10 most Recent Topics - Reverence for Life (UK) Forum

10 most Recent Topics - Reverence for Life (UK) Forum http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl - Reverence for Life (UK) Forum en-us Reverence for Life (UK) Forum Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:59:09 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 30 Discussions - Reverence for Life and Astrobiology http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1281206084/0#0 Reverence for Life (UK) Forum/Discussions http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1281206084/0#0 Cultural advocacy and advancement of reverence for life (inextricably linked to individual mate selection, nurturing of offspring, and early childhood education in a healthful, sustainable environment) is fundamental to fulfillment of the promise and gift of intelligent life.   Given meaning, purpose, and direction by universal forelaws of empathy and compassion, the reverence for life ethos underlies evolutionary panaltruism, creation of a compassionate/cooperative world order on Earth, and life-centered cosmologies. "Ethics is nothing less than reverence for life." - Albert Schweitzer Astrobiology, merging in modern times astronomy and biology - a milestone era in the age of cosmic genealogy on Earth dating from the pivotal work of Louis Pasteur in 1859 disproving spontaneous generation of life - reflects the continuing shift in scientific perspective, research and discovery as pioneered and led by the late Sir Fred Hoyle, by Chandra Wickramasinghe, Brig Klyce, Halton C. Arp, and others.  <a href="http://www.forelawsonboard.net/" target="_blank">www.forelawsonboard.net/</a> "Life comes from space because life comes from life." - Brig Klyce, Astrobiology Research Trust.  "The greatest discoveries of science have always been those that forced us to rethink our beliefs about the universe and our place in it." - Robert L. Park, University of Maryland (in The New York Times, 7 December 1999). In forelawsship on board, Robert E. Cobb Forelaws on Board <a href="http://www.forelawsonboard.net" target="_blank">www.forelawsonboard.net</a> Discussions - Keying Synthetic Bacteria and Reverence for Life http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1279257400/0#0 Reverence for Life (UK) Forum/Discussions http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1279257400/0#0 On May 20, 2010, President Barack Obama, responding to the creation of synthetic bacteria by the J. Craig Venter Institute, asked the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues for a report on this development, covering findings, recommendations, and suggestions, to be completed within six months.  A week later the U. S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce held hearings entitled "Developments in Synthetic Genomics and Implications for Health and Energy." "Given the importance of this issue, I request that the Commission consult with a range of constituencies, including scientific and medical communities, faith communities, and business and nonprofit organizations." - President Barack Obama. _________   "The greatest discoveries of science have always been those that forced us to rethink our beliefs about the universe and our place in it." - Robert L. Park, University of Maryland (in The New York Times, 7 December 1999).     _________         "Craig Venter's successful implantation of a digitally determined genome sequence into a bacterium has been widely reported (29 May, p 6). Now imagine a future where a successor to Venter is able to digitally reconstruct a set of the best possible sequences of human genomes and incorporate them, in pieces, into bacteria that could autonomously reproduce the sequences. If these bacteria were then launched into space, the fragmented genome could be reassembled on countless habitable planets in the galaxy. This would be a process similar to that outlined in the theory of directed panspermia proposed in 1973 by Francis Crick and Leslie Orgel (Icarus, vol 19, p 341). Carried on comets, these bacteria could travel from one planetary system to the next, where the genome could reproduce. The legacy of human life could then be thought to have been given an eternal existence in the cosmos."  -  Intergalactic Legacy (New Scientist, 9 June 2010) by Chandra Wickramasinghe, Director, Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology. _________ "The first message from an intelligent extraterrestrial civilisation may not emerge from a radio telescope but, instead, from a DNA sequencing machine."  - John Walker, Fourmilab Switzerland.    _________     "Life comes from space because life comes life." - Brig Klyce, Astrobiology Research Trust.   Reverence for life - underlying evolutionary panaltruism and intelligent life reciprocally propagated from infinity to infinity by intelligent life - highlights the intrinsic unity of all intelligent life, expressly defining the cosmic community of intelligent life and the age of cosmic genealogy on Earth.  <a href="http://www.forelawsonboard.net/" target="_blank">www.forelawsonboard.net/</a> In forelawsship on board, Robert E. Cobb Forelaws on Board Discussions - World Summitry on Reverence for Life http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1277868799/0#0 Reverence for Life (UK) Forum/Discussions http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1277868799/0#0 World summitry on reverence for life in the age of cosmic genealogy on Earth - proposed as a new cornerstone for the United Nations - owes its substantive character to genomically based forelaws of empathy and compassion . . . . . with notable significance attaching to the following (from The Recovery of Culture, 1949 - Henry Bailey Stevens): "We are now caught on the edge of the abyss where we see desperately that we must be rid of war, but its chain reactions are difficult to break.  Without in any way ceasing our direct attack upon the institution, we may well consider the effects if we cut the umbilical cord to its mother evil, the animal abattoir . . . . . "We have tried to operate a church and a schoolhouse at one end of the street and a slaughterhouse at the other, to fill our minds with kindness and our stomachs with tortured flesh; to teach peace and eat like beasts of prey.  But we have overlooked the moral in the story of Diomedes.  Each genration has run amok and torn us to pieces in turn for the urly lies which it has been taught - viz. that animals must be killed for food and people for military objectives." Itself sustained and emboldened by scientific research validating the biological basis for human cooperation (Emory University) - like the first mission designed to search specifically for terrestrial-like planets (Kepler, 2009) - world summitry on reverence for life is testament to the quintessential unity and unfolding aspirations of all humanity:  (a)  a healthful, sustainable environment for every planetary citizen, (b) universal health care publicly supported, (c) education for all based upon individual capability, (d) creative/productive employment for every planetary citizen, (e) post-retirement security. In forelawsship on board, Robert E. Cobb Discussions - Institutionalized falsification of the truth http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1277746335/0#0 Reverence for Life (UK) Forum/Discussions http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1277746335/0#0 We now have the opportunity to discuss one of the very elusive, but in my view pervasively subversive issues of our time: our relationship with honesty - or to put it another way - legalized lying!- institutionalized lying. The opportunity is provided by the soccer (football) game between Germany and England in South Africa last Saturday. All those who watched that game, - who knows how many millions - witnessed this in blatant clarity. My wife, Vreni and I are not regular football fans, though we watch the occasional game on TV and we have watched a few of the matches shown recently. Reacting to the constant incidents eliciting yellow and red cards, Vreni innocently remarked: "Football is really a very nasty game." We laughed it off but I began watching it a little more carefully. Given the enormous mass-hysteria which surrounds the game and the huge numbers affected by it, I began to think about what wider significance this game - and indeed all sport has in the make-up of our global society and the human psyche at this time. So when the 4th goal of that match happened, I was somewhat pre-sensitized and immediately realized what an overt and telling demonstration of condoned lying and cheating had occurred in the full view of millions. Listening to some of the subsequent debate has only emphasized the significance of the event for me more and more - to the point where I think it is worth a serious discussion here, in the light of Schweitzer's concern for the demise of morality and consequently Western civilization. Regardless of what the umpire and linesmen saw, the goalkeeper was in full view of what had happened and hastened to pretend it was otherwise than it had been. Seconds later many in the stadium and the world audience as a whole were fully in the picture. Yet in none of the discussions of the situation which followed was the sportsmanship, integrity, honesty, and general character of the goalkeeper questioned. Where then are the standards of honesty and fairness in the game of football. It appears that they can be summed up as: "Whatever you can get away with is allowed"! If that is the case, what message does this send to the population at large, to younger generations, to children observing the adult world? I do not wish to single out this particular goalkeeper. It is clear that any other in his position would have been expected to do the same. In fact: could we imagine the goalkeeper protesting and saying:" hey, this was a goal"! But does that not firmly underline my point?! And is it not the same case in most business and political situations? And is this not a wonderfully clear illustration of the ethical temperature of our institutions and systems? I have found it very difficult for some years now to put my finger on this hidden, underlying, obscure