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Old 07-01-2012, 10:12 AM
 
Location: Warren, Michigan
5,298 posts, read 4,591,997 times
Reputation: 192

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The interest in the Christian crutch of eternal hell punishment and Atheism struck a cord in me the other day; and I began to realize a weird comparison; people often need a crutch to support their belief or non belief systems, so they go to opposite extremes to motivate their choices of comprehensions. It is extreme to believe God will punish humans alive for a time period that has no end, and then consider him a God of Love. It is just as extreme to consider him a myth, when most of your information is based on human examples of a non-human being.

For a brief moment consider with me that a belief or non-belief symbolically is " A Walk", and you are proceeding at a moderate pace step by step. That there is always at least one foot on the ground in bipedal motion as you pursue a particular course. You may become excited and begin to increase your speed and rush forward, yet trying to maintain your balance. This is similar to how our consciousness consumes what we believe or do not believe; we ingest it first at a moderate pace, then become excited and start bringing in all the more. Often not even considering all the information we are just passing by, or ignoring. Then we reach extreme pace and become accustomed to walking or learning at that pace; and that extreme is now the norm; its a part of you now, your normal pace; now you are relaxed in being an extremist, yet you view that as being normal.



And this pace is being upheld by your belief or unbelief, the extremism is now a vital support in your pace; of your pace. The pace is now routine, and anyones who does not keep up with you, is either left behind or dismissed in your walk. You think something is wrong with how they are walking; believing or unbelieving. That they simply misunderstand or just don't know how to walk.

Insult is of interest , anyone not walking as you do, believing as you do, is an affront or indignity that you hold in contempt. People walking back and forth all over this earth, all manners of crutches employed in their pace; rushing and streaming. And God himself is being insulted by unbelief and perverted belief, even to the uncanny degree that these two extremes start using each other as a crutch. One unbelieves because of the way another believes. One believes because another does not believe. So they revel in comparing themselves by themselves; 2 Corinth. 10:12;" For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding." You set yourself in a class, a group who are actually proud of how they walk, incandescently taking pride in their pace as compared to how far behind others are. They believe but you don't, so they are walking in the wrong direction. But your awareness of that simply supports your direction.

Encased in that is the affliction syndrome, they are suffering but your not, so something must be wrong with " Them." They don't believe that a God would torture humans endlessly , but you do, so your awareness of that preserves you from what you imagine such a horrid thing would be like; so your way of walking is keeping you from being crippled; their deformity is your benefit. Is now your motivation to walk upright. Their unbelief is your ticket to sanity; your belief is their pride in being free from your distortion.

In all this a striking similarity exist in the crutch; your walking with help, and they need help.
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Old 07-01-2012, 10:17 AM
 
Location: Sinking in the Great Salt Lake
13,138 posts, read 22,815,703 times
Reputation: 14116
I'm happy to lend my unbelief to help save people from burning in hell. How much unbelief will it take to save them all though? I've got a lot, but it's not an eternal supply...
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Old 07-01-2012, 11:09 AM
 
16,825 posts, read 17,733,278 times
Reputation: 20852
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickiel View Post
The interest in the Christian crutch of eternal hell punishment and Atheism struck a cord in me the other day; and I began to realize a weird comparison; people often need a crutch to support their belief or non belief systems, so they go to opposite extremes to motivate their choices of comprehensions. It is extreme to believe God will punish humans alive for a time period that has no end, and then consider him a God of Love. It is just as extreme to consider him a myth, when most of your information is based on human examples of a non-human being.

For a brief moment consider with me that a belief or non-belief symbolically is " A Walk", and you are proceeding at a moderate pace step by step. That there is always at least one foot on the ground in bipedal motion as you pursue a particular course. You may become excited and begin to increase your speed and rush forward, yet trying to maintain your balance. This is similar to how our consciousness consumes what we believe or do not believe; we ingest it first at a moderate pace, then become excited and start bringing in all the more. Often not even considering all the information we are just passing by, or ignoring. Then we reach extreme pace and become accustomed to walking or learning at that pace; and that extreme is now the norm; its a part of you now, your normal pace; now you are relaxed in being an extremist, yet you view that as being normal.



