Do right, and give the consequences to secular humanity

[vovat]

1. Maybe this is crazy on my part, but I don't really like following other people's cars, or other people following mine. The few times I've had to do that, it's worked out all right. Still, I'm always afraid that I'll lose them at a traffic light, or someone else will get in between us, or something like that.

2. I picked up The Tragic Treasury at a music store today. I've also read the first few chapters of The End. So far, no answers to any of the Big Mysteries in Lemony Snicket's series have been forthcoming.

3. Another thing I've been reading recently is Slate's Blogging the Bible series, in which a Jewish editor attempts to read the Bible all the way through, and comments on it as he goes. So far, he's gotten up through Judges. It's pretty interesting, and his take is neither overly snarky (like, say, the Skeptics' Annotated Bible, which I also enjoy) nor totally apologetic. He mentions both the good and the bad. I still hope to read the entire Bible someday myself, but I've only managed to get up through 1 Samuel so far.

4. You know what argument I'm tired of seeing? No, not "allowing gay marriage will also mean people will marry their pets" or "if you do [X], the terrorists win," although those are also pretty high up there. I'm talking about "if you don't believe in God, you're not accountable to anyone." Um, what about being accountable to society, and to your own conscience? It could also be argued that doing the right thing simply because you're concerned about how someone else will react to it is a mentality that we're supposed to grow out of, but that would be getting into some complicated issues of behavioral psychology and where morality comes from in the first place. Suffice it to say that people tend to share a lot of the same basic morals and ethics, regardless of their religion or lack thereof.

Comments

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, if you define "wraps" as "an LJ cut," then sure. {g} I've now finished the book, and I think I've given fair warning about the spoilers. Still, if it's not enough, I guess I can create a filter to stop people from reading it before they're finished the book.

I actually wonder how many of my LJ friends are planning on reading The End. Aside from you, I know bethje wants to, but she loaned me her copy because she wouldn't have a chance to read it for a while. Other people have mentioned reading books in the Snicket series, but I'm not sure how far along they are. My posts on the series usually don't get many replies, but I don't know whether that's because people haven't read the books, or they just can't think of anything to say in reply to them.

[loz]

*hops in*

I've only read the first three books so far. I need to get my hands on the others before I can come close to The End.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, get reading! {g} As you might have guessed, the books become more complex a little while down the line. The seventh (or possibly the eighth, depending on how you look at it) is the last one with the general pattern of the Baudelaires living with a new guardian, and Count Olaf dressing up in a ridiculous disguise that fools everybody except them.