(April 1, 2016 at 3:41 am)robvalue Wrote: OK that was a bit of fun.
But seriously, let's say this guy knew something about the future. That's interesting, for sure. But we have no possible way of knowing how he got that information. Until such time that we can investigate this in any way (which may well be never), it's of no practical use or concern. Maybe he was lucky. Maybe he had some technology now lost to us. Maybe a one-time anomaly occured and he magically gained information. There's no possible way to know. Inserting "God told him" is the argument from ignorance, even after pretending this prophecy holds water.
Also, the OP seems to be setting up a false dichotomy where either we admit this is some magic prophecy (which I suspect is what he wants), or else we're denying the state of the world as he is describing it. This excludes the third option, that the world is indeed how he describes it, but that it has nothing to do with the prophecy. We're not belittling the world's problems by refusing to accept retrofitting known facts to ancients texts.
I mean, look at the amount of detail the OP has generated, apparently all from the prophecy. Words and ideas so unbelievably far removed from the actual text. It shows a desire to make the connection at all costs.
Why, I can only guess. Maybe so as to feel that he wasn't totally conned by the religion? I don't mean to be insulting, OP. I'm trying to analyse everything as objectively as I can, to try and help you. If I'm not helping, then I'll keep my analysis to myself.
The point of the OP is that whenever I start feeling ok with being an atheist its hard for me to shake off these specific issues. I have never believed really that god has a cosmic movie screen that plays what happens in the future. I think he would be able to predict the same way an economist or a meteorologist predicts. He would use expertise and accurate projections. I have heard a lot of good responses and I do listen. I am just addressing the bad responses. Simply saying, " you poor thing, you were indoctrinated and now you have to justify these irrational things" doesn't work for me. These issues are real no matter what. And it is unprecedented. Maybe crime rates are lower and poverty is going down but the world truly is on the brink of some bad stuff. So yes, if I was raised as an atheist then I would look at these problems purely on a face value. I am currently enrolling in a University to study environmental studies and civil rights because these issues are so important to me. I want to help with them in this life. So I am not going to stand by idly and rationalize my inaction to a god that will eventually intervene. So, please, don't tell me motives for my OP and don't explain how I came to my belief as an invalidation. That is the genetic fallacy. None of the events on the world prove god exists. Its just one of the harder aspects of my faith that I can't shake, as mentioned in my thread title
