Jonathan H. B. Lobl

Formal logic is not quite the same thing as reasoning. Formal logic has math. If A equals B and B equals C -- then A equals C. Math can be manipulated. At the lower end is basic arithmetic. The answer is either right or wrong. Personality has nothing to do with anything. Then again, there is statistics. An application of math. Mark Twain defined the degrees of falsehood as -- "Lies, damned lies and statistics." In the abstract, it should not matter who is using logic. In the real world, it matters.

There is some ambiguity about the historic Lao Tzu. The name, Lao Tzu, translates as "Old Master" or "Old Sage". I don't think it matters. The poems of the Tao Te Ching have inspired generations with their wisdom.

"The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name." For me, this is good Agnostic philosophy. Of course, we must avoid being holier than Tao.

I have been strongly influenced by -- "When God was a Woman" -- by Merlin Stone. People forget what the old goddesses were about about.

I think something was filtering through your awareness. Whether it was internal or external, we will never know. Another mystery.

I take this as a perspective on motherhood. For the children, a loving guardian. The mother who purrs and snuggles and licks. To the enemy, a source of terror, fang and claw.

I have no problem with being told I have the wrong name. Still, my gut is telling me "Crone." Well, ancient. Sekhmet? A killer and a healer. Very ancient. The lion headed goddess. On her statues, there is a serpent rising from her third eye. A Sun disc (halo) is behind her head.

I hope I'm not mangling the pantheons. I want to say, Hecate, in her form as the Crone. She is associated with vengeance and the cross roads. As the Crone, she is wise and a healer. Also fierce. Yes. Complicated. The old gods could be.

Thank you. Part of my "formula" -- I'm not sure that's the right word -- is that I am cautious of invisible assumptions. For instance -- "What is your mission in life?". Instead of looking for an answer to the question -- I question the question. Who said my life has a mission? In the same way, when someone asks -- "What is God's plan for you?" -- I question whether God exists. -- Whether God has plans -- and by what authority should the plan be accepted, if God does exist and has a plan? In the end, I can live with not knowing. Not that I really have a choice. It seems better than buying into someone else's answer, that I'm sure is wrong. Or at least, is unproven. Or at least lacks evidence. This is an important point. Scripture is not evidence. Manifestly, scripture is produced by people, and there are some things that nobody knows. Philosophic arguments are also not evidence. They are arguments and arguments -- no matter how clever -- are not proof. While I am spouting my personal philosophy -- an addendum. This is in the nature of a general announcement and is not directed towards you. I graduated with my B.A. back in January of 1977. It was a good education It's been a while. I've forgotten a lot of math, science, philosophy and a lot of the other things, I had reasonable mastery of at the time. Largely because I didn't need it and didn't use it. I have remarkably little use for condescending academic snots; who think that their area of expertise is going to be the center of my life. I'm sure the snot will know who he is.

It's the first time I'm seeing it. Anyway, well done.

I don't want to get overly cosmic, so I will speak only for myself. Here I am. I have a shortage of reliable information. The people who claim to know, don't know any more than I do. Frequently, they know less. So, here I am. I do the best I can with what I have. Then I move on. Mistakes and all.

Good by.

When was I ever your problem? Never mind. Good by.

Thank you for understanding. I don't need to be lectured to by a smug, condescending know-it-all. It seemed best to walk away.

Never mind. I was looking for conversation. Not whatever this is.

Unplanned chats can be nice.

The argument from design? I see that you're also a Creationist. I don't know the Ontology argument by that name. Probability? This is where the puddle looks around at the ground, and marvels that the ground fits it perfectly.

Alright. Your point? I'm an Agnostic. I don't believe. I don't disbelieve. I do think that swallowing a belief, like God, with no evidence at all -- is silly. A belief without evidence, can be disdained without evidence.

But to say a person can behave like a total arse without fear of any punishment from an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good Deity seems a bit absurd to me. How odd that you would say that. I find the existence of such a god to be the absurdity.

Then these are places? Like New York?

Between the Christian Hell and the Islamic Hell, which one am I supposed to be afraid of? Piss to all the fear mongers. A plague on them both.

Welcome. I think you will enjoy it here.

I have read parts of the Qur'an. In general tone, it is -- Biblical. The faithful get Paradise. The rest of us get Perdition.

I have discovered that my real life is as much a role playing game, as anything else. I have also discovered that it's more fun to play the nice old man, that people turn to for advice -- than an old grump.

Again, in order for this to be the case, we must assume that the Bible comes from God. I do not believe this to be true. It's worse. There are scriptures other than the Bible. They contradict each other. They can't all be true. They can all be false. I am not telling you what to believe. Only why I don't believe.