Steven Avery

Actually the tricky dismissals alone is enough for me to bypass your posts.

(after my earlier attempts to answer and dialog upthread, before I realized the game)

Shalom,
Steven

JamesBannon

Another non-answer. Is this the way you treat everyone who disagrees with you? When all else fails accuse the questioner of trickery and playing mind games. Typical self-righteous Christian. You remind me of so many people I've met and discussed this question with who claim to have received the gift from god and pitying us poor souls who are too blind to see. Come to god as a little child? I am not a child. I ceased being one a long time ago (perhaps too early due to circumstance) and can now think for myself insofar as it is possible for a human to do so. I am not unclean, I am a human. I will not apologise to some non-existent entity for being who I am when there are plenty of real humans I perhaps owe apologies for causing them some hurt.

Steven Avery

Nope. The response is to those who ask belligerent repeated questions for which there is already an a priori dismissive construct tightly in place.

The thread speaks for itself and this response above above is for you, James Bannon, and no one else.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

Johnny Skeptic

Anyone who knows you from the BC&H Forum knows that tricky dismissals and games are what YOU use whenever you know that you are in trouble. I am pretty sure that you are not willing to start a thread at this forum why you became a Christian, and why you believe that the Bible is inerrant. Am I correct? If so, may I ask why you are willing to defend your beliefs at the BC&H Forum, but not at this forum?

Steven Avery

Hi Johnny.

Whatever ..

You were Johnny Onenote on the BC&H forums and long ago I stopped trying to do any dialog with you. And that has carried over fully to here.

You and James Bannon are welcome to congratulate each other on your perception and wisdom and eloquence and iron-clad constructs in dialogs with believers. Have a pea-pod celebration.

Shalom,
Steven

Johnny Skeptic

The record at the BC&H Forum speaks for itself. You always withdraw from a debate whenever you know that you are in trouble. If you tried to defend your religious views at this forum, it would quickly become apparent to most people that what I said is true.

What about the many people at this forum who you have never exchanged posts with? Why don't you start a new thread at this forum and discuss your religious views with them? I assume that you will refuse to start a new thread at this forum because you know that your scholarship will not do you much good at this forum. The only subject that you are willing to debate is copies of ancient texts at the BC&H Forum. That ensures that you will only be able to influence a very limited number of people. No rational person would ever become a Christian just because there were only a few transmission errors in the copies, but for some reason, you like to debate that insignificant issue at the BC&H Forum.

JamesBannon

Belligerent or robust Steven? I am entitled to give a robust defence of my position via questioning. You may of course argue that it is easier to attack a position than defend one and you would be right; being in a position to attack frees one from much of the burden of defence. What else would you expect on a board where the majority of respondents are confirmed religious sceptics?

Like you, I too have been in a minority position, almost a lone voice, in what seems like a sea of hostility. Before I became a member here I used to spend quite a bit of time over at apologetics.com and I used to get bombarded with questions on my position (I am an empiricist by temperament if you hadn't guessed that already - my personality and IQ profiles have me down as a "fact finder"). Despite this, however, I think I managed to give a reasonable account of my views on religion generally and on the Abrahamic faiths in particular.

Belligerent? Yes, I will plead guilty to belligerence at times, it all depends on the questioner. For instance, I truly despise Calvinism or any hint of claims to biblical inerrancy, or its equivalent "knowing the mind of god". I'm sure there a few of the Calvinist members at IIDB who will recognise me and advise you to "avoid JamesBannon like the plague". This is a failing in me I will admit. Of course, I would argue that I have good reason to despise such religious views as they have caused considerable damage to my country and I have to live with the excrement that is Sectarianism (it doesn't only affect Northern Ireland). However, history, real or imagined, is no excuse for bad manners so, for what its worth, if I have caused you offence I apologise.