Monthly Archives: January 2022

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On free will

I know some of you are about to say, not again, but indulge me a bit. This will not be long.

I have seen a species of arguments that goes something like if god is omniscience, then we can’t have freewill as an argument against freewill but I think this line of argument is mistaken. Unless of course god determines or directs our actions, then we are puppets in a cosmic game that we don’t know its purpose.

But the omniscience of god still poses a problem for the problem of evil. God knows what we will do and in her godliness decides that it is best to let the baby be raped and the mother hacked to death to satisfy some cosmic ends.

It would be possible, in my view, to retain freewill and gods omniscience. Only thing is that we can not alter the future. It is determined unless god is misguided. This is all so confusing.

For avoidance of doubt, I am still a freewill and god skeptic. I am this morning attempting to be the devil’s advocate.

Have a confused Monday, will you and if you are Chinese, Happy New Year.

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Heaven or hell

Yudhistara is taken to paradise first by Vyasa where he finds his friends and family missing. He demands to see them. They descend to a place with putrid smell and all. Then Bhima, Karna, Draupadi, Arjuna all tell him they are down there. His next words should be hang in all churches and mosques: I will stay here with my family.

Vyasa then tells him that was the final illusion; there is no paradise no hell. No words. No friends. No enemies. Just silence.

As long as one man is in hell, heaven should not be occupied. That is, if there is a heaven.

Don’t worry, be happy. Once you die, it is all silence. But don’t take my word for it. Die and find out.

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theists 1 atheists 0

while atheists are stuck in their position that the theists have not provided evidence for their claims about god, and others go as far as claiming theists have not even passed the first hurdle; what is god and why is it necessary that a god exists, the theists have 10 proofs. Who can deny 10 proofs? Only fools eh. What are these 10 proofs?

The first 5 proofs are the 5 ways of Thomas Aquinas. The first proof makes a claim that we have no way of confirming, that is, for something to happen in nature, there’s got to be something at the beginning of it that is outside of nature. We can’t know this. In the second proof, Aquinas is simply saying, I don’t know, therefore God. 3 way introduces a necessary existence which he makes his god. The 4th way is to say there are degrees of ugliness and the perfect ugliness must be god. The 5th way is the best. A rock falls down and not up because god. If this proof doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will.

The 6th proof is quite complex. I can point at a tree and i can describe a tree. What connects the tree and my description is god.

The seventh proof is not a proof really, but is in itself need of proof. It is a claim that there has to be a powerful something causing organization in the world.

Mathematics or our concept of justice have actual existence out of our minds and therefore this is the 8th proof of god.

Things don’t just exist. The reason for their existence is god. And this is our 9th proof.

To deny the existence of god is to deny the existence of moral law. This is the 10th proof.

Atheists I know you are now totally stumped and will be walking in droves to join the church next door or you will go to hell.

Have a proof full day, won’t you.

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There was never a country

In the past, in this country, we have had a parliament that at least, in perception, had a functioning parliament. Many times they wouldn’t be successful in challenging the government position but they did attempt to. In those days, we had an official opposition party and a back bench. Then Kibaki came, stole elections and that was the end of active check of government in Kenya by parliament.

When Uhuru got elected by 93% and Raila got sworn in as the people’s president and shortly after, was bought by Uhuru, the government has been free to do as it pleases. And recall, most of the sitting MPs are what we call vifaranga vya komputa– computer generated MPs- for those who don’t understand my French. These crop of legislators owe only computers their allegiance and no one else. The country has in the mean time gotten worse as a bandit state.

in the days of yore, people would disappear but mostly at night and be accused of subversion by the Moi government or they would be involved in some gruesome accident with a tractor or some other such contraption. Not anymore. The current government lays siege to your house without shame and no one representative of this poor constituent raises a voice.

Then there are the cases of people who are found in sacks floating around rivers or in forests. And many other such banditry. It’s crazy when you think about it, really. The question one want to ask, is, how sick is this society that we live in? And how callous are the people who do these things?

And these same people want our votes.

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How will covid 19 end?

Or rather, when will it be declared endemic rather than a pandemic? And realistically, if it is after mass vaccination, that is not soon. Whereas some places have close to 90% vaccination rates, we, here in Africa, at last check, are at 30%.

How will this post pandemic world look like? Masks everywhere? Booster shots every 3-4 months? Dead economic sectors.

In unrelated news, Moi, the late president is said to have left behind $3 billion worth of assets. Man was stealing for 24 years while the rest of the nation was impoverished. It is true he followed the footsteps of the first thief. Maybe these thieving heads of states should read Tolstoy’s how much land does a person need. Maybe they will check their appetite for public goods.

Whatever happens, stay alive.

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Belief has no place where truth is concerned

God does not exist
Does god exist?

These two videos speak to the same topic. I hadn’t heard of Prof Peter Millican before this, but I like him. He is eloquent. As for Krishnamurti, I have read some of his works and I agree with some if not most of it. The two videos will take a max of 35 minutes but you will thank me for days for contributing to your education.

Enjoy

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Unmaking new year resolutions

Every year, billions of earthlings make resolutions to better themselves, get a wife/husband, a degree, lose weight, adopt a healthy lifestyle ans many others only to forget the location they stored the pen and paper after drafting the above in technicolor.

I used to be like these many people until I gave up the practice and adopted a let tomorrow bring what it will attitude.

It is to those people in the first paragraph that this post is meant. Maybe it is time to trying to unmake resolutions. Go to the unachieved list from the previous year and examine the reasons for failure. Were the goals too ambitious, did they depend on others entirely to be achievable, was there passion in their development?

In doing all this, they will begin to see what really matters, what is possible and what really is very ambitious and begin to make the steps to achieving them.

And with that, I end my self-help blog post. To a great resolution less 2022.