Or as Samuel Langhorne Clemens was fond of saying (...this coming from a secondary English teacher,), "Never let your Education get in the way of your learning!"

RB, after hs, spent 4 years getting his "higher education" in the libraries of LA. (Was it Vonnegut who also followed a similar path and became a world reknown writer?)

Some of the greatest writers never went to University. I wholeheartedly agree with them. Immagination is far too precious a thing to see it whittle away doing "compare and contrast" things on two very simple novels. But the trick is to shock and outrage your proffesors; that way one is guaranteed to move on from year to year without falling into the beaten tracks of boring and bland academia. To shock and outrage effectively, one also needs to use their own brain. It's the only way to actually benefit from university training.
Cheers, Translator

Offhand I don't know if Vonnegut had any college, but so many of that generation who did go were eligible due to the G. I. bill. Vonnegut was a veteran--Bradbury was not.

Looking at the above has the song "Kodachrome" running through my head.

I thought I'd read somewhere RB being quoted as saying "School got in the way of my education". Since High School I've always attributed it to him.

Vonnegut is the author of one of my very favorite stories, HARRISON BERGERON. A few months back on T.V. I saw a movie of it. The movie had Sean Astin as Harrison and Christopher Plummer as the the guy heading a program for "gifted" children. The movie was WAY different from the short story. Since seeing that movie I've been wondering if Vonnegut turned the story into a novel, or if movie execs just "elaborated" upon the story.

minn8918

I wonder how much they SERIOUSLY doubt/disbelieve and how much is just their attempt to take charge of the situation through denial, perhaps in response to stories which may have frightened them in the past. Since I've never doubted the existence of God, I've never doubted with having to reckon with Him. Maybe some people are not comfortable acknowledging that scenario. WITHOUT God, though, there is no hope of anyone "in charge" to dispense ultimate justice! Maybe they deny God because in their view He is not doing a good enough job.

Wow! Who would have ever thought that Translator is not only a socialist, but an atheist also? WOOOWEEE!

I believe that Ray's work shows that science and God do not have to eliminate each other. A lot of religious people resist science, and a majority of scientists resist God. This does not have to be. I have a brother who is a chemist at a University and NEARLY ALL his collegues are atheists. Of course my brother wears a Christian tie every so often because the atheists get wrinkles in their pantyhose and jockey shorts over it.

The story "The Man" in "The Illustrated Man" is one of my favorites and shows how God and science do not have to be in oppostion with one another. Jesus going to other planets--what an awsome concept!

I, for myself, cannot believe that this world ordered itself so perfectly without a powerful hand. The workings of the human body or nature itself could not have just come about after molecules exploded in a big bang. Big bang may have happened, but someone was there to create those molecules.

Thank You Lord!

"Esli Boga net--znachit, vsio pozvoleno" or
"If God does not exist, all is permitted."
A frightening thought, and a much-discussed quote from Dostoyevsky.

Well, I'm a scientist at heart (I'm a medical technologist by trade!) and I can easily blend my love of science with my belief in God. I can find miracles everywhere I look! Plus, I find it hard to believe that everything was just a happy accident. I also believe that we're not the only sentient (notice I didn't say intelligent!) life in this big old universe. Besides, there has to be a God....my son started going to church ON HIS OWN!!!! This from the child who didn't believe in God only a few months ago! (OK, so I think it's a form of foxhole religion, as he's currently in Marine Corps boot camp...but whatever works, I say!!)

To take Christ to other planets - to boldly go and introduce God where he's never been before! Ah, the stupidity of man.

quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
"Esli Boga net--znachit, vsio pozvoleno" or
"If God does not exist, all is permitted."
A frightening thought, and a much-discussed quote from Dostoyevsky.

Maybe some of our atheist friends on this board would care to reconcile their beliefs with this quote. Any takers?

Personally, I've found nothing in Bradbury's work to contradict my Christian faith. Having read "Chapbook," I can see why ministers would find inspiration in Bradbury.

Best,

Pete

The fact that someone does not believe in God does not mean that person is a lawless individual without morals. On the other hand I have found that in overzealous Christian communities (like Belgium used to be) everybody is continuously afraid of this 'God' lurking in the shadows, seeing everything etc. This is NOT a healthy state of affairs. I once dated a girl who literally saw 'God' everywhere, torturing herself and those around her to the point that I ended up thinking she needed psychiatric help. She was even afraid to look at her own body when taking a shower.

Gothic,

Thanks for the response.

If you don't believe in God, from where do you derive your code of morality? If you believe it's wrong to kill an innocent person, why?

I didn't realize that Belgium had been overzeolously Christian. The problem with that, of course, and with your poor girlfriend, is the interpretation and implemntation of beliefs. We are flawed but God isn't. It sounds like you might be equating one with the other.

Best,

Pete

I was born in a more or less catholic family and went to catholic schools most of the time, and I do realize not everything I've been impregnated with is necessarily bad. I do not kill and do not expect to be killed. Nor do I cheat or steal. But are those exclusively catholic/christian virtues? Show me one religion which says it's right to kill or steal. I try to love fellow human beings as much as possible, because I want to be loved. Is that a typically christian stance?

Gothic,

Not at all. My larger question is this: without God (or some higher power), from where do you derive a code of morality? From yourself? What if that code clashes with that of another? That is, let's say my morality says it's perfectly fine to murder the innocent. If I live under your laws, I would be breaking them. But if I lived under mine, I wouldn't. So is morality of my action, with all other circumstances being equal, soley dependent on my location?

Best,

Pete