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Current time: January 9, 2025, 2:52 am

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High there
#51
RE: High there
(August 17, 2013 at 7:55 pm)apophenia Wrote: To my understanding, the term "Orthodox Church" can refer to a number of distinct religious traditions. [Image: D7612546_714_054927569]

The Orthodox Church is a communion of Churches all having a single faith and practice. Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Romanian, Antiochian (the Arabic Churches) &c are all one. The only differences are language and culture.

Now, the Coptic Churches of Egypt are a somewhat different case. They left the Church in, I believe, the fifth century, but now many think they always intended to be Orthodox, but that linguistic differences created problems that were insurmountable at the time. Many now call them “Coptic Orthodox Churches.”

Quote:Could you be more specific about which church and which monastery you hail from?

I am presently in what’s called the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). I was on Mount Athos for about three and a half years, first at Grigoriou monastery, then at the Serbian monastery of Hilandar. When I came back to the States I attached myself to a Russian elder, Father Dimitry of Santa Rosa. Now I live alone (as if one can be “alone” with seven cats). My hermitage is called the Kéllion of Saint Makários the Great.

Quote:Could you tell us more about the specifics of your path, how one becomes a monk, and why you chose to become one?

This will have to wait until tomorrow.

“Apophenia” sounds Greek, but you're not Greek, are you? I don’t recognize it as a word or as a name, but my Greek isn’t that good. Where did you get it? Did you make it up yourself? Does it have a meaning, as so many Greek names do?

Nice little picture of a nun, by the way. Not an ikon, but it nicely emulates ikonic style in a western form. Where did you find it?

May God bless.

H

(August 21, 2013 at 6:51 pm)pineapplebunnybounce Wrote: I'm curious, Herman, why is your time online limited? Do you not have internet access out of choice due to some personal philosophy (if so, please share Smile ), or is it related to religion?
I did have wireless a couple of years ago, thanks to a benefactor. But we had to cut back. So the answer is $$.
However, I kind of prefer it this way. It's a little inconvenient at times, but my use is more focussed.
H
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#52
RE: High there
(August 21, 2013 at 6:42 pm)Father Herman Wrote: O, no. I don’t think there’s only one you could believe in. See, you're under the impression that they’re “all fiction.” And indeed, all but one are fiction. So while there are many that you could believe in, there’s only one you should believe in.

H

Can you justify your use of the word "should" in that statement, without resorting to special pleading and/or Pascal's Wager? What happens if I don't believe in this god of which you speak?
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist.  This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair.  Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second.  That means there's a situation vacant.'
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#53
RE: High there
(August 21, 2013 at 6:42 pm)Father Herman Wrote: You're skeptical because you're not thinking in terms of having a skeptical mindset. You're thinking in terms of Skeptic Magazine, where the etiquette requires you to be skeptical of everything except the assertions of another skeptic.

I don't see how you can come to that conclusion, as I am clearly expressing my skepticism of a professed skeptic. I don't recall ever reading Skeptic Mag, nor do I have any idea how you could determine how I might be thinking - particularly given the mistake I noted.

In any case, my statement was in fact somewhat tongue in cheek.
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#54
RE: High there
That's what happens when you spend all your time on your knees. Jokes fly right over your head.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist.  This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair.  Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second.  That means there's a situation vacant.'
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#55
RE: High there
(August 21, 2013 at 7:23 pm)Stimbo Wrote:
(August 21, 2013 at 6:42 pm)Father Herman Wrote: you're under the impression that they’re “all fiction.” And indeed, all but one are fiction. So while there are many that you could believe in, there’s only one you should believe in.

Can you justify your use of the word "should" in that statement, without resorting to special pleading and/or Pascal's Wager? What happens if I don't believe in this god of which you speak?
What bet could possibly be relevant to the propriety of believing what is true? It's right to believe what’s true just because it's true, not because of any bet.

downbeatplumb made a mistake. He thought that all deities are fictional. Fine; people make mistakes. But there is one Deity that’s real. So the proposition there is no God is false and its opposite is true. It should be obvious that you should believe that which is true.

