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I'm no fun!
posted by
majroj
on October 28, 2005 at 11:45 PM
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majroj - right on
That is a brilliant encapsulation.
posted by
gomedome
on October 28, 2005 at 8:15 PM
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Now where did that damned parentheses go....
)
posted by
majroj
on October 28, 2005 at 8:14 PM
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I treat the proposition of an afterlife like I treat malpractice....
At the end of the day, if I did my best, harmed no one unnecessarily, and helped all whom I could, I figure I stand a pretty good chance.
What was that line from The Doors' "Soft Parade"? Oh, yeah.....
"You cannot petition the Lord with prayer!". (Maybe there isn't one, or maybe he's (or she's or whatever's) going to heed your deed more than your entreaty. Either way, same outcome.
posted by
majroj
on October 28, 2005 at 8:13 PM
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Giskard -- exactly - and for many centuries it worked to a degree
but my calender says 2005, as I am sure your's does.
posted by
gomedome
on October 27, 2005 at 8:38 PM
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To threaten a non-believer...
...with the eternal punishment of hell is not free-will, it's coercion.
posted by
Giskard
on October 27, 2005 at 8:34 PM
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Gome, well said.
posted by
JanesOpinion
on October 27, 2005 at 6:52 PM
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JanesOpinion -regardless of whether a person believes or not, your logic is
inescapable and I fully agree (alert the media). One cannot advance the notion of God being all knowing and then suggest that people pretend to believe in him. This being as some define him, would surely know the pretenders from the contenders. Pretending is ultimately what someone would be doing if they are going against their heartfelt convictions of non belief. It is probably in this last point where many believers do not get it. No one gets up one day and decides that they are no longer going to believe in God. The depth of conviction for non belief runs the entire spectrum that belief does, from the somewhat doubtful to the absolutely certain.
posted by
gomedome
on October 27, 2005 at 10:00 AM
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Interesting blog!
If God is as all knowing as I believe him to be, then he would know the hearts and minds of those folks who believe in God solely as a fire insurance policy. For those who believe in God because they're afraid NOT to believe but they may not TRULY believe in God, then it would seem they are assuming God cannot know their thoughts and read right through their rationale for sort of believing.
(Oh dear, I think my head is spinning.)
But any way you put it, I still believe that God KNOWS us better than we could ever begin to imagine, and judges our thoughts and intents and will make the final decision about heaven. Which, of course, I know is all a bunch of rot to you, Gome, but nonetheless that's my offering to your post for the day.
PS -- you, being sort of an ex-Catholic, might enjoy this post. http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/JanesOpinion647/
posted by
JanesOpinion
on October 27, 2005 at 9:42 AM
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NOPEACE - save the simplistic rhetoric for those who are unable to think
Your adherance to the "Free Will" line of reasoning runs into a brick wall immediately if you still want to pretend yours is the only true word of God. For example: Very few persons born on Arabic soil that become indoctrinated into the Islamic religion are exercising free will when they do so. Indoctrination from birth into any religion does not work like that, there is no choice. So give the tired dribble a rest, I've heard all of this nonsense before.
posted by
gomedome
on October 27, 2005 at 9:18 AM
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GomeDome,
You can't believe in Free Will and in the Same voice wonder why God would allow people to go to hell. That's the essence of free will, God gave it to us so that we could freely choose to love him. Would you prefer to have someone love you because they are being forced to or because they truly love you?
posted by
NOPEACE
on October 27, 2005 at 9:12 AM
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good point.
posted by
WhiteJedi
on October 27, 2005 at 7:01 AM
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MandaLee - if God loves his children then why does he allow 65% of them
to follow the wrong path (non Christian) in a futile attempt to get to heaven?
posted by
gomedome
on October 26, 2005 at 12:22 PM
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Gomedome, Actually God loves His children. It saddens Him the
way we are disregarding Him in society and destroying His creation and the blessings He gave us.
posted by
Amanda__
on October 26, 2005 at 12:03 PM
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It's called Pascal's Wager..
..after Blaise Pascal, the man credited with originally proposing it.
The problem is, which god? Muslim's have a similar wager of their own.
In actuality, we're all atheists, I just believe in one fewer god then Christians do (or is that 3 fewer?).
posted by
Giskard
on October 26, 2005 at 10:00 AM
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I've heard this one a lot, too.
It's ridiculous, but I almost prefer hearing that that reason over mindless obsession.
By the way, in september I wrote a post about why Satanism is really the best bet if you're going to use that reasoning. You might like it: http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/mikebrown/2005-09-25
Good post, as usual.
posted by
mikebrown
on October 26, 2005 at 9:06 AM
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