Sword of Truth

[Josh]

I've been rereading the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind lately. If you haven't heard of the series, it's fantasy, but the author laces in quite a bit of philosophy about life and conflict. Even if you've never been a big fan of fantasy, I still recommend taking a look, the first book is called Wizard's First Rule. To give you an idea of what to expect, and also to see what everyone thinks of the Rules, here are the basic rules a wizard is supposed to live by, according to the story so far:

Wizard's First Rule: "People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true."

Wizard's Second Rule: "The greatest harm can result from the best intentions."

Wizard's Third Rule: "Passion rules reason."

Wizard's Fourth Rule: "There is magic in sincere forgiveness- the magic to heal! In the forgiveness you grant, and more so in the forgiveness you receive."

Wizard's Fifth Rule: "Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie."

Wizard's Sixth Rule: "The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason."

Wizard's Seventh Rule: "Life is the future, not the past."

Wizard's Eighth Rule: "Deserve victory."

Wizard's Ninth Rule: "A contradiction cannot exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole."

Wizard's Tenth Rule: "Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self."

[udo]

I've been rereading the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind lately. If you haven't heard of the series, it's fantasy, but the author laces in quite a bit of philosophy about life and conflict.

I'm glad you brought up this series, because I've never read it and have been curious for quite some time.

I think the part I quoted is of utmost importance.  Anybody can write science fiction, fantasy, romance, etc.  It's only when the author steps up to the plate with issues of the human condition, however, that these move from the realms of "pulp fiction" to "novels" and eventually "classics."

JRR Tolkein, for instance, didn't write about elves and goblins and trolls.  He wrote about industrialization, drug addiction, war, fear, love and honor.

[DanM]

Like everyone else, I've read Tolkien, but I haven't read Terry Goodkind's work.

The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason

I thought this rule was interesting.  It flies in the face of the concept of religion, essentially indicating that one should not obey the laws of a God whom one can never fully understand.

[Josh]

I'd disagree that reason and religion are mutually exclusive. One could argue quite logically for the existence of God. I understand what you mean though, that it may not seem reasonable to follow teachings of a religion based on divine revelation, when it seems impossible for anyone to completely understand God's intentions. But reason by itself does not imply complete understanding, either. It just means taking action based on what is, and not what you wish could be. But you're right, it does fly in the face of believing in God simply because you don't want to face the fact of the possibility God doesn't exist. I agree that that's the wrong approach. But I'd argue that it's perfectly fine to follow 'God's Laws' as recorded by modern religions so long as you don't do so blindly, but believe it to be the reasonable thing to do. After all, morality isn't only a concept of religious thought.

[Josh]

I just read the other day that they're going to make a mini-series of the first book for television, which I thought was great. Unlike Tolkien, rather, even more than Tolkien, each book is very long, and I think a mini-series would do it more justice than trying to make a major motion picture out of it. Goodkind had turned down offers for this very reason. But recently Sam Raimi (you might remember his involvement in Spider-Man 1 and 2) pitched the idea to Goodkind and apparently he liked it enough to give him the chance to make it come to life. It will be interesting to see who is cast for each role, as the characters are very well developed in the story.

[udo]

I went looking for these novels at Half-Price Books today.  This was a large store, but has a very small fantasy section.  There were only two or three in this series in the store.

I think that speaks volumes [pardon the pun] about the quality of these novels, that people are unwilling to part with them.  Wizard's First Rule was not there, so I purchased from another author I like instead.

[Gee3666]

I have always been of the belief that Science and Faith are not mutually exclusive.  Rather the opposite is true in my opinion.  My opinion is that the knowledge, or 'truth',  that humans in general seek is founded in the melding of the two.  Where science and faith  mingle and, in fact, are one.  My view of existence is Holistic; the coalescence of all things.  The difficult part of seeing the truth in existence is to understand the relationships between the forces involved.  Most humans view themselves as somehow 'seperate' or differentiated from the rest of the universe.  I think that is a travesty.  To concieve of existence as 'us and everything else' is fatalistic to true enlightenment.


DOH!  Did I just say all that out loud?

[Firefly]

My view of existence is Holistic; the coalescence of all things

gee, i think we would get along very well.  your post was beautiful.  golly, i'm blushing now.    

some of the most brilliant physicists of the last century have stated that the more they learned about the universe, the more certain they were that some god-like force must exist.

[Gee3666]

I'm alot of 'Sound and fury, signifying nothing....'

[Josh]

Not a bad way of putting it. I believe I approach truth and God in the same way. After all, you can't take part of our universe and call it truth, or God. Truth, God, is the unification of everything, the complete underlying structure of everything, everywhere. I've often thought people make the mistake of seeing things as separate from themselves. Everything is connected. There is one source of light and reality, and people are like prisms...each of us, since we cannot understand everything all at once, see a little bit of truth a little bit differently from everyone else. And yet it is the same truth. Perhaps I'm not making sense any more - it is after all now after 2:30 a.m. and I don't do so well explaining things so late at night - but yeah, when you start to realize that you're not in the universe, so much as the universe is in you, then some things start to make more sense. Though I bet that last statement sure didn't.

Suffice it to say, I find God through science and through faith. He wouldn't be God if he couldn't be found in both, now would he?

[Gee3666]

...I find God through science and through faith. He wouldn't be God if he couldn't be found in both, now would he?

I like that one!

I fear however that we've strayed from the original subject of the thread so I'll post my further comments on this subject in the "Theo and Philo" forum.

In reference to the wizard's first rule, I'd like to quote something I saw on a soap opera. (yes, I said it):
"The world has an abundance of resources in stupid people." -Adam Chandler, "All My Children"

[Josh]

I find it interesting that the 3rd and 6th rules seem almost to contradict each other. That "Passion rules reason" yet "the only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason." Both being true, I guess it explains a lot of the human condition. They're the two opposing forces that we use to determine our actions. What we'd do without thinking, acting out of passion, and what we do after careful consideration. There are moments for both, I think. Sometimes we don't have the time to think things through, and so must act. I guess we just always have to be careful about controlling those passions though, and when we have the time, always think things through. It does no good to overreact to a situation, and become angry when it won't help. But sometimes quick action and determination and passion means the difference between life and death. Just found the duality of it all rather interesting.

[Firefly]

if only we could all find the perfect balance of passion and rational thought.  i suspect you can guess which side of the line i fall on.  it seems to me that some of the most effective leaders are those who can throttle back passion when necessary.  in other words, they can brush aside a slight and focus on the end goal.  perhaps finding an outlet for one's passion is the way to find that happy balance.  stay level-headed during the day, and then splash paint on a canvas all night long................... or something like that.   

[udo]

Firefly for President!  2024!

[Gee3666]

I find it interesting that the 3rd and 6th rules seem almost to contradict each other...

See the Ninth rule.