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Well I'm mostly going by what I have read here from theists and atheists...You must not be paying attention to what you're reading.
I'm paying attention to more than just one thread. I'm not lying. My experience may be different from yours, but it is still my experience. If I've missed something on this thread that might cause me to reconsider, please point me to the post. I have read the entire thread and didn't see anything to give me the impression that atheists are any more open-minded than theists.
My larger question to you, and in answer to your comment in post #58, is:
...are you even potentially able to entertain the (remote, unlikely, unfathomable, but nonetheless...) distinct possibility that there simply is no God? Because some here, such as NIKK, C34 and others, apparently cannot even begin to entertain that idea. It's simply not possible nor computable for them, no matter what the evidence. I believe the correct term is "intransigence"?
I'm paying attention to more than just one thread. I'm not lying. My experience may be different from yours, but it is still my experience. If I've missed something on this thread that might cause me to reconsider, please point me to the post. I have read the entire thread and didn't see anything to give me the impression that atheists are any more open-minded than theists.
I'm not talking about this thread, but the entire religious forum and it's sub forums.
Referencing your post #59, right above this one, let me assure you that as a daily-functioning atheist, I still don't automatically dismiss a God. it's just that, from my vast scientific perspective & experience (nowhere near as valid as Mystic's I realize...), whenever I've questioned it, the come-back evidence has been unsupportable.
Now, if I got this sort of response in my purely scientific research, where I present a reasonable hypothesis (i.e.: I postulate that A=B), and I carefully do the work to quantify that hypothesis, but got essentially no answer, or an alternate or opposite to what I'd speculated I'd see, I'd change or abandon my hypothesis. Why beat that dead horse to bits just to support my pride, after all? Instead, I would have successfully proven The Null Hypothesis, as we scientists say. The alternate hypothesis that says "A ≠ B". The one that might say "There is no God!"
My larger question to you, and in answer to your comment in post #58, is:
...are you even potentially able to entertain the (remote, unlikely, unfathomable, but nonetheless...) distinct possibility that there simply is no God? Because some here, such as NIKK, C34 and others, apparently cannot even begin to entertain that idea. It's simply not possible nor computable for them, no matter what the evidence. I believe the correct term is "intransigence"?
I used to say to them, with tongue in cheek, what if God Himself came down and told you He was a total fake? An alien in a God suit? Both NIKK and C34 said, matter of factly, they wouldn't believe even Him! For them, there must be a God. Wonderful! Such an intelligent response, huh?
But, just for the sake of an intellectual argument, for instance, let's say your fervent chanting no longer produced the anticipated response, come-backs or sense of well-being. I'm just being hypothetical for now, understand: but essentially you'd simply draw a spiritual blank. Now and forever more. No matter what you said, chanted, prayed for or "tranced" yourself into: just nothing, NADA, Zippo!
Let's also add in that some of the things you hoped to achieve spiritually or physically (an improvement in some health issue, for instance, or a simple clarification on a family cultural issue) didn't materialize. In fact, let's say the exact opposite happened: things got worse, a new unforseen tragedy occurred, or your loving family told you to "go to hell!".
Would this in any way erode your absolute inalterable belief in a God? No matter what?
Because the atheists and scientists I personally know are always open to altering their beliefs and perceptions. It may be that those who become scientists, engineers, or philosophers were always of that genetically-cast mindset that fully allows them to alter their belief systems, or that they don't ever develop a such an immovable one in the first place. Perhaps those with a decided spiritual "bent" are pre-disposed in the first place to want such a perspective. As in: They can't live without a God-figure?
We do see specific unique behavioral outlooks even within a given species of animal for example. Why not in humans? A group herd mentality in one cohort (a group of similarly oriented individuals) versus the lone-wolf perspective in other species? Or even a lone-wolf individual within a herd-oriented cohort? An antelope that prefers to stray from the known safety of the vast herd for the possible rewards of a loner's outlook?
Possible?
ive no problem with ahteists,its just that it dosent work for me,you might be happy being an atheist and i havnt got onne problem with that,however for me i feel that Krishna has brought the best out of sometimes and if i thought of a life without Him then it would make me feel like ive post somthin,thats why i said ''sadly an atheis'',thats how i feel,
as for anyone being an atheist and it has helped them in life(like escaping fear based conditioning and stuff), then fair enough....you see i feel i am open minded,and i can change my beleifs,dont forget i was a born again christian for years,and i always thought if i hadnt of found Krishna that i would have either became mentally screwed up or an atheist.
as for the aliens pretending to be God and tellin everyone is was all a joke,well that propbly wouldnt be too hard for an advanced alien,he could maby implant a chip in your head that you hallucinate God appearing tellin you its all a fake"i was just an hallucination all along",even if that were the case then it still dosent dis-prove God's existence,the person might 100%beleive He dosent exist though,but just because he dosent beleive dosent mean God dosent exist.
about the family thing,yes it would it break any mans heart,but with a healthy outlook on life,like understanding that we are all eternal beings on an amazing journey through life and consioussness,so if you understood the Gita then you could understand that death is not the all in all.
i dont think theres any scientific means in disproving God,you might be able to logically disprove what people make Him out to be,but i think He is beyond the reach of the senses and matter.
Being intellegent and having common sense is not a given. I know of many very smart people who are total social retards.
So the question is: (since you raised it) would you rather be smart or happy? This is a real question given what social scientists have discovered. Smart does not equal having a good life.
Being intellegent and having common sense is not a given. I know of many very smart people who are total social retards.
So the question is: (since you raised it) would you rather be smart or happy? This is a real question given what social scientists have discovered. Smart does not equal having a good life.
Easy answer. I'd rather live in denial and be delusional, wrong, sick, misled, undersexed, brainwashed, spiritual, ugly, close minded, rigid, and happy
Not trying to brag, but,.....I suspect I am both, they are not mutually exclusive domains.
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