What evidence? Please enlighten me. Even still, belief in the known does not exclude belief in the unknown. A true scholar never shuts anything out without honest study. The human mind isn’t capable of knowing everything there is to know. We aren’t that perfect.
In all honesty, I’d rather die than go to heaven. I don’t like the idea of immortality; it’s too meaningless through my eyes. :dts: In dying, at least I had finished my part in contributing to the world and its inhabitants in any way that I could have, and finally letting the next generation take the torch.
Well, we are all sinners. Change comes hard, and some people just can’t accept good change. The internet and LCD screens are not required for happiness. I could give them up if I had to.
Depends on your definition of immortality. If you take the general meaning, it means living forever. In the Christan meaning, it means existing outside of time, living in timelessness.In all honesty, I’d rather die than go to heaven. I don’t like the idea of immortality; it’s too meaningless through my eyes. :dts: In dying, at least I had finished my part in contributing to the world and its inhabitants in any way that I could have, and finally letting the next generation take the torch.
It simply depends on your own perceptions. That’s what makes people and their beliefs and their desires so very different. That’s step 1 to understanding it: This is a diverse world, and there’s really nothing that can change that. The only time when the world will be at peace is either when 1) The earth is under attack by meteors or aliens or 2) We finally realize that we’re just different and accept our diversity.
I apologize for just getting to this. This thread is difficult to follow for a simpleton like myself. You ask some very good questions. I have asked myself some of these same questions. Ironically, I was a cradle Catholic who was pulled away from the RCC after attending a Bible study run by the Seventh Day Adventists. After spending several years as a non-practicing “Christian” I was eventually led back into studying Scripture by a Muslim. I have friends of almost every religious persuasion. You are right, there is some deciding and I could be wrong. I’ve accepted that I could be wrong, but I don’t think I could accept not believing at all. I’ve seen and experienced enough to know, personally, that God does indeed exist. I’ve studied enough to personally believe that the Christian God is the one, true God. I’ve studied enough Christian Salvation History and Scripture to become convinced that Catholicism is the Christian Church. It wasn’t merely an intellectual acceptance, it was done with prayer and faith, of course. Again, I realize that I could be wrong, I just don’t believe that I am.
Okay I consider intelligence the ability to work things out. I would not consider a deist unintelligent but a theist who prescribes himself to a specific religion has not been able to yet work out that it is a mythology like all others.
So what if the world is diverse? That only means that humans are intelligent enough to take information and interpret it in different ways. Not all beliefs are created equal, some are far more likely and logical than others, and some are just plain weird.
Well, I consider myself fairly moderate, but I agree that fundamentalists can be dangerous. I think religious fundamentalism can be dangerous, just like secular fundamentalism can also be dangerous. I’d be curious how you think someone like me is lurking in the shadows trying to plot the destruction of your great Western civilization.
If it is unknown how can you know about it?
I’m sure you could but the internet is essential to my happiness…Well, we are all sinners. Change comes hard, and some people just can’t accept good change. The internet and LCD screens are not required for happiness. I could give them up if I had to.
Got it, thanks for the response. Sorry the first 2 times were too vague. My point isn’t to debate this with you, but rather just to collect data. Might I ask if you have been formally educated at the university level and also what you studied? If not, that’s fine. I appreciate your answers.
Yeah, you’re telling me.
But unfortunately, I have to deal with people who have completely different views than I do. Yeah, sometimes I may look down at them, or wonder why they would believe in something so farfetched, but the majority of the time, I just put up with it, and don’t talk. Now, I’ll carry on in a friendly debate, but I know that I have to be careful because the believers (no matter what religion) confuse belief with truth. Sincerely, that’s okay with me. 
There are just some people who need their religion, and if it helps them sleep at night, then, I won’t complain… unless they start fighting for it-- that’s when you have to put your foot down. 
Yes, but it is important to distinguish what we can know from what we can’t.
I see your point, but I don’t agree. If one has been blessed with the Truth, he/she has an obligation to spread it. Now it is up to humans to separate Truth from Lies, but you have to read by light, not by darkness, if you know what I mean.Yeah, you’re telling me.
That’s the ugly part. Truth comes in different forms. Now, there are definitely lies out there, but it depends on you. What makes you comfortable, what makes you feel blessed, whatever gives you the strength to go on.
)No, Truth is what IS, not what is most comfortable to each individual person. If Truth was subjective, then reality would be different for everyone. Things just aren’t like that. Everyone is affected by the law of gravity, whether they want to or not. I could be more comfortable with 2+2=5, but no amount of wishful thinking will change the answer to that equation. If Truth isn’t objective, than there is no reason to pursue it when you could simply make your own. But that is your conclusion, it can’t also be your premise without begging the question. So it is imperative then, that one gets it right, for it can have eternal consequences.That’s the ugly part. Truth comes in different forms. Now, there are definitely lies out there, but it depends on you. What makes you comfortable, what makes you feel blessed, whatever gives you the strength to go on.
A wonderful Tuesday to all, and to all, a sinister night!
Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood
(Don’t worry, I’ll be back tomorrow.
I have a degree in Industrial (Product) Design (Bachelor of Architecture and Design)… But it may as well have been an arts degree >.< finishing uni at the begging of a recession I decided I may as well do another one since I can and I desire to avoid actually working as long as possible. So now I am studying Science (major in Genetics and Biochemistry)