Cofty: Why is it remarkable that our brains process input from our 5 senses differently from delusions that originated in our heads?
Interesting question!
i found this very interesting article by t. m. luhrmann in todays edition of the new york times (i've highlighted a few parts i 've found most interesting):.
it seems weird to deny them.. 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.
Cofty: Why is it remarkable that our brains process input from our 5 senses differently from delusions that originated in our heads?
Interesting question!
despite being in for decades, i have never heard this before.. can any elders confirm this, and the reasoning?.
Searcher, that's a good point. They may try to pull that, but it still says a minimum of two.
The whole rule is ridiculous anyway.
i was just listening to a jc for apostasy on jwstruggle.
the issue was raised if elders are appointed by holy spirit, then why is there such an issue with sex abuse.
the answer was given (and i thought it was quite true) well jesus was the son of god and he appointed judas under holy spirit, just to have him turn on him.
joe134cd: what would be your answer to that.
So, if appointments made by Holy Spirit are indistinguishable from those that are not, then what's the point?
i found this very interesting article by t. m. luhrmann in todays edition of the new york times (i've highlighted a few parts i 've found most interesting):.
it seems weird to deny them.. 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.
EdenOne: the point of debate of this thread isn't about the claim that supernatural thinking increases with age ... but about the different thought processes that the human brain probably uses to process statements of fact and statements of faith. - Emphasis added
Maybe that's the problem.
You Cut & Pasted 10 paragraphs of the article but merely said you found it "interesting" and that you'd like to see an experiment that scans the brain while the person is making a factual statement versus a faith-based statement.
We're not mind readers you know!
You should read this thread: A Request to All Posters Regarding Cut & Paste Posting of "Interesting Articles"
Although you did include some commentary, you didn't include enough for us to know the point you were trying to make. We had to wait two days as many pages and 30+ posts before you explicitly stated "the point of the ... thread."
The points you highlighted certainly didn't make your particular point clear.
despite being in for decades, i have never heard this before.. can any elders confirm this, and the reasoning?.
That's bullshit.
I was an elder for 20 years.
If the particular elder has a lot of influence you've got an uphill battle, but there's no "Three Witness Rule" for them.
i found this very interesting article by t. m. luhrmann in todays edition of the new york times (i've highlighted a few parts i 've found most interesting):.
it seems weird to deny them.. 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.
Eden, the burden of proof is always on the person that made the initial assertion. I didn't do that.
But thanks for the link. Kind of expensive for a 20-ish page paper, but It looks interesting.
back in the day, when my family moved to a new congregation, i fell head over heels with a young sister who was an elder's daughter.
it wasn't long before we were talking about marriage and i was contemplating buying her an engagement ring.
my parents were not happy at all.
it's to their credit that many modern christians prefer the jesus of the gospels to the god of the old testament.. ot god is an embarrassment.
i am not going to list his multitude of moral crimes here but my personal favourite is his brilliant idea that a girl who is raped must marry her rapist.
it's not his biggest crime but it demonstrates a disregard for human feelings that is beyond the comprehension of every moral person.
HMTM: To be unable to see the unseen does not itself prove that the unseen is a delusion.
That's true enough.
But there's certainly enough other evidence to prove that believing the majority of what is in the Bible is to believe in a delusion.
de·lu·sion
dəˈlo͞oZHən/
noun: delusion; plural noun: delusionsan idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.
i found this very interesting article by t. m. luhrmann in todays edition of the new york times (i've highlighted a few parts i 've found most interesting):.
it seems weird to deny them.. 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.
Eden, you can argue all you want.
The problem with your source is that it combines all sorts of disparate groups, making a very general statement about them, without allowing the reader any way to separate or distinguish them.
I would hope the actual study would make these distinctions explicit clear.
it's to their credit that many modern christians prefer the jesus of the gospels to the god of the old testament.. ot god is an embarrassment.
i am not going to list his multitude of moral crimes here but my personal favourite is his brilliant idea that a girl who is raped must marry her rapist.
it's not his biggest crime but it demonstrates a disregard for human feelings that is beyond the comprehension of every moral person.
HMTM, Their laws reflected their time not ours.
Good point.
It doesn't really work to try and judge people from ancient times according to our present knowledge, beliefs and values.
That doesn't mean that we can't or shouldn't call their beliefs what they are: harmful delusions.