Could you believe (part 2)?

[Glitch]

Could you believe appears to be screwed up.
http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001055.html

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Our views are based on our interpretations of the same book and our
life experiences.

You got that right. I am saving this, and next time I proving the subjectivity of theistic morality I am dragging that puppy out. That’ll teach them nasty devils. insane laughter fading into the distance

Jai:

you said a couple of posts ago, “Christianity seems very contradictive” from your perspective. From a Christian’s perspective (mine) its one of the reasons I like it, why it rings true.

Hmm … Lib said the same thing in “The Atheist Religion Part 2”. Some mindless ramblings (it is Lib, you know … sorry friend, I am in a jabbing mood) about ambiguity about God.

Lib:

Use the context of your own experience.

Okay.

Another quick question: Do you disbelieve 100%?

Depends on how strictly you mean that question.

Effectively, yes. Strictly speaking, no.

Look at it this way, I accept the theory of gravity 100%, even though there is a slim chance it is wrong. “You never know what is around the corner” - Somebody’s Mother.

My belief in God is so slim, that it is effectively 0%. The only sliver remaining is what exists on the principle of strict honesty.

But then I’ll be gone all weekend too, so I am making up for it in advance.

Enjoy your adventure.

Glitch do not think of God like a protector or big brother that does everything for you and you have to do nothing.

“The Lord is my shepard, I shall not want”

Lots of other similar quotes. Plus, we have the divine protection of God toward Israel in the OT.

But note, I didn’t say you had to do nothing. Rather, He diminishes the human spirit directly proportional to the amount He intervenes. If He intervenes completely, i.e. you do nothing, than he diminishes the human spirit to 0.

God gives me direction. So, when things go well, I realize it is because I listened to God and we worked together. If they go wrong, I should have listened better.

No offense, but why not supply your own direction? Why do you feel it has to come from God? Can’t you hunt out goodness and good action on your own?

I don’t mean that as a flame, but that it exactly my point. The human struggle is glorious because it comes from us. Our pursuit of goodness, with what we can perceive. No access, implicit or explicit to the omniscient will of God.

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“Glitch … download” - Glitch’s final action. sniff

[Jai_Pey]

Hey Glitch,

I’m not sure about the human spirit being basically good, is all. Although strictly speaking, as a Christian, I believe we were created good…

I guess it comes down to choices, hey? I know there’s choices I made on my own and others I instinctively knew somehow what to do and others I was totally lost in. And I’m still here. Maybe I woulda been anyway? Sure.

Could I believe? Yeah in the end I could… but believing and living it is two different things. When I knew I believed, “I had no choice but live it” … not out of fear of divine retribution if I chose to do something different, but becuz I was fundamentally changed. Now, I ain’t perfect, either. But I’m happier than I was.

James Taylor sung, in a song “There’s a song that they sing when they take to the highway / A song that they sing when they take to the sea /A song that they sing 'bout their home in the sky / Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep / but singing works just fine for me” : This is the usual line I hear about Christians and their belief, from agnostics and others.

Who knows? I won’t propose Pascal’s wager to ya, I;ve seen it ripped apart too much. Why that one little, less than 1% belief, for you?

Regards,

Jai Pey

[Jai_Pey]

Re: Contradictions…

Someone once said (I can’t make the quote) that Christianity is one of the few religions where God came to humankind, not vice versa (Go and find out the sound of one hand clapping). It was arguably (I’ve seen this in religious studies courses) that Christianity was one of the greatest aids in the cause for women’s liberation, and I mean early christianity. Contradictions and paradoxical logic seems to grab the human imagination anyhow. Servant-King. Wisdom-Foolishness. I’d say you could find a paradoxical figure in most world cultures and religions. Dead-men walking as it were.

My personal favorite… when we’re weak, we’re strong. (One of Paul’s letters)

ANyhow, enough religion. time to listen to CBC radio.

Regards,

Jai Pey

[David_B]

[Moderator Hat: ON]

Ok, well, I was planning to delete this thread, but you snuck in that reply in the meantime. So I’ll just lock it up. Feel free to copy and paste your reply to the original thread, which is working fine (it was a whole-board problem, not a thread problem).

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David B, SDMB Great Debates Moderator

[Moderator Hat: OFF]