malaise in our society, yet knowing at the same time with great conviction, that it lies at the bottom of so many of our problems. It is difficult to bring into the open, because individually most of us think of ourselves as honest upright citizens, trying to do what is expected of us; and I feel sure this particular goalkeeper was doing just that. But the event has exposed the full institutionalized corruptness of the game to full view and has thrown light on so much else, giving us the chance to see it clearly for what it is. I do hope we can debate this further! Percy Discussions - Global Water Equilibrium and Reverence for Life http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1276739591/1#1 Reverence for Life (UK) Forum/Discussions http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1276739591/1#1 <a class="message" href="http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1276739591/0#0">Forelaws on Board wrote</a> on 17. Jun 2010 at 01:53: <div class="quote" style="width: 90%"> A correlation exists between achievable freshwater availability worldwide and the reverence for life ethic. In 1859 Louis Pasteur disproved the spontaneous generation of life, thus beginning the age of cosmic genealogy on Earth meaningfully characterized by evolutionary panaltruism and human unity. Rooted to universal forelaws of empathy and compassion (empirical attributes of cosmic genealogy seated within the genome of humankind and all intelligent life), evolutionary panaltruism and human unity are imperative in fulfilling the promise and gift of intelligent life on Earth. Though today actively in denial of their own humaneness, international terrorists remain genetically predisposed (and reeducable) to compassionate humanness common to all humankind. Global water equilbrium is the state of balance between seawater converted to freshwater amply available worldwide on one side and, on the other, constancy in planetary sea levels. Mandated and coordinated through the United Nations Security Council, dramatically accelerated, expanded and sustained seawater desalination will ensure (1) relief for member-states vulnerable to sea-level rise, (2) freshwater more than adequate the world over, (3) stabilization of ocean shorelines, (4) enlarged land mass/biomass on Earth, and (5 freshwater deposits where once resided coal and petroleum. As the basis for a compassionate/cooperative global society (freshwater plentiful worldwide) - consistent with the reverence for life ethic - global water equilibrium sets the stage for further progress toward planetary climate stability, that is, generational viligance and refinement of Earth's surface reflectivity (albedo) in concert with continuing scientific research and understanding of solar radiation. Global water equilibrium (Project Ice-SHARE/Green Earth) and the exploration of space capture the questing spirit of all humanity, with success of the latter tethered to success of the former. On May 20, 2010, President Obama asked the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues for a report (within six months) of findings, recommendations, and suggestions relative to the creation of synthetic bacteria by the J. Craig Venter Institute. A week later the U. S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce held hearings entitled "Developments in Synthetic Genomics and Implications for Health and Energy." "Given the importance of this issue, I request that the Commission consult with a range of constituencies, including scientific and medical communities, faith communities, and business and nonprofit organizations." - President Barack Obama. The future of artificial life (synthetic biology), as holistically critiqued by this and succeeding generations, turns, essentially, on its compatability with the promise and gift of intelligent life, with reverence for life, with universal forelaws of empathy and compassion, and with evolutionary panaltruism and human unity - allies as humanity progresses toward active membership in the cosmic community of intelligent life, in the age of cosmic genealogy on Earth. In forelawsship on board, Robert E. Cobb </div> Discussions - Evolutionary Panaltruism and Reverence for Life http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1277300153/0#0 Reverence for Life (UK) Forum/Discussions http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1277300153/0#0 In keeping with the promise and gift of intelligent life, universal forelaws of empathy and compassion (empirical attributes of cosmic genealogy seated within the genome of humankind and all intelligent life) form the foundation of evolutionary panaltruism and human unity - moving humanity to a compassionate/cooperative world order, to global water equilibrium (first step toward climate stability), to life-centered cosmologies, and, ultimately, to active membership in the cosmic community of intelligent life. The age of cosmic genealogy on Earth dates from Louis Pasteur's pivotal work in 1859 disproving spontaneous generation of life, becoming more pronounced in modern times with the merger of astrobiology