Police captain Bob Snow and reincarnation

That's only because some of us don't feel like engaging with materialists on moral issues. Fear of God is not only healthy but rational. Avoidance of sin is accomplished through reason. Criticism of the wise by fools not only misleads others into sin but disobedience to God. These are never good things, but sometimes people are so far into a dark cave that it is enough that they can feel a wall or a guide rope. Getting them out of the cave will happen in good time, but first things first.

AP

What does God want though? I find the notion of sin to be too dependent on particular faiths - IIRC the Cherokee didn't even have a good word that was equivalent. The closest term meant "to be lost in the forest"...which incidentally is how the Commedia begins...

But I suppose this hinges on the definitions of sin, God, and reason.
 
What does God want though? I find the notion of sin to be too dependent on particular faiths - IIRC the Cherokee didn't even have a good word that was equivalent. The closest term meant "to be lost in the forest"...which incidentally is how the Commedia begins...

But I suppose this hinges on the definitions of sin, God, and reason.
The Cherokee expression you quote works for me. Whatever any given religion may say has nothing to do with the absolute meaning of it. People can have all sorts of mistaken impressions but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist or that all mistaken impressions are completely wrong. Without getting hung up on specifics, "getting lost in the forest" or "away from God" is the basic idea. Some religions think they know what that is, maybe they do, maybe they don't, but the idea that it matters isn't compromised by ambiguity regarding the authority of any given church.

AP
 
The Cherokee expression you quote works for me. Whatever any given religion may say has nothing to do with the absolute meaning of it. People can have all sorts of mistaken impressions but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist or that all mistaken impressions are completely wrong. Without getting hung up on specifics, "getting lost in the forest" or "away from God" is the basic idea. Some religions think they know what that is, maybe they do, maybe they don't, but the idea that it matters isn't compromised by ambiguity regarding the authority of any given church.

AP

I take a very similar stance, though I can't personally fit God into my conception of moral realism...which I admit is a "reality gamble" since there may not be any morality woven into the firmament.

That said in my discussion with Szechaun I note that after a point these distinctions start to feel less important once the concept of God is divorced from any particular scripture.
 
Update on the Indridi Indridason fire in Copenhagen case discussed here some time ago. Dr. Erlandur Haraldsson has now responded in detail to the skeptical attack made here by Max_B. The objections claimed that Indridason was a fraud (and by implication the Icelandic experimental society investigating him also fraudulent, or deluded), mainly based on the issue of whether or not there actually was telegraphic communication between Iceland and Copenhagen or elsewhere in the outside world at the time of the seance and of the fire. The skeptical objections were detailed here, here, and here. I think Dr. Haraldsson's response convincingly shows this fraud claim is extremely implausible. The detailed response is in Michael Tymn's blog at http://whitecrowbooks.com/michaeltymn/entry/an_interview_with_dr._erlendur_haraldsson/ (comments section).
 
I think Dr. Haraldsson's response convincingly shows this fraud claim is extremely implausible. The detailed response is in Michael Tymn's blog at http://whitecrowbooks.com/michaeltymn/entry/an_interview_with_dr._erlendur_haraldsson/ (comments section).

You might... but I don't... There was no reason why Indridason should have to go to the Marconi station himself, indeed I think that would have looked rather suspicious... lol... all he needed was to be briefed about the latest telegraph feed.

IIRC the spirit didn't reveal anything else about himself, other than his surname at this sitting (which was conveniently the most common surname available on the mainland), more information about the spirit was only revealed after sufficient days had elapsed for a round trip to the mainland for research to have taken place... how convenient.

I honestly think the story of Indridason would make a fascinating film, tied in with the battle between Marconi and the British cable service to supply a telegraph service to Iceland. Its independence, and the battle between two newspaper owners in Iceland, one at least who wished to become Prime Minister (and succeeded). It's a sad ending though, Indridason wants to stop his theatrics, leave Iceland for the USA, and get on with his life, but the risk he might reveal the fraud is too much for these big men of Iceland. He could bring them down, so they hatch a plot to kill both him and his fiancee just weeks before he is due to leave.
 
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Update on the Indridi Indridason fire in Copenhagen case discussed here some time ago. Dr. Erlandur Haraldsson has now responded in detail to the skeptical attack made here by Max_B. The objections claimed that Indridason was a fraud (and by implication the Icelandic experimental society investigating him also fraudulent, or deluded), mainly based on the issue of whether or not there actually was telegraphic communication between Iceland and Copenhagen or elsewhere in the outside world at the time of the seance and of the fire. The skeptical objections were detailed here, here, and here. I think Dr. Haraldsson's response convincingly shows this fraud claim is extremely implausible. The detailed response is in Michael Tymn's blog at http://whitecrowbooks.com/michaeltymn/entry/an_interview_with_dr._erlendur_haraldsson/ (comments section).
He doesn't show it is "implausible". The "walking time" given on google maps was 27 minutes. But google maps shows that the distance was 1.2 miles. That distance can be easily be covered in a jog (there and back) in under 30 minutes, to say nothing of using a bicycle. And the more obvious possibility would involve the use of an intermediary, anyways.

If this is an example of Dr. Haraldsson's investigative prowess, it certainly doesn't inspire confidence. And none of that addresses the concern that the story, as originally presented, was grossly untrue.

Linda
 
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