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Originally posted by gene90:
If you say so, Nos.
Very substantial. Thank you for that illustration of proper behavior.
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The fact of the matter is that my replies are not "ridiculous", and they are worthy of a real reply or no reply at all.
You have real replies, as real as they deserve. What you posted was nothing but a preformatted knee-jerk answer I have heard a thousand times. And, I am sure you have heard the same things as well and have probably read countless replies.
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Bull. If it takes you a lot of research to type things like, "Cute"
I am not going to waste time on the equivalent of "if you want to walk down the street you have to find it first." Talk about your insults to intelligence!
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"I don't understand your analogy"
Gee. Now I am faulted for NOT UNDERSTANDING YOUR ANALOGY? Please.
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"no the easy way out is to get what you believe from a book"
In response to your insinuation that I am taking the easy way out, this is terribly appropriate.
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then you lack the mental capacity to be here and you should probably go back to elementary school. (Notice the use of the word "if", differentiating this from a
an ad hominem -- because I think when you say you spend time on this board replying I think you're lieing through your teeth. That can be interpreted as an observation or an ad hominem, I'll leave that decision with you.)
Wow. This example of proper forum behavior deserves to be brought to the front again.
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What pisses me off is that you have the mental capacity to reply, and you have demonstrated that in the past, you're just not doing so now.
Like hell. You flew off the handle not me.
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You've sunk to the level of Jet and Nos, and if you can't do any better, you should excuse yourself from this thread, because at least those two have more humor.
Its funny that you chose the same things to misrepresent that nos chose.
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Look John, here is your entire post. Look at how much you have contributed!
This is the easy answer. Your analogy doesn't make sense to me.
Earn faith? Isn't that oxymoronic? Cute. So you'll be starting you quest for Thor soon then? With just enough faith that you won't immediately reject whatever the result? This is getting trite, gene. In any other arena you'd realize how absurd this logic is. ok ????
Nope. Twas the Easter bunny helping out. And you can't prove differently using the same logic you've been using so far. Its absurd.
In other words, don't expect anything that might qualify as evidence. This is insane, gene. Now I am going to get offended. Don't pretend to know what time and effort I have put into finding out for myself. My life has been devoted to it. The path isn't clear, gene. And there is no way to investigate, as your entire post has explained. I admit having little respect for this kind of arrogant self-righteous crap.
Don't pretend to know me. It is irritating. I believe what I believe because I have spent the last twenty years tearing myself apart. Funny, considering the post you have composed. Sorry, the easy way out is 'a book told me so'
Let's compare.
I think, John, most of your difficulty with God is that you're just not an insider.
You're not supposed to test God because that is cheating. It's like taking an exam with the answer key. You have to earn your faith through diligence. If you want to walk with God, you've got to find Him first. It isn't hard to start out, it doesn't take long either, but you have to make an effort first, with at least enough faith that you won't immediately reject whatever the result is. You're going to have suspend your disbelief and you're going to have be humble. I don't think that's unreasonable for anyone, I managed just fine. If you refuse to do these things, why should God do your work for you? You earn what you work for just as the believers do. God has done a lot for you already, but you have to make a conscious decision and stick with it to get the best results.
Until then, don't expect anything so blatant you can't explain it away as coincidence. I happen to believe that there is "a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven, upon which all blessings are predicated" and it is through adherence to that law that you might find answers to the question of whether or not there is a God, if you would only devote the time and interest to find out for yourself.
Otherwise, it's easy for you to post comments like "I can't believe! I'm set up for failure! It's unfair!" when the path is clear for you but you refuse to follow it. I admit having little sympathy for that because it is a consequence of one's own inaction and one's own self-inflicted ignorance. This state of mind amazes me: blame God for your non-belief and, then, don't show any interest in God because you don't believe! It's circularity. It is also an easy way to shirk the knowledge that there are certain obligations in life beyond eating, drinking, and breathing, and that you should be humble.
Not all that much difference really. What you wrote is what, a third again as long? Hardly a damning comparison.
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What did your post cover?
Well: (1) You told me that my logic was "absurd" without rebutting it
(2) I can't prove something, which is great, considering you can't prove anything either (3) Belief in a God is "insane" without evidence...of course you have no evidence for your faith so I suppose
you are "insane" as well.
Apparently you missed:
1) That your first sentence was dismissive.
