"The unknown, the unforetold, the unproven, that is what life is based on. Ignorance is the ground of thought. Unproof is the ground of action. If it were proven that there is no God there would be no religion... But if it were proven that there is a God, there would be no religion."

"The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next."

As ursula k leguin once put it, there is really only one question that really matters, and we already know the answer to that one. the world is full of disputed points, and people line themselves on opposite sides of them, even slaughter themselves by the million to try and resolve them. who has the arrogance to say who's right and who's wrong?

no, i'm not saying some things aren't worth fighting for, even dying for. all i'm saying is that maybe we should respect the other guy who, rightly or wrongly, feels at least as strongly about it as you do.

there are different kinds of questions; "how many grams does a liter of water weigh" has an answer, one that can be determined with some precision. "what is the proper relationship of man to the universe?" (or even to the state) cannot. that doesn't mean it's not worth asking, or even talking about. but they are not real questions with real answers, they are ways in which we view the external reality around us, and we have the freedom to respond to that reality as we see fit.

but when someone thinks you are evil, or a fool, because you don't come up with the same exact answer they do, it's very hard to take them seriously, about anything. and when they insist on shouting at you how wrong and corrupt you are, day after day, because they haven't arrived at the same conclusions as you...well, that's when you decide maybe its time to find another pub to have a drink in.

a lot of people have been going elsewhere for a drink, tom, or have you noticed? and maybe, just maybe, it's not because they are afraid of simple answers.