"Atheism isn't a religion, it's the lack of a religious belief system. Not sure how anyone could base a religion on that."
Just so!
"Atheism isn't a religion, it's the lack of a religious belief system. Not sure how anyone could base a religion on that."
Just so!
Jack has it.Quote by: Hasanowanda
"Secondly, why base it on the Christian religion or belief system? Why not base it on atheist religion or belief system?"
Tsk, tsk, Minorwork. What's factually wrong with the above quote that you did not address?
EJB
What does religion offer?If there be no need for what is offered atheism looks like a done deal. Sure somebody will throw moral codes in the mix but I'm not concerned with it.
- Rogaine grows hair.
- Diet and exercise counters obesity.
- Money takes the edge off of misery
- Religion gives experience of existence independent of the body throughout eternity.
Does religion own #4? Christianity promises existence throughout eternity for sure. Only problem is, it's after you're dead. Islam? The Islamic-Christian tradition does't outright offer such existence in this life (Sure there are the Sufis and gnostic exceptions) and that is where they are vulnerable. But maybe they do offer the experience of existence independent of the body in this life but are not advertising it as such.
Which delivers the goods before you die? Does it have to be a religion that delivers the goods or is the reception of the experience independent of a system's worldview definition? Does depth psychology in the Jungian tradition offer anything of interest here?
The problem with psychology is its nature. * Is Psychology a Science? But as many styles of psychology as there are, they are dwarfed in number by the varying sects of religion.
And then who really gives a rat's ass? Isn't that some kind of Buddhist saying? "He who wants nothing has everything." There are searchers though.
If the terrain and the map do not agree, follow the terrain.
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become a new race.
I admire the way you think.
Tell my critics. Thanks.
Can imagination generate the experience of conversing with Jesus and/or Robert Ingersoll to such completion that they seem to possess independent thought and intelligence? What training, if any, would a person have to undergo to accomplish such? How would they deal with the conclusion that they are, in reality, independent intelligences?
Is there anything to be gained by preferring fantasy to reality? This question came up at the local skeptics group, REALL.
It is important to treat people as competent even though they do not give off the signs of being so. The facilitated communications philosophy was based on this principal. It seemed to be self fulfilling in that the communicators believed that their client was directing the communications. The problem arises when the client complains of abuse or neglect at home and the justice system is forced to take action. Then the fantasy unravels. The risk of the Ouija board type communication became clear to the communicators when adequate experiments showed that there was no volition on the parts of the clients. The volition of writing was solely those of the communicator. What amazed me was how these communicators had such a hard time believing FC was fantasy, though they did accept as a delusion the notion of the client being intelligent, rejected it and returned to the old way of teaching self care to those autistic.
And now with the 23 years in a coma Belgium man writing a book thru a facilitated communicator the issue comes up again. Is it a hoax? The writing of a book, probably inspirational and full of hope, will certainly cause his mother and communicator a monetary gain. FC is a fantasy that those in need of hope embrace.
If the terrain and the map do not agree, follow the terrain.
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become a new race.
Well, this all comes of being creatures that are so used to seeking and finding answers that we temporarily blow a circuit when confronted with a situation for which we have no answer.
This also comes out when you ask a group of people who saw an incident to report what they saw. We know how that comes out.
I don't know. And yet when I brought up that point in a forum where I'm a regular, I got a reaction from another poster that might have melted neutronium. "Don't tell me what I know!" Obviously some meaning of "to know" I have never encountered before.
And as I get older, I become more militantly anti-theism even as I hesitate to engage theists. It is a dialog of the deaf, and a no-win situation.
Know what you mean. Try to be helpful and some will accuse you of an attack. Then there's >Mr.< *}Mxyztplk{* that presents a statement with a ~question~ or is it an ^answer?^
If the terrain and the map do not agree, follow the terrain.
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become a new race.
Don't we classify that as schizophrenia?Can imagination generate the experience of conversing with Jesus and/or Robert Ingersoll to such completion that they seem to possess independent thought and intelligence?
The Forum Rules
Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
[John F. Kennedy]
The principal value of debate lies in the development of logical thought processes, and the ability to articulate your positions publicly.
[Senator Dick Clark of Iowa]
The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
[Terry Pratchett]
There are plenty of people who are looking to find offense in the words of others. A sort of 21st century code duello I think.
Anyway, misleading or confusing statements are par for the forums course. At least in other forums I have been to.
Is there such a thing as functional schizophrenia? What determines schizophrenia as illness? If social and occupational dysfunction is not manifest would the condition still rate the title? I think not. What is intentionally hidden is indeterminate unless a lab test would be developed.
Communication is fraught with such inherent problems that the complications of imagined intent scatter meanings.
If the terrain and the map do not agree, follow the terrain.
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become a new race.
Ok not reading the other 5 pages of this post and just commenting on what I see. What you just did is ripped something out of context let me give you an example.
If I were to take Darwin's Origin of species and rip it out of context Chapter one would sound like this.
"When we reflect on the vast diversity of the plants and animals which have been cultivated,I think we are driven to conclude that this ...is simply...life"
See no evolution there! Evolutionists have gotten it all wrong this whole time Darwin did not believe in that thought at all!
You just ripped the bible out of context sir here is what it says in context.
Luke 14:25-35
25Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26"(O)If anyone comes to Me, and does not [a]hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.
27"Whoever does not (P)carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28"For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?
29"Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
30saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'
31"Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and (Q)consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32"Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
33"So then, none of you can be My disciple who (R)does not give up all his own possessions.
34"Therefore, salt is good; but (S)if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?
35"It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. (T)He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
And since I am not at all worthy to expound this text I am going to leave it up to one of my dearly beloved friends. John Calvin from his commentary on Matthew mark luke
"
Luke 14:33. So then every one of you This clause shows what is meant by the calculation of expenses, with which Christ enjoins his followers to begin: it is to lead them to consider that they must forsake all In vain do persons who are delighted with an easy, indolent life, and with exemption from the cross, undertake a profession of Christianity. Those persons are said to forsake all who prefer Christ so greatly, both to their own life, and to all the wishes of the flesh, that nothing deters them from the right course.
It would be absurd to insist on a literal interpretation of the phrase, as if no man were a disciple of Christ, till he threw into the sea all that he possessed, divorced his wife, and bade farewell to his children. Such idle dreams led foolish people to adopt a monastic life, as if those who intend to come to Christ must leave off humanity. Yet no man truly forsakes all that he possesses till he is prepared at every instant to leave all, gives himself free and unconstrained to the Lord, and, rising above every hindrance, pursues his calling. Thus the true self-denial which the Lord demands from his followers does not consist so much in outward conduct as in the affections; so that every one must employ the time which is passing over him without allowing the objects which he directs by his hand to hold a place in his heart."
See you were wrong Christianity does not support a literal claim like you are saying.
S2.0
If a man lusts after a woman in his thoughts he has committed the sin of adultery. A man who has conquerored the mental perversion of attachment can live without giving up his Mercedes by practicing detachment in his mind.
Is that what is meant?
If the terrain and the map do not agree, follow the terrain.
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become a new race.
OK, too early to be clever or philosophic. Doctor apperntment, real soon ...
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