To Theists: Why do you value hope more than truth?

Adstar said:
Your efforts at self justification are woeful. Your initial comment was an insult because it made the claim that i was taking mind altering substances to get in contact with God. That theists where magic mushroom eaters and the dreams and visions we have are just drug induced illusions.

Well i know an insult when i see one and your "joke" was no joke at all to me, It was a grave and very insulting comment against me and the Holy Spirit, who gives those dreams and visions to followers of the Messiah Jesus.

All Praise The Ancient Of Days
Click to expand...
Let me be more clear here. The magic shroom thing was a sort of a joke. I know you aren't ingesting fun fungi.

However, I am 99.999% certain (just my opinion of course) that you and those like you (true believers) have either an imbalance of some neurotransmitter or an under (or over) developed brain region that rewards you so greatly for your belief, with an endorphin rush, you may have no choice in the matter.

That may be insulting, but it's my opinion. Sorry.
 
superluminal said:
Let me be more clear here. The magic shroom thing was a sort of a joke. I know you aren't ingesting fun fungi.

However, I am 99.999% certain (just my opinion of course) that you and those like you (true believers) have either an imbalance of some neurotransmitter or an under (or over) developed brain region that rewards you so greatly for your belief, with an endorphin rush, you may have no choice in the matter.

That may be insulting, but it's my opinion. Sorry.
Click to expand...

Its usually the outliers that are not the norm. And are usually selected against.

So what makes you so certain that its theists with the problem?

After all, the Nazis thought they were the cats whiskers too. :D
 
S.A.M. said:
Its usually the outliers that are not the norm. And are usually selected against.

So what makes you so certain that its theists with the problem?

After all, the Nazis thought they were the cats whiskers too. :D
Click to expand...
Oh boy. sam's using the nazis as a point of comparison now. This usually indicates the last gasps of a dying, beached theist.

Anyway, I said it was my opinion. And a strong one at that. There is enough scientific evidence for neurochemical imbalances causing fanatical or deranged behavior (surely you know this Dr. Sam). Hardcore theism strikes me as just such a thing.
 
superluminal said:
Oh boy. sam's using the nazis as a point of comparison now. This usually indicates the last gasps of a dying, beached theist.

Anyway, I said it was my opinion. And a strong one at that. There is enough scientific evidence for neurochemical imbalances causing fanatical or deranged behavior (surely you know this Dr. Sam). Hardcore theism strikes me as just such a thing.
Click to expand...

Strange, atheism strikes me as just the thing.

And with a confidence interval that covers 1, no less. At a significance level of at least p = 0.0001
 
superluminal said:
Let me be more clear here. The magic shroom thing was a sort of a joke. I know you aren't ingesting fun fungi.

However, I am 99.999% certain (just my opinion of course) that you and those like you (true believers) have either an imbalance of some neurotransmitter or an under (or over) developed brain region that rewards you so greatly for your belief, with an endorphin rush, you may have no choice in the matter.

That may be insulting, but it's my opinion. Sorry.
Click to expand...

Why is it impossible that substances couldn't correct an imbalance that all humans more or less have? Especially in light of the fact that this has been shown to be true in some instances (i.e, drugs can be given to a mentally ill person to get rid of their hallucinations. How do we know this can't go in the other direction as well and improve upon normal human consciousness? Why is there an assumption that normal human consciousness as it exisdts now is as good as it gets?). Superluminal, you should put the scientific method to work and do some empirical research, after which your opinion will actually be based upon something besides ignorance and prejudice.
 
grover said:
Why is it impossible that substances couldn't correct an imbalance that all humans more or less have? Especially in light of the fact that this has been shown to be true in some instances (i.e, drugs can be given to a mentally ill person to get rid of their hallucinations. How do we know this can't go in the other direction as well and improve upon normal human consciousness? Why is there an assumption that normal human consciousness as it exisdts now is as good as it gets?).
Click to expand...
1) No, it's not impossible
2) It clearly can go in the other direction
3) There isn't such an assumption as far as I know. But leaping to "god" as opposed to the simpler explanation of basic brain function is not very intellectually honest.