2) That earning faith strikes me as oxymoronic.
3) That telling me to "to make an effort first, with at least enough faith that you won't immediately reject whatever the result is" works for any religion you plug into the appropriate blank. So your rational pretty much supports everything.
4) That suspending disbelief is absurd when dealing with something that is untestable. Once one suspends disbelief-- ie. believes-- everything came be interpretted in the context of that belief.
5) That the way to God has involved some very painful, dangerous, and hallucenagenic things depending upon whom you ask, but you discount these methods?
6) That I have no idea what this means: "You earn what you work for just as the believers do." Notice the question marks?
7) That "God has done a lot for you already" but you don't know it works for any name you fill into the blank.
8) That you own statement -- "don't expect anything so blatant you can't explain it away as coincidence" -- is evidence that there is no reason to believe in God.
9) That you sprinkled numerous insults throughout the initial post.
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I see nothing but one-liners with no support. Things like,
"The path isn't clear, gene"
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Oh really? Well I say it is, so there!
That is exactly the point, gene. ALL YOU SAID TO ME WAS THAT THE PATH IS CLEAR. Adding, of course, that I REFUSE to follow it. You cannot believe this is an argument. And then complain that I reflect the same thing back to you?
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Why don't you offer an actual
rebuttal?
How do you rebut a string of opinions lacking in arguments?
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You know exactly what you have posted in that article.
Yes. I damn sure do know what I wrote. Do you? Apparantly not, or you may have noticed this sentence: "What boils my blood is not that The House and the APA
oppose the rape of children-- I'm ok with that, but that both orginizations are placing public policy above the results of the scientific study." Do you notice that I approve of the opposition to the RAPE OF CHILDREN. Opposition to does not mean "in support of."
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I didn't do anything disrespectful, I made a statement of fact.
Like hell, you half read the damned article and misrepresented what it said.
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You also have links that appear to contain porn, but I have not verified them.
Hmmm..... not verified? But feel quite comfy posting numerous statements to the effect that my site contains porn? Actually, I don't much care about this one as porn is not on my list of evils, but it strikes me as hypocritical that you make such accusations and then admit to not really know.
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And, finally, your website does indeed say that "Christians are evil", and it also says that "Christians are...stupid", and "Christians are dishonest".
This is my experience. Sorry it is disturbing to you.
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Are you going to claim you're not bitter?
Yup. I'm not. I used to be. Now I just get annoyed when religion weasels into my life, which it does quite frequently due to the high percentage of Christians in the country.
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Then you fell.
Gene, how can I take you seriously when you fill your posts with this dogma?
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If my comments are ridiculous, where is the rebuttal? You're only repeating yourself, again and again.
What I have repeated have been in an attempt to debate.
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I don't think you like what you heard.
I heard garbage. What's not to like?
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You're never going to gain favor with God by calling me "dishonest", "evil", "stupid", "insane", or "ridiculous".
In case you've missed it, I am not trying to find favor with God. I don't believe such a thing exists.
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You're never going to find God by being obsessed with lasciviousness and fascinated with underage sex.
More ad hominems. Yawn..... this is really getting old.
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And by the way, you said you spent 20 years looking for God. I don't buy it. I think you wasted 20 years fighting God, as you say on your website: "I've been doing this for twenty years, I don't lose".
I don't really care what you buy. It must suck when the truth doesn't agree with you. I have been arguing religion for twenty years or so, but not always arguing against it. Always analyzing though, and always gathering information.
"As I said, faith is something you go looking for. It is usually not something you were born with. Why should God give you faith if you have done nothing to earn it?"
I didn't duck this. I told you that earning faith seem oxymoronic. You never replied to that. You never told me how one earns faith. On the one hand faith must be earned, but faith is just faith. How do you get it if you don't have it? You seem to be telling me that to earn faith I have to have faith.
"Why should your searching be successful if you refuse to leave in a manner consistent with God's will?"
How do I know what God's will is if I haven't found God?
There is an internal inconsistency in your posts (see Message 33 in this thread)
I've already dealt with that. There is no inconsistency.
If you have no evidence that there is no God, why are you convinced there is no God? So convinced that you feel we are worthy of ridicule? Further, why do you poison the well by ridiculing theists for their faith, simply because they, just like yourself, have no evidence?
I haven't ducked this one either, but have spent much time on it in fact.
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