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Science is especially cool in Religious discussions to point out the metaphorical nature of some of the writings....that they are not actual occurrences. Like, "Dude died--came back to life--then flew away".
Science is especially cool in Religious discussions to point out the metaphoricalnature of some of the writings.....
Gldn raises a good point, regarding the use of symbolism and metaphor. Science is based on a very literal approach. A person fluent in religion is asked to also gain proficiency, skill, and ability in symbolism and metaphor. Not "instead of" physical literal understanding, but "in addition to."
My observation and experience is that many people have trouble with metaphor and symbolism.
Certainly a person who is able to utilize both sets of skills is able to gain a deeper, richer understanding and experience of the world we live in and our interactions within it. There are layers upon layers of meaning. Not everyone is comfortable with that.
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 12-09-2016 at 09:28 AM..
You will get little argument from me there! Metaphor is an integral part of the human brain. The ability to connect two otherwise entirely disparate ideas is the fundamental foundation of why we have and appreciate art, why we can use language at all, and probably even why we have culture and civilization in the first place.
At the level of the brain, the processing and complexity required to read and REALLY understand a line like "It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." without thinking that Juliet is a ball of burning fire, is astounding. How and why we do it is one of the beauties of the human mind. And actually one symptom of some forms of Schizophrenia is an inability to parse and understand metaphor. Some of them actually would wonder why you are telling them Juliet is a ball of fire.
Where it becomes an issue though is rather than the use of metaphor to understand the world..... someone instead uses metaphor to bridge gaps in the substantiation in reaching the understanding of the world they WANT to have. As soon as that happens, we have a self perpetuating and self confirming nonsense machine.
We see EXACTLY the same issue with Analogy on this very forum where a small handful of users forget that analogy is an linguistic art form of EXPLAINING ideas, concepts and evidence. Instead they use analogy AS the concept and evidence to bridge gaps where evidence has failed them. They are not using analogy to explain the evidence that supports their theory so much as using analogy to bridge the gaps in their evidence for the claim they WANT to be true.
The Atheists that won't take a stand...and hide behind their "My Atheism is simply a lack of belief in God claims" mantra...rather than get hip to the fact that either you believe God exists, or you don't.
...but who are these atheists who 'don't believe in anything'? There is not one atheist of my acquaintance who doesn't believe in 'anything'. We believe in many things, just like you do. We just don't believe in superstitious nonsense.
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That's what I dig the most about you Bro...you put forth your position and stand by it. Not some wishy-washy spew about "Mere lack of belief".
I don't differ from any other atheist. I have no belief in gods.
...., the processing and complexity required to read and REALLY understand a line like "it is the east, and Juliet is the sun" without thinking that Juliet is a ball of burning fire, is astounding. ....
.......Some of them actually would wonder why you are telling them Juliet is a ball of fire..
That is a great example. And some wonder at lines like "And the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul."
I am glad you can see and confirm and agree that there are ways to describe something that make sense to some people and not to others.
Yes, the processing and complexity required to read and understand and put into practice a holy book IS astounding. While there are others who wonder why someone is saying such a thing.
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 12-09-2016 at 11:15 AM..
...but who are these atheists who 'don't believe in anything'? There is not one atheist of my acquaintance who doesn't believe in 'anything'. We believe in many things, just like you do. We just don't believe in superstitious nonsense.
I don't differ from any other atheist. I have no belief in gods.
In line with the board and the thread...it would be understood it was "anything" relative to any concept of God existing.
Didn't think I had to explain that to ya...but I understand, that ur old and played out. So, hope that helps.
Many won't/can't accept anything as respects a perception of God...not even Non Religious Deity perceptions. They are afflicted with "Godophobia".
And don't you you go wishy-washy on me too, with that "No Belief in God" stuff.
Take a stand!! Either, "A God Exists" or "No God Exists". No wimpy copouts about this "Lack of Belief" spew!
So then that includes eastern religions and eastern philosophy: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism.
I studied Eastern Philosophies not Eastern Religion.
I also would not place Buddhism in your list above. Buddhism doesn't fit neatly into either category of religion or philosophy. When people asked Buddha what he was teaching, he said he teaches "the way things are." He said nobody should believe his teachings out of faith, but instead they should examine for themselves to see if they are true or not.
Here let's use my entire quote vs. the part you quote minded. It makes more sense when you use the entire message I was conveying.
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Originally Posted by Matadora
I have often seen a few posters in this part of the forum question why science is allowed to be discussed here?
Why they ask? Because science is the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
Why they ask? Because religion hasn't answered any questions. It does include a lot of false proclamations about what it claims to be answers to questions, but ultimately nothing any religion says has ever been a rational answer to anything.
Last edited by Matadora; 12-09-2016 at 12:43 PM..
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