(November 24, 2015 at 11:54 am)Kingpin Wrote:(November 24, 2015 at 4:27 am)robvalue Wrote: I find it particularly odd personally, because I know that my decision not to be a part of religion is not dependent on whether or not they contain any truth. It seems very few people would say they believe in the Christian god for example, but don't worship it. I can only think of a couple of people I've ever heard say that. If I had some amazing experience where god and jesus turned up and did loads of stuff, it wouldn't change anything. I'd be curious to question them of course, if they gave me the chance.
If I would say anything, it would be that someone who got sucked back in wasn't really a sceptic, if they made such a claim in the first place. But that would just be my opinion, I don't presume to be the judge of who objectively is and isn't a sceptic. It must be a sliding scale, really.
See Rob this statement is really a crucial one. I mentioned a while back in an evidence thread, that I truly believe there is no evidence proposed that a modern skeptic could not simply explain away, no matter how profound. If Jesus were to come to you personally in the flesh and perform miracles like raising your dead relative so you can speak with them again, or healing a friend of cancer, I truly believe the modern skeptic would classify it as a mental breakdown, hallucination, or some other natural explanation etc. For some, there is simply no evidence that will suffice because in their mind the existence of God is impossible.
Speaking only for myself, King . . . not . . . exactly. I was raised fundamentalist, somewhere to the right of Southern Baptist. I spent more than 40 years desperately wanting god to exist, and for Jesus to be this loving, saving, wise, REAL person.
So if I had proof that there was a god, and I got to MEET Jesus . . . (and IF Jesus was anything similar to the super-accepting, understanding dude that most xtians describe these days), my belief status would change in a heartbeat. It's the WORSHIP status that might, or might not. It would depend on the answers to all of my questions. It would depend on the future intentions of this returned Jesus and Yahweh.
It's very possible that the Jesus that I prayed to so fervently for decades could return, answer my questions, and I would still be unable to bow down and worship. That's because I have come to the conclusion that the god of the bible is a hugely-unpleasant, humanly-flawed psychopathic tyrant. The underpinnings of xtianity, as they were described to me, are absurd. JESUS would have to tell the world that the Bible was a dangerous and absurd work of fiction, and then explain why he allowed it to "speak for him" for nearly 2000 years, and then we would have to go from there.
"The family that prays together...is brainwashing their children."- Albert Einstein