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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/25/2010 3:00:27 PM   
Rule


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quote:

ORIGINAL: thornhappy
Where is your proof that the divine's working down on the quantum mechanical scale?

Synchronicity.

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/25/2010 3:40:41 PM   
thornhappy


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Rule
quote:

ORIGINAL: thornhappy
Where is your proof that the divine's working down on the quantum mechanical scale?

Synchronicity.

That's not proof that your particular definition of the Divine is the cause of synchronicity (if you even believe in synchronicity in the Jungian type). 


"Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. To count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance. The phenomenon of synchronicity was first described by Carl Gustav Jung in the 1920s.[1]


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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/25/2010 3:54:18 PM   
thornhappy


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Rule
As for Europe and the America's, a number of centuries ago a host of Jews from Turkey pretended to convert to Christianity and moved west into Europe with their descendants, infiltrating into positions of power.

Dude, that's bogus.  Are you talking about the Khazar myths (summarized below)?  Note the bolded part; there have been a lot of interesting cultural finds in the last decade or so regarding populations that have oral traditions of being a tribe of Israel and were then proven through DNA analysis.

Besides, would these crypto-Jews then order massacres and expulsions of their own people? 

"The theory that the majority of Ashkenazic Jews are the descendants of the non-Semitic converted Khazars was advocated by various racial theorists[18][19] and antisemitic sources[19][20][21][22] in the 20th century, especially following the publication of Arthur Koestler's The Thirteenth Tribe. Despite recent genetic evidence to the contrary,[23] and a lack of any real mainstream scholarly support, this belief is still popular among groups such as the Christian Identity Movement, Black Hebrews, British Israelitists and others (particularly Arabs[24][25][26]) who claim that they, rather than Jews, are the true descendants of the Israelites, or who seek to downplay the connection between Ashkenazi Jews and Israel in favor of their own."


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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/25/2010 3:56:05 PM   
urineme


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Ok as I understand it, having done a plentitude of comparative religious studies, it is all ONE! You choose the path that works for YOU.  If you require the existance of a great universal divine, so be it, understand it how you will, and let others interpret it how they will. If you reject someone else's interpretation, then you reject it completely, including their version of penalties for those that don't adhere to their interpretation. (So much for the fundie concept of hell). If you reject religion altogether, then so be it, you reject ALL the interpretations, and their penalties for non-adherance. It ultimately comes down to a personal moral code, and when you look at the great codificatoins thereof, (Hammurabbi, 10 commandments, etc) you find that they're basically the same. I'll take mine from the witches rede, "An it harm none, do as you will" 

William

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/25/2010 4:14:10 PM   
Rule


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quote:

ORIGINAL: thornhappy
Are you talking about the Khazar myths (summarized below)?

No, I was referring to Jacob Frank.

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/25/2010 9:18:05 PM   
vincentML


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quote:

ORIGINAL: NorthernGent

quote:

ORIGINAL: vincentML

quote:

Pascal's Wager and rational self-interest relates to the individual's desire to believe in salvation. Whether or not it's a god/gods/nymphs/jinns.....is irrelevant.


So, it is not as you stated earlier a reasoned proof of God's existence, or did I misread you, NG? I really don't think I did, but maybe ....



Pascal's Wager is concerned with the belief in the existence of a god.....as opposed to the existence of a god.


Agreed. As you have said it is an issue of rational self-interest. Also agreed. However, there are underlying assumptions which suggest flaws. On that we may not agree.

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Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~ MLK Jr.

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/25/2010 9:36:33 PM   
GotSteel


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quote:

ORIGINAL: luckydawg
Its kind of sad that you had to trim what I said in order to able to ask your question. It is proof that you know I am right.

Actually the rest of your post was a straw-man, I initially wrote a response which pointed that out and mocked you for falling for the dishonest fundy propaganda but decided that distracted from the only section of any interest to me so I cut my post down to just ask that.


quote:

ORIGINAL: luckydawg
However, if we live in a materialist universe, where everything is simply the interactions of Particles and forces according to laws(which is the position of Athiests)

You're full of shit.

quote:

ORIGINAL: luckydawg
Unless you can walk me through a way that your brain is magically different than the rest of existance. Which I would be interested in hearing.

