The isolation of sceptics

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tonyrey

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Those who reject spiritual reality condemn themselves to mental isolation. They believe no one ever knows precisely what they are thinking or feeling. The worst punishment that can be inflicted on anyone is solitary confinement. Mental solitude is far worse because there is a constant barrier between oneself and others which lasts to the moment of death. It is a foretaste of hell…

In stark contrast to this self-inflicted punishment Christians and members of other religions are never alone. They are not always aware of God’s presence but in times of joy or sorrow they can express their gratitude or their anguish. They can pray for help and consolation - and even ask for a miracle. They don’t live in an indifferent universe but are sustained by divine love.

Catholics have other sources of help and consolation. We believe in the Communion of Saints which binds us to all who have tried to do God’s Will and love others as Jesus loved - and loves - us. The Saints do not know eveything but when they answer our prayers they must know we have prayed to them. We are physically separated from our loved ones who have died but we are spiritually united to them forever.

Sceptics are not always entirely responsible for their pessimism. In a secular society there are many obstacles to belief in God yet non-believers suffer loneliness unnecessarily. If they admit even the possibility that materialism is false they need no longer feel isolated. Hamlet’s words are as true now as they were when Shakespeare wrote them:

“There are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio”.

No one is justified in giving up every vestige of hope…
Hope springs eternal in the human breast;*
Man never Is, but always To be blest:**
The soul, uneasy and confin’d from home,**
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.*
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Alexander Pope - *Essay on Man
*
 
“There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit giving any of it away to imaginary beings.” Friedrich Nietzsche

There is lot of beautiful things in life, from universe, to love, to nature, to knowledge, to music, to happiness, to fun, I prefer to love these things and natural beings over things that may not exist.
 
User124 said:
“There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit giving any of it away to imaginary beings.” Friedrich Nietzsche

There is lot of beautiful things in life, from universe, to love, to nature, to knowledge, to music, to happiness, to fun, I prefer to love these things and natural beings over things that may not exist.
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Wrong. Their is an infinite amount of love and goodness in this world. You just fail to see this. God is Goodness and Love.
 
“There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit giving any of it away to imaginary beings.” Friedrich Nietzsche
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Nietzsche died in an insane asylum.
So much for his philosophy! .
 
tonyrey said:
Those who reject spiritual reality condemn themselves to mental isolation. They believe no one ever knows precisely what they are thinking or feeling. The worst punishment that can be inflicted on anyone is solitary confinement. Mental solitude is far worse because there is a constant barrier between oneself and others which lasts to the moment of death. It is a foretaste of hell…
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You are making a valid point, but perhaps exaggerating somewhat.

I would say that physical suffering of any kind is far worse. I would rather feel completely isolated than have a bad toothache.

And I, for one, would prefer a year’s solitary confinement (which would just be like a long retreat), than a week of physical torture.
 
Gods_Peace said:
Wrong. Their is an infinite amount of love and goodness in this world. You just fail to see this. God is Goodness and Love.
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Let’s suppose there is a lonely child who has an imaginary friend, this child doesn’t feel lonely and isolated because he plays with that imaginary friend, but he is in fact isolated.

Another lonely child who does not have an imaginary friend, this child feels lonely and isolated because he is aware of the fact that he is truly isolated.

“The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.” George Bernard Shaw

But isolation is a big word, not every skeptic is isolated, the skeptics who recognize loneliness try to escape it by making good friends from outside and enjoy what life has to offer.
 
User124 said:
“There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit giving any of it away to imaginary beings.” Friedrich Nietzsche

There is lot of beautiful things in life, from universe, to love, to nature, to knowledge, to music, to happiness, to fun, I prefer to love these things and natural beings over things that may not exist.
Click to expand...
Love and goodness would be illusions in a Godless universe.
 
User124 said:
Let’s suppose there is a lonely child who has an imaginary friend, this child doesn’t feel lonely and isolated because he plays with that imaginary friend, but he is in fact isolated.

Another lonely child who does not have an imaginary friend, this child feels lonely and isolated because he is aware of the fact that he is truly isolated.

“The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.” George Bernard Shaw

But isolation is a big word, not every skeptic is isolated, the skeptics who recognize loneliness try to escape it by making good friends from outside and enjoy what life has to offer.
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They can never escape from inner solitude.
 
Qoeleth said:
You are making a valid point, but perhaps exaggerating somewhat.

I would say that physical suffering of any kind is far worse. I would rather feel completely isolated than have a bad toothache.

And I, for one, would prefer a year’s solitary confinement (which would just be like a long retreat), than a week of physical torture.
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What about a **lifetime **of solitary confinement - never to have contact with another person?
 
DaddyGirl said:
Did Alexander Pope reject spiritual reality?

If not…how would he know how someone who does feels?
I know many who do who are not “mentally isolated”.

He wrote that essay almost 300 years ago.
There are many more ways today compared to back then to keep from being isolated.
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No one can enter another person’s mind.
 
User

"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." George Bernard Shaw

This is the kind of sloppy logic for which Shaw was famous.

A drunken man is not happier than a sober man. The drunken man is drunk because he is miserable, not because he is happy. He is in the escape mode. A believer is not retreating from something. He is advancing toward something … namely God. The advance is what makes him happier than the skeptic who is retreating from God. ;).
 
Charlemagne_II said:
User

"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." George Bernard Shaw

This is the kind of sloppy logic for which Shaw was famous.

A drunken man is not happier than a sober man. The drunken man is drunk because he is miserable, not because he is happy. He is in the escape mode. A believer is not retreating from something. He is advancing toward something … namely God. The advance is what makes him happier than the skeptic who is retreating from God. ;).
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A person is happy when drunk because his conscience and rationality become weak and simple, same reason for believers, that what Shaw meant.

While a skeptic is realistic to terrible things going around and want to change them without the help from things that aren’t real.
 
user

A person is happy when drunk because his conscience and rationality become weak and simple….

How can a weak conscience and weak rationality be a recipe for happiness?
 
**Or a lifetime of toothache?

Which would be worse?**

You can always pull your own tooth!😃
 
User124 said:
Love and goodness would be illusions in a Godless universe.
This is an opinion, not a factThis is an opinion, not a fact.
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What is the** rational** basis of love and goodness in a Godless universe?
 
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