[Buddha-l] Fighting creationism

[jkirk]

> Yes, and so we also agree that nobody spreads AIDS in an evil manner.
>
>> Well, I'd say all of these issues are of great concern.  They all do 
>> great
>> harm to the human family.
>
> If only we human beings confined ourselves to doing harm within the human
> family. Sadly, we collectively damage just about every order of being 
> through
> our greed and folly. If God really did create human beings, then I fear 
> that
> is one act I shall never learn to forgive.
>
> -- 
> Richard Hayes
======================
We need a few facts here. 1) A few people have indeed deliberately set out 
to spread the infection of HIV/AIDS, and succeeded in infecting some people. 
Their acts were followed by arrest and trial, with guilty verdicts.
2) I agree that the preponderance of evidence about the spread of HIV/AIDS 
infection indicates that most of it is based on ignorance and lust.
In some countries the ignorance is magnified by the delusionary idea that if 
an HIV infected man, or one with full-blown AIDS, has sex with a virgin, he 
will be cured.
We can imagine the consequences.

I too am dubious about the moral etc. condition of humans, but there is 
still hope to the extent that Buddhist teachings at least can help us, if we 
will,  to overcome our obvious liabilities in being human, liabilities that 
animals in their worlds, and nature in general, do not suffer from. Perhaps 
this could be a different way for Christians to interpret 'original sin', if 
that sin were construed as the three genetic poisons of Buddhism.  (I forget 
if, say, Calvin preached that the entire world or cosmos-- nature et al--  
suffered from original sin. If he did, he was wrong.)

Nature is not a moral world, even when we see a baby duck feeding a bunch of 
carp. We see it, and think it is behaving like us when we are benevolently 
disposed. I doubt it. Coming up with answers to this exceptional duck would 
require years of studious observation, a la Konrad Lorenz. Maybe it was a 
one-off?

Joanna