Does God Hide Himself?

[ProximaCentauri]

And when you find a rational world, do let me know. In the mean time, I'll be over here living in this one, where humans are by nature, practice, and need, irrational.

Ah yes, but that view is cynical and defeatist. Perhaps you could aspire to a cynical idealist in this regard.

 

[ProximaCentauri]

People like Proxima assume the two are one in the same, that if you're religious you're going to use your politics to push religion on everyone.

For your future reference, I assume nothing of the sort. The vast majority of religious folks don't fall into this category. Activists certainly do. But additionally there's a good number whose religiosity is the primary factor that informs their politics and voting preference.

For a true atheist, it doesn't matter what other people believe unless they dip it into secular law.

The assertion you're making here fits with the 'No True Scotsman' fallacy.

 

[ProximaCentauri]

It doesn’t serve your argument well to marginalize Christianity to ‘a primitive belief system’. Some of our most intelligent, successful, learned people are believers. I think 2000+ years of the most influential religion in this earth’s existence is a testament to how relevant Christianity is in this world.

By the same criteria, so too is Islam and Hinduism. But while I agree to the relevancy of Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism in the world, they are religious belief systems that were formulated by cultures that could certainly be characterized as primitive by modern day standards.

 

[Bird Dog]

By the same criteria, so too is Islam and Hinduism. But while I agree to the relevancy of Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism in the world, they are religious belief systems that were formulated by cultures that could certainly be characterized as primitive by modern day standards.

So was yours........

 

[PsyOps]

By the same criteria, so too is Islam and Hinduism. But while I agree to the relevancy of Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism in the world, they are religious belief systems that were formulated by cultures that could certainly be characterized as primitive by modern day standards.

Primitive how? Please tell us what was primitive about the people of the region of Israel and, more importantly, Rome, as compared to the rest of the world? Rome was considered to be on the cutting edge of technology in those days. Unlike Islam (who remain culturally somewhere between Protohistory and Classical Antiquity), Christianity has moved with cultural and technological changes as history moved along. So historically, there has been nothing primitive about Christianity.

 

[TheLibertonian]

For your future reference, I assume nothing of the sort. The vast majority of religious folks don't fall into this category. Activists certainly do. But additionally there's a good number whose religiosity is the primary factor that informs their politics and voting preference.



The assertion you're making here fits with the 'No True Scotsman' fallacy.

You're blaming religion for the Hobbesian nature of man. If man were stripped of all religion, we would still be exactly as we are.

 

[This_person]

Education and experience. My wife and I both hold advanced degrees. And your education and experience would be?

I, too, hold advanced degrees. One in the sciences, one in a more liberal art.

You continue to avoid the obvious - that there is no proof of anyone's theories, making them all equal guesses based on the observable evidence.

 

[This_person]

It's unknown what the evolution of Western culture would have looked like, devoid of the church's influence. Additionally, the opportunity for advancement of knowledge was squandered during the dark ages in large part due to the societal stranglehold of the church.

These two sentences are diametrically opposed in their assertion. Either we can't know or opportunity was squandered. Both assertions cannot be true.