@XXSpadeMasterXX,
XXSpadeMasterXX wrote:I just wanted to point this out Chights....and I am not being a dick here, I am truly curious from your perspective(s)
Terrific! shifting the conversation to me, thank you! I also know that you would never intentionally be a "dick", but this does seem to be a "bold" post, I like it...I'm also not being sarcastic about shifting the conversation to me or anything.
XXSpadeMasterXX wrote:You said to me, I am not open-minded, you said God is a Crutch, and you said that anything that is not of God is poison to me....
As far as the crutch discussion, my reasoning for that was because you've come to rely upon this idea of a god to such a great extent that it's made you dependent on it. This dependency makes you feel as though you almost cannot function (or at least function in a moral way) without this idea. The "poisoning of reality" was because you stated (quite a few times) that you were horrible, evil, selfish (or other similar terms) without this idea of a god and that you can't abandon this idea because you fear that you are going to go down that path again...which I still don't understand...
XXSpadeMasterXX wrote:You also said that If your wrong for people to point out your flaws...(which would suggest you feel your right, but want people to show you when your wrong).
Which now I say, because I am curious....If that is true, and you feel your right, but want people to point out your flaws...How could anyone ever do that for/to you?? So that you would except what they say?? In other words, If you think your ways are correct, and want people to point out your flaws, are you not using your views of atheism as a crutch?? Who can change your personal lack of beliefs/or things you believe or doubts you have with conjunction to your own life and experiences?? None, not one....and religious know this, and won't fall down this trap....The only person, or being who could do this, would be God....Since your not willing to give up what you think is right, there is no way anyone, not even a possible God, to come into your life to change what you think is right, and show you your wrongs....(again this if you believe your views is right, and are asking people to show you, or prove you wrong)...It can not be done...not in the manner your propose....You have to open your mind to first possibly being wrong in order to be shown by others what your wrong about....
When I said that I wanted people to point out my flaws, I meant it, and I stand by it. There is (of course) a catch to that however, if someone expects me to accept their claim that there is something regarding me that is flawed, they must present sufficient evidence that show's it is actually a flaw. If that criteria is met, if the evidence showing that I am flawed is presented, then I will contemplate on a way of fixing that flaw (assuming one is not presented, if one is presented then I will take that into consideration as well). Once that is done I will present this correction for future criticism...if there is any. I'm sort of confused as to why you would claim that atheism is a crutch? A crutch is defined as something that supports or sustains, atheism has nothing that supports or sustains it. I stand on my own two feet and face the day with everything that I am without requiring the help of anything else whether it exists or not. As far as who can change my beliefs, theoretically based on my criteria, anyone can...assuming you follow the criteria. It should really not be this hard for a prophet of god to provide the necessary evidence in order to confirm the existence of said god. Your god is also claimed with having omnipotence so it should be a piece of cake for him and since he answers prayers you could just ask him to prove himself to me...simple! My belief's are based on truth and truth is represented by evidence and facts. So far all you've presented are your personal experiences which are non-transferable as evidence and faith and that's just a cop out which says that there's no other evidence. If you want to keep on this path of defending your faith to me then try a different tactic and give some proof that's a little more concrete, otherwise we can talk about other topics. You could also try going on the offensive and talk about me and my belief's/lack of belief and I can defend that.
XXSpadeMasterXX wrote:You say I am not open minded, and use God as a crutch etc....
But if you look back...I have opened my mind and gone against scripture many times...
I will give you 3 or 4 examples I can think of off the top of my head...
1. It says in the Bible, that homosexuals are abominable, I never said JcBoy is abominable, I said I disagree that people are born gay or straight, I said his views on God will determine his end result (if God exists)
2. It says no one shall read other scriptures or they cursed men and women...I have gone out of my way to promote people of many faiths in finding their path...(Rex, Igm, Found Soul) Because I feel the Bible is a guide, and the thing is to ultimately, love everyone equally, and do acts to progress others, as well as yourself...and to accept, and love God above all things....So I do not believe I am contradicting my scriptures....
3. I have gone way out of my way to say that reincarnation exists...because I believe it does, and because it is not stated in the Bible does not mean it isn't real....
You claim these are horrible irrationalities, but yet you never once took the time, to open your mind to accepting something you never thought was/could be right....(not with me) (and even said your not accepting anything I say, and that I am sorely mistaken to believe you accept anything I say)
You are actually contradicting your scriptures, but what 21st century Christian doesn't go against scripture to at least some extent? Not even the absolutely horrible Westboro Baptist Church follow the scriptures to the letter. Going against the scriptures doesn't really mean anything, in fact, many Christians would think that it's incredibly immoral to do as the scriptures command! The way in which you are not open minded, is that you have a confirmation bias for your god, any of the details you can shift around to make your god nestle all nice and cozy in your head. Based on all of our discussions, I would say that you fear losing your god due to how great the idea of a god makes you feel and looking back as to how miserable you were before without this idea. There could be other factors as well such as family and friends and the fear of losing them. Being an atheist in this country is very trying especially if you have zealous family members. I still haven't told my fiance's family for fear that they may not come to our upcoming wedding!
