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Your statement is partly true in acknowledging historical limitations on literacy and access to reading materials, including the Bible. However, the claim about the Bible's ubiquity in households for only around 300 years is not entirely accurate, as it had become more accessible to many people several centuries earlier, particularly in Western societies influenced by the Reformation and the spread of the printing press. The development of the printing press in the 15th century greatly increased the accessibility of the Bible for many people. It allowed for the spread of literacy and the proliferation of books. This, combined with the rise of Protestantism during the Reformation, allowed for a wider audience to access the Bible.
While the printing press greatly reduced the cost of Bibles, it was little more than a talisman if there wasn't someone in the household that could actually read it. As you can see here:
.. free and compulsory education and the literacy that arose from it was mostly introduced in the latter 19th century in various places around the world.
I'd also argue that improvements in printing and distribution and rising standard of living brought the personal ownership of books generally and the Bible specifically within reach of far more people during that same time period. Books might have escaped monastery libraries and increased in quantity thanks to the printing press, but the cost was still high and literacy low for average people.
So while the printing press made Bible ownership theoretically accessible to the masses, in practice, it is actually a much more recent phenomenon.
That's not what is conveyed by many of your posts.
Where and when have I encouraged you to believe or not believe anything? Though I usually try to avoid you, the truth is that you and your bud simply do not want me to post here. I am sure it's only a matter of time before you will have your way.
You are welcome to check the sources for plagiarism. Otherwise, you may want to look into why you purposely desire to get personal on open forums. As I have stated before, I couldn't care less whether you are a believer or non-believer.
Where and when have I encouraged you to believe or not believe anything? Though I usually try to avoid you, the truth is that you and your bud simply do not want me to post here. I am sure it's only a matter of time before you will have your way.
You have said several times that you try to avoid me. Not a difficult thing to do.
How exactly can 'me and my bud', whoever that is supposed to be, stop you from posting here? You post, we respond. I post, you respond. In fact, you're responding to the thread I started. Paranoia.
You have said several times that you try to avoid me. Not a difficult thing to do.
How exactly can 'me and my bud', whoever that is supposed to be, stop you from posting here? You post, we respond. I post, you respond. In fact, you're responding to the thread I started. Paranoia.
Please answer. How have I ever tried to persuade you one way or another? What makes you think I am personally invested in you?
Please answer. How have I ever tried to persuade you one way or another? What makes you think I am personally invested in you?
When you take the time to respond to a poster...that's an investment. Particularly when you choose to go into the atheism portion of the forum.
But this is going too far off-topic.
I will continue to respond to your posts when I think it's appropriate. What you choose to do is up to you. But let me introduce you to the ignore feature.
When you take the time to respond to a poster...that's an investment. Particularly when you choose to go into the atheism portion of the forum.
But this is going too far off-topic.
I will continue to respond to your posts when I think it's appropriate. What you choose to do is up to you. But let me introduce you to the ignore feature.
You have said several times that you try to avoid me. Not a difficult thing to do.
How exactly can 'me and my bud', whoever that is supposed to be, stop you from posting here? You post, we respond. I post, you respond. In fact, you're responding to the thread I started. Paranoia.
Why do you avoid answering HW
Quote:
Where and when have I encouraged you to believe or not believe anything?
I am really interested in seeing the text that made you think you are being asked/demanded to BELIEVE.
That may be the answer to why you even feel compelled to criticize, with or without focus, what you do not have to believe. You simply do not have to believe just like atheists simply do not believe god or gods exist. Unless you are compelled to proselytize your version of belief. Pretty sick, isn't it?
I am really interested in seeing the text that made you think you are being asked/demanded to BELIEVE.
That may be the answer to why you even feel compelled to criticize, with or without focus, what you do not have to believe. You simply do not have to believe just like atheists simply do not believe god or gods exist. Unless you are compelled to proselytize your version of belief. Pretty sick, isn't it?
It's really not much different than you responding to atheism. At least I used to be a christian and am still in a religion -- Buddhism. You were never an atheist. So why are you compelled to proselytize -- constantly -- your belief in divinity?
It's really not much different than you responding to atheism. At least I used to be a christian and am still in a religion -- Buddhism. You were never an atheist. So why are you compelled to proselytize -- constantly -- your belief in divinity?
You dont know the evolution of my spirituality and yet you make all kinds of assumptions. You seem to have an unusual definition of proselytizing. explaining philosophical concepts, which is what Vedanta is, is not proselytizing. It is not a belief, it is an understanding. You cannot become a Hindu, there is no means to it even if you want to.
So why dont you respond to HW
Quote:
Where and when have I encouraged you to believe or not believe anything?
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