Theist and Atheist - Of everything you have...

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Darfius, where have you been?

Studying and debating elsewhere.

I came here as a Christian babe and was often getting frustrated and being made to doubt because I had no answers at times.

That's all changed.

Thanks for asking.

Originally posted by no1marauder
How fascinating; there are really invisible beings that inhabit all kinds of people's bodies and can only be driven out by exorcisms! Who knew?

I fail to see how this is a rebuttal to the data.

Originally posted by no1marauder
How fascinating; there are really invisible beings that inhabit all kinds of people's bodies and can only be driven out by exorcisms! Who knew?

Of course there are, as any knowledgable Scientologist will tell you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_thetans

Originally posted by Darfius
Studying and debating elsewhere.

I came here as a Christian babe and was often getting frustrated and being made to doubt because I had no answers at times.

That's all changed.

Thanks for asking.

Does that mean that you will now be able to give me proof of gods existence as you once stated you could, before then changing your mind ?

Originally posted by vistesd
I think the theistic (as well as the non-theistic/monistic) religions have given us some deeply-wrought and aesthetically rich insights into the human condition in some of their myths and metaphors. I tend to think that human beings make meaning for their lives at least as much as they discover meaning for their lives, and that such ventures of meani ...[text shortened]... esponse to the question posed at the beginning of the thread—I have to rec your post. Well put.

You seem to be implying that I advocate a cold, sterile, remorseless type of austere logic and intellect, devoid of any emotion or passion. This is far from the truth. There is plenty of room for passion, aesthetics, metaphor and mythmaking without having to resort to the supernatural. There are many myths that societies indulge in that are not in any way religious in nature. In the U.S. there is a certain mythology surrounding the founding fathers, for example. It becomes very difficult at times to penetrate that mythology and discern what the truth actually is. All cultures partake in this sort of mythmaking and I do not necessarily begrudge them that habit. What I do object to is weaving supernatural explanations into this process and using it to explain unknown phenomena. They always raise at least as many questions as they answer. One should never cease to engage in speculation, but one should be very wary in thinking they've found the answer. i would have no problem with people engaging in religious speculation as long as they always kept in mind that it was nothing more than speculation and not the absoute truth.

Originally posted by Darfius
I fail to see how this is a rebuttal to the data.

I fail to see any data to rebut. People who believe in spirits occasionally act like they're possessed by them, so what??

Originally posted by bbarr
Of course there are, as any knowledgable Scientologist will tell you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_thetans

Thanks for the link; I was not aware of this scientific proof of Darfius' article.

In Scientology doctrine, body thetans or BTs are the ghosts of the victims of a genocide perpetrated 75 million years ago by Xenu. Having lost their individual identities, BTs are believed to attach themselves to and identify with humans, becoming part of their "reactive minds".

Is this what you were referring to, Darfius?

Originally posted by Jay Peatea
Does that mean that you will now be able to give me proof of gods existence as you once stated you could, before then changing your mind ?

Proof is subjective outside of mathematics. I did and still can (though it is much more refined) give ample evidence of God's existence.

Originally posted by no1marauder
I fail to see any data to rebut. People who believe in spirits occasionally act like they're possessed by them, so what??

You merely assuming that psychologists were fooled by people acting is unconvincing that the people cited in the article were acting.

Originally posted by rwingett
You seem to be implying that I advocate a cold, sterile, remorseless type of austere logic and intellect, devoid of any emotion or passion. This is far from the truth. There is plenty of room for passion, aesthetics, metaphor and mythmaking without having to resort to the supernatural. There are many myths that societies indulge in that are not in any way r ...[text shortened]... as they always kept in mind that it was nothing more than speculation and not the absoute truth.

He's got you pegged; you're a cold fish, remorseless and pitiless.

Originally posted by Darfius
Proof is subjective outside of mathematics. I did and still can (though it is much more refined) give ample evidence of God's existence.

I'll look forward to reading it then, but as it's late perhaps on another night🙂

Originally posted by Darfius
You merely assuming that psychologists were fooled by people acting is unconvincing that the people cited in the article were acting.

Who said they're acting? They could be delusional. Or they could be inhabited by Body Thetans. Do you believe in BT's?

Originally posted by Darfius
Proof is subjective outside of mathematics.

No, it's not. If the evidence is such as to make some proposition 99% probable, then it is an objective matter that the proposition is very likely to be true. What is subjective is the extent to which the evidence for a proposition is persuasive to an audience, but just because the evidence for a proposition cannot establish the certainty of that proposition, it does not follow that the evidence itself, or the extent to which it makes likely a proposition, is subjective.

Originally posted by no1marauder
Who said they're acting? They could be delusional. Or they could be inhabited by Body Thetans. Do you believe in BT's?

Of course he does. I have it on good authority that his recent sabbatical partially consisted of a wholesale conversion to Scientology.

The evidence or argument that compels the mind to accept an assertion as true. ( proof at dictionary.com )

"Very likely to be true" is not the same as "is true". Proof is the state of being compelled to believe something "is true". Hence proof is subjective. If we both see a dead body with a gun next to it, that may be proof enough to someone that the person killed himself. To another, it may not be.