And this pace is being upheld by your belief or unbelief, the extremism is now a vital support in your pace; of your pace. The pace is now routine, and anyones who does not keep up with you, is either left behind or dismissed in your walk. You think something is wrong with how they are walking; believing or unbelieving. That they simply misunderstand or just don't know how to walk.

Insult is of interest , anyone not walking as you do, believing as you do, is an affront or indignity that you hold in contempt. People walking back and forth all over this earth, all manners of crutches employed in their pace; rushing and streaming. And God himself is being insulted by unbelief and perverted belief, even to the uncanny degree that these two extremes start using each other as a crutch. One unbelieves because of the way another believes. One believes because another does not believe. So they revel in comparing themselves by themselves; 2 Corinth. 10:12;" For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding." You set yourself in a class, a group who are actually proud of how they walk, incandescently taking pride in their pace as compared to how far behind others are. They believe but you don't, so they are walking in the wrong direction. But your awareness of that simply supports your direction.

Encased in that is the affliction syndrome, they are suffering but your not, so something must be wrong with " Them." They don't believe that a God would torture humans endlessly , but you do, so your awareness of that preserves you from what you imagine such a horrid thing would be like; so your way of walking is keeping you from being crippled; their deformity is your benefit. Is now your motivation to walk upright. Their unbelief is your ticket to sanity; your belief is their pride in being free from your distortion.

In all this a striking similarity exist in the crutch; your walking with help, and they need help.
Fail.

The opposite of lacking belief is not believing in hell any more than being bald is the opposite of being blonde.
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Old 07-01-2012, 11:35 AM
 
3,483 posts, read 4,045,428 times
Reputation: 756
Quote:
Originally Posted by lkb0714 View Post
Fail.

The opposite of lacking belief is not believing in hell any more than being bald is the opposite of being blonde.
Yes, and thus the "walk" analogy comes crumbling down, as well.
"Walking" and "belief" are not analagous at all.
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Old 07-01-2012, 12:07 PM
 
Location: Warren, Michigan
5,298 posts, read 4,591,997 times
Reputation: 192
Take a closer look sometime at that which is used as an expedient when needed resources are inadequate; thus the threat of some eternal hell in the Christian message when they seem to think the sacrifice of Christ was not enough to save a sinner; conversely, the morbid musings of God being a myth to those who embrace scientific myths as the founding fathers of reality.

So fear of endless pain becomes expedient when the love of a God somehow cannot sustain an unbelievers confusion, verses the impression that some take from facts that give support from a myth- one would ask why those would even need a support system to help them stand against a mere myth? If a myth has crippled your system, one would hope that no facts ever appear to stumble your walk.
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Old 07-01-2012, 12:43 PM
 
Location: Warren, Michigan
5,298 posts, read 4,591,997 times
Reputation: 192
The myths of eternal hell suffering and Atheism share this in common, but give humanity an end thats worth nothing! They share a second commonality; both look to rob humanity of an afterlife with true meaning. one offers humanity an eternity of indescribable pain, the other an eternity of nothing.
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Old 07-01-2012, 01:41 PM
 
Location: Somewhere out there
9,616 posts, read 12,917,890 times
Reputation: 3767
It was only when we Neanderthals etc developed the add-on philosophical ability to examine our possible fates, the ability that most animals do not have (though some very obviously do) to think for a moment about our lives, our destinies and our rewards for some sort of manufactured devoutness and ceremonies (the more outrageous & sacrificial the more believable: see virgin Mayan sacrifices ...)...

Then, as we saw a need, we invented the necessary pomp and circumstance to accompany our worries. We knew we needed "community agreement", (not to mention the self-aggrandizing and warm feelings associated with being in a group of like-minded "philosophers" de jur) and thus organized religion was born out of necessity, but it also then created a universe of holes in it's own philosophies! And so, aside from the resulting culture wars, death and mayhem, and with the opportunity for a better "fit", the evolving mind set to the task of filling in the blanks with ever-more complex belief paradigms. It has become staggering, and then along comes another different breed of cat: the undeniable truths sought and defined by The SM.

