KevinSim wrote: ↑Fri Nov 11, 2022 5:51 pm
Some Schmo wrote: ↑Fri Nov 11, 2022 3:45 pm
Well that is exceptionally convenient for your god. So convenient, in fact, it's impossible to believe you didn't make it up to suit other beliefs you cherish.
Some Schmo, that's an overly simplistic dismissal of the things I said. There are a
lot of beliefs I cherish that have nothing to do with what I said. I made an attempt to find the most basic characteristics a deity could have, and what I said was what I came up with. Sure, it ends up supporting
some of the beliefs I cherish, but that doesn't mean those beliefs are wrong.
You said you weren't convinced your god created the universe. That a god created the universe is about the only thing people tend to agree on regarding their various god ideas.
And you're saying you don't believe that. I'm sorry, but that strikes me as incredibly convenient given the conversation we're having.
Some Schmo wrote:It's undeniable to me, because I value honesty. What assertion about god isn't made up?
Nothing that Jesus taught about God was made up.
Of course it was. What Jesus is purported to have said is all assertion. Nobody who wrote about the Jesus character lived when he was supposed to have lived.
And again, you're assuming there was a magical god-son named Jesus. It's all assertion built on other assertions.
Some Schmo wrote:They don't make sense to me, from the perspective that you're trying to believe something based on the reality to which we have access. They do make sense, however, if your motive is comfort or quelling existential angst. But if comfort is the motive (and it usually is), then that's not a respectable position to me.
My motive is definitely not comfort. My motive is maintaining both my conscience and my sanity. My conscience demands a deity. My sanity demands that I not be that deity.
Everyone is motivated by comfort. I'll admit up front that everything I post on this forum represents the things that make me comfortable: stating what I honestly believe is true.
I'm curious why your "conscience demands a deity." I have a conscience too and it's never made such a crazy demand. In fact, my conscience tells me to encourage people to question their gods, because I consider god belief a mild mental illness in that it compromises your immunity to other kinds of BS. My conscience desires a better standard of living for everyone.
I'd also say that it's good for you to be grounded in reality, in the things that are actually true. But in addition to being based in what is actually true, people should be equally motivated by what should be true. All this emphasis people seem to put in being based on what is actually true seems to me to be missing the boat.
I agree we should strive for a better reality, but that takes human will and work. We can't just wish for something to make it true.
I think the problem you have there is that not everyone agrees on what should be true.
Religion is for people whose existential fear is greater than their common sense.
The god idea is popular with desperate people.