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No, I was saying you were the one displaying the implied threat ("good luck to you...you are gonna need it") and that you were citing muscle (one third of the globe is Christian) as apparent evidence that the religion must be correct (i.e. if a lot of people support something it MUST be correct and valid...just as rape, infanticide and slavery must have all been correct and valid as very large portions of the globe all practiced them through large portions of history).
And yes, that's exactly the way it's worked, for some 20 centuries now. We're right, if we weren't why would other people agree with us? Oh, still don't believe us? Well then (insert_eternal_threat_here).
I never said, or even implied, "it MUST be correct and valid". I don’t think that at all.
I was simply stating the factual truth of the demographics where the OP lives, relative to his stated feelings about people that are Religious.
I told him I hoped he could reconcile his feelings, and wished him needed luck (knowing he would need it based upon his oft stated firmly held dislike and disapproval of Religion) in being able to cope with his inevitable emotional distress, considering his location in a very Religious area.
How you viewed that as a "threat" puzzles me.
Though I will say...I lived in Texas for a time...if he mocked and insulted some of those people to their face (call them "creepy" & "delusional") like he did here, he very well might experience the threat of having to deal with some muscle.
the doctrine of sin is for most evangelicals I suspect is simply what they were indoctrinated with from the cradle.
Just sad is all I can say.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mordant
People who are converted to that ideology later in life are often psychologically vulnerable to guilt and shame.
I would have to say I completely agree with this...based on my observations and experience with these types.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mordant
There are lots of reasons in the "lost and have no clue" department. I would say 80% of them aren't terribly mindful about why they believe as they do concerning sin, it is just axiomatic to them and thus taboo to question it in any way.
Just so sad and unevolved these folks are.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mordant
And even the ones who seem to get off on judging others and being all controlling and authoritarian are quite caught up in the belief themselves. Only a small percentage (many of whom have mental health issues anyway) consciously use it to manipulate and control others or to cause others pain.
Yes those who claim to be special snowflakes are the most self-righteous delusional souls I have ever come across in my life.
You must not have read you own link Matie...it said Texas was 53% Christian.
Like I said...the vast majority of Texans are Christian. That's a fact...at least currently.
You must not have read you own link Matie...it said Texas was 53% Christian.
Like I said...the vast majority of Texans are Christian. That's a fact...at least currently.
I suppose you must have forgotten that you claimed this...
Quote:
Originally Posted by GldnRule
Where the OP lives (Texas, USA) it is vast majority Christian.
53% is NOT a vast majority.
Vast majority - means almost all or something like 90% or more, but less than unanimous. Overwhelming majority - means well beyond any hope of finding enough who are swayable to take the opposite case or something like 75% or more.
Based on this I stand my ground. Also my link contained data from 2010 and I would be willing to bet today the number of christians in Texas is lower than 53%.
I suppose you must have forgotten that you claimed this... 53% is NOT a vast majority.
Vast majority - means almost all or something like 90% or more, but less than unanimous. Overwhelming majority - means well beyond any hope of finding enough who are swayable to take the opposite case or something like 75% or more.
Based on this I stand my ground. Also my link contained data from 2010 and I would be willing to bet today the number of christians in Texas is lower than 53%.
Don't forget I am from that state.
Wait a minute Matie...you are above this kinda thing.
There IS a majority...and in a place with the population of Texas that IS a vast amount of people. MILLIONS of them.That is a vast majority. So you argue from a standpoint of the formal term "Vast Majority"...rather than my point (that I would think was reasonably understood) to be a majority that is vast?
To try to claim that my point doesn't have merit...that a person that doesn't like Religion would be constantly annoyed in Texas due to the vast amount of Religious people there...is just not so.
The guy is in Megachurch Land...and you are gonna argue that the majority of Religious is too small a majority to support my contention?
Also...you are gonna argue conditions for just the very recent time? How about you go by the average of the last 30-40 years to determine what one would be dealing with in a life there as far as exposure to Religion and Religious people?
