tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800316528417070757.post2766372157945817738..comments2023-04-28T22:14:09.751+01:00Comments on Random Thoughts: Does Anyone Actually Believe in God?John Lawrence Aspdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02587130870181071109noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800316528417070757.post-53411509271915919112011-08-24T03:52:55.539+01:002011-08-24T03:52:55.539+01:00Hey man I agree with your sentiments. I don't ...Hey man I agree with your sentiments. I don't think anyone TRULY believes in God, yes perhaps socially they do and they've basically convinced themselves that he does exist but ultimately they probably don't believe if they walk around not doing his works..risking eternal damnation. I think I'm a testimony to this paradigm considering I claimed to be a Christian just a few months ago and yet when I sat down and tried to improve my faith I ended up debunking it once I tried rationalizing it. Of course, many Christians believe that faith is all that is necessary so of course religion works for them because it is the ultimate cop out..whatever they do they can feel fine and dandy when going to sleep, because they're still "saved". Don't get me wrong, I don't think religion is all in all a bad thing, I think for many people it's a great thing but I don't think the same is true for me. I've never had that great of a Church life and when I did I felt absolutely horrible about myself as a person.<br /><br />However what ultimately caused to me to stop believing was me trying to rationalize free will. It seems very narcissistic of us to think that because we were born into a family with x beliefs we're going to heaven but people across the ocean born into a different family with y beliefs aren't going to heaven because they think something differently. How was it a choice for me to be a Christian? I was brought up that way, seems like an unfair advantage to me. Regardless it doesn't matter because psychology teaches that our behavior is caused by two things, personality and environment. So I'm born with my personality and studies have shown that these characteristics are very stable throughout one's life...and I don't choose my environment I'm brought up in, or even the daily interactions that occur...so really how much say do I have in anything? Just the same as a mouse going through a maze trying to find the cheese, it may seem like I have a choice but then I hit a wall and realize, nope, pretty much limited to one path in a cosmic sense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800316528417070757.post-17667387634819239092011-02-25T20:49:11.547+00:002011-02-25T20:49:11.547+00:00To clarify a bit more:
Resisting evil is not the ...To clarify a bit more:<br /><br />Resisting evil is not the same thing as, say, blocking a punch. One can block the punch, without hating the puncher. Indeed, one can even *admire* his skill/courage/incisiveness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800316528417070757.post-34736566646718222382011-02-25T20:40:40.989+00:002011-02-25T20:40:40.989+00:00I think the idea of turning one's cheek refers...I think the idea of turning one's cheek refers to an inner turning, not an outer one. The idea is not to hate anybody and not to resist evil. <br /><br />Resisting evil only makes it stronger. It's all there in *The Fifth Element*:<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6oZTq_KsXc#t=0m45s<br /><br />(Also, forgiving one's enemies is the only way to forget them.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800316528417070757.post-12362108851985489492010-10-15T16:04:48.337+01:002010-10-15T16:04:48.337+01:00I think you have made a different point here. Peop...I think you have made a different point here. People who claim to believe in god behave badly and therefore they cannot really be convinced they will pay the price. Fair enough, unless your god is tolerant and forgiving. <br /><br />My issue is your absolutism. There is only one logic (yours) for testing the existence of gods. I like you, demand a higher level of proof. Others are satisfied with less.<br /><br />By judging them by your logic, and asserting that really they know your logic is correct, the only conclusion you can arrive at is that they are liars or deluded. This is why your position is fundamentalist.<br /><br />If instead, you accept they simply have a different paradigm, you are no longer obliged to form such harsh views of them. Their motives are sound, even if their paradigm sucks. <br /> <br />Cthulu drinks in the Green Dragon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800316528417070757.post-15675366431397736452010-10-12T19:46:29.095+01:002010-10-12T19:46:29.095+01:00Well, if there's a hole in my logic, what is i...Well, if there's a hole in my logic, what is it? If I believed in God, I'd do what he told me to do. Why would that not apply to believers?<br /><br />So yes, I think that people who claim to be believers are probably deceiving themselves. They believe in the Revenue, and so they do what it says because it is scary. They believe in a scary God, but they do not do what he says.<br /><br />Have I made some glaring mistake here?John Lawrence Aspdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02587130870181071109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800316528417070757.post-19659731079609681452010-10-12T17:19:05.784+01:002010-10-12T17:19:05.784+01:00So no-one believes in god(s) because your logic is...So no-one believes in god(s) because your logic is universal, and those that think they do are either deceiving themselves or lying when they claim they do? It's fair enough to consider inadequate a case for gods that others are willing to accept (generally called 'faith') but your position goes beyond that. You are a Fundamental Aetheist.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800316528417070757.post-34339044993514083182010-10-11T18:03:56.018+01:002010-10-11T18:03:56.018+01:00I'd still think it vanishingly unlikely. Why w...I'd still think it vanishingly unlikely. Why would you call such a thing God? It would just be another power in the world, and probably not very adept at concealing its existence. If such a thing existed I'd expect there to be strong evidence of its existence if it had any interest in us or effect on us at all.<br /><br />I mean, one doesn't need to have faith in earthquakes or dragons. They either exist or they don't, and their consequences are obvious.<br /><br />One does need faith to believe in the Loch Ness Monster or freak waves at sea, or Chthulhu, but then they would have very little effect on our lives whether they existed or not.<br /><br />Of course, once Chthulhu awoke, it would be a different matter. Faith would not be required.<br /><br />My point above was not that I don't believe in God. It's that some people I know think I that I do, and the same standard that convinces me that I don't also convinces me that nobody else does either. Whatever they say.John Lawrence Aspdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02587130870181071109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800316528417070757.post-2092495291431419352010-10-09T11:04:23.952+01:002010-10-09T11:04:23.952+01:00Would your assessment of the probability of a god...Would your assessment of the probability of a god's existence change if you were to reframe its nature? What if it were just like the Inland Revenue? Not all-knowing, liable to error and inconsistent with its penalties? What if this god was like an overworked manager, struggling to keep a handle on everything, constantly 'satisficing', making do and prone to being distracted by the World Cup or X-factor?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com