(November 22, 2016 at 8:15 pm)Stimbo Wrote: That's someone else's hat he just picked up and threw on, isn't it?

Sure looks like it, though I'm pretty sure it's just an awful hairpiece.

Oh OH
you didn't mean Trump

(November 22, 2016 at 6:44 pm)Balaco Wrote: From what I understand, atheists do not accept the possibility of a supernatural being, and restrict themselves to our "natural" human thinking. Previously I thought that atheists are simply conditioned by society to the point where they are unable to "rationally" believe in a supernatural being.

For me, I just can't make sense of there being anything supernatural.  If God existed, that would be natural.  If miracles were a thing, they too would be natural but of a variety not understood by ourselves .. possibly they'd even be beyond our comprehension owing to our limitations.  But that wouldn't make them something other than natural.  We just have to realize that our perceptual/cognitive array is not the gold standard of what is natural.  Everything out there is real and natural.

What I really believe in is the real world, including love and dreams and inspiration and wonder and all the other subjective states arising in our very real and natural brains.  What offends me about the concept of the supernatural is the idea that the real world is only an idea in the divine mind.  As though the real world about which we've learned so much were a facade brought into being on the whim of God.  The idea of miracles as just the setting aside of the real-world divine idea when He finds it less convenient frankly offends me.

(November 22, 2016 at 6:44 pm)Balaco Wrote: Atheists, why do you reject the idea of God, and why should I? I know that your answers will include "there's no evidence" and all that, but please try to explain.

I don't reject the idea of gods.  In fact I take them very seriously.  I think they've played a big role in our becoming what we are.  They are definitely part of the real world I am so passionate about.  But I don't think they are entities in their own right.  They live where they have always been, in our psyches.  I have no doubt that consciousness is not simply the conscious mind along with a bunch of noise in the system.  Consciousness need not be and most often is not unitary.  I believe the mind is still fully capable of producing gods right there on board where believers encounter them - and no, I don't think they are just fooling themselves.  In some ways the contributions of the other facets of consciousness create the ground of being which make our conscious lives possible.  In that sense you can call them our creators.  But no gods ever had a hand in creating the physical world.  That sort of literalism should be avoided.

But that said, why become an atheist?  I don't see any reason for it at all.  If you have been raised in a culture that has brought you into a relationship with a God whose presence and company you enjoy, why give that up?  I'd encourage you to avoid literalism in such things but I'm just one more adult in the world same as you.  Do as you like.

........

Starting to seem like another:

(November 22, 2016 at 9:11 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Starting to seem like another:

I was just about to say the samething.


But maybe a 'one hit wonder' is better than the eternally repetitious Mariosep.

I noticed that he peeked in about 1/2 hour ago.

First off, welcome to AF, Balaco.  IMO, I do not think you should become anything; what you become ultimately rests with you.

Balaco Wrote:Atheists, why do you reject the idea of God, and why should I? I know that your answers will include "there's no evidence" and all that, but please try to explain

I do not feel the need to reject anything.  From my vantage point, it seems premature and somewhat shortsighted for me to limit myself to the current worldviews/theories of perceiving and understanding our reality; perhaps another sentient life-form would view our concepts of theism and science to be an archaic means of understanding reality: there could be so many fascinating and creative ways of understanding and perceiving our reality that are just waiting to be discovered; yet, their discovery may be inhibited by the human tendency to make our observations fit with existing mindsets/beliefs rather than modifying our mindsets/beliefs to fit with our observations. 

Now, I realize that this answer in not a very precise one, and for that, I apologize, sir. Hence, my aim is to share my passion for curiosity and imagination, two traits that I highly value, and which help me choose my own path and create my own meaning in this world.

(November 22, 2016 at 6:53 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Welcome to the forums! I hope you find the answers that you are looking for.

Hey aren't you going to advise him on whether he should give the atheism a shot?

Meanwhile, the horses are producing copious quantities of what the church is full of!

He may have been a one hit wonder but his little dance was fun to watch. Did he actually do any singing on that 'hit'?