Rational BAC

I am sorry Helen.

I have gotten into trouble before on this forum by blowing off subjects that do not interest me at all or that I do not see the point in. I may get into trouble for that again. I do not mean to insult you. Sincerely I do not. Can't help that--- sorry. We all like to stay with what interests us. And so do I.

I am a generalist, do not like to get into detail as a general rule at all. And certainly not on this particular subject where I have clearly stated that I am still learning and questioning and have not made up my mind.

I hope I never make really make up my mind-completely ---on anything that is very important in this lifetime. --- I hope that you also have not made up your mind about anything at all and turned all your thoughts into idees fixes --for it is then that your mind will start to atrophy and then die.

Thought I answered your question very well---I do not like half baked pies. Will tell you in a year or two what I have learned and how my faith has changed or stayed the same or has been lost. And will do that at that time in great and nauseating detail--if that is what you really want. But, so far, all that is well-premature.

I have learned that nothing done well is done quickly. Patience is a virtue.

And mods---------if you are going to flame me for this post.---then do it quickly and let us get it over with.

Rational BAC

Perennially--------Yep---you are right -------(2) "n" 's. I could pretend that was a typo, but actually I just blew that one. Never said I was a perfect speller.----just good enough to fool most people into thinking I am. You got me.

Maybe I should start using spell-check?

Nope-------------I consider that a form of cheating. Gonna keep winging it as usual.
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And skeptical---Whoops-- I spelled that the French way--with a "c". ------ Well it is the correct way in French anyway.

I make those kinds of mistakes sometimes, because the French way many times looks correct to me in English, even when it is not and even when the derivation is actually French. Sometimes knowing something about some foreign languages can lead you into error.

Tarnaak

RBAC:

I really do not mean any disrespect in the following;

It appears to me that you have "picked" Christianity to follow for no reason other than it sounds nice. I personally feel that you suffer a fear of death or more exactely, a fear of after death.

I could of course be wrong.

Point of topic:
I came to this forum exactlly for the reason you stated. I challenge the views here, do research to find if their views hold water, do some more research to refute their views and have come to find that scientifically there is no ABSOLUTE proof of God's exsistance one way or the other. I wanted to be able to "study" what was impoprtant. Atheists views are what keep people from being saved. Being able to refute or explain them is helpful. (I'm not saying I can at this point).

So I ask myself, " Why self, do you believe?" hehe, I'm still arguing with myself (you atheists have created a schzio) about it.
But I still enjoy the discussion here, I respect the people here and find them to be quite refreshing.

My point to you:

Having "general" views of anything is not productive. With certain things, its ok I suppose, but when a topic is significant to ones happiness in life, then IMHO, details should be looked at for the sheer truth of any matter.

Best of Luck to you in your endevor!

HelenM

Ok, I can see that I'm not going to get anything specific out of you.

This is the first time I've run into anyone who claims to have learned an awful lot about a subject yet can't (or won't) tell me one specific thing they've learned.

So, why did you start this thread, then? What's the point in saying you've learned things then refusing - or being unable to say what they are?

Helen

HelenM

I'm not asking for definite answers or final conclusions. I'm just looking for a hint of what the 'awful lot' he has learned here is.

If he (or she?) can't articulate anything of it or anything about it, then I wonder how he even knows he's learned a lot?

Helen

Rational BAC

Helen---

----will put this in very simple way.----------

I don't do daily or weekly or 6 weeks tests. Or even mid-term exams.

I wait for the final exam.

That is all that is really important, isn't it? = What the final result is
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And after I have taken and received the results of that "final exam"--I will most definitely just take "the course" all over again, and maybe relearn the whole thing in a different way.

And over and over again. ------

----that is being an intellectually honest Christian. Always challenging, always testing, always trying to change your own faith.

HelenM

In many things in life, someone who has nothing to show daily or weekly or after six weeks or at mid-term time, is not going to do well in the final exam.

There's a difference between being open to new information and seemingly having nothing to show after supposedly having 'learned an awful lot'.

Anyway I see that you're going out of town for a few days. Have a great time

Helen

livius drusus

I suspect he could if he wanted to and would if he had to, but he simply prefers not to. Since he is not inclined to half-bake his pie nor is he for any reason compelled to, he is opting to let the thing burble for a while. It doesn't seem at all incongruous to me.

From the OP:

I believe Rational BAC is asking if the owners and participants of IIDB have considered the full range of potential effects their breadth of scholarship might have on Christian readers. The Secular Web mission is "to defend and promote a nontheistic worldview which holds that the natural world is all there is, a closed system in no need of supernatural explanation and sufficient unto itself." What Rational BAC asks in his OP (and please correct me if I'm wrong, RBAC) is if we have considered the possibility that the knowledge we provide might ultimately strengthen an individual's theistic worldview.

My answer is that I think it's likely the Board of Directors happened upon that possibility in the course of their mission-defining drunken poker nights. I doubt they considered it such a dire fate. Education is a fundamental purpose of the Secular Web. A thoughtful perusal of the materials here is an intrisic good, imo, and very much in keeping with the mission, nomatter where the reader ends up theologically.

Rational BAC

Good answer Livius--

I liked that. Said it better than I did.

Rhea

It has often occured to me that very thing.

Because many of our "arguments" or "rebuttals" can be issues with believers. And thinking through the problem, even if you have to use different logic that us, will close all kinds of loopholes for the theist. Certain ones, anyway. Certainly apologists have a strong potential to become clearer in their arguments as they see the weak points and putty them over.

I agree that it is a definite potential side effect. But for those who reach conclusions using the scientific method, it is certainly worth it to have the community.