As a philosophical interloper, science surely has caused some internal strife to established formats and paradigms, and it also sets aside the different "subspecies of intellectuals": those who choose to be objective, and are unafraid of that with it's multiple potential and possibly disturbing consequences, and those who quite literally cannot face such wide variants. All because of their ingrained, perhaps genetic (via engrams, I suspect...), pre-determinations.

But some of us of a certain ilk and breed do not need to feel that community need, and thus do not want to walk with others of similar beliefs. In fact, many of us enjoy walking alone, at our own ever-variable rate, uncaring if others pass us by or that we might leave others behind. what is interesting however is that some insist on proclaiming their paradigm as they march along, sort of like a pre-WW-II Hitler public spectacular, all chanting in unison. That might give rise to a different philosophy, would you not anticipate?
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Old 07-01-2012, 01:56 PM
 
16,825 posts, read 17,733,278 times
Reputation: 20852
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickiel View Post
The myths of eternal hell suffering and Atheism share this in common, but give humanity an end thats worth nothing! They share a second commonality; both look to rob humanity of an afterlife with true meaning. one offers humanity an eternity of indescribable pain, the other an eternity of nothing.
You cannot prove any afterlife exists but you claim hell is a myth?

Do you know what the word hypocrite means?

You have the exact same amount of proof that the afterlife exists as those that believe hell exists, which is to say, NONE.

Belief in gods does not offer anything meaningful and real to humanity. It may give individuals some comfort but it does not give humanity anything other than more justification to fight over bs stuff.
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Old 07-01-2012, 02:34 PM
 
16,294 posts, read 28,531,593 times
Reputation: 8384
And you see all the stamps I don't have in my collection, for the very simple reason, I do not collect stamps.
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Old 07-01-2012, 03:43 PM
 
Location: Warren, Michigan
5,298 posts, read 4,591,997 times
Reputation: 192
Quote:
Originally Posted by rifleman View Post
It was only when we Neanderthals etc developed the add-on philosophical ability to examine our possible fates, the ability that most animals do not have (though some very obviously do) to think for a moment about our lives, our destinies and our rewards for some sort of manufactured devoutness and ceremonies (the more outrageous & sacrificial the more believable: see virgin Mayan sacrifices ...)...

Then, as we saw a need, we invented the necessary pomp and circumstance to accompany our worries. We knew we needed "community agreement", (not to mention the self-aggrandizing and warm feelings associated with being in a group of like-minded "philosophers" de jur) and thus organized religion was born out of necessity, but it also then created a universe of holes in it's own philosophies! And so, aside from the resulting culture wars, death and mayhem, and with the opportunity for a better "fit", the evolving mind set to the task of filling in the blanks with ever-more complex belief paradigms. It has become staggering, and then along comes another different breed of cat: the undeniable truths sought and defined by The SM.

As a philosophical interloper, science surely has caused some internal strife to established formats and paradigms, and it also sets aside the different "subspecies of intellectuals": those who choose to be objective, and are unafraid of that with it's multiple potential and possibly disturbing consequences, and those who quite literally cannot face such wide variants. All because of their ingrained, perhaps genetic (via engrams, I suspect...), pre-determinations.

But some of us of a certain ilk and breed do not need to feel that community need, and thus do not want to walk with others of similar beliefs. In fact, many of us enjoy walking alone, at our own ever-variable rate, uncaring if others pass us by or that we might leave others behind. what is interesting however is that some insist on proclaiming their paradigm as they march along, sort of like a pre-WW-II Hitler public spectacular, all chanting in unison. That might give rise to a different philosophy, would you not anticipate?

This one I should save and frame Rifle, stunning fantastic speech; I need only offer it as my views to wards religion, and hope not to be accused of plagiarizing you.
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