(August 20, 2013 at 11:20 pm)ronedee Wrote: Are these just pirated Christian "words"? Or do they have any meaning to you at all?
I sincerely hope you're not implying that love and hope originated as Christian concepts and were hijacked by the rest of the world.
(August 20, 2013 at 11:20 pm)ronedee Wrote: 1. Can you have Faith in anything/anyone (as an anti-?), or is it just a word? Is having Faith(in anything) always a let-down, as so many claim?
Outside of a religious context, faith means trust, and yes, I can trust things.
In the religious context, faith is the great excuse to believe in things the evidence does not support, and I have no use for that.
(August 20, 2013 at 11:20 pm)ronedee Wrote: 2. And Hope? Is that just another word like Faith, or does it mean something very different? Hope is very powerful to many people with, and w/o religion. Is it "false" hope that keeps them going? Or is it real in any sense?
Hope is good. It keeps us motivated to strive to improve upon our lives.
False hope, which is what religion provides, can be useful in a very tiny set of circumstances, such as a person laying on their death bed. If believing in an afterlife comforts them in that moment, that is good. Generally, false hope is bad, as it leads us to make poor decisions in our lives.
(August 20, 2013 at 11:20 pm)ronedee Wrote: 3. Love. What is that? Isn't it more than an emotion ....really? Is there any amount of words, phrases, adjectives that can truly describe LOVE, other than the experience itself? I mean, love can do so many things, on so many levels! And effect/affect us in so many ways! It's probably the strongest experience we will ever know besides death itself.
Love can be powerful, yes. I never really understood that until becoming a father. However, love is just an emotion, not some entity that permeates the world.
(August 20, 2013 at 11:20 pm)ronedee Wrote: Why are these: virtues/values/emotions/words etc. so important to everyone regardless of religion?
Because they are part of human nature and have developed through evolution as part of our need to survive as a social species.
(August 20, 2013 at 11:20 pm)ronedee Wrote: Is it logical to have these virtues; with the many things they spawn? Is it a function of social necessity? Or a tool to manipulate for personal gain and profit? Would we be better off w/o them? Would we be human w/o them. Where do they fit in your evolution of man? i.e. Did one day the "ape" wake-up and not want to eat its young?
Yes, it is logical to have these virtues, as they are beneficial to an healthy society.
As for emotions and evolution, that is a complex question beyond my expertise.
(August 20, 2013 at 11:20 pm)ronedee Wrote: Whats your take on these very powerful words, and their effect on our lives? Gut, not textbook, please!
They are virtues that have helped man survive and develop a functioning society and have been misinterpreted and misused by the religious in an attempt to demonstrate a higher power.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
