Ridiculous Project

[beso]

This project plans to send copies of texts to the Moon for preservation. They are starting with a copy of the Torah. I can't think of anything more worthless to preserve or to represent humanity to any future space travellers.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229702.500-earths-backup-sending-religious-texts-to-the-moon.html#.U38jS_mSxfM

[sandyRoe]

Has China relaxed the one child rule?

[Khandro]

jomifl; Yes, in India, but not in China, and nothing to do with religion, as birdie and Naomi maintain.

[atalanta]

There is absolutely no reason to send anything to the moon for preservation. There is a salt mine in Cheshire which the Bodleian Library ( Oxford Univ) has been using for many years to store many volumes. I'd think this old mine was at least as safe as the moon, being less liable to be hit by the odd asteroid, among other things.

[jomifl]

Khandro, I don't think cultural practices are entirely disconnected from religious teachings anywhere.

[Khandro]

jomifl; To save you the effort (I'm like that :-)
"Hinduism & Birth Control:
Many traditional Hindu texts praise large families, which was normal in the ancient world because the precarious nature of life required strong fertility. There are also Hindu scriptures which praise small families, though, and the emphasis on developing a positive social conscience was extended to the idea that family planning is a positive ethical good. Fertility may be important, but producing more children than you or your environment can support is treated as wrong."

[solvitquick]

We should send a message as follows:
We inhabited the nearby planet we called Earth. But we destroyed ourselves through greed and arrogance.
We continued to breed but could not feed the mouths we created.
We ran out of fuel, thinking there was an infinite supply.
We dirtied our own nest by polluting the beautiful planet's atmosphere.
Eventually war-upon war broke out in the great battle for the resource remnants. And when the lights went out, we had mollicoddled ourselves so much, the last humans could not light a fire.
Throughout we comforted ourselves by inventing gods who would take care of us but they forsook us.
Beware!
That's what we should send for posterity,
SIQ.

[naomi24]

Khandro, are you saying that religion has no influence upon levels of reproduction?

[DTCwordfan]

As naomi will, no doubt appreciate, I would send a simple message, "Veni, Vidi, Ego collidam in ea."

[DTCwordfan]

"I came, I saw, I wrecked it."

[naomi24]

Stick to English. ;o)

[birdie1971]

Khandro - "... birdie; One of your daftest posts - and that's saying something! Your spurious attempt to link religion with the world's burgeoning population is quite unfounded, for the facts see; http://atheism.about.com/od/abortioncontraception/p/ReligionBirth.htm...";

One of my daftest posts eh? Your argument may have had some merit had your link supported your view. It didn't. Did you even read it before you posted it? I can only assume you didn't. Since you didn't bother to read it, I'll summarise it for you - some religions don't "officially" object to birth control; some do; the end. The article you linked has nothing to say about the reality of reproduction amongst the world's various religions and cultures. I find it quite pathetic that you'd post that link in an attempt to prop up your demonstrably incorrect argument.


--- "... In fact I would assert that it is the DECLINE in religion that has been a major contributing factor to the increasing birth-rate..."

Really? You think that it is all the atheists that are sending the world's population through the roof do you? Oh dear. Have a look at this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_birth_rate

Now, having looked at that please tell me that the top 30 or so are not countries with a very high rate of religious belief. Now do you get it? Is it sinking in yet? Are you still going to cling to your idiotic belief that developed, largely secular countries are contributing to an ever increasing birth rate?

[pugwashjw]

THE WHOLE purpose of scripture is to give us guidelines to live by...unless we DO live by those standards, it is of NO benefit to SEND them anywhere...on the moon or anywhere...
Jesus said to copy him and preach the Kingdom...so WHO is doing this these days?
Are you?
(John 13:15) For I set the pattern for you, that just as I did to you, you should also do.
(Luke 4:43) But he said to them: “I must also declare the good news of the Kingdom of God to other cities, because for this I was sent.”
(Matthew 24:14) And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

[naomi24]

pugwashjw //Jesus said to copy him and preach the Kingdom...so WHO is doing this these days?
Are you? //

I doubt very much that he (if he existed) said anything of the kind, so no I’m not.

[Khandro]

PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY "The vast majority of Protestant denominations, theologians, and churches at least permit contraception and may even promote family planning as an important moral good."
JUDAISM:
" the well-being of the mother has generally been treated as paramount and as justifying contraception."
ISLAM:
"There is nothing in Islam that would condemn contraception; on the contrary, Muslim scholars investigated and developed birth control methods which were taken to Europe."
HINDUISM :
"producing more children than you or your environment can support is treated as wrong."
BUDDHISM:
"Buddhist teachings support appropriate family planning when people feel that it would be too much of a burden on themselves or their environment to have more children."
SIKHISMSM:
"Nothing in Sikh scripture or tradition condemns the prevention of pregnancy; on the contrary, sensible family planning is encouraged and supported by the community."
TAOISM, CONFUCIANISM :
"Evidence of family planning and use of contraceptives goes back thousands of years in China."
Then there is of course,
ROMAN CATHOLICISM:
"Roman Catholicism is popularly associated with a strict anti-contraception position, but this strictness only dates to Pope Pius XI's 1930 encyclical Casti Connubii. Before this, there was more debate on birth control,"
The entry concludes;
"Nevertheless, bans on contraception are not an infallible teaching and could change."

birdie; that is from the link I gave, not the link you gave.

[naomi24]

Khandro, stop being daft. You know as well as everyone else that people living in countries with strong religious traditions are often uneducated and in the main have big families. It's silly to say atheism is creating an ever-increasing population. It isn't. Quite the reverse.

[jomifl]

Khandro, I don't think the links between religion, culture and birth rates can be dismissed out of hand.

[Khandro]

Naomi; Please read my posts and stop misquoting me, birdie said;
//3. You say that religion has nothing to do with destroying the environment and yet every single major (and minor, if I'm not mistaken) religion has a moratorium on birth control//
Which I refuted and gave evidence to the contrary. I have not said that "atheism is creating an ever-increasing population." Those are your words.

[naomi24]

Khandro, if I misunderstood this from you...

//In fact I would assert that it is the DECLINE in religion that has been a major contributing factor to the increasing birth-rate. //

... perhaps you would kindly explain what you meant.

[Khandro]

I was speaking of personal experience within the UK, and it is rather disingenuous of you not to continue with what followed;
"There was no need to issue schoolgirls with contraceptive pills in my day, and as I remember, there were no unmarried teenage mothers in my neighbourhood, - not one."

[Khandro]

The UK has the highest number of teenage pregnancies in Western Europe and the highest number of unmarried teenage mothers in the world.
The UK annual total for teenage pregnancies now stands at about 93,000, according to the British Medical Association.
This is the highest level of teenage pregnancy in Europe - twice that of Germany and four times that of France.
The UK government's social exclusion unit, which has reported on the problem, has been scrutinising plans in the Netherlands and the United States for inspiration on how to tackle the issue which costs tax payers as much as £10bn each year.

Source; BBC