(December 21, 2015 at 3:01 am)robvalue Wrote: Scientific curiosity, yes. But what difference should it make to my life?
And no, I've read through many of your posts and you seem not at all curious about atheists. If you are, maybe you could tell me five things you have learned from your time on the forum about "atheists", and the reasons behind their belief, that you didn't already know.
No offense, but that seems somewhat sociopathic.
One can get excited to watch the Star Wars flick, get a promotion, grab some drinks at the bar. Watch the game. Get a haircut. Buy a new pair of shoes. Eat at a new restaurant. All this makes a difference in your life, surely.
But the ground of good and evil, the source of all of reality and the mind of such a perfect and powerful being, one who is supposed to love you more than anything, arouses no personal, non-scientific interest or curiosity whatsoever?
There's something unhuman about that, right? Who would reject a chance to get to know the being who created them, were such a being to exist, without being either consumed by irrational and self-gratifying priorities, or one who bore a deep and irrational hatred of God?
As for my curiosity, you read me wrong. Go through my posting history for the record of insults (by me and against me). My curiosity about atheists is precisely in those areas that do not involve self-reporting and atheistic rationalizations of prior positions. I won't get answers by posing surveys in my posts.
As for what I've learned:
1) The atheists on this forum are, largely, deeply anti-intellectual and uninterested in developing their critical thinking. My attempts to engage rationally was initially completely or predominantly unprofitable.
2) Most anti-theism here is deeply emotional. The responses here towards theism overflows with rage, hatred, contempt, and other negative feelings. Very little in the way of rational argument goes on.
3) For most of my interlocutors, truth is unimportant of a view. They won't pursue uncomfortable truths, but they will pursue what sits nicely with a priori atheistic commitments.
4) This might be a general problem, not just one that afflicts atheists. When people study things that go against their beliefs, their desire to understand and comprehension ability plummet.
I'll think of a fifth later.
