Aspies For Freedom

Could you explain your moral philosophy?  

What annoys you about the world and society for instance?

a) What do you find morally offensive?
b) What agitates you about other people in general?

Also how much doubt or certainty do you attach to them?

Er, Guess Who - could you please explain what you mean by this student from Ghana "all but begging his way through school"? Do you mean he is borrowing money off people and not paying it back or something different? I'm trying to work out exactly what he's doing that so wrong.

Ah, I see. I remember now that you mentioned this guy before. I think you could consider any money you've given him as purely a gift. It's pointless expecting him to pay it back because he is very unlikely to. He probably thinks as you've got a good job and he hasn't that you can afford to be generous.

Maybe you could see him as a cross you must bear. Offer it up for the lord if that will make it feel any better. I also think being generous to this man will earn you many brownie points in heaven so if you look at it that way, you won't feel so resentful. He is after all, a stranger in a strange country and probably all his funds are going towards his tuition.

I get this impression that you could be a bit tight with money. It seems that fight with your ex over the hot dog was a similar example. Would it really have hurt you so much to just buy her another one or to buy this man a subway roll?

GuessWho, I detect hateful thoughts in the way you write about this Ghanaian student. Since the state helped you on your way with your education, why can't you show a little generosity of spirit and help this young man without continually whinging?

You're on a good wicket financially so you can afford to be kind to him. The way you speak of this man suggests that you are a modern day pharisee and do you really want to be thought of as one?

Then again, it's often the poorest people who are most willing to share what they have with others.

Chris, are you sure you read the Bible so thoroughly? Do please read the section regarding the man who asked "am I my brother's keeper"? It's not uncommon for local service clubs to have fund-raisers to help parents pay for the cost of medical treatment for their sick child and I note also that there is now a fund-raiser to help the parents pay for the cost of sending their five year old autistic daughter to an AEIOU school.

Our medical costs aren't as extortionate as those in the US either but it's not the fault of the doctors - the USA is such a litigious society that medical insurance premiums for doctors are sky high. There was an episode of South Park that explained the situation perfectly and I wish I could remember what series it was (it would have been one of the earlier ones)

Chris, I just can't understand why you would begrudge Gideon help with his education when the state funded a course for you. Just because Gideon is black, poor, and came from an overseas country doesn't mean he is any less deserving of your care. The fact that he even overcame significant odds to get to the USA to study is much to his credit.

I don't know how to get through that crust of prejudice that mires your mind but I also think that comment of your mum's that you repeated in a previous post was quite silly "those international people, when you give them a radio, then ask for batteries". Well duh! of what use is a radio without batteries?

That's the same mistake some Christians and government agencies made years ago when they supplied farming equipment to some other countries and then got annoyed when some years later, the equipment was sitting rusting in fields. They never thought to train locals in maintaining the tractors etc or about the availability of parts or fuel.

NB: this is not to cast any aspersions against the many excellent grassroots programmes that are being conducted in Asian and African countries to help local communities become self sufficient. It is also a sad fact that in many of these communities, women and girls are the last to be educated.

Oh for goodness sakes, GuessWho! Didn't you even read all the wonderful Bible passages Woman From Mars posted for you? Your friend Gideon spent five freaking dollars on a Chinese banquet and you act as if it's the crime of the century! Did you think the poor man should just curl up in a corner and die of starvation?

What kind of messed up values would let an avowed Christian think that way? It's not as if you've ever been short of a meal so why begrudge this man the enjoyment of having some Chinese food? Plus, $5 is quite cheap for a Chinese meal.

Now I know you have Aspergers and so do I but please take a hint from what I've been saying on this subject. Please get past the mental obtuseness to see the point I'm making that charity isn't just reserved for big white men such as yourself. Besides, once Gideon has got his degree, he might just repay your generosity.

Guess Who, What about tradies in the US? Do they get a good wage? How about clerks? There is something seriously wrong with an economy where you need a degree to get a job where you get paid enough to live on.

