RE: Help me not fear heaven/hell
March 26, 2019 at 12:09 pm
(This post was last modified: March 26, 2019 at 12:17 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
Denotation vs connotation. It's far more important for the faithful to insist that the stories in magic books are an example of denotation.
You and I are luckily unafflicted, however, and can understand that the notion of an "offense against god" is a way of expressing some particularly egregious and consequential action. Stealing a candy bar is illegal. Skull fucking a child is "a sin against god". This connotation holds even in the absence of a literal god, of it's denotation. Secular realists make heavy and valid use of the connotative content of expressions like this. When we ask ourselves why, for example..if we are good people who know right from wrong, we still do the bad thing™ so often? Well, we have compelling reasons to do so, a consequence of our human nature, a consequence of our culture, a consequence of our circumstance.
Sin. There are egregious and consequential things that we do which are very difficult, even bordering on impossible, for us to avoid. They constrain and manipulate our will.
You and I are luckily unafflicted, however, and can understand that the notion of an "offense against god" is a way of expressing some particularly egregious and consequential action. Stealing a candy bar is illegal. Skull fucking a child is "a sin against god". This connotation holds even in the absence of a literal god, of it's denotation. Secular realists make heavy and valid use of the connotative content of expressions like this. When we ask ourselves why, for example..if we are good people who know right from wrong, we still do the bad thing™ so often? Well, we have compelling reasons to do so, a consequence of our human nature, a consequence of our culture, a consequence of our circumstance.
Sin. There are egregious and consequential things that we do which are very difficult, even bordering on impossible, for us to avoid. They constrain and manipulate our will.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
