TINSTAAFL - History & Moral Philosophy Part II

The perusal of a decent English dictionary will reveal that the generic definition of a religion is a belief, activity or cause pursued with fervor and devotion.

That same tome will also reveal the definition of a philosophy to be a set of values and opinions of an individual or group – i.e. a belief.

From a mathematical logic standpoint a religion is therefore a philosophy and a philosophy is a religion. (If A=B and B=C then A=C).

Now let us briefly examine, if one will, the phenomena of crusading religions and revolutionary governments. Such an analysis will reveal that they are the same basic phenomena differing only in tag lines and credos. Each requires devotees and converts to the ‘faith’. Each requires martyrs and sacrifice. In religions there is mystery, magic and miracle. In philosophies there is belief in a better life to those who adhere to a belief in the ‘way’. Whether they be Roman Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Islamists, Democrats, Republicans or whatever convenient tag they attach to themselves, they are the same. And what is the purpose of it all? What is the root cause of either religious philosophy or secular philosophy?

The Old Testament was composed mainly during the Babylonian Captivity of the Hebrews. Its singular purpose was to provide a written history of the Jewish Nation to prevent the Hebrews from being assimilated into the Persian civilization and thus disappearing as an individual nation of people. It was about the survival of that nation through the most adverse of times.

Survival – the only instinct of humanity. When we are born it is without the knowledge of a language or of any sense of moral philosophy. We have but one desire, to live – to continue breathing and to experience what life has to offer, for better or worse. This is the main purpose of a tribal chief, king, emperor, gang leader, godfather, pope, mayor, governor, president or whatever title given the leader one chooses. They enforce the rules and regulations established for survival.

The need for survival progresses as one matures and goes through at least five levels for each individual. How quickly one progress through these levels; or indeed if one progress at all, is dependent on the mental growth of the individual.

The first level is survival of self. At this level it is basically everyone for themselves. These are the loners, those who do not join with others and go their own way. They normally do not help others under any circumstances. When they profess to do so, however, it is usually with an agenda of self-survival. Many a despot who wishes to control others will never rise above this level. They will freely sacrifice others to do their bidding but will not sacrifice a thing themselves. They are at best braggarts and cowards who use others to do their bidding.

The second level is survival of family. These individuals have progressed to the level where they have learned the concept of sacrifice. Family can be a conventional family unit of husband, wife and children, a street gang, a military unit or any other group banded together for a mutual purpose.

The third level is survival of tribe. These individuals believe that the tribe, or city, or other such group survive against the forces that are assailed against them. Sacrifice of self by death, if necessary, is accepted and freely given for the survival of the unit, be it religious or secular.

The fourth level is survival of nation. The survival of one’s country is uppermost in the eyes of patriots. Here, also, one sacrifices one’s life with the assurance that the country will survive because of their actions. Those who sacrificed themselves during World War II and our nations’ wars fall into this category.

The fifth level is survival of humanity. At this level one has reached a plateau where sacrifice of self for the benefit of the untold, and often unknown, multitude is given freely and willingly.

Next time we will delve into changing moral philosophies that shaped the history of our world.

Some pertinent links

http://www.huckpac.com/?Fuseaction=Petitions.View&Petition_id=5

http://townhall.com/columnists/DickMorrisandEileenMcGann/

http://profiles.numbersusa.com/

https://www.dearpolitician.org/index.php

TINSTAAFL - History and Moral Philosophy

There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

First and foremost it should be clearly understood that to a scientist a law is immutable, irrevocable, inviolable and mathematically invariable, each discipline based on a rigorous mathematical formula.

In the realm of human endeavor, however, so-called laws created by humanity are changed constantly, revoked repeatedly, violated veritably every second of every day and are subject to constant interpretation by jurists based on the prevailing moral and judicial (i.e. political) philosophy and have absolutely no mathematical rigor.

In the annals of humanity these “laws” have been enacted by medicine men, tribal chieftains, emperors, conquerors, kings, depots, parliaments, amphictionic councils, legislatures and congressional delegations to name just a few. To what end? Why has humanity had this all consuming need to create myriad rules and regulations to govern their everyday life to no end? The Roman Catholic Decalogue was precise and concise and was originally geared for a specific culture but in the ensuing ages has become the so-called foundation for a complicated litany of statutes, ordinances, resolutions, canons and many other rules and regulations known by a host of names yet all lumped together under the label of “laws”. Why?

First, let us examine the so-called ‘law of Moses’. The first five ‘books’ of the Old Testament tell of the travails of the Jewish nation, those who believed in one god and called him YWH. In the book of Deuteronomy there are enumerated a number of tribal laws that were purportedly handed down from YWH. These included dietary laws, laws dealing with marriage and personal intercourse. Of course there were also religious laws that dealt with how one was to worship YWH and even detailed what one was to wear and how one was to act. Religion thus controlled every facet of one’s life. Why?

What had once been tribal custom was codified into the set of Judaic laws that prevail even today. The ban against eating pork, shellfish and other forbidden food products has a scientific basis that stems from the scientific principle of cause and effect. What causes illness and disease was to be avoided. One was not to place fish in a bowl that had been used for milk, or vice-versa. Why? The Hebrew’s were originally a nomadic people and the bowls they used were unfired crockery. They were quite porous. If one put milk into a bowl there would be residual traces of milk in the pores which if mingled with fish would case the fish to be tainted and food poisoning would result. With pork we know today that if its not cooked thoroughly there is the danger of trichinosis, from the trichina worm that is often found in the meat. The Hebrew’s, of course, did not have the facilities to cook pork properly, thus the ban.

So, we have an inkling as to why these ‘laws’ were enacted, and what better way to enforce them than to claim they were the ‘word of god’. Enforcement of ‘laws’ has always been a problem faced by rising cultures. That’s why enforcement was originally handled by the medicine man, shaman, or religious leaders. Yet, this practice eventually led to corruption of authority and led to many abuses.

When the American Colonies were established by differing religious groups it was not for religious freedom as the history books often claim. Rather, it was to establish their own religious dictatorships. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the colony of Massachusetts founded by the Pilgrims. They brooked no opposition to their teachings and punished severely or banished anyone who thought or acted otherwise. They even went so far as to believe in witches and developed quite unusual punishments to deal with those they perceived to be practitioners of the dark arts. It was such punishments as these that the Constitution addresses when it speaks of ‘cruel and unusual punishments’.

But we have still not addressed the reason why ‘laws’ were created. What is the basis for these rules and regulations? Let us be analytical and apply a bit of logic to determine the reason. Some would say ‘safety’ but that doesn’t account for a variety of factors. Safety of who – of the people, the family, the state, the nation or the world itself?

No, there is something even more basic than safety. Just what is it? What is the basic reason?

Let us look at humanity itself. What is the basic instinct of individuals? In fact, what is the only instinct of human beings? What is the basic motivation of humanity? In part two we will address this issue and demonstrate the fallacy of many human philosophies and how they adversely affected the history of humanity.