Nickolas

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Posts by Nickolas

• 
  363

  So me, of all people, had a religious experience

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

  i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

  we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

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• 

  Nickolas

  doing ok, SBC, thanks. Seems I'm still ruffling feathers, though.
• 
  363

  So me, of all people, had a religious experience

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

  i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

  we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  SBC, you are seriously invited to my place for a drink, any time. How's it going?

  edit: Good night.
• 
  363

  So me, of all people, had a religious experience

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

  i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

  we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  I wonder why atheists are so hostile and presumptuous towards others?

  Hey, can I buy you a beer? Or, better, an 18 year old single malt? I'm not into dueling intellects, but I might enjoy having a drink with you. You never know. Do you like people who have opinions different from yours, or maybe not?

  However, what you said to JO was childish, negative and bitchy and you should be called on it.

  perhaps it's time to withdraw your claws, and to readjust your sense of justice.
• 
  363

  So me, of all people, had a religious experience

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

  i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

  we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  And yet, some materialists take that same to someone relating an unexplainable experience.

  I would like to see some examples, Satanus, but I can allow that it is probably true because there are different flavours of materialists just like there are different flavours of Christians, or of any other major religious group, in the world. This board never ceases to surprise me with the diversity of its contributors and there's no doubt there are many convinced people here, convinced one way or another. I will allow that I might be operating at some level of faith. I am relatively certain there are still things I just perceive to be true based on my life's experience so far, but that doesn't mean I won't entertain a factual counter proposal. I appreciate the experience of having my bubble burst because so far every belief abandoned for lack of evidence brings another level of emancipation. This is the road to freedom for many people inside the WTBTS. Once they truly begin to challenge what they have been told to believe and begin to seek evidence for it the emancipation process begins.

  If you tell me (in a public forum to which I belong) that you have had an unexplainable experience, and I attempt to provide you with an explanation of what made your experience possible outside of the supernatural context, I would expect a courteous reply, even if it has a little edge. And that is exactly how Sab has responded tp the posts of everyone, including the skeptics like me. Show me a materialist who tells you he's right and he just knows it but can't provide evidence for his assertion, and I will personally call him on it.
• 
  363

  So me, of all people, had a religious experience

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

  i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

  we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  In the spirit of evidence collecting, i think materialists should ask a lot more questions before making judgements.

  Wise and equitable observation. If someone, including a scientist, makes an assertion on the basis that he just knows it to be true, and offers no evidence for his assertion, I would certainly typify that someone as a fundamentalist. But I don't see that as being the case, here. Sab described an experience he could not explain and explanations were offered that do not support it being a religious experience. That those explanations are rejected out of hand by people who just know that the experience was religious, but those same people offer no other explanation for it having happened other than the mystical is, to me, a far stronger indication of fundamentalist belief.

  Time for dinner. Interesting dialogue.
• 
  363

  So me, of all people, had a religious experience

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

  i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

  we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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).
• 
  363

  So me, of all people, had a religious experience

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

  i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

  we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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?
• 
  363

  So me, of all people, had a religious experience

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

  i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

  we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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.)
• 
  363

  So me, of all people, had a religious experience

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

  i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

  we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  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.
• 
  363

  So me, of all people, had a religious experience

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

  i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

  we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  I guess what it comes down to, Violia, is the existence of the supernatural is not necessarily the default conclusion when someone can't explain something. Current example, sab is unable to explain what has happened to him, therefore it must be God. Why must it be God? Why can't it be something rather mundane, like statistical probability? And why do people get so angry when you point this out?