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That is not at all what I said. You are so upset you are unable to see straight and making nonsensical statements.
All actions follow thinking. You claim those whose actions you dont approve of are ceding their power to think. That is just your opinion, your perception and interpretation of their choice to act.
It is you who are not reading . Mike admitted to choosing to give up areas of independent thought. You don’t seem to understand what the discussion is about .
It is you who are not reading . Mike admitted to choosing to give up areas of independent thought. You don’t seem to understand what the discussion is about .
Quote:
What I meantwhen I conceded to giving up some of my"independent thinking" is that there are certain things I am required to believe.
For example, I am required to believe in the virgin birth as a real, historical event. That doesn't mean I can't think about the virgin birth or ask questions about it. I just have to believe it.
Why are you unable to accept his statement? He is following what he has actively chosen to do. That is the result of thinking.
Why are you unable to accept his statement? He is following what he has actively chosen to do. That is the result of thinking.
Yes, the initial decision to let the church instruct him on what to believe was his thinking choice . I am referring to the choices he would face AFTER ceding that right to the church . Those later decisions are made for him by the church . What to believe on homosexuality, the death penalty, abortion, evolution, the formation and age of the universe , and so on. He now has no say in these type decisions if he adheres to his former decision to cede these decisions to the church .
Once again, pure nonsense . All of these examples involve a person choosing (thinking ) to act according to what seems best to them . They make the decisions , even if the decision involves things they don’t like . I can follow my Drs orders, or not . The Dr doesn’t have control over my thought process . I choose how to make decisions about my kids . It was my choice based on my thought processes. I choose the decisions regarding my marriage . Some inevitably involve doing things I might not really want to do in order for it to be a partnership, but those decisions are MINE based on my thoughts that such decisions are the best for my marriage .
None of your examples are in the least bit relevant to the discussion here .
It's a bit like as a principal, when I would have a teacher DEMAND that I FORCE a child to apologize as part of the consequence for some infraction. What a difference in intent between a FORCED apology and a student freely deciding to apologize.
Yes...the same way many Anti-Religionists give up thinking about a loving, caring, & tolerant use of their time, and give up sizable chunks of their existence almost every day to bust on Theist strangers.
So they "fit into" the paradigm of lacking independent thinking and greatly focusing on being hateful & biased toward those that find life enrichment & meaning in a Religious and/or Spiritual relationship with The Divine.
1. We don't give that up. Most of us still have families, are still in relationships, have a circle of friends, do good things in the community, etc.
And how is "bust[ing] on Theist strangers...[and] greatly focusing on being hateful & biased" against religionists morally any different than theists doing the same things toward atheists?
It's a bit like as a principal, when I would have a teacher DEMAND that I FORCE a child to apologize as part of the consequence for some infraction. What a difference in intent between a FORCED apology and a student freely deciding to apologize.
And yet, there is still some perceived value, or at least a *potential* for value, in a forced apology.
Yes...the same way many Anti-Religionists give up thinking about a loving, caring, & tolerant use of their time, and give up sizable chunks of their existence almost every day to bust on Theist strangers.
So they "fit into" the paradigm of lacking independent thinking and greatly focusing on being hateful & biased toward those that find life enrichment & meaning in a Religious and/or Spiritual relationship with The Divine.
One thing that has crystallized in my thinking after participating in this thread, more than any other time, but still in conjunction with other threads, is that we have three posters heavily represented here who will virtually never say anything negative about religion. Two will virtually never say anything negative about their religion and/or certain other religions. One will virtually never say anything negative about any religion or spiritual stance.
I can only interpret that as meaning that they have pretty much reached the level of being brainwashed.
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