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I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
#1
I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
Let us start with The Big Bang. Science can offer magnificent theories in an attempt to illustrate the complex and intricate process that was the formation of our early universe. The universe that contains every law and constant we are aware of, every property, attribute we can make reference to. The universe we have is bound with complexities which unravel surprises at every turn. We have a vast understanding of the world around us and space-time by which it is bound. There is much we understand about our natural world. When I say natural, its really just an aside for-that which we understand. So, inherently, I am admitting, that there is much we do not understand, or supernatural mysteries that have not yet been unravelled and remain to be discovered. Everything within our natural universe, which is everything, so far as we are to indulge as anything can be rationally understood using critical thinking. Logic has proven to not lead us astray, and so long as we apply reason to whatever it is that we are to indulge as a thing, occurence, process, place, or whatever we have been able to eliminate distractions from the infinite list that mere possibility seems to afford us.

Possibilities are indeed endless so long as we have an imagination, and we are free to postulate anything we so choose. My contention is that any thing we decide to entertain as a plausible idea, should have some fundamental grounding in experience and correlate with truth in its essence, even if only in the very beginning of its supposition.
At least then, you would have some justification for conjuring the words in the first place. What then would stop us from making up words as we go along? Then from there... arbutrarily slapping characteristics and attributes to them so it may be worthy to recieve the credit for all of the unfathomable achievements we currently don't have answers to! Does this sound familiar? If not...you may be guilty of this assault on intelligence.

So, what am I getting at?

Where did the universe come from? That's the question, right? Where? Perhaps "why?" is the more important question to you. The fact is...we don't know. NOBODY DOES So, where to go from here?

If I looked at the Sun and had zero understanding of it. I might begin to theorize about it. Suppose I thought that because it seemed to move slow, it must be moving on the back of a turtle that carries it from one end of my sky to the other before disappearing again.

This is not too bad. Honestly. It's at least grounded in reality! Which is more than I can say about some of the crazy claims I've heard around here. I mean...I clearly have at least some understanding of turtles, and how slow they are. Without knowing much about the sun, from my primitive perspective...it could seem as though it's not that big, just out of my reach. So, the subjects of my hypothesis are both grounded in reality and experience, and so my hypothesis, no matter how absurd it seems, it at the very least, has the potential for being either confirmed or falsified.

Perhaps I decide instead to invoke an explanation...
I want to know where the universe came from. I do not know, but...I will claim I do and call it...GOD!


If such a word or a concept does not exist in, or correlate with, the reality I know and experience...why would I attempt to justify it as a logical thought? What basis do have for recognizing the types of accomplishments associated with a God? Are there comparable results anywhere? What can a God do? Where is it? What else can I chalk up to it? ...and the biggest question I should expect to get most is...What the fuck makes me so special to have this ridiculous answer, and why can't anybody verify it? FSM Grin
ring a bell?

This is what follows upon invoking an arbutrary answer to a question it is not suited for...
What? Why? How? When? Where?

I can answer these questions however I please! The God of my creation can be the answer to the questions of my wildest imagination, afterall...it is the God of my wildest imagination! But it doesn't make anything I say plausible. It doesn't have any real merit, and it certainly doesn't warrant so much credit as a generous expectaion of 50/50! It has no grounds for plausibility and doesn't correlate with reality, experience, knowledge or truth of any verifiable kind! Why would it be awarded a 50/50 chance of accuracy????( I have heard this attempted to be justified)

Any thing offered as an explanation, should be equally vulnerable to falsification as it is for being confirmed. Nothing we know comes from our inability to relate to something we understand about our universe. Everything we at some point did not know, but DO KNOW NOW, has been revealed using the same process. So, for anyone to assert otherwise, would have quite the burden to bear. I have not heard a single justifiable claim about any theistic "hypothesis". They all seem to be held as true only by the believers persistance to accept it for no other reason than imaginative possibility. This imaginative possibility is no more probable than my turtle explanation, but they're equally possible .

