On Wednesday 03 October 2018 10:41:10 Felmon Davis wrote:
> On Wed, 3 Oct 2018, Dr. Nikolaus Klepp wrote:
> > Am Dienstag, 2. Oktober 2018 schrieb deloptes:
> >> Marvin Jones wrote:
> >>> All of this "stuff" is Religion.
> >>
> >> Religion, Ideology, Philosophy
> >
> > All good reasons to fetch forks and torches, pile up the bonfires
> > and hunt for ... oh, it's oktober ...
>
> however I'd warn against belittling ethical concerns as "religion,
> ideology, philosophy" in the pejorative sense of the words (even when
> we disagree).
>
> f.

Since we are going far off-topic, I would remind everybody that all this talk 
of "religion, ideology, philosophy" (pejorative or not) started with the 
notion that our choice of software and/or operating system is somehow 
a "political action" or a rebellion. (Choice of software meaning, e.g., 
proprietary versus so-called "open source", or better, free/libre.) 

I pointed out that some would try to frame all our words and actions (or lack 
of them) in political terms, as I used to be confronted by Marxists who used 
that argument. In the same way, our choice of food (kosher/halal, or not) may 
be regarded by some as a religious choice. And so on. 

All these are types of fundamentalist thinking (about which you and I have had 
discussions already). I see no harm in the universal awakening to a kind 
of "everything is love" experience, the desire to help others, to identify 
one's own being with every atom in the Universe, to get a sense that 
everything is Divine. This is a sort of "diversity is unity" paradox. The 
problem creeps in when, for example, those of a literalist bent would try to 
force everybody everywhere into their narrow interpretation of [*fill in the 
blank here*]. And this is why "religion, ideology, philosophy" come to be 
regarded as negative, or mostly negative. 

So the question is, How to achieve the greatest degree of freedom, happiness 
and fulfillment for the most people, while yet not infringing on that of 
others, or offending against their way of life? The short answer is, It can't 
be done; not really. We can only try to broaden our experiences and 
understanding, act with good will and generosity towards others, and hope and 
trust for the same in return. 

Regarding how this principle applies to software: Run GNU/Linux, with the TDE 
desktop. Problem solved. 

For myself, by the way, I am glad that I cannot swim. That way, I will drown 
and fail the test, and spare myself getting burned at the stake. 

Bill