cofty

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Posts by cofty

• 
  556

  The Watchtower are Right About Blood...

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ... 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.

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  cofty

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

  That was a genuine question.
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  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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  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".
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  25

  A baffling physics question

  by FatFreek 2005 in

  1. social
  2. current

  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.

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  cofty

  Water lost as steam.
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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• 

  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

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ... 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.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ... 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.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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.
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  But it takes a pretty stupid person to argue that historical, poetic or political accounts of a river either don't matter or that they can be reduced to science. - SBF

  Yes it does. I have never met somebody so stupid which still leaves me wondering why the silly accusations of "scientism" keep getting thrown around.

  Cofty's question inevitably implies either:...

  No it doesn't imply either of those things.
  
  

  Rainbow Troll - Science gets around the limitations of our subjective senses. That is kind of the whole point of science.

  the exercise of reason has allowed me to solve many longstanding metaphysical question - such as the nature of consciousness and its relationship to matter - that I don't believe scientists will ever be able to arrive at using their methods

  Wow. I will be so excited for you when you get your Nobel Prize
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  I have no interest in links or copy-paste, I can Google like anybody else. I am interested in hearing the personal views of those who frequently resort to this canard in order to avoid the burden of proof. Simple everyday examples would be especially helpful. - Cofty

  Immediately followed by two links by John_Mann

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

  That is patently untrue. By definition theists claim that god acts in this physical world. That can be tested scientifically.