Thomas_More
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Yes, but that can come in the course of conversation, them not being the fanatics who spout God and Jesus at everyone, but nominal believers with whom the subject wouldn’t come up unless mentioned, and without rancour.
Yes. Obviously fanatics like fundamentalists, with their talk of “God’s plan” etc., are out.
It’s just that a lot of people are only nominal in their religious beliefs, which they really don’t think about much, and they also despise the “religious nuts.”
These nominal believers aren’t interested in philosophy or dialectical materialism, or the history of atheism etc , but they might support the idea, practically, of a socialist society. On the other hand, telling them they can’t join us unless they become materialists is bound to put them off.
Yes, the non-existence of self was hammered out during Buddhism’s Personalist Controversy, and negates the popular belief in reincarnation, since there is no “self” to “transmigrate.”
Most humans’ desire for self-perpetuation meant that this insight was never adopted by Buddhism as a religion, nor was it of any use to the rulers of regions adopting Buddhism. So the insights of real Buddhist thought were reserved for the monks of the universities, and the labouring folk chloroformed with the religious dross.
” “there can be no non-material things acting upon us” – energy, time and gravity all act upon us, but are definitely not matter. It would be better if you used the word “physical” perhaps.”
But these are all properties of matter. They are not non-material, although not what we commonly think of as matter. Energy is propulsion, time is ageing, and gravity attraction. These are but terms for properties, emanations and functions of matter. Similarly, mind is a function of matter, not distinct from it.
But the theist sees it as a non-material property, i e. “soul.”If this is irrelevant to us, then let us welcome theists as members, for what would be the objection?
“…it doesn’t seem to have done them much harm.”
People have died as a result of their payments being stopped, you callous anti-socialist.
We no longer have EU protections for workers, so Westminster can do anything it likes to us.
And they could force us onto it under threat of stopping benefit.
How will Moscow and Washington re-establish relations when the Ukraine war ends? How will both arrange any re-establishment in propaganda terms for the brainwashed workers on both sides?
It was quickly done after WW2, but in that case the figureheads of the defeated side were all dead.
Similarly, how will Pacific tensions be resolved without war?
