Wednesday, August 14, 2013

No Interpersonal Revelations


10 comments:

  1. But Grundy, I know in my heart that Jesus is real. How else will I convince you? ;-)

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  2. So eyewitness testimony had no value at all?

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    1. In regards to events that have no comparison in common experience, like the supernatural, I'd say the value is very slight. However, eye witness accounts isn't even what I had in mind here. I was thinking about when I hear about instances when divine knowledge is inserted into the brains of believer--more like when knowledge of God comes to someone in a dream or something.

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    1. I wish these comments had a post-publication edit function.

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  4. God PROBABLY does not exist. If this is your belief, you must accept the following as PROBABLY true.

    - We come from nothing for the purpose of nothing. More specifically, we come from nothing intelligent for no intended purpose.

    - Nothing can create something under its own power & direction.

    - Disorder can create order under its own power & direction.

    - Unconsciousness can create consciousness under its own power & direction.

    - Unintelligence can create intelligence under its own power & direction.

    Now that’s a fairytale if I ever heard one. ;-)

    This certainly does not “prove” the God of the Bible exists, but to blindly accept the above as PROBABLY true is both unreasonable and irresponsible.

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    1. I thought I was pretty respectful on your blog, do you really want to open here calling my beliefs fairtales?

      And I must not accept those things. When we were hunter/gatherers you could make a case for them, but there is no excuse to believe that now. If you want to pick the one issue you think is the strongest mark against atheism, I will explain it the best I can and direct you to where you can learn more.

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    2. I have no intention of offending. Sometimes provoking thought sounds offensive. If there is probably no God, one is probably left with the irratioal conclusions above.

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    3. I'm not offended, I just don't carry on with disrespectful people. The fairytale comment provoked no thought but irony.

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    4. If one believes that God probably does not exist, all that one must accept is that God probably does not exist. You have made the false assumption that one must accept the other beliefs listed in order to lack a belief in God.

      I agree with you to a certain extent. To blindly accept any belief is both unreasonable and irresponsible. By this logic, it is also unreasonable and irresponsible to blindly accept the beliefs listed above as untrue, which I can see you have done because you dismissed them as fairy tales.

      Once again, you are making assumptions.

      You assume that our species was created by an intelligent being for a specific purpose. You assume that everything must come from something, that only order can create order, that only consciousness can create consciousness, and that only intelligence can create intelligence.

      I don't know how the universe came into existence. I was not there when it happened. To claim that I have this knowledge, without the evidence to back it up, would be arrogant and presumptuous in the extreme.

      Scientists do not have all the answers and they are not afraid to admit it. The fundamental strength of science is that it compels its practitioners to confront their own fallibility. Unlike religion, science is not a matter of opinion, but one of unbiased research. That's the beauty of it.

      It is not unreasonable to believe that our species has no intended purpose. It may be difficult for the human ego to accept this idea, but that does not make the idea irrational or untrue.

      You know what I find truly unreasonable and irresponsible? Dedicating one's entire life to serving a god who can't be seen, heard, touched, smelled, or tasted. Living with unnecessary fear and guilt. Ostracizing homosexuals, bombing abortion clinics, denying medication to those who need it, burning 'witches' at the stake, butchering albinos for their 'magical' properties, flying airplanes into buildings, and committing other immoral acts in the name of god. And then encouraging others to do the same.

      I strive to someday live in a society freed from religion.

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