As far as you saying that what you have altered is irrational, that's not the case. It's actually rational to do that, but it's for something that is irrational. You rationalize an irrational belief so that you can more easily continue believing it. I should also give you a little fyi (I think I have already but will restate it anyway), I was a participant in the Christian faith for 7-8 years starting when I was 11. I've tried to rationalize the Christian faith (and any faith for that matter) in which never worked. When I was younger I didn't have the best life and I wanted things to get better so I tried god 1000 ways to sunday and 1000 way was I failed, everytime I put my faith in him it was obliterated. I finally just stopped caring about whether any gods were real or not because I had had enough. 4-ish years after that I went on a review of the bible on Amazon.com and started commmenting about it. Through that I realized how horribly lacking my understanding and knowledge of religion, atheism, and the pertaining arguments were so I set out to learn as much as I could about it. I still debated religion (among science and philosophy topics) even with my lack of knowledge and through those experiences realized the value and humbleness that came with being wrong.
XXSpadeMasterXX wrote:You said you don't acknowledge the Bible...One reason is it's old, and people could have misinterpreted words etc...If that is the case don't definitions need to be upgraded to better suit oneself? In other words, my definition of reality would be, What the heart and mind (your conscience) directly speak to you and tell you to do, and the actions you do based upon the conscious feelings, and your consciousness decisions....
So if my definition is correct, (again open your mind) Who will be able to except your positions/experiences/views/beliefs/lack of beliefs/feelings/ what the heart says/what the heart does/mind etc....and validate them? and prove your wrong? only you can do that when you want to...and if not, Only a said God is capable of such a thing...If you wished to embrace the faith path to see this....other than that, there is no other way...
When you continue to suggest to me to "open my mind" it implies that you just want me to accept what you say without question. My mind is open, the reason you may not think that we is because you aren't really getting anywhere. This is honestly because you fighting a steep unhill battle in sludge and not really going anywhere because "faith" isn't evidence. If your god actually exists and cares about me (and all skeptics for that matter), then it would be a very simple matter of providing the adequete proof necessary...which he has failed at. I am a believer of the truth, and as such, I don't have a choice as to what I believe, I believe in what is, not what I want to be. What is true, is determined by evidence and fact and so far the only evidence and facts that you have given me for your god are your personal experiences and faith which, to me, amount to nothing...sorry. If you want to provide something a little more concrete than your assertions I would love to hear/see it. It always seems that whenever I ask this I always either get disproven occurences (such as the crying statues), or that it's about "faith", which is nothing more than a cop out.
XXSpadeMasterXX wrote:So in closing I would just like to say that it is me who feels like I am hitting my head against a wall....there is nothing else I could/can do to try to accommodate you other than denouncing my faith, which I will not do...remember, understandings, and oneness comes from a give and take relationship...
This doesn't mean I am wrong about God, nor am I giving up my faith, etc... just opening my mind, to the others paths people take to find themselves...I doubt there is one exact way to do things, and would not be suprised in the least if the whole Bible is a tool to get you to Progress humanity, and get to know and Love God himself, nothing less, nothing more....and when you do open your mind, you will see that opening your mind is not a bad thing....You don't have to give up what you believe, in order to accept different views...as a matter of fact, it may be essential so that you can learn, we all can, our faults etc...(if that is what you want people to do for you personally) (sometimes you must take the first step)
Even if you don't think your wrong!!
And in the end it may even strengthen what you already know and believe...
Anyways I mean the best of all of this, and I am no here to be an enemy, and I still value you as a friend....SO you can or don't have to reply...If your not interested in this anymore...but if you do, I will not carry it on much longer if you wish...I just wanted to say this in closing, from religious debates....
Please take in everything I have said....
BTW, I still did not watch the video, but plan to...had to go last minute to the doctors yesterday...and will be snow plowing, shoveling tonight....will see you in a few days...
I'm sorry that you feel like that, you could try different approach to the situation or try different arguments or like I've stated early, you could try going on the offensive and try pointing out how my path aside from your god is not as adequete as your's...other than the heaven and hell argument. As far as you not being wrong in your god, I would say that's correct from a possibility standpoint, but not a probability stand point, at least with how I see it. I also know that there is more than one way to do a vast majority of things, I just believe that there is also a best way in which to do things...outside of the mundane of course. There are several ways to hold a gaming controller but that's about more about preference, I'm sure there's a way to decide which would be best but that's not really something that is of great importance. I would also call the bible (overall) a blight on this planet (in the sense of teaching). I'm pretty sure that mauling dozens of children to death for making fun of baldness isn't moral or does anything to progress humanity. The more and more you talk about wanting me to open my mind, the more it seems to translate to "just believe what I say" I've already incorporated the decent parts of Christianity into my world view during my time in the Christian faith. You also talk about wanting me to take the first step even if I believe I am wrong, but to me it's almost a black and white argument, either believe or don't believe, if there is step in between there, please inform me as to what that is. If I find it agreeable I will attempt it, I've already taken some steps and accepting your god's existence for argument sake rather than just continually deny his existence repeatedly without exception.
When you say that you had to go to the doctor last minute does that mean something came up physically for you? If you're sick, injured, or if your health is not the best then I hope you have a speedy recovery or that your health improves, if not, then I hope you continue to have good health!