Posts by cofty

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

John your excuses are dishonest unless official Catholic dogma denies totally that God is not and never has been active in the world.

But you already claimed that your god performed at least three miracles. Those claims can be investigated by science.

Are you really claiming that every time a Catholic prays for God to act on behalf of themselves or others they are going against official Catholic doctrine? What a pointless God you worship!

You hypocritically appeal to evidence for your God one minute and yell "scientism" the next.

Do you actually stand by your assertion that every time someone asks for evidence of God they are guilty of "scientism"? That is perhaps the most extraordinary claim I have read by any theist.

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

Ok - but you have still to establish that anybody here actually is guilty of this thought crime you call "scientism". It just sounds like a catch-all insult to help you avoid dealing with challenges.

You said - "If you ask for scientific evidence to God then you are a follower of scientism."

I replied that christians constantly make claims about the real world. Therefore it is reasonable to ask for scientific evidence to support those claims.

556

The Watchtower are Right About Blood...

by cofty in

... but, they fail to take note of one important detail.. i believe that if we are going to have any chance of reasoning with a jw about blood, this is the place we need to begin.. don't try to convince them that it was only a dietary law.

it wasn't, and they will never go along with it.. don't tell them that saving a life is more important than obeying a law, even a seemingly trivial one.

they take pride in obedience.

cofty

In your 10,000+ posts have you ever said anything kind to anybody? - Cofty to NN

That was a genuine question.

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

a person would have to be God to say there is no God

That ceases to be true as soon as we define "god".

25

A baffling physics question

by FatFreek 2005 in

for several weeks i've been treating myself to a hot chocolate milk (well, soymilk) before bedtime.

some 16 oz soymilk which i heat on high in our microwave oven.

this is just enough time where the liquid begins to bubble along the top edge.. i then take it out of the microwave and place it on my kitchen gram scale, stir it good enough to redistribute the heat, then reset the scale to zero grams.. next, i squeeze in the hershey's sytup, "special dark mildly sweet chocolate" (fat free) into the warmed soymilk till the scale reads some 30 grams.

cofty

Water lost as steam.

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

Rainbow Troll - Thank you for your answer.

I get the impression that the only example of things that cannot be known through empirical scientific evidence is pure mathematics.

Is that correct?

556

The Watchtower are Right About Blood...

by cofty in

... but, they fail to take note of one important detail.. i believe that if we are going to have any chance of reasoning with a jw about blood, this is the place we need to begin.. don't try to convince them that it was only a dietary law.

it wasn't, and they will never go along with it.. don't tell them that saving a life is more important than obeying a law, even a seemingly trivial one.

they take pride in obedience.

cofty

You seem to have mistaken me for somebody who cares about your opinion of me. Silly mistake.

In your 10,000+ posts have you ever said anything kind to anybody?

Now if you really need to dispense UPPER_CASE insults like a petulant child take it to PM.

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

Rainbow Troll - Please give me a specific example of something that can be known without science.

Not exactly miracles: - John_mann

Yes that was specifically your claim.

a personal paranormal experience

Which of course can be investigated scientifically.

St. Anselm's ontological argument.

Smoke and mirrors. Even as a christian I knew this was nothing but sophistry.

Pascal's wager

Really? Pretend to believe just in case? How is that a way of knowing anything?

556

The Watchtower are Right About Blood...

by cofty in

... but, they fail to take note of one important detail.. i believe that if we are going to have any chance of reasoning with a jw about blood, this is the place we need to begin.. don't try to convince them that it was only a dietary law.

it wasn't, and they will never go along with it.. don't tell them that saving a life is more important than obeying a law, even a seemingly trivial one.

they take pride in obedience.

cofty

My OP is very concise. It is by a long way the most concise explanation of the blood issue I have ever read.

The verbosity was the work of imbeciles like Fishy & co.

Your arrogance is astonishing. You really are an unpleasant old git.

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

cofty

I want to come back to this statement which seems to me to be deeply hypocritical

If you ask for scientific evidence to God then you are a follower of scientism. - John_Mann

Theists constantly make claims about physical reality.

When a christian claims that there is some feature of living things that is so complex or unlikely it is evidence of a designer, that is a scientific claim.
When a christian prays to god or Mary or the saints with an expectation of it having some effect that is testable by the scientific method.
When people of faith claim that there is something about human consciousness that goes beyond biology that is a scientific assertion.
When believers point to near death experiences to support belief in an afterlife that is something that needs to be investigated by science.
John_Mann has stated that his faith rests in part on three specific Roman Catholic miracles. The details of what actually happened on those occasions is a matter for scientific investigation.

It was Stephen Jay Gould who proposed "non-overlapping magesteria". It will never work. People of faith don't have enough faith to stay on their own turf.