1. Cape Town
    Joined
    14 Apr '05
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    52945
    18 Mar '13 16:41
    How many theists here believe they are infallible? I have noticed several that will go to great lengths to avoid admitting they are wrong about something, even when it is not central to their belief system, or even to their current argument. I recall a certain JW who seemed to believe that admitting error was equivalent to failure as a Christian, and I recently encountered another poster who simply would not admit a single failing even when it was crystal clear that he was wrong.
    Are there any non-theists that behave that way?
    Do I appear to behave that way? (maybe I do, and just don't realize it, so be honest here).
  2. Standard memberGrampy Bobby
    Boston Lad
    USA
    Joined
    14 Jul '07
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    43012
    18 Mar '13 17:21
    Originally posted by twhitehead
    How many theists here believe they are infallible? I have noticed several that will go to great lengths to avoid admitting they are wrong about something, even when it is not central to their belief system, or even to their current argument. I recall a certain JW who seemed to believe that admitting error was equivalent to failure as a Christian, and I recen ...[text shortened]... t way?
    Do I appear to behave that way? (maybe I do, and just don't realize it, so be honest here).
    Please get back on the bus, twit. It's getting late; dispatcher just announced that we're pulling out.
  3. Joined
    29 Dec '08
    Moves
    6788
    18 Mar '13 18:22
    Originally posted by twhitehead
    How many theists here believe they are infallible? I have noticed several that will go to great lengths to avoid admitting they are wrong about something, even when it is not central to their belief system, or even to their current argument. I recall a certain JW who seemed to believe that admitting error was equivalent to failure as a Christian, and I re ...[text shortened]... y?
    Do I appear to behave that way? (maybe I do, and just don't realize it, so be honest here).
    http://www.rburton.com/_i_on_being_certain_i___believing_you_are_right_even_when_you_re_not_63166.htm

    "Burton thinks that just as we perceive our external world through our physical senses, our internal world presents itself in the form of feelings, such as familiar or strange and correct or incorrect. And he shows that these inner perceptions are necessary for us to function properly in everyday life, because our thoughts are subject to constant self-questioning. For example, even though reason may tell us that running up a tree to escape a lion is an excellent strategy, experience shows that great strategies can fail and that there may be better options. Because alternative choices are present in any situation, logical thought alone would be doomed to a perpetual “yes, but” questioning routine. Burton reasons that it is the feeling of knowing that solves this dilemma of how to reach a conclusion. Without this “circuit breaker,” indecision and inaction would rule the day."

    The above is from a review of a book by Robert A Burton, ON BEING CERTAIN: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not. The main thesis is that certainty is a feeling about a thought. Certainty is induced by the magnitude and immediacy of a threat, when two or more alternative reactions to that threat exist in the mind.

    The issue of theism is of far greater and constantly immediate importance than escaping a lion, to the theist.
  4. Dublin Ireland
    Joined
    31 Oct '12
    Moves
    14235
    18 Mar '13 18:31
    There are plenty of people in the world not just on this website
    who think that they are always right and cannot make a mistake
    ever.

    They don't have to be religious nuts either. Religion just makes them
    worse than they already are.

    But all the religious nuts that are on here cannot prove their religion to be true.
    If there was one true God don't you think he would have revealed himself
    by now and told you that all the other religions were just hocus pocus?

    Don't you think he would have shot like lightning across the sky and said
    hear me all you muppets down there, this is the way and that's the end
    of it. Do it this way. Live this way and you will be rewarded.
    Don't and you will be destroyed.

    If he did then there would only be one religion on the whole planet.
  5. Standard memberGrampy Bobby
    Boston Lad
    USA
    Joined
    14 Jul '07
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    43012
    18 Mar '13 19:36
    Originally posted by johnnylongwoody

    There are plenty of people in the world not just on this website
    who think that they are always right and cannot make a mistake
    ever.

    They don't have to be religious nuts either. Religion just makes them
    worse than they already are.

    But all the religious nuts that are on here cannot prove their religion to be true.
    If there was one tru ...[text shortened]... ll be destroyed.

    If he did then there would only be one religion on the whole planet.
    "If he did then there would only be one religion on the whole planet."

    ... or 'many man-made religions but only one vertical, personal relationship available'.
  6. Joined
    29 Dec '08
    Moves
    6788
    18 Mar '13 21:54
    Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
    "If he did then there would only be one religion on the whole planet."

    ... or 'many man-made religions but only one vertical, personal relationship available'.
    Or maybe there is only one religion and the rest aren't true Scotsmen.
  7. Joined
    30 Sep '12
    Moves
    731
    18 Mar '13 23:06
    Originally posted by twhitehead
    How many theists here believe they are infallible? .
    One of the joys of Christian radio for me in the 1990s was listening to Bob Larson's talk show. He invited people to call in to his show and debate theological issues with him. It was especially interesting when he had a Mormon on the line. Both sides would dig in their heels as they went at it mano-a-mano.

    You can sometimes get that same sort of thing on Hank Hanegraaff's 'Bible Answer Man' radio program.
  8. Joined
    30 Sep '12
    Moves
    731
    19 Mar '13 00:172 edits
    Originally posted by Paul Dirac II
    One of the joys of Christian radio for me in the 1990s was ...
    Actually the heyday of that show may have been in the 1980s. I am remembering that in the 1990s it morphed into a radio program that was largely tape recording playbacks of Rev. Bob performing exorcisms. That was interesting for a few months, but I gradually quit tuning in.

    I just found a video of him in action:

    YouTube
  9. Standard memberkaroly aczel
    The Axe man
    Brisbane,QLD
    Joined
    11 Apr '09
    Moves
    102817
    19 Mar '13 02:22
    Originally posted by twhitehead
    How many theists here believe they are infallible? I have noticed several that will go to great lengths to avoid admitting they are wrong about something, even when it is not central to their belief system, or even to their current argument. I recall a certain JW who seemed to believe that admitting error was equivalent to failure as a Christian, and I re ...[text shortened]... y?
    Do I appear to behave that way? (maybe I do, and just don't realize it, so be honest here).
    Yes, and when will they learn that to get things wrong is ok. It's more than ok, it's the way we learn about what is right.
  10. Standard memberRJHinds
    The Near Genius
    Fort Gordon
    Joined
    24 Jan '11
    Moves
    13644
    19 Mar '13 03:13
    Originally posted by twhitehead
    How many theists here believe they are infallible? I have noticed several that will go to great lengths to avoid admitting they are wrong about something, even when it is not central to their belief system, or even to their current argument. I recall a certain JW who seemed to believe that admitting error was equivalent to failure as a Christian, and I re ...[text shortened]... y?
    Do I appear to behave that way? (maybe I do, and just don't realize it, so be honest here).
    The Pope is the only one I have ever heard of that is supposed to be infallible and that is only once in awhile in very rare cases. 😏
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