I'd rather be called a nihilist, secularist, intellectual, agnostic, atheist, etc., then to claim belief in a god who punishes people for not believing in him and not playing by his obscure rules.
I don't believe this. I believe God, our father, helps us develop to realize our potential as far as our will allows. God warns us about the consequences of our behavior and guides us to actions that will ultimately be beneficial to our welfare and growth. As hard as it may be to believe if you are full of pride, the world is complex and learning about it can be a difficult process. Parts of it are obscure, something you no doubt accept when the subject is quantum mechanics, fluid dynamics, or epigenetics. But it is neat that your position is basically, "Yeah, I don't believe in right or wrong. But God is teh suck!" Mature. Now realize that your problems with religion aren't the topic of this thread.
Is there some actual reason that people feel the need to speculate on a person's identity on these boards? (These boards: MAD/MDB) Didn't we just have a visit from Ray A. who all but demanded that people reveal "who they are" in page after page after page after page? And now the posters here are doing the same thing.
SSDD
Jersey Girl
Well.... Ray was demanding that we give out our in real life information. All I and others are asking for is ALitD's posting handle on MAD. The fact that he won't tell us is dishonest, in my opinion. (And dishonest in quite a cheap, TBMish way---sort of like how the double-layer of MADmod anonymity is cheap.)
beastie wrote:What's so unfortunate is the plain and obvious fact that ALitD obviously has something to hide, and is, in fact, being dishonest. He doesn't want us to connect the dots with his identity on MAD, and is thus putting up a ruse. Not very nice!
The fact that I won't respond to your demands to say what MAD poster I am, if I am a MAD poster at all, means I'm being dishonest? Well shucks. Shouldn't you at least make an effort to mask your bigotry?
Two very, very simple questions, ALitD:
1. Do you post on MAD?
2. If so, what is your MAD posting name?
Very simple questions. Why not answer them? Do you have something to hide?
Is there some actual reason that people feel the need to speculate on a person's identity on these boards? (These boards: MAD/MDB) Didn't we just have a visit from Ray A. who all but demanded that people reveal "who they are" in page after page after page after page? And now the posters here are doing the same thing.
SSDD
Jersey Girl
Well.... Ray was demanding that we give out our in real life information. All I and others are asking for is ALitD's posting handle on MAD. The fact that he won't tell us is dishonest, in my opinion. (And dishonest in quite a cheap, TBMish way---sort of like how the double-layer of MADmod anonymity is cheap.)
So, what is to be gained if this person says who they are on MAD? There's no real way to verify it. What would "we" be doing? Verifying a pseudonym? That's my point...it's fruitless.
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
I don't believe this. I believe God, our father, helps us develop to realize our potential as far as our will allows. God warns us about the consequences of our behavior and guides us to actions that will ultimately be beneficial to our welfare and growth.
Can you cite examples of how God does this? Does He do this for atheists?
Is there some actual reason that people feel the need to speculate on a person's identity on these boards? (These boards: MAD/MDB) Didn't we just have a visit from Ray A. who all but demanded that people reveal "who they are" in page after page after page after page? And now the posters here are doing the same thing.
SSDD
Jersey Girl
Well.... Ray was demanding that we give out our in real life information. All I and others are asking for is ALitD's posting handle on MAD. The fact that he won't tell us is dishonest, in my opinion. (And dishonest in quite a cheap, TBMish way---sort of like how the double-layer of MADmod anonymity is cheap.)
So, what is to be gained if this person says who they are on MAD? There's no real way to verify it. What would "we" be doing? Verifying a pseudonym? That's my point...it's fruitless.
Eh, I personally don't think it would be fruitless! If we know who this person's MADhandle is, it would tell us quite about about him/her--personality, posting interests, history, etc. And anyways, his/her failure to answer my very simple questions shows that s/he is "lying in wait to deceive." S/he is going to have a lot of repenting to do for this, methinks.
And anyways, his/her failure to answer my very simple questions shows that s/he is "lying in wait to deceive." S/he is going to have a lot of repenting to do for this, methinks.
Because someone doesn't reveal their posting history or lack thereof on other message boards, this means they are lying in wait to decieve? You are truly a master logician.
Here is an analogy to why I find Smith’s arguments lacking.
Assume that a business is wants to maximize its profits, assume that the business always makes at least some money, and assume that the business will last forever. It then follows that it doesn’t matter what management does, because since the business will last forever, it will eventually make an infinite amount of money, regardless of what management does to increase or decrease profits over time.
Here are the problems with this argument. First, the assumption that it will always make at least some money is groundless. Ditto with the assumption that there is some moral value in every unit of time.
More importantly, nobody in business would concede that the profits that will be received in the infinite future can make up for the business not maximizing the profits it churns out today. Businesses try to maximize the present value of profits, not the undiscounted total value of all future profits. When profits are discounted, they become finite, even if they are assumed to continue infinitely.
If a businessman can (and should) discount profits for the time-value of money, why can’t an ethicist discount “value” so that more weight is given to value-units that are closer, and exponentially less weight is given to value-units that are further? I argue that ethicists can (and should), give more weight to value-cells that are relevant.
I'd rather be called a nihilist, secularist, intellectual, agnostic, atheist, etc., then to claim belief in a god who punishes people for not believing in him and not playing by his obscure rules.
I don't believe this. I believe God, our father, helps us develop to realize our potential as far as our will allows. God warns us about the consequences of our behavior and guides us to actions that will ultimately be beneficial to our welfare and growth. As hard as it may be to believe if you are full of pride, the world is complex and learning about it can be a difficult process. Parts of it are obscure, something you no doubt accept when the subject is quantum mechanics, fluid dynamics, or epigenetics. But it is neat that your position is basically, "Yeah, I don't believe in right or wrong. But God is teh suck!" Mature. Now realize that your problems with religion aren't the topic of this thread.
Thanks for assuming my immaturity. I didn't say I don't believe in right or wrong. I said I'd rather be called a nihilist than believe in a biblical god whose own behavior and commandments to his people contradict every notion of right and wrong. Your original post was about nihilism, so my point was not off-topic. Further, you can provide no evidence for your assertion that "God, our father, helps us develop to realize our potential as far as our will allows." Thanks for your testimony. I find your philosophical meanderings boring.