[Pikachu_PM]

Haha, the computer game qoute was a joke meant to lighten the mood...my apologies that it appeared to do the exact opposite!!

Now that said, I would like to point out that the 'qoute' is a REAL qoute...a designer of the game (Brian Reynolds probably) must have originated it...computer characters don't make their own qoutes. More to the point, Alpha Centauri is a VERY philosophical game and any qoutes originating from that game were taken very seriously and well worth consideration. One of my best friends works directly with Brian Reynolds...he helped make Rise of Nations in fact. I trust his judgment, and he tells me Brian is one of the most brilliant ppl he's ever met in his life...and we're both William and Mary Graduates...so i take that as high praise.

Quotes are simple verbal/written tools used to promote thought, not finite answers to complex problems. It was a tool i used to lighten the mood yet still express a sublte point of view...my apologies if I missapplied the tool.

Moving on, Yorick...you are utterly and completley wrong on your perceptions of Hinduism, and I don't think it is a 'positive' thing to speak of facts like and authority figure.

(I know your next comment is going to be about my 5 authors so let me rebuttle this right away...the bible has 5 AUTHORS and many INSPIRATIONS. Yesn the bible The Bible consists of a collection of SIXTY-SIX (not 40) separate books. These books were chosen, after a bit of haggling, by the Catholic Council of Carthage in 397 A.D.--more than three hundred years after the time of Jesus. This collection is broken into two major sections: The Old Testament, which consists of thirty-nine books, and The New Testament, which consists of twenty-seven books. (Catholic Bibles include an additional twelve books known as the Apocrypha.) 5 different authors complied these books and RE-WROTE the stories into what is now the modern bible.)

Back to Hinduism...the true practice of Hinduism says all caste are equal. The worker cast is no better or worse than the merchant cast or the religious caste. It is simply there role in life to work...it is their part in making the whole of the machine work. Now, in REALITY that is not the case...human nature sort of screws the pooch there.

To conclude here...I think we are just going to have to agree to disagree here. I can't tell if you are being overly stubborn or if I am explaining myself poorly. I will tell you that I am dumbfounded with your statemed "I simply don't agree with this" after qouting a section on the organization of the universe. Explain please...there really isn't anythign to disagree with. Even if you believe in God, God created the universe and we are made from the materials of the universe...