Truth? What do you know of truth? 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.' -- Keats
don't know where you got that idea, minstrel... I'm doing nothing of the sort... merely referring to the balance of animal/vegetable/mineral, which is a demonstrable fact and noting homo sapiens sapiens' physiological 'design' as being that of a vegetarian species [i.e., with flat teeth like cows, deer and horses, so-called 'canines' meant only to strip open stalks for the pith and an appendix for digesting seeds], despite its having strayed into the carnivore camp at some point... nothing whatsoever to do with any 'value' attributed to any particular species/lives...
Honestly, I really feel sorry for you. You can only imagine a world that is populated by the same type of people as you. That world sounds horrible. Contrary to what you believe, I am perfectly rational, logical and intelligent. I'm also smart enough to respect people who believe differently than me and I don't veil my apologies in a swell of insults and vitriol. I hope one day you will learn to respect beliefs other than your own and you are able to understand that your belief is just that, a belief and the beauty of humanity is in our coming together in spite of our differences. "We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams." - Jimmy Carter
Critical thinking means understanding and respecting other views and opinions. At this point, JJ_Max is thinking more critically than you are.
Okay, enough. This lunge and parry has gotten tedious. I seem to be beating my head against a wall and that accomplishes nothing. Obviously, this conversation has come to it's natural culmination and there's nothing left to say that might make a difference. This has been a rare opportunity for me to present my thoughts on this subject and you've been fairly patient. I know that the 'twain cannot meet since parallel lines never do cross over. I can accept that. And apparently, so can you. Thanks, all, Bud
Yeah, except my opinion didn't involve me claiming my family would be safer and the world would be better if he wasn't in it. Little bit of a difference.
Please, people, don't take the bait. This started as an interesting and useful thread, and I don't want it to turn into another religion-vs-atheism argument. How many good threads have gone up in flames because of that? Peace!