BTW...Pew Research has the 2016 figure for adults in Texas at 77% Christian.
Anyway...if that is the best you have to rebut my point that a person living in Texas, USA will experience a "constant reminder" of Religion...I don’t feel I have to worry about my point losing any ground.
It would be if the claims for a personal relationship with Jesus were the same as relating to historical figures. They are not. With Jesus it is supposed to be more than simple inspiration and admiration. No one claims that Bach guides them in his will for their daily lives. No one prays to Bach. No one worships / deifies Bach. No one says Bach is the only way to be reconciled to god and escape the wrath to come. There are no holy books revealing the Will of Bach.
The OP was only about "personal relationship" and not all the rest of the stuff you are mentioning here. There are different kinds of personal relationships after all, aren't there?
You actually love the legacies they project....but you don't actually know the people beyond your own superficial enjoyment of said legacies.
Define how you "know" someone. Are you saying you can't know someone through their legacy or through what you read or hear about them? Can you know someone from what they say about themselves? Can you really "know" anyone?
I say I enter a personal relationship with the author of a book I sit down to read, or the composer of the music I am hearing or playing. It is very real and can be a passionate, life-changing relationship.
Wait a minute Matie...you are above this kinda thing.
There IS a majority...and in a place with the population of Texas that IS a vast amount of people. MILLIONS of them.That is a vast majority. So you argue from a standpoint of the formal term "Vast Majority"...rather than my point (that I would think was reasonably understood) to be a majority that is vast?
To try to claim that my point doesn't have merit...that a person that doesn't like Religion would be constantly annoyed in Texas due to the vast amount of Religious people there...is just not so.
The guy is in Megachurch Land...and you are gonna argue that the majority of Religious is too small a majority to support my contention?
Also...you are gonna argue conditions for just the very recent time? How about you go by the average of the last 30-40 years to determine what one would be dealing with in a life there as far as exposure to Religion and Religious people?
BTW...Pew Research has the 2016 figure for adults in Texas at 77% Christian.
Anyway...if that is the best you have to rebut my point that a person living in Texas, USA will experience a "constant reminder" of Religion...I don’t feel I have to worry about my point losing any ground.
Am I the only one who finds it rather amusing that Gldn, King of Definitions, is saying that the definition or meaning of "vast majority" is irrelevant? Typical fundy..... just of fundy with different stripes.
Define how you "know" someone. Are you saying you can't know someone through their legacy or through what you read or hear about them? Can you know someone from what they say about themselves? Can you really "know" anyone?
I say I enter a personal relationship with the author of a book I sit down to read, or the composer of the music I am hearing or playing. It is very real and can be a passionate, life-changing relationship.
What you are describing is a one-way street though.
My definition of a 'relationship' involves at least some interaction both ways.
There is a condition called objectophilia which means that people think they have a relationship with an inanimate object such as a building or a car or train. It goes beyond mere aesthetic appreciation; they love the object and think the object actually loves them back. If that's not delusional. I don't know what is.
I don't see how having a personal relationship with a dead invisible person is any different. Thinking that this person actually interacts with you, knows you and loves you.
If anybody can explain to me why it's different, I'm all ears.
Define how you "know" someone. Are you saying you can't know someone through their legacy or through what you read or hear about them? Can you know someone from what they say about themselves? Can you really "know" anyone?
I say I enter a personal relationship with the author of a book I sit down to read, or the composer of the music I am hearing or playing. It is very real and can be a passionate, life-changing relationship.
You can certainly know things about them and the things which they do...and you might strongly appreciate them. But knowing them personally, as people and not just what they projected into their works, is many times very different.
And there are limitations on how well you can know people from afar, and indeed even close by such as from your own household. But the idea that what you might "love" from afar is the author (in this example), as opposed to the works of the author, is what I was speaking to. We all might love the works of Hemingway, but many may be quite turned off from the reality of the man.
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