I do not know the answers to all the questions. That's okay. I have no reason to invoke any conscious agent or unimbodied mind as the answer. Nobody else on this planet has special access to any hidden applicable information that is not also made available to me, therefore nobody else has any more justification for invoking any Gods of their choosing and calling it true either. Present me with any concept you suppose to be true, without having a reason grounded in reality to support it, and I will reject it outright as well. There is nothing available that could justify bridging the gap of my ignorance with imagination.

That is why I do not believe theists, and reject their claims of theism.
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#2
RE: I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
You make the mistake of calling what is natural yet undiscovered 'supernatural'. You then compound this by attributing God to these gaps. Yes it's OK to not know. For a while there I thought you we're supporting theology. Because it is from the rational thought that we naturally assume that we can postulate theological ideas. Those ideas which are demonstrably false as you've outlined: we've dismissed. I fail to see your objection.
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#3
RE: I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
(May 13, 2013 at 7:01 pm)fr0d0 Wrote: You make the mistake of calling what is natural yet undiscovered 'supernatural'. You then compound this by attributing God to these gaps. Yes it's OK to not know. For a while there I thought you we're supporting theology. Because it is from the rational thought that we naturally assume that we can postulate theological ideas. Those ideas which are demonstrably false as you've outlined: we've dismissed. I fail to see your objection.
If supernatural does not sit well with you, Please pick another word, or dismiss the thought all together as it is not important to me what its called.
...
On what grounds is anyone able to assert claim of a God and then stamp it as rational?

If it is rational, then you must have some example grounded in verifiable experience/reality that you draw your inference from...right? If it is to be rational?
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#4
RE: I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
Supernatural fits very well. Potentially natural supernatural, as you propose, doesn't.

How do you think people assert these claims? That sounds a little like you're demanding more than would be possible of the truly supernatural.

We draw upon our rationalising abilities that a world we are able to rationalise made possible.
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#5
RE: I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
(May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: I do not know the answers to all the questions. That's okay. I have no reason to invoke any conscious agent or unimbodied mind as the answer.

And neither do I.

(May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: Nobody else on this planet has special access to any hidden applicable information that is not also made available to me, therefore ..

You may be right but that's a lot more than I know. I have no more reason for believing this premise than I do for believing any of the claims made by theists.

(May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: .. nobody else has any more justification for invoking any Gods of their choosing and calling it true either.

Being unable to buy the premise, neither can I claim the conclusion.

(May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: Present me with any concept you suppose to be true, without having a reason grounded in reality to support it, and I will reject it outright as well.

Try this one. I believe that reflection will often reveal more than any tabulation of what I know to be true can reveal. I likewise find that my sense of composition is worth sharing even though I don't have any formal instruction in that. I also attribute great value to flights of inspiration even though I do not build them up upon a solid footing of true belief. In short, I find great value in that which originates in the unconscious rather than being assembled through reason with the conscious mind. Reject away. I doubt if our theist brethren will feel in any more loss from your rejection than do I.


(May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: There is nothing available that could justify bridging the gap of my ignorance with imagination.[/hide]

That is why I do not believe theists, and reject their claims of theism.

I hear you. I likewise acknowledge no god claims. However I am not in as big a hurry to proclaim them untrue or unworthy. To do that might require that I cast out my own unsupportable beliefs, which I will not do.
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#6
RE: I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
(May 13, 2013 at 7:06 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: On what grounds is anyone able to assert claim of a God and then stamp it as rational?
I for one am of the opinion that a rational understanding of the physical universe depends on presupposing forces and principles that operate parallel to, in tandem with, and above those of the physical universe. That was certainly one of the implications of Godel, Escher, Bach. My point is that reason itself depends on something over and above what can be known purely by empirical observations.
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#7
RE: I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
Reason itself is a set of empirical observations (and susceptible to further observation and revision) of how our universe appears to behave, and how "proper", useful, or workable thoughts and propositions can be formed. It isn't some gift that we were granted as a system. We built it.

