From: noonan@mksol.dseg.ti.com (Michael P Noonan)
Subject: Re: YO! READ THIS (not an answer, a question) (WAS: Re: Truth)
Organization: Texas Instruments
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 18:47:48 GMT

In article <BzD70p.E8v.1@cs.cmu.edu>, rhuss+@EDRC.CMU.EDU (Robert Huss) writes:
|> 
|> 	This concept of Truth has been brought up in another discussion, and I
|> think it might be interesting enough to get it's own subject line.  The
|> possibilities are:
|> 
|> 1.	There is only one Truth.  One way the universe was created, one
|> correct way to believe, one way to be Right.  

I have never believed this, even when I was a Catholic.  I still remeber
being in a Catholic religion class (I went to private Catholic high school.)
and alot of us were having a problem with everyone who wasn't Christian
going to hell.  My teacher, a brother (for the uninitiated, that's almost
a priest but not quite), closed the door and said, "the Catholic Church
teaches [1, above].  Many good Catholics believe [2, below]."  Essentially,
he taught us that there are many paths to the same location, and all of the
various faiths around the world are also valid ways to God.  In other
words, he taught that the Catholic Chrurch was right, but that God was an
understanding and merciful God, and he would not damn everyone in the
different cultures.  That led to my belief that Jesus revealed himself in
different ways to different cultures.  Not exactly out of the catechism,
but it worked for me.  I recognize that that view is not biblically
sound, but Catholics aren't that big on the bible anyway.  The courses at
my high school were pseudo-non-denominational (we had a lot of non-Catholics.)
and ethics oriented, with some bible and Aquinas and Augustine thrown in.

|> 2.	There is one Big Truth, which allows for some divergence at lower levels,
|> so there could be more than one way to believe and still be right.  There is still only one way the universe was created, but multiple ways to believe,
|> and multiple ways to be right.  
|> 
|> 3.	There is no such thing as One Truth.  Each person's truth is unique.
|> There are multiple ways for the universe to have been created, multiple ways to
|> believe, and multiple ways to be right.

Well, I wouldn't phrase it the way you have, but I am coming to the
conclusion that there is no big-T.  Even soon after realizing that my
religious belief had no logical basis, I still wanted to believe that
there was some kind of universal truth.  Now, I am coming to the con-
clusion that the universe and are lives are what we make of them.

|> 	Agreement on the subject of Truth doesn't mean we have to agree on
|> what the truth is.  Can anyone provide other possibilities for the existance
|> of Truth? 
|> 	My personal choice is number 2.  I'm not absolutely sure of the Big Truth,
|> but I think that it doesn't matter a heck of alot which way we believe.
|> This is because I don't happen to believe in god, so obviously it wouldn't
|> really matter what we believe.  However, there are those who would agree
|> with 2, who do believe in a god, but don't believe that you have to be
|> Christian to be right.
|> There could be a god, who encouraged many forms of religion, all with some
|> common ground.

There could be, but why should you believe that there is?  A lot of things
"could be".

I really don't understand how you can be an atheist and believe that there
are universal truths.  (Although I have a feeling I'm going to find out!)
If you're going to go that far, you might as well believe in a god, too.
There is just as much evidence for each, IMNSHO.  To me it is just wishful
thinking that there is a Universal Truth, at least until I see some evidence
for it.

|> 	I think 3 is kind of neat, although I don't buy it.  There are theories
|> about multiple universes, mutliple dimensions and such which might allow 3
|> to flourish.

Like I said, I wouldn't have phrased 3 the way you did.  If there is no
truth, then there is no truth.  What's all this multiple universe stuff
all about?

|> Perhaps our "souls" are interfacing in this dimension via
|> these bodies, but there are other possible dimensions, and other possible
|> creations of the universe.  Therefore, when we die, our "souls" would
|> return to their respective home dimensions, and the alternate realities would
|> be experienced.

What's all this "soul" stuff about?  I'm not sure what you mean here.
It all sounds like jibberish to me.  Are you an atheist who believes in
souls?  Please don't take offense, but this last paragraph is all very
confusing to me.  Why are there "souls" if there is no God, no Truth?

Perhaps a better way of saying 3 would be the following:

 3'. There is no such thing as One Truth.  Each person's perception of
     truth is unique.  There are multiple ways to live your life with
     meaning - pick one.

|> Bob "I vote for 2" Huss

-Mike Noonan