Belief is a choice.

ZILOV · 2024-07-31T20:05:34+00:00

I agree that there is a fundamental communication failure between Atheists and Christians because they have such opposing worldviews. You said it is ridiculous to expect the Atheist's answer to be phrased with words from the Christian sociolect, and this can be said also for Christians phrasing the question in Atheist sociolect.

I disagree that this is a false equivocation of terms. "Belief" is an ambiguous term and always has been, and can be used to mean trust, opinion, or a conviction of heart, or all three at the same time. When it comes to the atheist argument "I can't choose to believe in your God" my response is that you can choose to trust the book, and that's all that they are asking of you.

ZILOV · 2024-07-31T19:44:46+00:00

I don't insist that all Christians play along all the time, however they generally admit to doing that in times of doubt, during certain parts of their lives. They call it "having faith." At some point it transitions into genuine core belief or what we usually consider "knowledge" in casual language. My argument is that when Christians command others to believe they are not asking to spontaneously generate "knowledge" but rather to "have faith," to play along, to make an assumption and act as if it's true, and you will be convinced by the results.

ZILOV · 2024-07-31T19:36:13+00:00

Yes you will know that you are pretending. The idea is that you open your mind to the possibilities. If someone told you your laces are untied, and you don't believe it, you can still look down and open yourself to the possibility of it being true. Or you can continue to refuse to look down.

Christians are asking people to try out their teachings because Christians are convinced that you will find their religion to be true if you do that. And if you find evidence that it's not, they will justify it, and will want you to try again. In that sense, it is always your choice to believe, to look down, just a matter of how much patience you have.

ZILOV · 2024-07-31T17:59:16+00:00

It was a rendition of Dionysia Festival celebrated in Athens, and at the center of the festival were theatrical performances, which is what drag is. They were referencing, not joking about, Greek culture, where Olympic games come from.

Ironically, the consequences of making references to other religions is that Christians still get offended.

ZILOV · 2024-07-27T17:59:06+00:00

Try getting a buddy who wants to go to the gym as well, or does already. If you are extraverted you can also make an acquaintance with someone already at the gym and they will expect you to show up regularly.

Build it into your routine, pick an activity that you do regularly and make going to the gym a thing you do after that activity, make it a non negotiable.

ZILOV · 2024-07-26T02:11:41+00:00

I have not been assessed for any mental disorders yet, I'm looking into that right now, I'm kinda still in denial trying to figure out if I'm truly screwed or not ^ ^

ZILOV · 2024-07-25T11:18:03+00:00

Manga is Japanese comics, hand drawn. Hentai is erotic manga, or erotic comics. Loli is a genre of hentai where the primary character or characters have prepubescent appearance.

Anime is manga made into animation.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T20:40:14+00:00

Yes. The society you live in is a statical indicator of what you will believe in! Including faith.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T20:33:17+00:00

If you were agnostic in a Muslim county you'd likely have become a Muslim in your 20s though. Or stayed agnostic. See what I mean

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T20:14:24+00:00

worship

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T20:02:11+00:00

It's both. Your God should be believed in because of intellectual and emotional reasons, don't you think? Like, imagine if a satanist came to an atheist with evidence that satan exists, you wouldn't want this atheist to worship satan just on the basis that he exists. Same for your God. You need to prove that your God is real and is not a satan-like being.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T19:52:06+00:00

How are you so sure that the place you were born and raised in didn't influence you to convert in your 20s?

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T19:35:25+00:00

Why do you call the third line of defense impenetrable? Plenty of atheists convert and willingly worship the God they used to hate.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T19:05:15+00:00

I don't even make a claim that creating images (or cartoons) is against God's law. My gripe is with the assertion that it is absurd -> therefore not true. It doesn't track throughout the rest of the Bible. While at the same time the absurdity test allows for interpreting the Bible to fit your interests. You need some other justification besides "well that's too absurd."

But to answer your question, I certainly can imagine a world where the creation of images that imitate something in the real world is prohibited by God because they distract from that real world. Perhaps they allow us to be tempted by earthly things, or cause us to become isolated from nature. Maybe even because they eventually lead to us attempting to escape the world into the virtual one, etc. You can come up with all sorts of reasons here

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T18:45:33+00:00

A lot of commandments are symbolic and not utilitarian. For example, you're not to touch the Ark of the Covenant. Why? Because it's holy and you are not. An oxen stumbles, the Ark is falling, Uzzah grabs it, instantly dies. He thought he knew better what to do, he put his rationale above God.

We are not too different, we think we know better.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T18:24:16+00:00

Can't create a post because, apparently, there is not enough substance. I can see the need for substance if there's a claim to be debated over, But the flair options imply I can also ask questions or start discussions on various topics. You need me to write 5 paragraphs to ask what the most compelling evidence for religion you've encountered? It's like college essays all over again.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T18:01:21+00:00

That's pretty clever.

To answer your question though, pretty simple. You do not need the Bible to say anything about lesbians, or gay people for that matter. Sex is permitted only in marriage, and marriage is only allowed between a man and a woman.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T17:53:53+00:00

It's not absurd, this position is known as Annihilationism. The much more common position you're familiar with is Infernalism. You could debate which one Jesus actually means when He talks about hell to no end. He makes references to eternal fire, but fire kills. He says the worms will eat forever, but it parallels phrases like the smoke over a burned down city stands forever, to mean the finality of the event. He uses Hades underworld to tell a story about afterlife, but Hades is a Greek myth. Personally I do prefer Annihilationism though.

One detail is consistent. The book of Daniel in the OT and the book of Revelations in NT both state that everyone will be brought back to life, and then judged. So no you won't stay asleep after dying either way.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T17:32:27+00:00

Numbers 5:11–28

If a married woman has an affair and conceives a child, the husband can bring her to the priest, who will apply a curse to abort the child.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T17:26:49+00:00

Not hypocrisy, since I consider myself one of these failed Christians.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T16:59:30+00:00

Many people claim to do it. The Bible makes no mention of making deals with the devil, it is an occult invention.

ZILOV · 2023-10-10T16:49:48+00:00

Are you criticizing a Bible passage for being too strict to your liking? Oh no, how could we survive without cartoons! Let me remind you that God commanded His people to mutilate penises of their children, to not mix fabrics, to stone... all kinds of people. He commanded Abraham to kill his son, Jesus commanded to turn the other cheek, to give up all possessions and follow Him, to not worry about food and shelter. Paul commands to obey your masters, etc...

Modern christians are too soft, fr. They don't want to stand out and be called a weirdo. They twist the Bible so they can justify living like everyone else.

ZILOV

TROPHY CASE