Or he might have thought that in such a supposedly affluent country as the US, there was no reason why someone as prosperous as Chris couldn't have helped in a little in his hour of need.

Chris, there are two songs I really wish you would listen to and as many times as it takes for you to absorb their message:

One is "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby and The Range and the other is "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins (also remade by Brandy, I think). There are plenty of others with a similar theme but those will do for a start.

Oh come on, GuessWho - all this stuff you're saying about mass evacuation and world population dying off is never going to happen. So you needn't worry.

Also, sad as your mother's passing was, God didn't will it. Everybody has their time to go, even when it seems too early for their loved ones. I wish my dad didn't die when he did, and miss out on seeing his grandchildren growing up. I also wish my friend's wonderful 21 year old brother wasn't killed in a road accident a couple of months ago.

Quote from Max:

"I thought it was biblically clear that GuessWho is supposed to sell everything he owns and give the money to the poor.

Maybe Jesus sent Gideon to GuessWho as a way of finding out whether GuessWho is a true Christian.

If so, I guess Jesus got his answer."

All those comments about Gideon reek of greed and self-righteousness. Instead of invoking corrupt ideas of economic rationalism, he ought to be thanking God for an opportunity to show his faith and charity. Unbridled individualism and economic rationalism is making poverty a crime and wrecking countless lives.

Ah okay. Keep your stuff. Just please spare us your "righteous indignation" about Gideon needing a bit of financial help here and there. There aren't going to be any evacuations so it wouldn't hurt you to keep the car but walk or bike smaller trips instead of automatically hopping into your vehicle.

GuessWho, the comment in the Bible about it being just about as hard for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle as a rich man going to heaven was made for a good reason. The "camel" probably wasn't actually a ship of the desert but a type of rope that was used in biblical times.

It is easy for us to get comfortable with a certain level of wealth and not wish to sacrifice any of that ease of living. I guess we can be thankful that you are honest enough to say you don't like sharing with the "undeserving". That gives us plenty of ground to debate with you.

But what gives you the right to think you are so superior to people such as Gideon who are sincerely attempting to improve their level of knowledge? By the way, education is not a luxury - it is a necessity.

We could debate the relative merits of differing levels of education but education of women is especially crucial if you wish population growth to slow down. Educated people tend to have smaller families in general.

I agree with your concerns about getting your heart broken if you marry and it breaks down. It hurts just as much if you are in a long term romantic relationship and also in short relationships if you had hopes they would last.

Sex is more likely to be distasteful the first time for females because it can be painful. That's why the guy needs to be considerate and gentle in these situations. I wonder though if you also mean that you want to marry a woman who is a virgin?

It doesn't matter how much you say to us that you are or will be "saved". None of us will know till we're dead and gone and neither do you.

Okay, I will amend what I said about no evacuations. Conceivably, there could be a situation where you need to get out fast. But there is still no need for you to drive 500 feet to drop off your garbage bags in the dumpster. I have heard few things sillier than that.

Stopping and starting cars for such small trips wastes much more fuel than giving them a good run with longer trips.

I ask you though; say if there were an evacuation, would you fill up your car with others who did not have vehicles of their own eg. Gideon? True Christian charity would dictate that you would take passengers who needed a lift so that they wouldn't be left behind to drown as happened when cyclone Katrina hit New Orleans.

I was so appalled when I read about how so many poor people (mostly black) drowned because nobody bothered to check if they needed help. If this kind of thing had happened in Australia, we would have got the army and SES involved in evacuating people without their own transport.

I believe very strongly in justice.
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GuessWho, have you ever seen that cartoon of a skeleton sitting on a park bench, covered with cobwebs and holding a bunch of long-dead flowers. It's titled "Looking for miss right".

Why not be a bit daring and take a good look at your female co-workers instead of acting as if they are invisible?

Any moral philosophy that can be explained isn't adequate.  Or something like that.