What if our humble planet really is a sphere. “Should” you believe that it's a cube? Should you believe that it's flat? No. You "should" believe that it's a sphere—just because it's true, and for no other reason than that. It has nothing to do with any “special pleading” or with any kind of bet.

The traditional formula involves the phrase “reasonable and responsible belief.”

Quote:What happens if I don't believe in this god of which you speak?

Atheism depends on keeping people confused. I’ll have many opportunities to point this out …
(all sing) As time goes on …

To avoid confusion, you need to be attentive to the difference between “god” and “God.” The uncapitalized word refers to the fictional gods of paganism. I pointed this out in an earlier post in this thread, so try to keep up. I'm not speaking of any pagan “god.”

“Eschew obfuscation.”

The intelligent question is: What happens if I don't believe in God?

My hunch is that you're asking What happens on the day of judgment? But I'm not God, so of course I wouldn’t know.

But maybe you're asking What happens here and now? What happens here and now is that you continue confusing and misleading yourself and others. You continue to waste your life imagining that the universe “created itself” or that it's “beginningless;” that life arose by the Chance of the Gaps.

It means you continue living in a dream world.

Good luck with that.

H
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#56
RE: High there
Dude! What in the...

*Feels Stimbo's eyes boring a hole...*

Nevermind. I look forward to your future threads, Herman. Smile
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#57
RE: High there
(August 22, 2013 at 7:20 pm)Father Herman Wrote:
(August 21, 2013 at 7:23 pm)Stimbo Wrote: Can you justify your use of the word "should" in that statement, without resorting to special pleading and/or Pascal's Wager? What happens if I don't believe in this god of which you speak?
What bet could possibly be relevant to the propriety of believing what is true? It's right to believe what’s true just because it's true, not because of any bet.

downbeatplumb made a mistake. He thought that all deities are fictional. Fine; people make mistakes. But there is one Deity that’s real. So the proposition there is no God is false and its opposite is true. It should be obvious that you should believe that which is true.

If such a good really exists, then why must I believe that it exists?
Why can't I come to know it from my own unbiased research?
I mean...I can find out what kind of geometry our planet has from my own unbiased research... (board a plane and go around the planet, or guess roughly like the ancient Egyptians did, based on the visible height of a particular tower with increasing distance from it) why can't I apply the same principle to your god?

Ahh yes, to me, your god is just like any other god...
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#58
RE: High there
It's unfortunate that our new friend has limited online time. This could be entertaining.
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#59
RE: High there
(August 22, 2013 at 7:20 pm)Father Herman Wrote: What bet could possibly be relevant to the propriety of believing what is true? It's right to believe what’s true just because it's true, not because of any bet.

That sounds pretty high minded but why then do you believe in God based on so little while dismissing everyone else's god bases on exactly as little evidence? I somehow don't think you really do place a high premium on believing what is true for no other reason than that it is true. Your choice of the one and only god to believe true betrays your true bent.
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#60
RE: High there
It's like you can see me through the screen, Captain C! (Is this damn webcam still on?)

Herman, you've made a lot of assertions there that you need either to justify or abandon. And I don't much care for your tone either.

First, you need to look up Pascal's Wager if you're going to keep up. If after reading it you dismiss it as bollocks, great - we agree. Somehow I think our reasons aren't going to mesh, though.

I also agree that people 'should' invest belief in things that are true. Here's where evidence comes in. Do you have any? I'm not merely being facetious either. If you believe the world is a cube when we know it's more-or-less a sphere, you are the one out of step with reality (I won't be so patronising as to say you're living in a dream world).

Phrases such as "there is one Deity that's real" are the very bread and butter of Special Pleading. Look up Burden of Proof as well, while you're at it, as well as the definition of atheism. Atheists aren't the ones asserting "God" doesn't exist; instead we say "God exists? Show me!" Do you see the difference? The former is a strawman so famous, it's outstanding in its field.

I'll skim the rest as I'm falling asleep here. I can do it in four words: knock off the proselytising. I can even do it in three: quit monking around.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist.  This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair.  Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second.  That means there's a situation vacant.'
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