RE: virus: pale religious lechery

Richard Brodie (richard@brodietech.com)
Sun, 7 Mar 1999 17:10:43 -0800

In fact, one of the strongest components of Christian faith is sometimes known as Goodwill. It is not, of course, limited to Christianity. Goodwill is faith that it's worth being good to others even if you don't expect anything in return. It's much nicer to be around people of goodwill than people of ill will. That means if you have goodwill people will like you more, which may lead to an enjoyable life.

True goodwill, though, persists even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It's simply a choice that one must make. If you make it on a case-by-case basis, you don't have it.

You might already be likening this to the Prisoners' Dilemma and be ready to argue that goodwill is a rational choice in certain situations. But true goodwill is faith without reason, good acts for their own sake. It's an act of Faith. And it's certainly useful in dealing with everyone, not just those who share it.

Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/ Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme" http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/votm.htm Free newsletter! Visit Meme Central at
http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-virus@lucifer.com [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com]On Behalf Of KMO
Sent: Sunday, March 7, 1999 4:37 PM
To: virus@lucifer.com
Subject: Re: virus: pale religious letchery

joe dees wrote:

> While reason is useful in dealing with both one's "fellow" humans and the
common world we share, the utility of any particular faith is limited to dealings with people who share it, as a social/cultural lubricant.

I dissagree pretty strongly with this statement. I find that the beneficial effects of my own faith are most evident when I am engaged in solitary creative work.

-KMO