(December 29, 2015 at 8:16 pm)Brakeman Wrote:(December 29, 2015 at 7:08 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: No. Unlike deities, there is plenty of evidence that positive things can and do happen.
No, that's not what I meant. In the same way you can't make yourself believe in jebus because either your already do or you are only denying you true thoughts, you can't "make" yourself be positive, you can only deny or avoid your true feelings.
That's exactly my point: You can only adduce a deity by feelings. However, with conscious effort, one can find the positives in life right there in front of you. It doesn't rely on feelings, when there's evidence, and there usually is.
I'm not trying to say that one can "cure" oneself of depression, but as Rob (and, I'm sure, others) show, it is possible to mitigate the effects of the disorder with conscious effort.
Because that conscious effort can show immediate and actual results, it is unlike faith, which as you correctly note is not amenable to will.
