tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071936218849577375.post7941642295728102789..comments2024-03-19T23:20:47.782-07:00Comments on Unintentional Irony: The Atheist in ChurchJames Killushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08265296146264452333noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071936218849577375.post-66734744241246930622008-05-14T17:58:00.000-07:002008-05-14T17:58:00.000-07:00Rhine thought that he'd be able to read the mind o...Rhine thought that he'd be able to read the mind of God directly, through ESP. It seems to be a recurring theme, and doubtless why the word hubris was invented. Gather our pebbles with serenity, I think, and count the piles if one must.James Killushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08265296146264452333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071936218849577375.post-87175892772882302482008-05-12T18:11:00.000-07:002008-05-12T18:11:00.000-07:00So religions make their believers do things that j...<I>So religions make their believers do things that just don't make sense. That's what really defines the group, the things they do that don't make sense.</I><BR/><BR/>A professor at that state college way back then was perhaps a bit too committed to the words and thoughts of Milton, John: epic poet of the English language. But he sure was fun in class and when he got wound up the iambs boomed like 17th century thunder, answered by slamming doors up and down the hall as sociologists and educational psychologists fought to recapture the sole attention of their individual flocks. Right Reason, that professor-as-Milton told his twentieth century audience, was the gift that would light the way.<BR/><BR/>Later I would read that Sir Isaac thought he could use his powers of observation and analysis to read the mind of God. Guess they've had a couple of centuries to beat back those heresies, make it all boring and docile and manageable.<BR/><BR/>Just looked up very end of Paradise Lost, the expulsion from the garden.<BR/><BR/><B><BR/>Some natural tears they dropt, but wiped them soon;<BR/>The world was all before them, where to choose<BR/>Their place of rest, and Providence their guide: <BR/></B><BR/><BR/>For some values of Providence one might be rolling dice or casting one's fate to the wind.<BR/><BR/><B><BR/>They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,<BR/>Through Eden took their solitary way.<BR/></B>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com