and astronomy as pioneered and led by the late Sir Fred Hoyle, by N. C. Wickramasinghe, Brig Klyce, Halton C. Arp, and others. "Life comes from space because life comes life." - Brig Klyce, Astrobiology Research Trust   "If life is always derived from antecedent life in a causal chain that is clearly maintained throughout the fossil record, the question naturally arises as to when and where this connection stops. The continuation of the life-from-life chain to a time before the first life appears on our planet and before the Earth itself formed implies the operation of panspermia." - N. C. Wickramasinghe, Director, Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology   Reverence for life underlying  evolutionary panaltruism and directed  panspermia  (intelligent life reciprocally propagated from infinity to infinity by intelligent life) highlights the intrinsic unity of all intelligent life, expressly defining the cosmic community of intelligent life and the age of cosmic genealogy on Earth.     In forelawsship on board,   Robert E. Cobb Forelaws on Board Discussions - Abortion http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1187101859/3#3 Reverence for Life (UK) Forum/Discussions http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1187101859/3#3 <a class="message" href="http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1187101859/0#1">Scott wrote</a> on 17. Aug 2007 at 13:46: <div class="quote" style="width: 90%">Haven't seen anything he's written on it either. I would suspect, given his personal philosophy on life, his knowledge of biology as a doctor, and as a Christian, that he would take it on a case by case basis. From what I've read on this forum and elsewhere, he was not a dogmatic person who passed harsh judgements on others. Generally, he would likely be seriously disappointed when it had to be done and it would be a very difficult decision for him. I think, however, he would treat it like any other dilemma, which is created by adhering to his personal creed of Reverence for Life. On another note, I think he would support stem-cell research, given the medical promise it holds. These are just my opinions, of course. </div> I suspect, to use your term, that as a Christian doctor of the 19th and 20th centuries he has so little to say about abortion because a) it was still illegal when he died, and b) it so perfectly goes against his most basic philosophy of interdependency that it never appeared on his radar. I believe that Schweitzer would choke on his on tongue if he'd lived to see a state of affairs where a child that yawns, responds to voice, and can demonstrate emotion is removed from the womb at 20 weeks gestation. I think one would need copious quantities of chutzpah to argue a case for Albert Schweitzer treating abortion on a "case by case basis". But this is, as I paraphrase you, just my opinion. Discussions - Capital Punishment http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1144864567/13#13 Reverence for Life (UK) Forum/Discussions http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1144864567/13#13 Hi Matt, I'm a seminarian training for the Catholic priesthood. The Catholic Church has been the most vocal and public defendant of the basic right to life of each person in modern times, this basic tenet of our faith reaching its zenith under John Paul II who personally expended untold wells of his own emotional and spiritual energy appealing for an end to the barbarian practice of capital punishment. Very often this was expressed via his personal intervention in particularly unjust or pointless cases in the US, whereupon he would phone, write to, and generally harass in a public manner both Presidents and state governors alike. No one can question the Church's commitment to the defence of life. I liked your post, yet I was disturbed to see your reference to utilitarianism as a possible source for defending a penal response to murder. Utilitarianism ought never to be referred to on any grounds as a defence for *anything*. It is without a shadow of a doubt the most amoral false logic man has yet asserted in the pantheon of philosophical pursuit. It rests on a notion which denies the fundarnetal liberty at the heart of....the human heart! It is perfectly admissable, for example, to present an argument that the greatest public or societal utility lay in murdering (by capital punishment) Jesus Christ. It is also not beyond a warped genius to argue that apartheid served a greater utility by sustaining the most powerful economy in sub-Saharan Africa. Utility can even be used (and the likes of Marie Stopes virtually do) to argue that the ending of life in the womb serves mankind as some form of perverse altruism; that mankind has progressed his society by making the ending of human life easier and quicker. In simplest form, utilitarianism is the philosophy of facism and can be disproved with simple questions such as - if 10 million Europeans would live more comfortable lives if 2 million elderly Europeans were gotten rid of, would that make their murders justified? The obvious answer is actually "Yes", according to Bentham, Mills et al. Utilitarianism is absurdly attractive when defending easily defended positions but if you ask a person "would murdering Hitler in 1939 have been a good idea?" they are most likely to answer "of course". When the answer is always actually "no". Without human life as the sole absolute in this world there is no basis for human society. And the disappearance of this most blindlingly obvious fact is how we've ended up having astonishing 'debates' about the right to end one's life on the NHS!!! We have now officially crossed the line from sanity to hysteria. We've clearly not paid attention to the disasters 'assisted suicide' has unleashed in Holland. The most fascinating reading on the notion of crowd mentallity can be had in the biblical scholar Girard, who essentially says whenever the majority calls for blood you can be sure that something isn't quite right about the prosecution's case. I personally don't think the Church has gone far enough - I think that our already tight set of criteria need to be tightened so that what the catechism of the RCC calls "a virtual impossibility" (a justifiable execution) should become a plain impossibility. Capital punishment is worse than murder. A jury of twelve calm, collected, well-fed individuals sits in a room, drinks coffee, chats about a case and then decides (again, nice and calmly) that a fit response to an attrocious action is to take away that person's very existence. This is far worse than any gangland killing, psychopathic slaughter, act of self-defence or other form of murder could ever be. And woe betide the state or government that inflicts such a decision making process on that jury. It is beyond belief that the US, regularly billed as the most publicly Christian nation in the west, cannot see the woods for the trees- they speak of a Christian duty to take life when Jesus himself said "You have heard it said 'an eye for an eye', yet i say to you that if a man strikes your cheek turn the other one to him also". Wasn't it Gandhi who wrote "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". St Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, once wrote a priceless description of the difference between Justice and Mercy: "In the courts of the mortal world one admits one's guilt and is then condemned. In the court of the Lord, one admits one's guilt and is immediately set free." No to utilitarianism (no matter what!), and yes to liberty! <img src="http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/yabbfiles/Templates/Forum//default/smiley.gif" border="0" alt="Smiley" /> Best regards and the peace of the Risen Christ to you all, David. Discussions - Happy New Year Everyone & Help for Haiti http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1264689350/0#0 Reverence for Life (UK) Forum/Discussions http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1264689350/0#0 I'm certainly glad that the new year has arrived as last year was quite a challenging year.  I hope everyone is basking in good health and happiness. In light of the recent Haiti catastrophe, I wanted to kindly remind everyone that if they would like to make a financial contribution to Haiti, they can do so by donating to Dr. Schweitzer's hospital in Haiti: <a href="http://www.hashaiti.org/" target="_blank">http://www.hashaiti.org/</a> Blessings to all, Lizzie Discussions - Can we Learn http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1253528560/2#2 Reverence for Life (UK) Forum/Discussions http://www.albertschweitzer.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1253528560/2#2 BJ and Percy, I ask these same questions every day and it seems that as individuals and as nations consisting of individuals, we do not learn much from the past.  The old adage, ' History repeats itself' is certainly enough 'proof' that supports this human flaw. The modern Conservatives are in my opinion, very violent, aggressive and confrontational due to greed and exude an elitist attitude and patriotism toward other countries as well as individuals in their own country.  My psychological analyses of their behavior indicates that they are weak, fearful and insecure people who identify with power as a necessity to protect themselves.  These same conservatives are typically religious people too which also indicates their need to protect themselves from burning in hell and they often use religion as a platform to justify their self serving behaviors. My curiosity about why history repeats itself  relates to human behavior.  Let's face it, how many truly historically instrumental figures in our world have actually led to change?  They are few are far between.  How many Dr. Schweitzers have there been?  So, I would tend to think that human genetics has a lot to do with whether we repeat/follow or whether we lead/change.  I would be very interested in researching the DNA of people like Hitler and Bush vs. Obama, Carter, Jesus.  Catch my meaning here? Characteristically, those who blaze a new trail are considered freaks and mavericks and humanity fears supporting them for fear of being judged by others.