Kallog and Ellis: Do I detect that, spiritually speaking, you are pessimists? Is this a characteristic prevalent among atheists and agnostics?

BTW, I hope I am not a silly, foolish and cock-eyed optimist, but I take great pleasure in being a realistic optimist who believes in the GOD-filled process evolution.

Do I make myself clear when I say: I do not believe in a singular person-like 'God' who stood back and caused evolution to happen and proceed on it own (deism). No! For me, GOD is in the process then, now and in the eternal now we call the future. Do a search on PROCESS PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY. And don't for get the following names: Alfred North Whitehead (a great mathematician who worked with the atheist, Bertrand Russell). Also check out the Rev. Charles Hartshorne. He interpreted Whitehead's deep philosophy--panentheism, which I simplify as unitheism.

Ellis, you speak, colourfully of "crushees" who become "victors". One of the ironies of history, it seems to me is this: Crushees who become victors almost invariable become crushers. I name but a few examples: The Civil War in England; the American and French Revolutions; World War I; and the Cuban Revolution. History buffs? Does anyone know a violent revolution which created a fully democratic society immediately following the violence.

BTW, did MacArthur win the Japanese to democracy by crushing them? And look what happened in Germany because of the Marshall plan. Is it just a coincidence that MacArthur and Marshall were also good Christians.

Back to the dogs-and-wolves story. Are most atheists short-term thinkers? Have you no faith in time and evolution? It took a long time for wolves, guided by human intelligence to evolve and become domesticated enough to be trainable and molded into being useful tools of their mentally-stronger masters. But eventually it happened.

Meanwhile more artistic and imaginative thinkers began to wonder--that is, to talk to themselves. They paid attention to their internal dialogue, and asked themselves--G0d at work within the human heart and mind, in my opinion:

Then, one kind-hearted and spiritually-brave woman wondered ... Then she spoke to and asked her husband: "This time when our she-wolf looks like she is ready to have cubs why don't make a safe and warm place for her close to our place? Let's make a place that we can keep warm like we keep our place. Let's feed her from our table. In addition, this time: let's not kill the runts of the litter. This time, let's see what they grow up to be, OK?

Am I being dumb to suggest: They grew up to be pets, dogs (gods when reversed).

BTW, I wrote the above before I did an Internet search
======================================================
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog
Many scientists believe that humans adopted orphaned wolf cubs and nursed them alongside human babies.

FROM WOLVES TO WOOFS
====================
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2002/01/01/html/ft_20020101.1.html

Interestingly, wolves as wolves, world-wide, are getting less and less in number. In the British Isles there are none.
http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/disappearance_of_wolves.html

Very few, if any, European countries have them. Russia perhaps. However, their presence now and in the future, in the form of dogs, is quite a success story, don't you think?

Last edited by Revlgking; 02/25/11 04:02 PM. Reason: Always good to do

G~O~D--Now & ForeverIS:Nature, Nurture & PNEUMA-ture, Thanks to Warren Farr&ME AT www.unitheist.org