I certainly wouldn't use the word "magically" but here are some theories for how consciousness works:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orch-OR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_theories_of_consciousness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind

quote:

ORIGINAL: luckydawg
I can't walk you through it.

That sounds like proof that you know I'm right. ;)

Seriously though, I asked you how the existence of a deity would change how the brain worked and you can't explain your own position, you're full of shit.



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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/25/2010 9:44:30 PM   
GotSteel


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quote:

ORIGINAL: vincentML
So, it is not as you stated earlier a reasoned proof of God's existence, or did I misread you, NG? I really don't think I did, but maybe ....

To be fair this is what he said:

quote:

ORIGINAL: NorthernGent
It is a reasoned argument for the belief in the existence of a god.



But I still can't get him to talk about which god.


< Message edited by GotSteel -- 7/25/2010 10:16:11 PM >

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/25/2010 9:51:29 PM   
vincentML


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quote:

ORIGINAL: luckydawg


quote:

ORIGINAL: GotSteel

quote:

ORIGINAL: luckydawg
It is only through the existance of a divine, that there can be any sort of "free Will".

Walk me through how the existence of a "divine" would effect how our brains work one way or the other.




Its kind of sad that you had to trim what I said in order to able to ask your question. It is proof that you know I am right.


I can't walk you through it.

However, if we live in a materialist universe, where everything is simply the interactions of Particles and forces according to laws(which is the position of Athiests), so's the workings of your brain. Unless you can walk me through a way that your brain is magically different than the rest of existance. Which I would be interested in hearing.



Dawg, the brain changes with new experiences, with memory, and with language. Change is constant. So, the human brain has developed the capacity for imagination and creativity at levels far higher than the interaction of particles. And far beyond the abilities of more primative brains.

Your view is analogous to saying a house is made of bricks so it can only do what bricks do. Not true. The house has rooms and hallways and appliances. It does much more than its componant bricks.

Likewise, the human brain has electrochemical branching circuits and areas quite clearly identified for emotion, creativity, etc.

Can you not see that your fallacy is assuming that materialists adhere to the weird notion that we are limited to the sum total of the whole of our parts when we damn well know we are much more complicated than that. And that construct is in no way changed by our disbelief in god. You have a very skewed and limited understanding of materialist (humanist) philosophy, chum, when you suggest without god the dynamic is limited to the interaction of particles. Nobody fucking believes that shit.

You clearly misunderstand and misrepresent the "positions of Atheists." The human brain is the most complicated functioning biological structure known and our position is it developed without the assistance of godly design. Do not try to speak for us. Thank you.

Furthermore, discoveries in the story of the evolution of the brain are ongoing. It is a work in progress. Some course work in comparative anatomy and comparative embryology would be helpful. Try this link for starters...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain

_____________________________

vML

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~ MLK Jr.

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/26/2010 5:28:12 AM   
jlf1961


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I have been following this debate since it started, and except for a few snarky posts, have pretty much just read.

However, what no body has done is actually quote the bible or any religious text concerning free will.

In the old testament, it is implied we have free will:

quote:


Dt.30:19
I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life.

Joshua 24:15
Choose you this day whom ye will serve.... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.


However, in the new testament, it says we have no free will:

quote:


Acts 13:48
And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

Rom.8:29-30
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate.... Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Rom.9:11-22
For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. .... For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? ... Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.

Eph.1:4-5
He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.

2 Th.2:11-12
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned.

2 Tim.1:9
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Jude 4
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation.


That would imply that the choice is taken from us, which means that no matter what, we have no choice in the matter.

_____________________________

Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't you think?

You cannot control who comes into your life, but you can control which airlock you throw them out of.

Paranoid Paramilitary Gun Loving Conspiracy Theorist AND EQUAL OPPORTUNI

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/26/2010 6:08:03 AM   
Kirata


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quote:

ORIGINAL: jlf1961

However, in the new testament, it says we have no free will:

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. ~Matthew 7:12

K.

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/27/2010 9:38:39 PM   
subtee


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Helpless, helpless, helpless
Baby can you hear me now?
The chains are locked
and tied across the door,
Baby, sing with me somehow.

Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
Yellow moon on the rise,
Big birds flying across the sky,
Throwing shadows on our eyes.
Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless.
~~Neil Young


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Don't believe everything you think...

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/28/2010 7:19:05 AM   
vincentML


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quote:

That would imply that the choice is taken from us, which means that no matter what, we have no choice in the matter.


The issue of free will vs determinism is fascinating and I would love to explore it. However, I am not sure what "matter" you are referring to. Could you elaborate on that plz? Are you referring specifically to our believing in god or to free choice in our lives generally, or both?

< Message edited by vincentML -- 7/28/2010 7:29:35 AM >


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vML

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~ MLK Jr.

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/28/2010 7:20:55 AM   
vincentML


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quote:

ORIGINAL: GotSteel

quote:

ORIGINAL: vincentML
So, it is not as you stated earlier a reasoned proof of God's existence, or did I misread you, NG? I really don't think I did, but maybe ....

To be fair this is what he said:

quote:

ORIGINAL: NorthernGent
It is a reasoned argument for the belief in the existence of a god.



But I still can't get him to talk about which god.



Thank you Steel. I did misread him.

_____________________________

vML

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~ MLK Jr.

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/28/2010 1:36:10 PM   
NorthernGent


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quote:

ORIGINAL: GotSteel

quote:

ORIGINAL: vincentML
So, it is not as you stated earlier a reasoned proof of God's existence, or did I misread you, NG? I really don't think I did, but maybe ....

To be fair this is what he said:

quote:

ORIGINAL: NorthernGent
It is a reasoned argument for the belief in the existence of a god.



But I still can't get him to talk about which god.



The reason is in this quote. Do you need it pointing out to you?

_____________________________

I have the courage to be a coward - but not beyond my limits.

Sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/28/2010 1:49:49 PM   
blackbelt


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Firstly God is not a who, but a what, God is what He does, who he is, is I AM, in other words, pure is-ness or pure potential to move His Being in accordance to His one Free will , just like us, human being is not who i am , its what i am, my name is the reference of who I am .
Secondly , a part of what God is , is also life and light (among other characteristics ), having said that, in the spiritual realm there are only 2 beings, those in the light and life with God and those with out God, those with out God exist in darkness and void of life, these beings are not ontological opposites of God as most would think but in absence of God, even though the exist they are in absence of light and life which is only found in God for he is the giver of them. We can measure light but we cannot measure darkness, we can measure heat but we cannot measure cold, we can only measure darkness and cold by how much light particles or heat energises and in absence.

thirdly, to believe in something is to initiate action on the part of the believer , if there is no action then one only has knowledge of, in the OP's post the question posted , belief in God, if one Truly Believes it shows in his life decision making process and causes action, moving that individuals being towards the Good (God). if one only has knowledge of God and does not cause his life to work towards the good, he has made a conscious choice to not work towards God, thou he lives his life in spiritual darkness in this world carries his being (soul) into eternity, for that is what his soul evloved to.

< Message edited by blackbelt -- 7/28/2010 1:54:04 PM >

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/28/2010 3:12:37 PM   
GotSteel


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How do you know that?

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/28/2010 3:18:54 PM   
blackbelt


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i have a life history since i was 13, I'm also an expert in theology, spirituality , the occult, paranormal and philosophy , not to mention spiritual experience since i was a kid that i wont get into here

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/28/2010 3:23:21 PM   
GotSteel


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quote:

ORIGINAL: NorthernGent
The reason is in this quote. Do you need it pointing out to you?

Yes, I've been waiting for several pages now for you to explain how choosing between a nearly infinite number of beliefs in a plethora of deities can honestly be presented as a single choice.

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RE: The Big Choice...or is it really a choice? - 7/28/2010 4:38:23 PM   
GotSteel


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quote:

ORIGINAL: blackbelt

i have a life history since i was 13, I'm also an expert in theology, spirituality , the occult, paranormal and philosophy , not to mention spiritual experience since i was a kid that i wont get into here

I didn't ask for a fallacy of defective induction specifically the argument from authority. I actually want you to justify the assertions that you've made.

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