by EdenOne 59 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
EdenOne,
"Personally, I would like to see an experiment that scans the brain while the person is making a factual statement..."
You may find these articles interesting:
http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041129/full/news041129-1.html
http://news.usc.edu/22586/Liars-Brains-Wired-Differently/
http://news.usc.edu/22493/USC-study-shows-liars-brains-are-abnormal/
Came in just to thank you VI. Will check.
Eden
EdenOne, I found the following quote a good example of using the beliefs of fundamentalist Christians to paint all Christians the same color.
And yet a broad group of scholars is beginning to demonstrate that religious belief and factual belief are indeed different kinds of mental creatures. People process evidence differently when they think with a factual mind-set rather than with a religious mind-set. Even what they count as evidence is different. And they are motivated differently, based on what they conclude.
I myself believe manmade global warming is at least partly responsible for the climate changes we see. To be a Christian one does not have to leave all common sense and their brain in the trash. There are many moderate Christians and liberal Christians around but they are for the most part ignored by vitriolic atheists.
All Christians cannot be, should not be, painted with the same brush just as Christians should not paint all atheists with the same brush. We are adults and as such can find things to respect and to love about one another. We can find common ground and work together to help others or to make this world a better place.
Many Christians do just that and so do many atheists. Bart Ehrman's site requires that members give to his selected charities and this is good. We can all work together to make the world a better place rather than promote divisions which in reality will not make either religion or atheism go away. They are here to stay until death or someone other than ourselves says otherwise.
Frank
There are many moderate Christians and liberal Christians around but they are for the most part ignored by vitriolic atheists - Frank
Wow!
Actually I am well aware of the spectrum of belief among christians.
If somebody feels a need for faith then they should begin by taking account of reality. Some christians can do that but they are a small minority. John Shelby Spong is an interesting example.
Yes but they also have to lie to themselves and others.
There was no virgin birth. Nobody rose from the dead.
Jesus is not coming back.
There is no utopian future for those who can bring themselves to believe incredible things.
the Catholic Church which by no means is fundamentalist in their beliefs
A wafer and a jug of wine does not turn into the body and blood of a dead carpenter. There is no purgatory and no hell.
Praying to a myriad saints won't change the world. Homosexuality is not a crime. Poverty is not good for the soul. Birth control is what the developing world needs right now.
When I said that people of faith needed to take account of reality I was aiming a bit higher than you seem to have assumed.
If I may, I will use Viviane and Cofty as examples. They can be brutal on threads like this. But that's the point, its on THREADS LIKE THIS!!!
Thank you. In the arena of "is this idea valid" it's utter brutality to the idea to see if it stands up. That says nothing about the person with the idea or the person seeing if it stands up, whether they are nice, naughty, mean, motherly or otherwise.
Some of the people that have been the most brutal to my own ideas have been my best friends because I asked them to be. I mean, if my friends can't tell me my idea sucks because they want to be nice, how do I expect anyone else to respond when I put it out there?
I expect no one here to believe it, but, in actual life, I am one of the most compassionate, easy going, ready to laugh, buy you a drink or cup of coffee people in the world.
Oh, time to evaluate an idea? I wouldn't be an actual friend or good person if I didn't try to destroy it. How else will you figure out where it needs work and shoring up or to be scrapped altogether? Would it make me a better person NOT to challenge ideas? I think not.
nic, if you want to see sophistry and obfuscation (s/p) please read viv . . .
I always read Vivian's posts, I appreciate her clarity and candour. You couldn't fill her high heels Ruby.
I always read Vivian's posts, I appreciate her clarity and candour. You couldn't fill her high heels Ruby.
Awwww.... thanks Nic, very sweet of you to say!
