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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/15/13 in all areas

  1. Funny. I consider myself as spiritual, and am also unsatisfied with traditional (or even untraditional) religious organizations. Nor is a focus on 'Higher Causes' required beyond a more thourough understanding of causality as it established by the relationship between identity and action. Analogies can be constructed between many systems of apparent compatible values without establishing the veracity thereof. An analogy is not a substitute for the application of logic to the process of reasoning. The distinction between faith and belief might be better served as the distinction between faith and reason. Beliefs can be established by faith or reason. To the extent beliefs are established by reason, faith is powerless to undermine them. To the degree beliefs are based on faith, reason may or may not undermine them depending on the practitioner's understanding or disregard for a logic based process of reasoning.
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  2. I was raised a theist. After high school I told my self that college would probably teach me a great many facts after which I could make an informed decision about religion. Working on a Ph.D requires ones total focus, so it was only after that that I could think deeply about religion. For some time I felt that religion was useful for two reasons: It provides a ready set of moral values, and 2) It provides a social group. Both of these are quite appealing. Ultimately, I decided that a rational morality was possible independent of God. Also, I didn't need to socialize as much as in my youth. Religion lost its hold on me. My children thought religious meetings were stupid. (They are.) In conclusion, religion served some purposes for me, but none survived the test of time. Religion served as early training in argumentation and critical thinking. However, all of the time I spent on religion could have been spent on better activities.
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  3. You mean, someone who rubs your neck and is polite enough to consider your preference? Nah.
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  4. Believe it or not I say go for it and have fun. If you do it for good reasons that are important to you then you should go for it instead of living with the dreaded "what if" your whole life. As Snerd said experiencing other cultures like that can be very rewarding. Once upon a time I drove truck and it was very satisfying to experience so many fascinating places, music, food, and people. And that was only America! More importantly, as my wife says, don't be a tourist so this would let you experience the world as it is, not as it is sold to travel agencies.
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