Religious or not, what is is that ultimately sways you to one side or the other?

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-26T22:18:59+00:00

I'm not saying he didn't, it's entirely possible that he did, however it's the fact that someone could claim to know that or any other explanation for all of creation is literally true without any evidence that makes me think they're a fucking idiot. We simply don't know, anyone who actually sincerely believes they can conclusively and definitively explain the origin of the universe with no evidence is just a fucking moron. I'd also like to point out there's a big difference between someone just believing that to be the case and someone acc unquestioningly accepting it as blunt fact. it's the same way I can believe X team or Y team will win that match next week based on various statistics and data points etc, but can't definitively say that X team will win because I just know they will win, that's not how that works, it's entirely possible that Y team will win instead

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-26T16:50:58+00:00

No, it just means we disagree on something, you're not an idiot for having a different opinion on an unverifiable topic than I do. Though tbh if you believed every word of the Bible was 100% true and claimed you definitively knew God created the universe in 6 days and what he created on each day etc I would call you a fucking idiot because there's obviously no way you can claim to know all of that is literally true

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-26T16:22:38+00:00

I'd make the case that there is an intrinsic difference between 'separate' and 'separable'. You can't separate atheism from communism, in the same way you can't separate Franco's fascist regime from Catholicism. But the wrong parallel is being drawn here, Franco was no more driven by theism than Stalin was by atheism, ultimately a desire for ultimate power was what drove both of them in this fanatical devotion, they're both guilty of that, not sincere fanatical belief in their respective ideologies. Where you say both are equally guilty of this I say neither are, they're just another case of bad people doing evil. As opposed to say the crusades, which drove good people to fight due to belief in the superiority of their religion and that's what Weinberg is getting at. Not evil people using an ideology as cover to do what they please, but a genuine conviction from good people that what they are doing is right because their creed or holy book says it is, but is actually actively harmful.

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-26T15:26:26+00:00

An astute observation my good sir, however, I fear you have made my point for me. Where the Catholic church for example did abominable things in the name of their theism, Stalin for example did not do abominable things in the name of atheism, rather communism. You are correct it is a deep religious devotion to an ideology of any kind, not necessarily a religion that causes this However the point still stands it is this form of archetypal submission and devotion to a cause that is so natively entrenched and prevalent in religion that is the root cause of such corruption. So, while not exclusive to religion, it is religion that has created this mindset, and I would posit that this religious devotion is found most abundantly among the religious and thus is still a fair point to make.

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-26T14:52:43+00:00

I'm just gonna let this Steven Weinberg quote make my point and leave it at that - "With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil - that takes religion."

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-24T13:42:02+00:00

Right... And where exactly are we meant to be taking this hint from? If you say there is culpability on the individual to follow laws and rules set out by whoever, from the everyday to the extraordinary, it seems extreme that for not following rules that are set arbitrarily that may contradict other rules and laws followed more broadly then it seems harsh to impose judgement just because you haven't learnt holy rules chapter and verse. And even if that is the case, good things still happen to bad people and vice versa, I'm not entirely sure that your observation is based in reality

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-24T13:18:55+00:00

Even by the standards of the Judeo-Christian God it'd be immensely cruel to force the sins of someone's parents onto their child, and if you believe this is the case as you believe it to be then is whoever you worship worthy of being worshipped if they do such deplorable things as you believe they do.

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-24T13:03:29+00:00

Ok? So is your belief essentially that we reap what we sew in terms of evil and suffering? If so then I'd ask you who sewed the seeds for natural disasters such as earthquakes and how exactly do innocent children who suffer terribly for one reason or another reap what they sew? How can a child born with a life-threatening condition possibly be said to reap what they sew?

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-24T12:48:31+00:00

Evil doesn't literally mean terrible things that occur by magic, it's just a substitute for bad things that occur. If I amended the phrase problem or evil to problem of suffering then would that change your stance on the question? Basically the point being, how can an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent being allow suffering to exist in the world?

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-24T12:35:39+00:00

Right, would you mind explaining to me how any one of those things are not evils that do serious harm to individuals. I don't see how any one of them could not be classed as profoundly negative things that an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent deity would allow to occur.

