agnostic pantheism is an interesting concept, MS. I've been reading up on it most recently. Some demonstrably intelligent people have subscribed to it, if only temporarily. One strikingly positive aspect of the philosophy is its adherents tend to be at peace with themselves and others. That's intriguing.
So me, of all people, had a religious experience
by sabastious 363 Replies latest jw friends
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sabastious
OTWO what you are describing is the scam that all casinos run. For some reason people think that if you flip a coin ten times and it lands on tails ten times in a row then the odds of tails hitting an 11th time is low... and that's simply not true. It's 50/50 every time.
That said, flipping a coin with the intention of getting 10 tails in a row is different. How many times, on average, will it take for the 10 in a row to happen? Now that is calculable and the Indians did the math a long time ago.
-Sab
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sabastious
Another one. Why is it Christians are so hostile toward atheists?
Same reason some atheists are hostile toward Christians.
-Sab
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sabastious
Current example, sab is unable to explain what has happened to him, therefore it must be God. Why must it be God?
Can you provide an example from this thread where I said it must be God?
-Sab
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Satanus
Nic
'Why must it be God? Why can't it be something rather mundane, like statistical probability?'
Well, it could be. I don't rule that out. I do rule out god. However, why do materialists totally rule out the possibility of something between the mundane and the divine as being involved? When they say that it HAS to be something scientificly explaninable, they fall into the fundamentalist crowd, fundamentalist scientist. And, they publicly tar, feather and burn people who bring in topics like this at their materialist stakes.
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Nickolas
Same reason some atheists are hostile toward Christians.
Perhaps true, Sab. However, my experience has been that when an atheist says something that contradicts a devout Christian's beliefs, even if said in the mildest of terms, he is more often than not perceived as being strident and aggressive and the response from the devout Christian is heated and defensive, and often degenerates into an attack of character. There are examples of this phenomenon here in your thread (congratulations, btw, that it has generated so much interesting conversation.)
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Nickolas
Well, it could be. I don't rule that out. I do rule out god. However, why do materialists totally rule out the possibility of something between the mundane and the divine as being involved? When they say that it HAS to be something scientificly explaninable, they fall into the fundamentalist crowd, fundamentalist scientist. And, they publicly tar, feather and burn people who bring in topics like this at their materialist stakes.
Hey there, Satanus. It's been awhile. I'm not sure what you're saying, though. You rule out god yourself, but why is it considered aggressive when scientists do it? And what is a fundamentalist scientist? To answer your question, materialists rule out assertions made without evidence. Should they not?
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Nickolas
Can you provide an example from this thread where I said it must be God?
Sorry, missed this one first time through. No, you never said it must be God, Sab, but your title equates it to a religious experience, and several of your respondents are saying it was, indeed, a religious experience. I am unaware of any experience typified as religious that precludes a god having a hand in it. (no pun intended).
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Satanus
A fundamentalist scientist would be one who doesn't allow for any reality outside the field which science currently covers. It involves the idea that present science is the bottom line authority on true knowledge, or something like that.
'materialists rule out assertions made without evidence. Should they not?'
It easily comes down to their denying the experience that the person had. I have seen this, on this board. Some have told the experiencer that they did not have the experience that they claimed. I suppose that sometimes things can be imaginary. But, other times, reputable people have related something that happened, and their experience(s) were still denied. In the spirit of evidence collecting, i think materialists should ask a lot more questions before making judgements.
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Curtains
According to my understanding, materialism does allow for what believers would conceive of as divine or spirit, but it expects there to be a scientific explanation - if not now then in the future. (Also on htis understanding spirit is material too). So non belief in God for a materialist does not necessarily deny what we experience when we say we have had a religious experience - it is just that it is seen as a sense/aesthetic experience.