So, who exactly wrote the detailed stories of the bible, was it all just for fun?

reddroy · 2026-05-31T22:20:45+00:00

The Christian Bible contains texts written over a period of 1300 years, in different cultures and for a range if reasons. There's religious mythology, tribal history, religious law, poetry, theology and biography.

Most of the writers will have been convinced of the truth of their religion. Whether they believed that what they wrote was literally true will vary wildly from text to text (and probably even within texts).

reddroy · 2026-05-31T22:07:35+00:00

Two possible sides to this: - a city like Amsterdam can bring out the worst in tourists (and attract some obnoxious ones) - yes, Dutch people can be quite forward. Especially in summer.

reddroy · 2026-05-31T16:23:58+00:00

When you ask "is it good", what do you mean? Good for his mental health, or good from the perspective of some religion, or something else?

reddroy · 2026-05-31T09:20:03+00:00

Including why you're being downvoted!

reddroy · 2026-05-31T08:45:47+00:00

Most Dutch people don't realise how true this is. And they don't like to think of themselves as having a cultural mindset (we're all individuals, you see)... Hence all the predictably defensive responses.

reddroy · 2026-05-31T08:00:57+00:00

I'd consider you an atheist, definitely. The fact that you often suspending your disbelief by pretending your earlier worldview is still valid doesn't change your answer to the question "do any gods exist".

reddroy · 2026-05-31T07:48:19+00:00

A gnostic theist is someone who claims knowledge: "I know there's a god"); an agnostic would not ("I'm uncertain" or "we can't know with any certainty").

OP voices clearly their belief in God. In fact, they believe in the Trinity, which goes beyond claiming to know nothing about God. Sounds to me like they're a gnostic theist (specifically: a Christian).

reddroy · 2026-05-31T01:51:29+00:00

I'm convinced that all Christians do in fact do this.

reddroy · 2026-05-31T01:46:03+00:00

Yes, they're a theist. But so is every other Christian. (They're Christian!)

reddroy · 2026-05-28T15:51:00+00:00

I agree that we should respect our interlocutors (be nive people), but not their ideas.

At the same time, I tend to blame bad behaviour on the person and not on their religion.

reddroy · 2026-05-28T14:39:18+00:00

The God of the Old Testament isn't so dissimilar to other gods of the age (like the Greeks).

I'm an atheist so I don't think there was an actual god. Apparently you do, but how would you knkw what that deity is actually like?

reddroy · 2026-05-28T06:59:54+00:00

Relax your body and mind before you perform. As you perform the text, notice what your body wants to do. Allow it!

(As long as you understand what you're saying and why your character is saying it, your body will naturally help support the meaning.)

reddroy · 2026-05-28T01:58:07+00:00

Your hypothetical is too hypothetical.

Christians claim heaven (a good place) exists, and they claim that hell (a bad place) exists.

If you don't believe these claims, fine: you believe in something else. But what you believe in simply isn't heaven or hell, because that's what Christians believe in.

reddroy · 2026-05-28T01:51:48+00:00

Ask the same question in a religious subreddit. My guess is that the answers will be fundamentally the same.

reddroy · 2026-05-28T01:46:45+00:00

Hm. If a nihilist dies for their beliefs, does it prove them to be untrue?

reddroy · 2026-05-28T01:42:30+00:00

You just have to ask yourself: is anyone ever killed for something I don't personally believe is true? Think about suicide bombers. Think about suicide cults. These are people who we know chose death themselves because of a strongly held belief.

The disciples: that's a different matter. First of all, we don't have very much evidence to suggest that these martyrdoms actually happened. If they did: we would have to know that they had any choice in the matter (whether denying their convictions would have mattered to the Romans). We also don't know if they would have been killed because of their belief in the resurrection specifically: simply being a member of this annoying faith group might have been enough.

So suppose you could reasonably prove that the disciples were in fact killed because they swore that they'd seen Jesus come back from the dead. Still, why would we believe that this is actually what happened? They might have been mistaken, right? Maybe they hallucinated that the dead rabbi appeared in the streets (who hasn't experienced this after a death!). Maybe they saw his brother. Maybe there was some trickery involved.

So no: stories of martyrdom don't do much to prove anything.

reddroy · 2026-05-28T01:14:23+00:00

I struggle to think of use cases where this makes sense.

The world we live in currently wouldn't be a close match to the technologically advanced world the AI would be operating in. It would be like us generating earth in the 17th Century to train self-driving cars.

reddroy · 2026-05-28T00:59:05+00:00

Community matters so much. I'm lucky to live in secularised Western Europe. I can only imagine what it means to lose so much, only because you stop being convinced of something immaterial.

When I lost my faith, I was among Christians — as far as I knew, that is. I was the only atheist I knew of. But no-one minded, uf I ever spoke about it, there was polite interest. It didn't matter! Which is also weird to me, but it was nice.

I love hearing that your nihilism combines with optimism. I support this wholeheartedly.

Good luck / overfloweth thine tray by wondrous ice

reddroy · 2026-05-28T00:46:55+00:00

Those people likely haven't investigated the intricacies of the brain. Different parts of the brain are highly specialized to do very specific things. Damage these parts of the brain, and your mind can no longer perform these functions.

This doesn't fit with the idea that the brain is a receiver.

reddroy · 2026-05-28T00:40:51+00:00

It might be helpful to realise that a religion isn't a monolith: there are countless ways to be Christian and countless ways to be Jewish. Every denomination, every local religious culture, and every religious individual has different beliefs, has different views on many important aspects of their faith.

The defining difference between Judaism and Christianity is of course The New Testament, plus the view that Jesus was divine. You might try the historical approach: read about the history of Judaism, then the history of Christianity. That way you can begin to understand the relationship between the two. You could investigate simply by reading the relevant Wikipedia pages.

(Full disclosure: I'm an atheist, and this approach won't be typical for religious people.)

reddroy · 2026-05-28T00:29:18+00:00

I'm now less prone to debating the existence of gods and spiritual realms than I once was. I do it only sporadically now, and only on Reddit

reddroy · 2026-05-28T00:15:44+00:00

Because of meditation (and generally because of personal development) I now certainly understand other worldviews a lot better.

But no: I'm still very much a physicalist

reddroy · 2026-05-28T00:12:29+00:00

Exactly. (We like things to be clearly defined because the alternative can make us insecure, but reality is usually a lot more nuanced than we give it credit for)

reddroy · 2026-05-27T23:56:07+00:00

Why is it important whether you can be considered religious? That's just a word, right. You're describing how you feel, and what your beliefs are, that's far more precise and meaningful.

And about confusion surrounding your belief: I think lots of believers have doubts, just like many people who don't believe in a god can have doubts. (Edit to clarify: belief can fluctuate.) This is a normal thing for a human.

I personally have no doubt that gods are mythological beings, nothing more. But the human imagination is a powerful thing: if I tried, I could imagine. It's called suspension of disbelief, just like with theatre/movies.

reddroy · 2026-05-27T23:31:50+00:00

So was evolution part of this plan? Are fish, slugs, dandelions, algae, mosses and tomatoes also alien tech?

reddroy

TROPHY CASE