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Member (Idle past 92 days) Posts: 10333 From: London England Joined: |
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Author | Topic: Deism in the Dock | |||||||||||||||||||
anastasia Member (Idle past 5980 days) Posts: 1857 From: Bucks County, PA Joined: |
Not to mention that it is only when using the second definition, which was rather general, that we can get this comparison. Clearly definition one was meant to reflect the Christian monotheistic version, and clearly, with a word like 'God', one definition will not suffice.
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anastasia Member (Idle past 5980 days) Posts: 1857 From: Bucks County, PA Joined: |
Ringo writes: I'm saying that deism makes more sense, in a way, than your brand of kindergarten theism because it doesn't claim "special knowledge" or divine revelation like you do. Still, you know very well that which 'solution' makes sense is completely relative to the 'problem' one proposes to solve. Deism, to me, lacks something in philosophy. It does not care how we live life, and does not know where we ultimately wind up. If a person wants to 'know' these things, revelation starts to seem like the only sensible way to learn them.
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anastasia Member (Idle past 5980 days) Posts: 1857 From: Bucks County, PA Joined: |
Ringo writes: We've been through this before. Everybody lives life depending on what they have internalized from whatever source. Theism claims a special source, but there are so many versions of that special source that it isn't special any more. It's meaningless. Anything which we internalize can be wrong or petty or useless. Things which are meaningful are those things which can be shown to 'perform'.
A philosophy that doesn't care to dictate how we should live life seems more sound to me. And yet, it is a contradiction. You will find some philosophy to adhere to in the end, which does care how you live life.
So much the better. Living our lives for reward or punishment doesn't make us better people. Doing what we need to do without hope of reward or fear of punishment is far more noble. I did not talk about fear or reward, but I do think it is complete human nature to desire justice. Did you not say that a good philosophy should not care how you live life? Why are you now talking about being a 'better person' or 'doing what we need to do'? How can you make any sort of judgement call without a philosophy?
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anastasia Member (Idle past 5980 days) Posts: 1857 From: Bucks County, PA Joined: |
1. the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe. By this definition, angels and demons are not gods. Why are you only picking a definition that suits you, and ignoring the fact that these definitions are only reflections of existing uses for the word 'God'? It is just a word! This is too much like Rob and his 'theory'. I suppose it is common knowledge that dictionaries and words came first, and that we have to use one of many English definitions for 'God' if we want to believe? I suppose it is also common knowledge that every faith has to utilize all of the definitions for God which we can find in the dictionary, even when the word 'angel' appears in there as well? While the Trinity may be a strange belief, having three aspects of God does not make 3 gods.
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anastasia Member (Idle past 5980 days) Posts: 1857 From: Bucks County, PA Joined: |
petro writes: Try assuming all other belief systems, including mine, are true. Do that and then consider what kind of information should be available here to prove it. What evidence should be available to “prove” Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity . . etc? To a great extent, we can all find evidence for our beliefs. Most beliefs have elements that are not possible to evidence. It is obvious that God works in the world. It is obvious that God does not. It is obvious that people are being reincarnated to another role. It is obvious that people are not being reincarnated to this world. It is obvious that God exists. It is obvious that He does not. It is obvious that God cares about us. It is obvious that God is indifferent. I could give evidence for every position. A belief need not reflect reality, but it should not contradict reality. Then again, a belief in an immortal soul, and a belief in an invisible 6th toe, are not very different. A real belief is nothing more than a gut feeling. It conforms to reality about as much as one could say 'hey, I awoke today with better balance than I have ever had before, I believe I have an extra invisible toe, and no one can convince me otherwise'.
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anastasia Member (Idle past 5980 days) Posts: 1857 From: Bucks County, PA Joined: |
Ringo writes: And that performance is assessed in real-world terms, not by adherence to some "revealed" standard. If what is revealed makes sense, it doesn't matter where it supposedly came from. I gave my humble opinion that for me, I can not understand why I should worry about a God who I can't know. To the other extreme, since I can never know God well enough, perhaps I should just not worry about what I do?
I said that a good philosophy shouldn't dictate how you live life. A philosophy has to dictate how you live life. That's what a philosophy is, and what it does.
Conscience. That's good but not enough.
I don't. I think it's human nature to desire vengeance. Religionists are never happier than when they're revelling in the punishment that the other guy is going to get. Justice: the simple concept of getting what you deserve.
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anastasia Member (Idle past 5980 days) Posts: 1857 From: Bucks County, PA Joined: |
nem, I don't want to make anyone mad by butting in, and I am not trying to answer for RAZD, but don't you think it is possible, even logical, for anyone to beieve in God without going through the usual processes?
Say early man was not able to define the origins of life and what we see around us, and therefore presumed God. Do you think it is impossible for someone who feels comfortable and confident in science to believe in God anyway? Isn't it possible that while most 'gods' as creators and superpowers come with an obligation to praise them, to pacify them, to be subject to them, that one could conceive of a God Who just is? Is it really necessary to deduce God externally? Did any of us go through such logical steps to get to our belief? Or did we just go with our hearts? Isn't it more common to look for confirmation of our belief only after we believe? Most of us may try desperately to fit God in somewhere, or we may see Him everywhere. What if we spent more time looking at what God isn't, and where He isn't? Naybe God created nothing, maybe God has no concern about what we do. That may seem pointless to you or me, but would God be less 'God'? I agree with you that the technical, historical God may be a creator, and that there is less 'room' for this God with the advancement of science, but this is something which goes for all of us, deist or theist. Revelation, of course, is not necessary to 'please' a god, as all cultures pay tribute to God in their own custom and tradition. Do you think all Christians worship in the same way? Or even the same God? Do you think someone can worship just by living? Edited by anastasia, : No reason given.
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anastasia Member (Idle past 5980 days) Posts: 1857 From: Bucks County, PA Joined: |
nemesis writes: I think that it takes little contemplation. I'm curious how anyone deduces automatically some grand spiritual being without any actual corroboration. The fact that so many people sort of intrinsically know and understand God is one of the more surer ways that I, personally, know He exists. Do any of us have 'actual corroboration'? I was basically asking you to use some imagination, try not to think of everyone's God as the personal Christian God. You don't have to deduce God, or feel God, or know God. You can just believe in God, and your reason can be as subjective as 'because I want to'.
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