| tim Josling 2008-01-25, 6:56 pm |
| On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:33:01 -0600, Judson McClendon wrote:
> (Ecclesiastes 3:21)
> Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the
> spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?
Judson is a good example of the maxim that late converts are often the
most zealous. Sometimes after a few years they lighten up...
To take that process to the limit, look at Italy. They have been Catholics
for thousands of years, but few of them seem to take it very seriously.
For example, the lowest birth rate in the EEC, in spite of the prohibition
on effective birth control. (Don't try to tell me about the Billings
method. My daughter is living proof it doesn't work.)
There is no infallible source of knowledge. We just muddle ahead the best
we can. The scientific method is by far the best way of doing this that's
been found so far.
Judson made the point that his life turned around after he became
religious. This of course occurs with other religions too. For example,
Malcolm X turned his life around after converting to Islam. Does this mean
Islam is the one true religion?
The common element in a lot of these stories of lives turned around is
that the person stopped focusing on their own immediate pleasure and turned
their focus to something bigger than that. The something bigger does not
have to be religion. It can be your own chosen goals for example, as long
as they are meaningful to you.
Tim
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