Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 23:36:02 -0700 From: Kris Kennaway <kris@obsecurity.org> To: JacobRhoden <jrhoden@unimelb.edu.au> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD logo... Message-ID: <20030417063601.GA74196@rot13.obsecurity.org> In-Reply-To: <200304171347.08548.jrhoden@unimelb.edu.au> References: <0HDG005M9XD2J2@net.WAU.NL> <200304171347.08548.jrhoden@unimelb.edu.au>
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On Thu, Apr 17, 2003 at 01:47:08PM +1000, JacobRhoden wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Apr 2003 02:16 pm, Frans-Jan v. Steenbeek wrote:
> > what the hell has this to do with FreeBSD?
>=20
> I think someone thinks that the FreeBSD logo has something to do with sat=
an...
>=20
> On Wed, 16 Apr 2003, Kris Kennaway wrote:
> > Accepting the above, we can also conclude that either Elvis faked his
> > death by drug overdose ("unlikely") or he also raised from the dead.
>=20
> Show me books that documenting Elvis being alive after he died . . .
You can pick up many of them on the checkout stand of your local
supermarket ;-)
> Show me a history of all witnesses who claim to have seen Elvis, being=20
> murdered for many years by the government just for the 'entertainment of =
the=20
> people', and see how many people still stand up and admit they have seen=
=20
> Elvis, and are willing to die for that cause. . .
The US is not a particularly repressive society, but there are any
number of other cases throughout history where belief in a messiah
figure has been brutally suppressed by a governing power (in fact
repressive societies may encourage martyrdom and the romantic image
that projects). Most have fallen by the wayside of history and have
been forgotten, but most of the major religions alive today
(e.g. Islam, to pick an obvious example) fall into this category. Are
they all true simply by virtue of having taken root despite
persecution?
> Then I might believe Elvis is alive. (:
So your criterion for belief is that a group of other people believe
strongly enough in the same thing to die for the cause?
Let's think about some other things that people have believed in
despite persecution:
- Most other religions.
- Many political ideologies (communism, fascism, ...)
- Resistance fighters against an occupying power (America vs England,
France vs Germany, Israel vs England, Palestine vs Israel,
Afghanistan vs USSR, ...)
- Civil rights for ethnic minorities
- ...
In some of these examples one can formulate independent, rational
arguments for supporting the cause, but herd mentality is surely not a
good criterion for deciding whether something is true or even whether
it is worth believing in.
Think for yourself.
Kris
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