The Verse Falls Apart
POSTED BY: WashsYoungerSexierBr
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 16:55
VIEWED: 1979
PAGE 2 of 2
I'm with Dream on this one, Antimason, you aren't the problem. I certainly don't see your contribution to these discussions as creating discord or as an expression of misplaced fear and anger over the global situation.
Lots of people just can't stand conflict of any kind. It makes them physically uncomfortable and frightens them a good deal. And yet, the religious discussions in particular have been, for the most part, quite civil.
The problem for such folks then is not incivility, I think, but irreconcilability. No one walks away having their prejudices pleasantly massaged and confirmed. Religious debate among sane adults will alway, always lead toward less certainty, not more. The more certain you are, the more strident your arguments will become as you repeat your favorite talking points over and over again.
Which is not to say that certainty is never justified, only that arguments that don't move with the discussion tend to get left behind as the thread evolves.
Many, many questions are asked and more and more answers are seen to be flawed. When we come to religion to be comforted and soothed in the face of the reality we see, the last thing we want is to read a compelling argument for why our religion is illogical and silly.
Here's a thing: most religions do seem a bit preoccupied with comfort. What about atheists? Do you atheists find comfort in atheism? And if not, where do you find comfort? Anywhere?
HKCavalier
Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
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While I have seen some people get angry and even a bit abusive on some threads they seem to be few in number. Personally I enjoy a good debate and I look forward to a thread in which I can. I just simply ignore the people who are rude and nasty. Don't let other people ruin your fun! 
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." http://whimsicalnbrainpan.blogspot.com/
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Quote:
Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Antimason,
No, you're not. There are many christian extremists here. You're not even the most extreme.
That's true which is even more depressing.
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Hi HK,
"Here's a thing: most religions do seem a bit preoccupied with comfort. What about atheists? Do you atheists find comfort in atheism? And if not, where do you find comfort? Anywhere?"
I think technically I'm an agnostic. While I prefer to not believe in theism, I also think I'll get my answer for sure after I die.
For me religion is a nasty trick played on anyone who has the least little bit of OCD in them. Since there is no definitive feedback either way you end up trying to perfect the rituals (even rituals of belief and prayer) more and more and more ....
I prefer to follow the good from the inside. Does this result in harmony? Does that result in freedom? I prefer to think that my physical efforts are important in a concrete rather than symbolic way. And I chose to trust that my immortality is in how I've changed time, for better or worse, during my passage here.
For whatever reason, those are the things I find comfort in.
Peace,
Rue
Just enough ....
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quite difficult to describe what i take comfort from, not believing doesn't bring me comfort, but it doesn't bring me any great discomfort either.
i suppose i take comfort in the people around me, i acknowledge that hey, maybe we're all just atoms and it's all one big coincidence, but i've evolved to the point that i can construct a meaningful world from those atoms and within that coincidence. perhaps no event means anything very much, but i choose to take meaning from things, and to ascribe meaning and substance to event's, to people to things i hold dear and things i detest. in this way i construct my reality, my world, and it brings me comfort.
confused, it's not an easy thing to explain, not accurately anyway, that sounds way out of the ballpark even to me, but, it'll have to do i s'pose.
_______
jailbait.
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