Philosophy Now Forum

The book I am currently reading is a history of the Reformation called,
surprisingly enough, "The Reformation" A history by Diarmaid MacCulloch...
and its an interesting enough read but what I am going to write about
also fits into our modern day climate in America...

and in talking about this split between two sides of the same coin,
between Catholics and Protestantism... and the long wars between
the two sides, beginning in 1618.. and this is what MacCulloch wrote:

"... into which others in the clique of ruling European dynasties plunged
for their purposes, whatever the cost to their wretched subjects. This would
be a truth that missed the point: religion, religious zeal, and religious
hatred were at the heart of the outbreak of war in 1618, and both sides
believed that they could effectively eliminate those who took a different
view of the Christian message. Both dynasties were split over religion"

and we can see this today in our fixed and rigid faith the two sides of
the same coin... it is not the faith we hold that is causing the
extreme problems today, it is the lack of the middle ground...
and it is not this idea of religion but also political faith..
(and to those who accuse me of being of rigid faith, I point
out that I have held three different and distinct political
ideologies in my life and on my way to a fourth.. on top of holding
a multitude of philosophical positions)
and if we don't relax our political and religious current dogma/
creed, we are heading toward more violence and even wars...

but what we must attempt is what Nietzsche called for:

"A very popular error: having the courage of one's convictions,
but rather it is a matter of having the courage for an attack upon
one's convictions"

I have attacked my convictions enough to have changed them
numerous times.. the search for the truth is not a search for
fixed and set values/beliefs.. but a search for the truths that fit
into our current environment/situation... we are not searching for
for permanent or durable truths.. we are/or ought to be seeking
truths that fit into our current climate...

for today, we ought not to be seeking a set/fixed truths but
truths that allow us to navigate our current environment...

"that all men are born fixed and set at birth" is a
truth that conservatives hold to and yet we can see in our very
lives that this isn't true... I am not who I was at birth nor am I
who I was at age three or 13 or 23 or 43 or 53.. at my current age,
I have adapted values and beliefs that is in line with my current
situation.. being closer to retirement and eventual death...

experiences in my lifetime, has given me knowledge and truths
that are simply unavailable to those who are younger than I am...
I know more things simply because I have lived longer and have experience
more things...

In fact, I believe that had Nietzsche lived longer, he would have
rejected much of what he wrote about.. (in a similar side note,
I believed had Jesus lived longer, he too would have rejected virtually
all of his beliefs.. mind you, Jesus died around age 33... a very young
person with beliefs and values that were right and appropriate to his
age and birthplace, but lose their value and significance once you
leave his time/age and place.. the middle east)

Universal values and beliefs are not in fact, not universal values
or beliefs... there is no such thing as a universal or global value/belief..
good for all times and all places.. to marry ourselves to values and beliefs
that are not appropriate to our time and place is to practice values and beliefs
that will do us more harm than good...

or to say it another way, just because its old and traditional, doesn't
make it right or worth believing in...

Kropotkin

If the answer does not lie in fixed and set universal values
and beliefs, then where do the answers lie?

I believe that the path forward, to avoid violence and even war,
including civil war.. the only path available is through toleration,
charity, benevolence and compassion... if we are to avoid the
violence of holding to fixed and set values and beliefs, then we must
learn toleration and changing/adaptation to our modern environment..

or do we want to engage in violence and war?
If that is the point, then holding on to our values and
beliefs till death do us part, is one great way to ensure
a bloody and violent future...

what future do you see? and what will you do to create
that vision?

Kropotkin

Aye, OP, aye! Read the Mahabharata, the short version, and be amazed!