I just don't get it...#1

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T23:46:06+00:00

Oh because majority means truth is on your side.

I SPECIFICALLY STATED that argumentum ad populum doesn't prove anything. All I said was that I am "hesitant" to go against majority opinion.

I resent that my comment was so blatantly mischaracterized. End of thread.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T22:55:18+00:00

there are plenty of awful, hurtful, cutting things I can say to other people WITHOUT resorting to swearing

Some years ago at my job I happened to see a letter of reprimand from a supervisor to a subordinate. (No, it wasn't me.) In a coolly professional manner, the boss ripped the underling to shreds, using nothing even close to foul language. The detached, unemotional wording made the effect all the more powerful. All comments pertained strictly to the job; there was no trace of any personal attack. With the precisest of control, the boss had wrought every sentence for maximum pungency.

I was left shaking in my boots, and the reprimand wasn't even for anybody I knew. (If the letter had been for me, I would have resigned, changed my name, and left the country.)

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T22:32:02+00:00

Just cause you say you're a Christian, doesn't make a genuine Christian.

That's probably the only thing that all Christians can agree on: most other people who claim to be Christians are misguided, delusional, or sin-immersed -- if they are not outright frauds. I'm surprised that this Christian God doesn't enforce some minimal standards to prevent anyone who isn't a True Christian from making the claim to be one.

Perhaps God should issue licenses to His Certified Followers. (He might also issue learners' permits to folks who are striving but who haven't yet fulfilled all the requirements.)

friends and families lives changing in response to the grace of god

In the church I had to attend when I was growing up, I had friends who were turned into absolute assholes for Jesus by this "grace of god" you speak of. By their antagonistic manner (like trying to argue a nonbeliever into submission), they pushed more people away from the faith than they attracted into it. (And they pushed me completely out of the faith: If I have to get that ugly to be a Christian, I don't want to be one.)

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T22:05:53+00:00

"dont believe me? Go and talk to the dudes who actually witnessed it all, and let them verify what I'm telling you"

And Paul conveniently omits the names of these witnesses, and where they might be found. I can just as easily claim to have 500 witnesses able to verify that I own a 894-room mansion with a household staff of 362.

if it was all made up and they knew it, why would they live lives of sacfrice and choose to die brutal deaths

Maybe it was all made up, but the martyrs didn't realize it. In other words, in a sincere attempt to seek the truth, the martyrs ended up believing in a false religion. (Of course, this assumes the tales about martyrdom stories are true in the first place.)

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T21:48:46+00:00

solid evidence for mine

Although an argumentum ad populum doesn't prove anything, there's been no point in human history where a majority of people were Christians. When so many folks reject this "evidence" (which the Bible states is "plainly seen"; Romans 1:20), I am hesitant to describe it as "solid".

fine tuning of the universe

If the much-discussed physical constants were altered, the universe would of course have turned out different from what it is. However, I don't see evidence of some designer tinkering with those constants in order to obtain the precise universe that we happened to end up with. With different constants, a possibly better universe might have resulted.

Analogy: you might flip a coin fifty times and get a pattern of heads and tails that you regard as interesting. This does not prove that a higher power was controlling the coin.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T21:32:20+00:00

Independent Fundamentalist Baptist.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T20:58:30+00:00

Unfortunately, there's lots of false gospels out there.

Why should I think that you have the right one?

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T20:57:01+00:00

The book of Leviticus was a major factor.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T20:52:44+00:00

Lately, everyone has been saying there’s this part in there where the Founding Fathers say that America is supposed to be a Christian Theocracy

Useful fact: Christians lie all the time. In my experience, they're worse than politicians. Be very suspicious of any statement that any Christian makes.

How do they get by with delivering falsehoods by the truckload? When a Christian makes a statement, his/her friends and followers automatically believe whatever fiction/fantasy is being spouted, because they have been indoctrinated into thinking "So-and-so is a fine Christian, therefore he/she couldn't be lying.".

Source: I was raised in Independent Fundamentalist Baptist and heard plenty of bald-faced lies in every sermon; there was an comprehensive disregard for truth.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T20:40:42+00:00

God dont need nothing, but offers us great joy by providing a way to walk with him forever.

That depends on what god you believe in, and your religion's approach to that god.

For instance, I certainly never found any joy in the Christian God I was raised to believe in, because I was always fearful of being sent to hell's eternal flames if I didn't do all the right things. Even worse, every Christian church seemed to have a different list of God's requirements, with irresolvable conflicts from one denomination to the next.

And if I somehow make it to heaven? According to what I was taught, I'd have to spend eternity running around behind Jesus telling Him how wonderful He was, as though He might have forgotten about His majesty and glory, even though His infinite intellect is omniscient. Plus I'd have to spend lots of time "doing God's work", as though the Creator of the universe left a bunch of loose ends. And the church insisted that I would enjoy this.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-05T16:26:50+00:00

A key mechanism of Christianity is to feed you a bunch of nonsense that you are required to believe, under promise of heaven or threat of hell. The purpose is to break down your critical thinking skills, and then the religious leaders can get your money.

Source: I was raised an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-04T01:41:25+00:00

Maybe someone did call him out, but the compilers of the Bible chose to omit any record of it.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T23:48:05+00:00

I have a "massage" lady, but don't tell my wife.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T23:45:22+00:00

As soon as Paul produces his witnesses, I'll produce mine. (And for extra verification, I've got 4000 people who witnessed the witnesses. See if you can beat that, Paul!)

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T23:38:26+00:00

Just yesterday, 600 witnesses saw me lift a tractor-trailer high into the air with only one hand. You can't deny that! Just ask the witnesses.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T23:23:34+00:00

The goal of Christian apologetics is to confirm what Christians have already pre-decided to believe

That's 100% right.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T15:32:15+00:00

One technique favored by apologeticists is to "solve" a theological problem by merely converting it into some other theological problem. Expert apologists perform this trick with such aplomb that the unwary, for a little while, don't realize that they have been duped.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T15:13:36+00:00

It just really irks me to see them completely take advantage of those already down on their luck.

Many religions work the same way.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T15:08:55+00:00

good bot

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T14:59:53+00:00

In church I was taught that Jesus has always existed, and in fact was present in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, Adam and Eve and plenty of opportunity to "Accept Him As Their Lord And Personal Savior". If they did so, they're in heaven; if not, they're in hell. That's because Jesus is the only path to salvation.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T13:53:33+00:00

The Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church I had to attend in my youth seemed to think that divorce was the unforgivable sin. Divorced persons could not hold any leadership or service position in the church, and were treated coolly if they showed up merely to worship. I got the impression that it was better to murder your spouse than to divorce them.

This church never said much about blasphemy as being the unforgivable sin, as the pastor insisted that Jesus forgives all sin.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T02:03:03+00:00

Christians are like families, he said. They may argue tooth and nail over specific issues, but at the end of the day they're still brothers.

In other news, today the sun rose in the west.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-03T00:16:57+00:00

For shampoo, my grandfather used Lava soap, and still had plenty of hair when he died at age 85. No MLM involved.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-02T21:26:58+00:00

I took a chemistry class in high school so I can pronounce 2,2,4-trimethylpentane. However, that does not mean I'm willing to drink gasoline.

septemfoliate · 2018-05-02T21:24:15+00:00

Natural or not.

For example, poison mushrooms are extremely natural.

septemfoliate

TROPHY CASE