give myself credit for at least one virtue: doggedness. Not as glamorous as ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still one of the things that got me through the days and nights. (Frank McCourt, Teacher Man)
“Lose if you must, but don’t lose the lesson.” (Anonymous)
AND:  Too many weird stories in the news at present.  I’m not exactly certain as to why….

+ The EU is telling Ireland that Apple owes Ireland billions in taxes.  The EU is not a taxing agency.  Ireland cut a deal with Apple.  Apple is happy and Ireland is happy.  Why is the EU making waves? Could the EU be concerned with a Trump victory and thus seeing a potential decrease in US corporate tax?  Thus, Apple $$ parked in Ireland may return to the US?  This would ‘disrupt’ EU banking a bit…and the potential windfall from an EU tax on bailing out various countries.  Something to think about…
+ Why would US News and World Report report on a possibility that US Homeland Defense could possibly run the next US election?  Why are we having an incumbent administration be the “over seers” of the election?  Is it constitutional to have Dept of HD involved in elections?
+ What is the story with HRC’s health?
+ Have laws been broken in the Clinton Foundation?  Pay for play, even within a “do-good” foundation is not permitted.  Foreign money is not allowed to enter in the business arena–either for profit agents or not for profit agents–in a pay for play.  The state department could not arrange seating with the Chinese Prez in exchange for donations….that is, not legally.
+ If HRC’s latest emails discussed Benghazi–to the point the State Dept wants to review and redact portions due to classified material–why is that not a news story?
+ Why does the Gov of VA want to let felons vote…when law specifically denies that privilege.
+ Where is the GOP response to these events?  The GOP is proving culpable in this 0 administration.  Why are they silient?
+ Trump meets with Mexico’s Prez.  Why would the Mexican prez want to meet with Trump…before the election?  Is he concerned Trump may win?
This stuff is simply too weird to make up.  HRC is on the ropes…I still believe Trump wins big in November.  I don’t look at polls….but I do look at the criminality of HRC and wonder just how a party could even permit her to run on their ticket.
Reply
 
rem – Have gratitude, do good, and don’t be consumed by life’s commotion.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for August 29th, 2016!!!

Question & Thought for August 29th, 2016!!!
Good Monday Morning!
1. Question – Do you see miracles every day?
2. Thought – Lewis distinguishes between miracles of the old creation (feeding the 5,000, water into wine) and miracles of the new creation (walking on water, resurrection). In the former, we see Christ do quickly and on a small scale what God does everyday on a large scale; thus, through “natural” processes, God is continually transforming water into wine, but the miracle is so “slow” we miss it. But when God does it suddenly at a wedding in Cana, the truth is plain; the miracle embodies what we always know to be (as those of Ovid, gratefully, do not). (The Life and Writings of C.S. Lewis by Professor Louis Markos)
“Many people have their bad memory to thank for their clear conscience.” (George Washington)
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for August 7th, 2016!!!

Question & Thought for August 7th, 2016!!!
Good Sunday Morning!
1. Question – After some Christians read The Great Divorce, they have concluded that we will have a “second chance” after death to be saved. Do you think this is so?
2. Thought – The problem here is that we don’t really understand what eternity means. To say the God lives outside of time is to say that he experiences all time as a single unity: God does not foresee the future; he sees it as we see the present. Although Lewis’s theology is fully congruent with evangelical thought, he is not a Calvinist. In contrast to Calvinism, Lewis argues that God’s foreknowledge of an event does not necessitate his predestining of that event.
My seeing of a present event does not determine it; why then should God’s eternally present seeing of a future event (future to us) determine its outcome? Because God’s knowledge is ever and always a present knowledge of our present choice, our freedom is not violated; past and future don’t exist in heaven. Just so, the choices the damned souls make are eternal ones that surpass (and, thus, include) the past; as eternal states, heaven and hell work backwards. The souls that reject the offer to stay will find that they have always been in hell, while those that choose to stay will feel that heaven alone has been their home. (The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis by Louis Markos)
“Worldviews are perceptual frameworks. They are ways of seeing… Our worldview determines our values. It helps us interpret the world around us. It sorts out what is important from what is not, what is of highest vale from what is least. A worldview then provides a model of the world which guides its adherents in the world.” (The Transforming Vision by Brian Walsh & J. Richard Middleton)
Question for you: Are you in hell right now or do you believe you are in a tiny slice of heaven?
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for June 24th, 2016!!!

Question & Thought for June 24th, 2016!!!
Good Friday Morning!!!
1. Question – What is the expected value of believing?
2. Thought – You are undecided about whether to believe in God. The sensible thing to do is compare the expected value of believing with the expected value of not believing – then you will know which option is more prudent.
What is the expected value of believing? If God exists, then He will grant you eternal bliss, whereas if He does not exist, you will lose a finite amount of worldly pleasure. Now, infinity minus a finite amount equals infinity. Therefore the expected value of believing is infinite.
What is the expected value of not believing? If God exists, then He may punish you with eternal damnation, whereas if He does not exist, you will gain a finite amount of worldly pleasure. So the rewards of not believing are small, at best. Clearly, therefore, prudence dictates that you choose the believing option and its infinite expected value. (Blaise Pascal in The Philosopher’s Notebook by Mark Stephens)
“Greater in battle than the man who would conquer a thousand-thousand men, is he who would conquer just one – himself.” (Siddhartha Gautama)
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.