According to Spong, religion is a search for security; not truth.
I think atheists are willing to go further in their search for truth. John Shelby Spong takes the middle ground- I think that's pretty cool.
Why so many Atheist VS. Christian discussions here?
by mindmelda 73 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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wobble
A v C occurs mainly, because if we are one or the other, we see ourselves as in opposition, whereas in reality, we are not dealing with the same human experience.
Religion, being simply an emotional thing, not being a factual evidence based thing, is somewhat like art, you find what you like in it, and that to you is true art, to another it has all sorts of problems, and is not true art.
Science is different, it is evidence, experiment and fact based, true it is open to misuse as is any human enterprise, but how we feel about its findings is not important to the discipline, it is simply what works that counts, so really we should not have any argument between the two very different things, science, and religion..
The problem comes when C's, or followers of any religion, try to use facts to sort of "prove" their faith to be "right", and we looking at the evidence, can see if the facts fit or not, if they would only admit that their faith has no foundation in reason, logic or fact, then we need have no discussion.
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Twitch
Well, it's understandable why there are so many debates on the subject here, as has been said.
For the most part, I'm ok with my beliefs and opinions and have no need to assert myself by having others agree with me or "proving" those that don't as wrong. I'm suspicious of people who need to be infallible in their beliefs. I've accepted the fact that we all will never agree 100% on everything and it's not a bad thing, at least for those that play nice in the sandbox. We are tribal in a sense and always will be because of what seems to be intrinsic diversity in our human nature. Peace is measured not by how well you get along with those you like or agree with but by how you treat those that don't IMO.
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mindmelda
I've always admitted whatever beliefs I have are purely subjective and emotional. But, that is how the human mind works, you see.
Emotions are an integral part of our thinking processes, although they are not evidence of anything, but we cannot separate them from the thinking, creative and physiological process.
Some people are by inclination or training or both more rationalist, but believe me, they are not able to be totally subjective, either. No one is, not humanly possible, unless you know a way to shut down the emotional centers of the brain, the nervous system and all the intricate chemical responses involved in emotion.
We rely upon our emotions for a positive or negative feedback as they're part of the reward system that keeps us alive, and your head doesn't exist separately a foot above your body in a jar. In spite of watching scifi TV shows that might make you think an intelligent being can be totally emotionless, it wouldn't be possible if they were even the slightest like humans mentally and neurologically.
(Which is why when the Star Trek writers found that out because of advancements in psychological research, they changed the Vulcans from "emotionless" to just able to control their emotions and bodily responses through various disciplines, akin to what some Buddhist monks and yogis do, actually..now, that IS possible, albeit not easy to learn.)
People who try to tell me that their arguments on any subject are "purely objective" are full of it. There is no such thing as pure objectivity for human beings, it's psychologically impossible, because it's never in our best interests to be purely objective. We have to be subjective to survive.