Addiction By Definition

Jesus doesn't save, you do.

Like all addictions, it's when you feel that can't do without it.

I have no idea Phat, I think only you can answer that. All I can say is that when you stop thinking about God, praying, attending church and all the paraphenalia of a religious addiction you suddenly liberate a load of time and space for new stuff and you feel responsible for your own life. Fishing.

Speaking of flip sides, when you were a drunk, did god play a part in it?It's very common to bless god for deliverance but fail to blame him for being a total shit about other stuff.Edited by Tangle, : No reason given.

Religion is the opium of the masses. Which is in contrst to your logic, argument and actions as an admin.It seems to me that you're becoming rational.

It seems to me that you're making eating just another one of your obsessions. If you want to be 'normal' why not behave like a normal? Eating is not something you need to make into a big thing. Normal isn't researching, calibrating and chronicling everything you cook and ingest and looking for admiration; normal is just eating what you like and being sensible about it.

The point is that everything your body needs to sustain itself is available in a normal, balanced diet. Add in some excercise - preferably natural like walking to work or digging the garden, a low stress job and a good family life, a bit of alcohol and maybe for you a bit of prayer, and you've got what you need.Supplements are only necessary if you have a deficiency in something. You don't seem to be a wealthy man Phat, why are you wasting money on this nonsense?

Ok, so long as you really do think of it that way. But you don't, do you? Well actually I don't. I am a wealthy man by any measure but I find it hard to spend money on things that I'm 'supposed' to like cars and houses etc. Wealth is not the issue, it's need that we're talking about. You appear to need things - God's, gambling, diets, miracle cures. It's a personality disorder of a relatively minor sort that you won't solve with a miracle cure like a diet or a supplement. Don't waste your time and money.

It's better not to equate natural processes as good and bad; they're neutral. The 'animal brain' as you call it is actually the more primitive parts of our brain that mostly deal with survival and reproduction, breathing, sweating, feeling, seeing, hearing etc etc. It's not bad, it's essential to life.The bits of the brain that makes us human are those responsible for executive functions - decision making, rational analysis, planning the future etc etcYour executive functions regulate your desires and try prevent you doing things that feel good but might be bad for you or that are antisocial and destructive. They're developmental and need help to work.Executive Function & Self-Regulation

Um...god is supposed to be all knowing - what's with this committee majority shit?

There is no such thing as the rational mind - it's a metaphor. 'A creator' can be thought of by a brain in a rational (evidence based) or irrational (belief based) way or a mixture of both.

As a general principle, belief in something for which there is no evidence can not ever be rational.But it gets blurred when you start talking about it philosophically. I think it's possible to have a rational belief in a non-interventionist, non-theistic god so long as you've gone through the various logical positions and formed a conclusion based on them.I don't believe that belief in a theistic god is ever rational nor do I think that anybody arrives at their beliefs via a rational process so it's of accademic interest anyway.

If he ain't all knowing, all powerful, all loving and all over the place he ain't the god I was taught about. But sure, it's all made up anyway so why not have a committee. No problem.

Theists and atheists can be both rational and irrational. It's belief in a god without evidence - faith - which is the irrational position. That's just gobbledegook. What do you think you mean? Are you saying that because science concerns itself with objective, fact-based, analysis of the natural word that it is atheistic? And 'therefore' irrational? If so, it doesn't make logical sense. Try not to be childish. It's a god that does not intervene in human affairs.

quote:

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theism
/iz()m/
noun
belief in the existence of a god or gods, specifically of a creator who intervenes in the universe.
"there are many different forms of theism"

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Basically a religion. Nobody knows. Atheists don't know either. There's nothing special about not knowing. But belief is a binary, positive thing - you either have it or you don't. If you don't have that belief, then you're an atheist. Atheism just means lacking belief in god(s).

You got lucky. If you agree with my insert to your statement, then yes. We are all agnostics, both believers and atheists. That's because agnosticism deals with knowledge not belief and none of us have knowledge of god.Agnosticism is purely word play. You either believe or you don't. If you don't know if you believe or not, then you don't believe. If you don't believe in god(s) you are an atheist We are, and it's not fallacious. The existence or non-existence of god(s) is binary. There either is or there isn't. The fact that we don't and can't know is irrelevant to his/their existence.If someone says all swans are white, all he's saying is that he's only seen white swans therefore he believes that all swans are white. He has evidence of white swans and no evidence of black swans so his belief seems rational. But without total knowledge of all swans, it's actually only a hypothesis.The existence of god(s) is a hypothesis. Believers believe in them, atheists don't. Neither know, but atheists have the stronger hypothesis. Well you either have or you haven't, what I believe about it is irrelevant.What I KNOW is that beards DO exist. So unless you give me reason to doubt you, I'll happily accept what you say, particularly as it a matter of no consequence. But if you then said that it was a prehensile beard and it can take food off you plate and put it in your mouth I'm going to call you a liar and ask for evidence. I'm now atheistic about your beard.