That.....was a.....joke....(looks around)... ha ha?

(May 26, 2017 at 6:38 pm)Huggy74 Wrote:

(May 26, 2017 at 5:21 pm)Valyza1 Wrote: Wait, so we're saying Harry Potter isn't true??

I'm saying I don't believe it to be true, which is irrelevant of the canon of Harry Potter books.

The Book of Mormon contradicts the canon of Biblical scripture.

If Jesus wasn't crucified twice on consecutive days, there's another contradiction looming on the horizon.

Person A can have their beliefs as long as it doesn't hurt me, my family or anyone else for that matter.

Intolerance is a social animal's way of saying, "You need to change."

(June 2, 2017 at 3:48 am)It_Was_me Wrote: Person A can have their beliefs as long as it doesn't hurt me, my family or anyone else for that matter.

Imagine 4 people: A through D. A & B are both bible believers and both believe the world is going to end. A lights his house on fire, burning himself and his family in order to purify their souls for Jesus. B goes out and helps the poor, and tries to heal whatever enmity he's had with others in order to purify his soul for Jesus. C & D are not believers and don't believe the world is going to end. C hates the world and doesn't want his family to have to live in it anymore, so he lights his house on fire burning himself and his family. D loves people, so he goes out and helps the poor, and tries to heal whatever enmity he might have had with others. Does this sound like a plausible scenario? If so, what weighed more on their actions? The basic thing they believed or their personalities?


I think beliefs are a bit red herring and aren't nearly as responsible for people's actions as people like Sam Harris seem to think.

(June 2, 2017 at 3:41 pm)Valyza1 Wrote: Imagine 4 people: A through D.  A & B are both bible believers and both believe the world is going to end.  A lights his house on fire, burning himself and his family in order to purify their souls for Jesus.  B goes out and helps the poor, and tries to heal whatever enmity he's had with others in order to purify his soul for Jesus.  C & D are not believers and don't believe the world is going to end.  C hates the world and doesn't want his family to have to live in it anymore, so he lights his house on fire burning himself and his family.  D loves people, so he goes out and helps the poor, and tries to heal whatever enmity he might have had with others.  Does this sound like a plausible scenario?  If so, what weighed more on their actions?  The basic thing they believed or their personalities?  

A- A good person who did a bad thing.
B- A good person who did a good thing.
C- A bad person who did a bad thing.
D- A good person who did a good thing.

Notice anything, so, you tell me...what weighed more on their actions?

Don't have time to review the entire thread, has anyone posted "because they are fucking stupid" yet ??

(June 2, 2017 at 5:05 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: Don't have time to review the entire thread, has anyone posted "because they are fucking stupid" yet ??

Or simply, because we can. Nuff said.

(June 2, 2017 at 3:53 pm)Khemikal Wrote:

(June 2, 2017 at 3:41 pm)Valyza1 Wrote: Imagine 4 people: A through D.  A & B are both bible believers and both believe the world is going to end.  A lights his house on fire, burning himself and his family in order to purify their souls for Jesus.  B goes out and helps the poor, and tries to heal whatever enmity he's had with others in order to purify his soul for Jesus.  C & D are not believers and don't believe the world is going to end.  C hates the world and doesn't want his family to have to live in it anymore, so he lights his house on fire burning himself and his family.  D loves people, so he goes out and helps the poor, and tries to heal whatever enmity he might have had with others.  Does this sound like a plausible scenario?  If so, what weighed more on their actions?  The basic thing they believed or their personalities?  

A- A good person who did a bad thing.
B- A good person who did a good thing.
C- A bad person who did a bad thing.
D- A good person who did a good thing.

Notice anything, so, you tell me...what weighed more on their actions?

Why is A necessarily a better person than C?

Oh, that's not for me to decide, for you...but...in my opinion?

An earnest believer can do things from a position of goodnesss that are, objectively, horrifying.  

I think that A is just a good man doing what he was told was right, by some nutter or what he believed was right, because of some nutty book about "jesus". C doesn't have that. He can't say that god wanted him to do that, or that society told him to do that, or..really, anything, he's just a fucking terrible person who killed people because he didn't like life...... Ultimately, you chose to set the scene as such, not me.

I'm still wondering what you think, though? I get that you intended it to be a mooting example.....but is it?