From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sun Oct 24 2004 - 01:33:56 BST
Sam and all MOQers:
Sam Norton said:
I relate (conceptually) the MoQ and standard Christian doctrine, along the
following lines: God the Father = Quality, God the Son = Static Quality
(embodied, expressing the different levels) and God the Spirit = DQ. That
isn't fully worked out, but it 'gestures' towards a way they might be
reconciled.
dmb says:
As I explained in another thread earlier today, I think the MOQ is
compatible with philosophical mysiticism. And it seems that the equation
you've expressed here just doesn't add up. Pirsig divides Quality in two,
static and dynamic. In order to relate the MOQ to the christian trinity,
you've somehow managed to make one divided by two equal three. You've added
back a whole version of that which was divided in the first place, so that
you can add one to two and have three, which we need for a trinity. Now I
suppose you're gonna tell me that 2=3 and anyone who says otherwise is
hopelessly mired in SOM thinking and is deluded by the dogmatism of
mathematics?
Pirsig says when DQ is identified with religous mysticism it produces an
avalanche of information about DQ. What's wrong relating the MOQ to that
kind of Christianity for an understanding. Why even try to relate particular
theological doctrines when Pirsig tells us what's up so clearly? Why avoid
the answers provided in favor of such a tortured stretch?
Sam said:
Certainly I tend to think of Quality as a comparable term to God (or
sometimes 'meaning'), although - as you might expect - I think there are
some significant differences. Which is why I would also add a difference to
DMB's amusing list: Quality doesn't care about the individuals lost in 9/11,
only the actual and potential intellectual patterns (ideas). God sees the
individuals lost as precious in their own right.
dmb replies:
Quality doesn't care about those who died on 9/11, but God does? I don't
even know where to begin in untangling the misconceptions contained in this
ridulously emotional and outrageously manipulative assertion. Should I ask
why Quality cares about intellectual patterns and not individuals? No, I
understand which Pirsigism have been distorted to make the conclusion.
Should I ask what relevance 9/11 plays in this debate, other than to pull
the heart strings and obscure the mind with fear and dread? Only a heartless
sociopath would reject theism, is that what you're saying? No, everyone will
see through that like clean plate glass. Instead I'll be generous and make
Sam's point in a way that is NOT confusing and sentimental.
Philosophical mystics do not believe in a personal god with whom we can have
a relationship, while theists do.
To "care" about those 9/11 victims is a human quality and so since
non-theists don't anthropomorphize the ground of being like that, they
wouldn't ascribe such a feeling to the conceptually unknown, not without
having their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks. The mystic says that
YOU are the Christ and that YOU and the father are One. The whole idea of a
great overseer who holds his children as precious stands opposed to this
unitive vision. This separation from god is the theological equivalent of
SOM in that it posits a fundamental divide between creator and creation. The
mystic, again, says that this is the illusion to be overcome.
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