W.V. Cline, Hilary Putnam, and Michael Dummett bud, enjoy. You want some higher thing, but whether or not it's there, or that it's required if it is, well.......
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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#8
RE: I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
(May 13, 2013 at 8:21 pm)whateverist Wrote:
(May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: I do not know the answers to all the questions. That's okay. I have no reason to invoke any conscious agent or unimbodied mind as the answer.

And neither do I.

(May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: Nobody else on this planet has special access to any hidden applicable information that is not also made available to me, therefore ..

You may be right but that's a lot more than I know. I have no more reason for believing this premise than I do for believing any of the claims made by theists.

(May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: .. nobody else has any more justification for invoking any Gods of their choosing and calling it true either.

Being unable to buy the premise, neither can I claim the conclusion.

(May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: Present me with any concept you suppose to be true, without having a reason grounded in reality to support it, and I will reject it outright as well.

Try this one. I believe that reflection will often reveal more than any tabulation of what I know to be true can reveal. I likewise find that my sense of composition is worth sharing even though I don't have any formal instruction in that. I also attribute great value to flights of inspiration even though I do not build them up upon a solid footing of true belief. In short, I find great value in that which originates in the unconscious rather than being assembled through reason with the conscious mind. Reject away. I doubt if our theist brethren will feel in any more loss from your rejection than do I.


(May 13, 2013 at 6:45 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: There is nothing available that could justify bridging the gap of my ignorance with imagination.[/hide]

That is why I do not believe theists, and reject their claims of theism.

I hear you. I likewise acknowledge no god claims. However I am not in as big a hurry to proclaim them untrue or unworthy. To do that might require that I cast out my own unsupportable beliefs, which I will not do.

As usual, you have provided substantial constructive insight. After first glance, there were several red flags raised as indicators that I missed my intended point, which is often the case, however, it is late and I am
In bed. I want to give your responses the attention I think they deserve. Be assured that tomorrow I will better equipped to offer well constructed thoughts in response to the ones you provided. Goodnight! (And remind me that I have unrelated morality questions concerning dogs! Seriously, my dog has been making think!)
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#9
RE: I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
(May 13, 2013 at 8:21 pm)whateverist Wrote: ...I believe that reflection will often reveal more than any tabulation of what I know to be true can reveal. I likewise find that my sense of composition is worth sharing even though I don't have any formal instruction in that. I also attribute great value to flights of inspiration even though I do not build them up upon a solid footing of true belief. In short, I find great value in that which originates in the unconscious rather than being assembled through reason with the conscious mind.
As an oil painter I can identify with this sentiment.
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#10
RE: I don't believe theists and reject their claims of theism.
(May 13, 2013 at 9:36 pm)ChadWooters Wrote:
(May 13, 2013 at 7:06 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: On what grounds is anyone able to assert claim of a God and then stamp it as rational?
I for one am of the opinion that a rational understanding of the physical universe depends on presupposing forces and principles that operate parallel to, in tandem with, and above those of the physical universe. That was certainly one of the implications of Godel, Escher, Bach. My point is that reason itself depends on something over and above what can be known purely by empirical observations.

I don't disagree but I think we have it on board. It isn't based in reason but it does make reason possible. I also think it is 100% organic with no supernatural ingredients added.

(May 13, 2013 at 10:12 pm)Texas Sailor Wrote: (And remind me that I have unrelated morality questions concerning dogs! Seriously, my dog has been making think!)

I'm hopeless for remembering. But it is a wise man indeed who listens to his dog.

(May 13, 2013 at 9:48 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Reason itself is a set of empirical observations (and susceptible to further observation and revision) of how our universe appears to behave, and how "proper", useful, or workable thoughts and propositions can be formed. It isn't some gift that we were granted as a system. We built it.

W.V. Cline, Hilary Putnam, and Michael Dummett bud, enjoy. You want some higher thing, but whether or not it's there, or that it's required if it is, well.......

Nice to see your butt humping and slapping avatar at it again. I missed that little guy.

I agree that the constructs of reason are fantastic and all props to all who have had a hand in their construction.
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