Re: Axes to grind
Pranams,
To Believer's very good points above, I would just like to add the following.
My earnest wish on this forum is not to convert anyone or even anyone to my views, but rather to raise the general standard of discussion and/or debate to some reasonably intelligent level. Too often we get questions from members innocently wondering about some point of morality or philosophy, only to get answers of the form:
"Well, I believe that..."
"In my opinion...."
"I think that...."
... and so on.
We should understand that when someone asks a question, it is implicit that he or she is looking for an answer based on some authoritative standard of evidence. Personal opinions are not useful to anyone, and in fact they are quite distracting to those looking for informed discourse. As a public forum, when people chime in with personal opinions, it makes Hinduism look like a free-for-all in which personal opinions hold more sway than objective standards of evidence. Now, the truth is that there is no one, homogeneous Hinduism, and so standards of evidence may vary from one tradition to another. But even still, there is no reason why one cannot cite the standards by which he or she answers. If "personal opinion" is the sole basis for providing an answer, it is probably best not to offer it.
regards,
Philosoraptor
"Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools speak because they have to say something." - Plato
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