Good post. "Humanism has failed" is a little strong, literal-truth-wise, but it's a fitting hyperbole.
"Human life will be the torch-bearer that sets the universe alight with the fire of meaning": either this is a very broad construal of "human", or it assumes that we'll be the first ones to transcend. Can we say "Sentient life" here, or is humanity not yet ready to identify with something larger than the species?
I must admit that sometimes a rhetorical flourish pops into my head and I must include it even if its meaning isn't quite what I'd write more soberly. In any case, I not only have a broad definition of "humanity" but also think that we will turn out to be the first species to transcend (assuming we get that far...).
One day, I really must try to write a coherent account of my thoughts on the Fermi Paradox. (At the moment, most of what I've written on the subject is scattered over and entangled with a number of very long and somewhat personal emails.)
Rich, I was engrossed until the last paragraph. I couldn't understand the last two sentences, so forgive me if the vision described there left me unmoved. I strive so someone in the future can enjoy "effective immortality." Why?
The last paragraph is, of course, only a sketch of a possible way out. It might not be perfect, but it's the best I have at the moment. If you have a better one, I'd love to hear it. (And I think there's a fair chance that people my age might well enjoy effective immortality.)
It's also, less obviously, an allusion to my earlier article "Living at the Fulcrum". Indeed, this article is self-consciously an attempt to approach similar themes in a similar style (I don't often write like that and think it's fun when I do). I'm still struggling with these issues though - I know I don't believe in anything even approximately religious, I know I don't find the idea of just having fun and living more the moment very attractive, and I'm trying to figure out what I and others might consider a worthwhile source of meaning.
The only manner to resolve the issue of war is for all Christian congregations to return to the gospel of the Prince of Peace Jesus Christ and tell their parishioners not to participate in war, military service or training. Then they will not contribute to the carnage of the Iraqi war and previous and future wars.
Jesus in the New Testament taught his disciples to Turn the other cheek, love their enemies, put down the sword, and carry his cross. We should be members of the Kingdom of heaven and not become involved in matters that pertain to the kingdoms of this world. This is a difficult concept to observe, but the true Christian will take the example of the Christians of the Apostolic eras and refuse war.
These concepts are outlined in my web page www.peacehost.net/peacechurch
The only manner to resolve the issue of war is for all Christian congregations to return to the gospel of the Prince of Peace Jesus Christ and tell their parishioners not to participate in war, military service or training. Then they will not contribute to the carnage of the Iraqi war and previous and future wars.
Jesus in the New Testament taught his disciples to Turn the other cheek, love their enemies, put down the sword, and carry his cross. We should be members of the Kingdom of heaven and not become involved in matters that pertain to the kingdoms of this world. This is a difficult concept to observe, but the true Christian will take the example of the Christians of the Apostolic eras and refuse war.
These concepts are outlined in my web page www.peacehost.net/peacechurch
can you please show me a picture of the humanism cross for my R.M.E homework please many thanks Robyn x
I would like to be able to, Robyn, but I don't know what the "humanism cross" is. Perhaps you could tell me about it when you find out.
Thank you, Rich. This addresses my own issues well. I am a reluctant atheist who has come to the conclusion that Quantum Physicists just haven't figured out the rules yet and that the universe is ultimately self deterministic, choice being an illusion; we're all just tiny cogs in an unimaginably large machine. (Read my one and only blog post, linked, for this epiphany, please.)
My problems with this have to do with the lack of answer. Like you say, I want a vital place in the universe for myself and my progeny. I care more about where we are going than whence we came, more about morality than reality, more about meaning than facts, more about "why?" than "how?", more about warm emotion than cold reason. And yet I am fundamentally a logical person, and there is none of these things in my cold worldview.
I have instead turned inward, toward our species, for my spiritual hope. We can become the gods we've created for so long, if we only evolve in the right direction. We have the ability to take charge of our own evolution, build our own immortality, shape the very building blocks of the universe at our whims, if only we keep advancing. My lifetime? Certainly not...but it doesn't matter. It just might be enough for me to know I've contributed, that there's a hope for something eternal, for our species to have some greater meaning in the universe.