Be it for tribe, nation, or race, barring people from the freedom to do any harmless thing they please is Oppression. Repressing half of ALL people, is an Atrocity. Wherever people are denied the freedom to learn, that entire civilization is likewise deprived of their contributions, condemned to the foulest of ignorance. Ignorance that, in …
Tag: religion
On Karmic Justice
The word Karma seems to have become very much a part of the common language. Non-Hindus and non-Buddhists tend to use it in the negative sense, of someone getting what is coming to them. Essentially, there appear to be three interpretations. The original religious one, regarding consequences from past lives the casual common-use bastardization of …
On “Good” vs “Evil”
In brief, my position on this is a modified version of Bentham and Mill's views on Utilitarianism, as well as Socrates' on Ignorance as the root of evil (harmful) actions, and Immanuel Kant's on our universal responsibility to each other. See also Panpsychist Non-Duality and Sam Harris' "Moral Landscape". Basically, we must strive to minimize …
Israel and Palestine (Tyranny of the Minority): Part Two
Israelis and Palestinians are national identities; Jews and Arabs are ethnic identities; Judaism and Islam are religious identities. Two of these can coexist but not three. By the founding principles of both religions, unequivocal domination and/or total genocide of the outgroup is a divine mandate. Hebrew scripture: Joshua 11:8-23 “And the Lord delivered them into …
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Principle of Equality: The Benefit of Fairness
Speciests, like sexists, racists, and all other tribalist bigots, violate the Principle of Equal Consideration when they allow the most trivial desires of their own group to override the greatest interests of other beings. Whether political, national, religious, or any other in-group ideology, Tribalism is the worst, most primitive impulse that we have. It is …
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Becoming Better Beings
Every living being exists upon a Spectrum of Consciousness, and every day of their lives every animal may rise or fall along that Spectrum. Nonhuman beings can develop empathy and harmony with other species. Humans can overcome our many bigotries and create great beauty -- even bacteria can change their behavior from parasitic to symbiotic. …
New Understanding: the True and the Good
Beliefs are not private, and powerful beliefs are not harmless. What we Believe dictates what we Do; therefore, it is imperative to believe only true and good things. What is demonstrably true is not always good, and what is subjectively good is not always true, but, within the vast spectrum of reality's varied perceptions, there …
The Desert War-Gods: Israel and Palestine
One of the greatest friends of my life was an Israeli Defense Forces veteran who turned to hospice work after her rather disastrous tour. She was an irrepressible, exuberant, Mary-Poppins-like personality who was relentless in her passion to raise the spirit of everyone she met. She was killed by the Islamic State in 2016 doing …
Multi-Spections
Multi-Spections is the intentional perspective taking of multiple points of view in order to form a better understanding of a more holistic reality. It takes more than one perspective to understand the world. While some beliefs are utterly unverifiable and/or contradictory, most (while not all the time) can provide valuable insight into the holistic yet …
Enchained Empirical Ethicist 