(November 10, 2017 at 5:00 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: Comparing the God to Santa is a blatant category error. Anyone making it is a moron.

Why? Santa can do magical things, he can deliver millions of gifts undetected, all you have to do is be 'good' and believe.

Santa moves in mysterious ways.

And just to add Santa doesn't threaten children with eternal torture for non belief, they still get their gifts.

(November 10, 2017 at 5:00 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: Comparing the God to Santa is a blatant category error. Anyone making it is a moron.

That has to depend on the categories one has in mind and how they conceptualize God and Santa, which is to say their are points in common as well as very significant differences.

(November 10, 2017 at 5:15 pm)LastPoet Wrote:

(November 10, 2017 at 5:00 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: Comparing the God to Santa is a blatant category error. Anyone making it is a moron.

As if I cared being called a moron by the likes of you. Yes. It is tantamount to that. A fantasy, a fleeting dream that you will never wake up from.

You might spend your whole life wondering about your next life with your god. I will enjoy the one that I have while you are at it. You can gave your hobby. Mine is to call out bullshit when I see it. (Disclaimer, this is not a post by me as a mod).

Yeah, and maybe if Santa belief offered the promise of eternal life rather than just presents at Christmas, things would be very different

(November 10, 2017 at 5:36 pm)emjay Wrote: Yeah, and maybe if Santa belief offered the promise of eternal life rather than just presents at Christmas, things would be very different

I will take a finite amount of gifts in life as it is, to a promise of eternal life. heh:

(November 10, 2017 at 5:42 pm)LastPoet Wrote:

(November 10, 2017 at 5:36 pm)emjay Wrote: Yeah, and maybe if Santa belief offered the promise of eternal life rather than just presents at Christmas, things would be very different

I will take a finite amount of gifts in life as it is, to a promise of eternal life. heh:

Exactly.

(November 10, 2017 at 2:13 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote:

(November 10, 2017 at 11:36 am)alpha male Wrote: Sex with a real person is better.

…and better within marriage, too. Unfortunately that isn’t an option for some people. Like depression, it is a matter of how people deal with that…either by turning to Christ’s grace in times of temptation or indulging their lust in perverted desires. As Christians we could do a better job by recognizing the difficulty of such people while still encouraging them to rely on His strength.

Got a good laugh from this, thanks.

(November 10, 2017 at 11:36 am)alpha male Wrote:

(November 10, 2017 at 11:07 am)KevinM1 Wrote: Mental illness has nothing to do with mental growth.

Your opinion is noted. I disagree. A person who doesn't grow sufficiently to handle life responsibilities seems more likely to end up with depression, social anxiety, etc.

Of course, sometimes a mental illness precludes one from being able to sufficiently handle life’s responsibilities....

Quote:

Quote:Porn and masturbation aren't bad,

Sex with a real person is better.

Quote:especially if there are legitimate reasons as to why a person cannot pursue a relationship

In those rare instances, whatever. In most cases, a relationship could be pursued, but with the availability of porn people are getting lazy.

Do you really think that people, when given the chance, would give up actual sex for porn and masturbation? Because that’s what this reads as. It’s quite a thesis.

Quote:

Quote:Bad relationships and divorce have nothing to do with mental growth.  Sometimes shit happens.

You've got to be fucking kidding me. Yes, sometimes shit happens, but if one or more of the partners lack mental growth, the likelihood of failure goes up. You've never looked at a couple and thought that one or both of them were too immature for the relationship to last? Do you think people just roll D20s and everything is random?

Of course I have. What I’m saying is that bad relationships and divorce aren’t always just because of immaturity. Sometimes there are fundamental issues that only manifest over time.

Ultimately, your counter examples still suck.

I'm still waiting for Neo to explain why god is in a different category. Like...two years later, I'm still waiting.

I believe theism is a learned belief from childhood (did you read from my earlier post?). Those exposed to religion in the formative years are more likely to believe in fantasy as reality. That belief is then carried on into adulthood. That is why it seems childish to me, because for most of us childish beliefs are left behind in childhood.

From where I stand god(s)/religion is no more based in reality than Superman or visiting aliens. I'm sure that someone here will claim "category error" but as far as I'm concerned it's not. The religious have not been able to provide convincing evidence to me that their belief is in fact reality...or... no less fantasy than Superman or aliens.

Just because a religious belief is held by a majority of the society does not make it reality. If not reality, it is fantasy, and to believe it is reality is delusion. A delusion that is at this time accepted by society. And theists, don't get your panties in a bunch, I don't consider it a mental health kind of delusion.

So christians (all that are claiming not delusion), lets suppose you take your belief into a society like the Yanomami, and you start to tell them about your god and bible and you tell them it's real without evidence. What do you think your beliefs would be considered in that society? I'll tell you what, delusion. But please don't take your belief to these people because I know you'd feel a compulsion to convert. You can't seem to help yourselves.

So theists, if you're offended when I consider your belief a fantasy delusion accepted by society, tough shit. That's the reality.

(November 10, 2017 at 4:30 pm)alpha male Wrote:

(November 10, 2017 at 4:28 pm)Abaddon_ire Wrote: And your deity of choice is totally different in which way?

Uh...let's see...oh yeah, no adults believe in Santa. Guess you missed that.

But that's because children get told the truth by adults when they are still impressionable. Imagine a world wide virus wiped out everyone over 8 years old, the Santa Claus myth would then become a religion as the children grew up. The only difference between Santa Claus would then be lost, that the original authors knew that it was all made up. And over time the Santa Claus religion would gain credibility because it started a long time ago in the past. Compare how much credibility Mormonism has now compared with say scientology, or if some man on TV made the same claims about gplden tablets and angels.