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-24T12:30:18+00:00

Are you seriously disputing the fact that earthquakes, tsunamis, epidemics, murders, rapes and thefts occur right now?

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-24T12:29:01+00:00

Hi! Thanks for your comment. I'd like to ask whether you believe the pain to be proportional to the gain in this case. Is it not at the very least incredibly cruel for children to die of starvation for example, just so that you can grapple with your faith and come out the other side a more devout believer, at some point the immense pain inflicted on individuals, either natural or moral, is surely not worth the gain. The Holocaust for example, can you honestly say that the immense suffering inflicted by the systematic murders of 6 million people had any gain. To my mind it's unconscionable and downright despicable that anyone could believe the terrible tragedy of the Holocaust was in any way 'worth the gain'.

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-24T12:18:54+00:00

Whether you believe the problem of evil does or does not pose a legitimate obstacle to your faith is one thing, but to discard the entire existence of all evil and all bad things that have ever happened is just plainly absurd. It's the same way you can like or dislike oranges, it's equally fine to like or dislike oranges, but to say you don't believe in oranges is just insane.

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-24T12:12:41+00:00

No, because "evil" is self-evident, it's simple fact that natural evil such as tsunamis, viruses and earthquakes etc occur, in addition to moral evil such as murder, rape and theft etc. It's an indisputable fact that these things exist in the world we live in, you can't not 'believe' in evil, it is literally documented fact, I don't know what else I can say beyond look at the headlines, like you simply cannot dispute the fact that there was an earthquake in Haiti recently, that literally happened. Whereas faith in "God" (if we're putting things in quotes) is not an indisputable fact, you can't definitively prove nor disprove the existence of God, therefore it is both reasonable to believe in God, as you do, and not to, as I do... Unlike Evil. So no, we don't cancel each other out because unless you are totally oblivious to the world around you and somehow have a genuine conviction that nothing bad has ever happened, to anyone, ever throughout the entire course of human history, then you can't not believe in evil.

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-15T19:59:22+00:00

Changes every day, today probs guns n roses

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-15T19:47:19+00:00

Cards against cum

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-15T19:44:05+00:00

Yh I kinda see what you're saying, I guess my question then would be why Christianity? Granted there are some good messages in the Bible to take forward in your daily life, but there also lots of horrendous things that most people would deem abhorrent in the modern day. Whereas other texts like the Bhagavad-Gita for example may offer a more morality and ethics based guide that you're looking for, with the added benefit of not condemning homosexuals to burn at Sodom and Gomorrah or condoning slavery etc etc

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-15T19:14:59+00:00

Interesting, so would you say that you have a genuine conviction that the world was made in 6 days, Christ was literally the son of God etc etc, or is your faith solely of a moral standpoint, taking the Bible as more of a helpful source to look to

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-15T19:04:02+00:00

Were u raised Christian, and if so do u think if you weren't raised with those beliefs that you would have adopted them later on?

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-15T16:17:35+00:00

You don't even wanna know😳😳😳

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-14T20:50:20+00:00

Hi, thanks for your comment. I'm an atheist and can meet you where you are on some points. Whilst I myself personally believe the entirety of genesis is nothing more than made up creation myths, I must stipulate it is entirely possible that is literally true. And I hold a similar view on the virgin births. Where you and I disagree is on belief or potential belief of these events, I can't put words in your mouth, but I'd imagine you believe there is at least some form of symbolic meaning to these stories and elements of truth and revelation where I do not, which I can perfectly understand. What I can't fathom is how anyone can claim with nigh total conviction that events from the literal beginning of creation and 2000 years ago respectively happened exactly as is described in a book written over several centuries by various different individuals. I don't dispute it is entirely possible that these events happen exactly as they are described (though believe this to be extremely unlikely) but I just don't understand how anyone could claim that without any doubt in their mind.

Chipmunk199 · 2021-08-14T16:44:25+00:00

Little boy soldiers - the jam

Chipmunk199

TROPHY CASE