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Freethought & Rationalism ArchiveThe archives are read only. |
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#11 | |
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Your ability to believe on non-rational bases is one that most of us simply don't have. Don't take this as a judgement, but more as one explanation for the kind of reaction that you sometimes invoke from some atheists. |
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#12 |
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I don't get the dogged pursuit of emotional's beliefs. It honestly appears to be ridicule. What is so wrong with admitting one is really terrified of something? Why are people trying to stifle honesty? It's not like his beliefs tell you that YOU'RE bad, it's not like they have any impact on how he makes decisions about his daily life, it specifically states that life should be lived as if there is no deity. It is exclusively held as a security blanket against death and not one iota more.
What is wrong with that? I wish all religionists would admit to that! I would be happy if all religion abated to the nature of emotional's "religion". I really don't get the unrelenting patrol of his discussion to make sure he includes a statement of his fear. He's identified it, faced it, coped with it. And he still hangs around here, enjoying (most of) our company, exposing himself to, in our minds, the opportunity to rid himself of his fear in a non-supernatural way. He was asked what he believes, not why he believes it. I don't get the atmosphere of attack. He's vulnerable, why keep swinging the axe? What's the point? |
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#13 | |
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#14 |
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It isn't true, though, that I can believe anything without evidence. When I was a fundamentalist theist I wanted very badly to believe in the efficacy of prayer, but all around me I saw the blind operation of natural law, so I couldn't believe. The God in whom I believe now is a God of natural law, who created the universe and left it running naturally.
Belief in the afterlife is much easier, much more possible, for me than belief in the efficacy of prayer, because the afterlife is hidden - you can't really prove a negative. And I also read a lot about NDE accounts and spiritualist literature to give myself a stronger evidential boost for my belief in the afterlife. Granted, there are refutations for all that (eg NDEs may be the reaction of a dying brain, mediumship is all a fraud), but I don't pay attention to those things, my stake in the afterlife being so high. My belief is certainly irrational and based on fear of death, but it has a chance of being true. I don't believe in things that have no chance of being true, such as young-earth creationism. |
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#15 | |
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#16 |
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Well, I couldn't give you the name of a specific forum off the top of my head, but I'm sure if you did some hunting through a search engine you could find some New Age-type boards that might interest you. (I'm assuming when you say "believe as I do" that you mean that in a broad, generalized sense.)
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#17 |
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"New Age" - hahaha! I definitely don't label myself a New Ager. New Agers are pantheists, I'm not. But I suppose spiritualism is, in the perception of many, part of the New Age scene, even if erroneously so. Thanks anyway, I'll keep on looking
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#18 | |
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Jake |
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#19 | |
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Absurd to you, you mean. To me they aren't absurd at all. |
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#20 | ||||
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Rocky Mountains
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Where exactly are your points and your reasons? |
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