Thank you. Yea art of trollin' dies in 2011. Anyways to reinstate, yea, I am not personally offended, I was when I was younger, but now like you I laugh it off but, and this is hard to explain, the very fact that there are people who believe in hell, who think I'm going to go to hell, and are - okay - with that is fundamentally but generally offensive. I'm also in the way offended on behalf of others. It's hard to explain the distinctions but I think I did a good job. Let me try again, while I'm not personally affected much because I was never a strong believer, I'm capable of empathy for people who are.
No I didn't feel you were judging me not even indirectly when I read your comments wherein it gives off this vibe. As mentioned, I'd react the way you would & laugh if off but I also know the implications of it, not that I've been through it in the past but I can see with clarity of such remarks.
I too like to discuss different points of view with people who seem as open-minded. This is 1 of my many purposes. I'm engaging in the intellectual integrity of humanity for posterity.
I know now you saying a "shift in thought" does not mean you're better or worse. I myself think me becoming who I am, particularly a sceptical & open minded individual and the corollary, leaving behind my Christianity made me feel more open, more happy, more alive.
The question of life's meaning and purpose is made no less important to an individual by not believing in a god. Life's purpose is what you make of it and there's many possible answers from religion -to- make people laugh or do good works for your fellow mammals.. like Ricky Gervais. I get meaning by involvin myself in the big questions in life, in the reading of say Feynman or Hacking or Shakespeare. Another purpose is, like you, help others in a train of thought and not be afraid of public taboo's. This is one of the reasons why I give unbelievers the confidence to think for themselves and not be afraid to come out as to their family or community and if they don't like it, it is their problem. I know of people who suffered religious abuse and were only able to find peace by abandoning religion. I respect Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Salman Rushdie for that exact reason. They are better for it & find life more compelling and fulfilling when they left.
Again this does not degrade your belief, only if you make it out to be, but I too recognise many people do get meaning from their religion and faith. That is fine by me :)
Again you're making no sense. There's no 'dragon' in the way you imply. I'm not in 'darkness' as you imply & I already have 'light'.
You basically asserted something what is not in question. You assumed it was. Again I am not frustrated. I find it enlightening, empowering perhaps even a sense of purpose and joy in the findings out about the worlds, nature, cosmos and what have ya. Knowing what can and as of yet cannot be known, in knowing I know nothing but I use rational scepticism to find out what is currently true or known and what people assert is true or known. I question everything. I am not 'frustrated' because of this, I find it liberating, as I know I am part of the intellectual integrity of humanity.
Your 3rd part seems ok, that I am accepted the way I am and the way I am now, everybody should accept people the way they are, within reason. But without going into unnecessary detail, what you say seems to conflict with the fundamental teachings of Christ, we are not, according to Christians, we are born sick and commanded to be well. It is often said that we are all sinners. Also that homosexuals are not being condemned for what they do, they are being condemned for who they ARE. You may disagree, but this is what it is said, but that is neither here nor there. This is trivial, so I will end it there.
Yes tomorrow I'ill see things differently, that is part of life, but to imply that I will see things not just differently but better, you allude that I must not be living to my fullest potential. This is also wrong. I am. I am not in 'darkness' is wrong, again you assert something that isn't true. I am happy the way I am, I am happy to live life, and live life not believing in any god or gods. 'Light' is here for me now. The meaning I get in life is here now. Implying that I have no 'light' in which I take as meaning or purpose or being happy etc. is not only wrong but insulting to many.
All of your comments have made extreme assumptions about me and my life and it comes across, even it it wasn't the intent, as disingenuously alluding that my life now is somewhat nothing or less so compared to whatever is to be expected in the future, basing on nothing but assumptions you and your beliefs are making about me. I simply don't think a heaven or bliss exists in the future as I already have it here. There's nothing more & I want nothing more. You also seem to be really sure that I will give up convictions of a life time and recant to be in this light.
Again I have absolutely no idea what you are trying to say. You're implying that the brain is better than the mind rathe the brain is 'light' and the mind is 'dark' or something to that effect. The mind is what the brain does :/ Consciousness is a property of the brain. It is not a "thing", as such. Certainly it is not whatever ethereal presence you are attempting to imply. Consciousness is simply the result of the various parts of the brain working in conjunction with one another. The mind is what the brain does. It's a distinction without a difference.
Then the notion of prayer comes into it.. which makes it less explicable also makes itself is self-cancelling. But if prayer helps the person in life or gets them trough a tough patch or be happy in general, I have nothing against it.
But to the other-side, implying in anyway that my mind, which does not teen the continuous reinforcement of prayer is somehow missing something or is weak i.e 'dark' is pretty offensive not to mention wrong. I am fine, I am not lost or weak or whatever you seem to imply by me using my mind and not praying. Those of us who don't take part in it will justify our abstention on the grounds we do not need, or care, to undergo the futile process of continuous reinforcement. Either our convictions are enough in themselves or they are not. To say or in this case imply other wise is disingenuous.