Superluminal, you should put the scientific method to work and do some empirical research, after which your opinion will actually be based upon something besides ignorance and prejudice.
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]
Anyway, since my statements offend you they must be born of ignorance and prejudice? Tell me grover, how well do you know me? What's my background? What sorts of things am I interested in? What have I studied fairly extensively?

I'm feeling a bit lost. Maybe you could fill me in.
 
superluminal said:
1) No, it's not impossible
2) It clearly can go in the other direction
3) There isn't such an assumption as far as I know. But leaping to "god" as opposed to the simpler explanation of basic brain function is not very intellectually honest.


Anyway, since my statements offend you they must be born of ignorance and prejudice? Tell me grover, how well do you know me? What's my background? What sorts of things am I interested in? What have I studied fairly extensively?

I'm feeling a bit lost. Maybe you could fill me in.
Click to expand...

Superluminal, that was clearly me speaking from ignorance and prejudice. I made assumptions. Sorry.
 
superluminal said:
How informative. We now know that there are a relatively few religious fanatics and non-believers.

Just like there are relatively few mass murderers and saints.


Super informative.
Click to expand...

Of course it is, shows that evolution does not favor extremes, no matter how profound their actions in the short term, they are undesirable in the long term.

Btw, if the Gandhis/mullahs consider themselves saints, does that make the atheists mass murderers? Hmm might have to look up the history of militant atheism.
 
S.A.M. said:
Of course it is, shows that evolution does not favor extremes, no matter how profound their actions in the short term, they are undesirable in the long term.

Btw, if the Gandhis/mullahs consider themselves saints, does that make the atheists mass murderers? Hmm might have to look up the history of militant atheism.
Click to expand...
Militant atheism... Hmmm.
 
superluminal said:
Let me be more clear here. The magic shroom thing was a sort of a joke. I know you aren't ingesting fun fungi.

However, I am 99.999% certain (just my opinion of course) that you and those like you (true believers) have either an imbalance of some neurotransmitter or an under (or over) developed brain region that rewards you so greatly for your belief, with an endorphin rush, you may have no choice in the matter.

That may be insulting, but it's my opinion. Sorry.
Click to expand...
*************
M*W: You post triggered a memory of mine. I don't recall ever having an endorphin rush from anything I experienced with my religion. Oh, but I wanted to. I always felt I was missing something that other people were experiencing, like the joy, the reverence, the awe. Because of this numbness I had compared to others, I always felt like I was less of a christian than them. Now I know I was the only sane one among them. Out of all my former christian friends, I'm the only one who saw the light. NOW, I have the endorphin rush!
 
Medicine*Woman said:
*************
M*W: You post triggered a memory of mine. I don't recall ever having an endorphin rush from anything I experienced with my religion. Oh, but I wanted to. I always felt I was missing something that other people were experiencing, like the joy, the reverence, the awe. Because of this numbness I had compared to others, I always felt like I was less of a christian than them. Now I know I was the only sane one among them. Out of all my former christian friends, I'm the only one who saw the light. NOW, I have the endorphin rush!
Click to expand...

yet you still cant leave religion alone.

peace.
 
Medicine*Woman said:
*************
M*W: Adstar, Abraham was a polytheist just like his Terah father before him. In fact, it's been written that Terah was a high priest of polytheism.

They lived in an area that was highly, if not only, polytheistic. Abraham was the child of an Egyptian pharaoh as was Sarah. They were half-brother and sister which was their common law to retain royalty among the pharaonic dynasties. It is more likely that Abraham (if he even existed in the flesh) prayed to Allah instead of Yahweh. Of the many gods that Abraham worshipped, the sun and moon were two of the bigger gods. It is also more likely that Abraham leaned more toward Islam than Judaism. The history of Abraham as written in the Pentateuch is nothing but creative writing slanted in favor of the Jewish tradition. it simply is not true.
Click to expand...

Abraham was alive many hundreds of years before Christ. Islam, and the name allah started around the 5th or 6th century AD.
Abraham had nothing to do with Islam or Allah.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top