First Principles

Quote: petroglyph

I disagree. The problem is most folks including you, overuse "to death" the word love. It is the most overused and under experienced word in the English language.

I agree with you that "love" is the most overused and misunderstood word in the English language. The Greeks had four words for love so it could more properly be used to describe things like friendship, family, physical attraction, and the total gift of self notion of love.

Quote:

When marriage is good or possibly "the best", it isn't work at all.

I agree that the person in a good or wonderful marriage doesn't feel like it is work at all. However, they are always doing the hard things like being patient with the kids, loving their spouse and putting their needs first, working hard to support and care for the family. However, when everyone is doing this and loving each other the hard work is an easy burden most times.

Quote:

But staying in a marriage that shouldn't have happened, or has become bitter , is a waste of life.

Surprisingly perhaps I agree with you. Staying in a marriage can be torture for some people. I also like the way you worded the statement, "a marriage that shouldn't have happened". That sentiment is the exact understanding of a Catholic annulment when it is granted.

Quote: FrGamble

The Greeks had four words for love so it could more properly be used to describe things like friendship, family, physical attraction, and the total gift of self notion of love.

Which did they have besides eros, philos, and agape?

They also had storge.

Quote: DRich

I have to agree with Bob.

Evaluating right and wrong (or any value such as good and bad, etc.) is primarily a function of our conscience.

The conscience resides in the human spirit.

The human spirit is outside of the soul (not part of self).

The mind, will, and emotion reside in the soul.

The soul and human spirit are connected at the "heart" (spiritual heart).

There's a switch that takes place when processing information, between the human spirit and the soul.

So knowing something is not necessarily all in our mind.

The mind in the soul checks the conscience in the human spirit.

However, if the conscience is obstructed for whatever reason, the mind is effectively operating by itself.

The conscience can act like a mechanical governor for external wisdom, which is another part of the human spirit.

"So is everything just an opinion to you? Is there such a thing as Truth?"



FrGamble, I noticed the conversation became focused on Truth.

I figure there are two kinds of truth: Absolute Truth and Relative Truth.

Absolute Truth is God (for an atheist it could be considered a force outside of self).

Relative Truth is what each of us thinks the Absolute Truth is.

Absolute Truth is constant and never changes, while Relative Truth always changes.

The difference of the two truths is Self-Deception.

Self-Deception is a magnitude stored on our conscience.

Our conscience can be isolated and operated on.

To isolate our conscience, we can switch our focus (conscious) from self (soul) to not self (humility).

We can switch modes at will (contained inside the soul).

One mode is a selfish mode and one is an unselfish mode.

Self is finite and not self is infinite.

Another way to write this is self is powerless and not self is powerful.