When you are traveling in the desert, you experience the sight of an oasis. But you had better get your feet wet before you pour out the water in your canteen. Ever try to confirm your experience in a way which would falsify the hypothesis that it is a delusion?
Now that is illogical sir.
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Yes.
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No.
I wouldn’t know whether or not you are talking to JFK’s ghost. Should that bother me?
Of course, over twenty years now I have confirmed my experience. I have no hypothesis to falsify. I was there. I experience it. It happened, and I experienced it. No question about it in my mind.
I know I’m joining this discussion late, and that it has probably already spiralled into a discussion of the Greek genitive as used by Luke in his Resurrection account (or something akin), but FWIW:
Yes, absolutely.
Yes. There are parts of faith that I miss. But no matter how warm and fuzzy and loved a belief system can make me feel, if I can’t accept it intellectually, I can’t accept it at all.
Only if you care whether or not people with schizophrenia are hospitalized.
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Yes to comfort. As to strength, I guess it depends on what you mean by that. Offhand I’d say no to strength.
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Nope. Drug addicts reap certain benefits I’ll never realize, but I’m not envious of them either.
I am going to get called for hijack in answering your question, but I will anyway.
I am one of those people that don’t believe in schizophrenia, or any of the other labels shrinks use. I once hired a “schizophrenic” right out of the mental hospital to work in my business, after his brother asked me to help him. In a couple of years he turned into the best delivery person I even had. He quit his medicine and got over his “illness” by being treated well like any other human being.
I think you’ll find you’ve just destroyed any shred of credibility you still have with just about anyone on the board.
I’ve been in hospitals. I’ve seen mentally disturbed patients babbling and screaming at themselves. Mental illness is very real.
Or are they just being attacked by demons? :rolleyes:
Hunh. :dubious:
Well, I am one of those people who doesn’t believe in “broken bones,” or any of the other labels doctors use.
In an unrelated note, my leg hurts like hell, it’s bleeding all over the place, and I can’t walk anymore.
Did what I just wrote make any sense to you? Would you advise me to go to a hospital and get a cast put on my leg?
You need to search The Pit for lekatt threads. Set aside a lot of time if you want to read all of it.
Or, take my advice and just walk away…
“If you understand an obsession then you know you won’t change my mind.”
Actually everyone who told you they know it as strongly as they know the sun will rise in the morning was also telling you that they might be wrong. (In case you happen to glance back at the thread.)
As long as we’re hijacking the thread, nobody is disputing that you had an experience or experiences. They’re merely disputing your claim as to their provenance.
Not that the answers concern me enough to want to start a thread to seek them, but a corollary to this thread would be:
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Do you, as a believer, accept the notion that many nonbelievers acquire some degree of strength or benefits from their lack of religious faith?
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If you answered ‘yes’ to question one, are you willing to acknowledge any measure of feelings of envy toward those who reap such benefits?
I believe people can get to be mentally ill, and suffer terrible, puting a label on it is something else.
Yes, putting a label on mental illnesses is something else; it helps to communicate to others which mental illness one is talking about. Kinda useful. You used the label yourself to communicate to us that you hired one, even though you used scare quotes for some reason.
You’re saying that people can get mental illnesses but naming those illnesses is bad?
I laughed.
It’s a precaution. Say “Schizophrenia” three times and it will appear!