Jim Henderson wrote:
> These days, I tend more towards agnosticism probably more than anything.  
> I'm not prepared to say there *definitely* is nothing more than this 
> existence, I think there is a lot about life we don't know.  <shrug>  I'm 
> also not particularly bothered by uncertainty, though, and that's a hard 
> thing for most people.  That's part of the reason some (not all) who are 
> religious/deeply devout/whatever grab onto a religion - because it 
> provides some certainty in an otherwise uncertain world.
> 
You might be surprised to know that most atheists I know are atheist to 
the "existing" definitions of gods, but fall all over the line with 
respect to how "likely" it is that there is more to the universe, and 
what that even "means".

> I really wonder what you have been exposed to of people who are truly 
> spiritual.  I realise how that sounds, but it sounds to me like you've 
> had a slew of bad experiences and very few good ones.
> 
I Really wonder if you haven't just got "very" lucky. There are, even in 
some of the craziest parts, of the US, pockets of liberal thinking, 
where this isn't uncommon. Mind, it can also be noted that "most" of the 
radical types have never been exposed to alternate views, wouldn't let 
themselves, if they knew from day one what someone's position actually 
was, and are more than willing to, when confronted with a real person, 
stick them in the category, "Well, this guy isn't so bad, unlike all the 
other ones that believe that way."

Its the one category of thought I left out, and it doesn't alter the 
reality of how they react "as a group" to outsiders, just how they react 
to the ones they know personally. I can see some of the same thinking in 
members of my own family. If you are in category A, then you are B, 
unless I know you personally, then you get to be in category C. Its a 
defense mechanism for some people. If you can conclude that someone is 
"not like all the others in that 'other' group", then you can still hold 
the same views about the group, without challenging all your views.

True radicals would never allow this, since "most" people have a problem 
"not" questioning some of the things they assume about other 
groups/ideas, when dealing with real people that hold them. It depends 
on how good their mental blinders are. Most, just never allow themselves 
to have to make such self examinations. But, the problem isn't really 
the number of people that "can" do that. Its the fact that those same 
people will, all too often, send money to, or indirectly support, those 
that deny even the "possibility" of such mutual respect.

-- 
void main () {
   If Schrödingers_cat is alive or version > 98 {
     if version = "Vista" {
       call slow_by_half();
       call DRM_everything();
     }
     call functional_code();
   }
   else
     call crash_windows();
}

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