Originally posted by @fmf I disagree. I am an atheist and I understand your God [and other people's Gods too], I also understand Santa Clause, and I understand both theism [including what Christians believe] and I understand atheism. Also, I understand what dogs are.
Understanding includes empathy.
You cannot 'understand' God, because you do not believe God exists. Your 'understanding' is superficial and hollow. You cannot sense God. You cannot feel him. You cannot hear him. You cannot love him. You cannot understand him.
Originally posted by @ghost-of-a-duke 'An oft beat dog with turn on its master.'
I love dogs, but this 'unconditional love thing' is a whimsical myth.
Just because dogs can understand and feel unconditional love does not mean that they always do. Just because you have unconditional love for your wife, does this mean that you have this same love for your grocer? No, of course not.
Many dogs are abandoned by their owners. They do not understand why. They still love their owners and would come back to them, and in some cases, travel hundreds of miles back to owners who just left them somewhere to die. Yes, intense trauma can turn a dog away from loving its owner, and in some cases this changes a dog forever. But these are extraordinary circumstances.
Originally posted by @fmf I understand perfectly well what Christians feel about "God". I also understand perfectly well what you are claiming about dogs and atheists.
FMF: I understand Christians and Christianity well.
Originally posted by @suzianne [b]Judging from your posts on this forum, apparently not.
Well, I am an agnostic atheist. But I was a Christian for a long time. I would have found you a rather ludicrous fellow Christian even when I was one. So my posts here - even if I were still a Christian - would probably rub you up the wrong way and render you incapable of discussing anything properly or - indeed - representing your religion on a non-Christian forum in a reasonable way.
Originally posted by @fmf Well, I am an agnostic atheist. But I was a Christian for a long time. I would have found you a rather ludicrous fellow Christian even when I was one. So my posts here - even if I were still a Christian - would probably rub you up the wrong way and render you incapable of discussing anything properly or - indeed - representing your religion on a non-Christian forum in a reasonable way.
And yet you have no idea what the gospel meant to you when you were a Christian or you are incapable of articulating it.
Originally posted by @suzianne Just because dogs can understand and feel unconditional love does not mean that they always do. Just because you have unconditional love for your wife, does this mean that you have this same love for your grocer? No, of course not.
Many dogs are abandoned by their owners. They do not understand why. They still love their owners and would come back t ...[text shortened]... owner, and in some cases this changes a dog forever. But these are extraordinary circumstances.
Dogs do indeed exhibit loyalty. This is not the same as unconditional love.
Ironically (despite being an atheist) I have unconditional love for my 16-year-old dog. I don't however believe such a love is reciprocated by him.
Do angels have wings?
03 Aug '18 10:37
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