Science and religion

[pocaracas]

define "evil".

Evil is being separate from God, or separate from the intended order of creation. To go against the purposes of God is evil.

So then, under this definition of yours,
" A spiritually mature person would prefer to starve rather than to do something seriously [separate from God, or separate from the intended order of creation]. "

As far as I'm aware, there is no god. If there is a god and it wants me to acknowledge its existence, then I expect it to make me aware of it in the very same way it made cave-people aware of it.... if such a thing ever happened.

Given that there is no god, your definition of "evil" is moot, which renders your whole argument of trying to make into an evil person also moot.

So, to me, there is no evil.
To you, I'm evil incarnate.

I don't know what is more valuable to me, but I'd say my own life is way up there among the most valuable things.
What does that say about my character? you're the philosopher, not me...

What you value most, that is how you will know what your character is. If you value your life more than you value doing good, you are a selfish person. Your character is a character of selfishness. It is a horrible condition.

Considering your concept of evil, I'd say that your concept of good is the opposite of evil, so something along the lines of "NOT separate from God, nor separate from the intended order of creation"
So yes you're right, I am not good, in your delusional definition of such a word.

My life is much much more valuable, to me, than the notion of a specific god, any god.
If your life isn't that worthy, why don't you just kill yourself and meet your maker? You'd be much happier then.... in your view... In my view, you'd be just a sad dead body.

I think you're projecting... I've never read anything by Hitchens nor Russel.

I'll tell you how I'd seek this god of yours. I won't.
Assume I'm apart from the rest of the civilized world, and have no contact with anyone who could provide me with the concept of god.
Knowing evolution to be a fairly accurate representation of the way human life came to be on this planet (considering life came to be on the planet, somehow, and moving from there... say you start at 65 million years ago, right after all the dinos dies off), at some point, early humans had no notion of any god. I expect to acquire knowledge of its existence the same way those people did all those years ago.
I will never accept other people's accounts, for they can, and most likely are, false (even if unknowingly).

If you know, then why don't I?

Because I have spent years and years and years of my life purifying myself from sin and seeking God and have given up everything to follow Jesus Christ.

Repeat after me: if I convince myself of something, that something is true, for me. If I surround myself with people who are convinced of the same thing, my conviction is strengthened.
Psychology 101. You fail at it, while practicing it perfectly.

Why doesn't it provide everyone with the same knowledge?...

God always provides people with the same level of knowledge, based on how hard they seek Him and how hard they sanctify themselves.

No. I refuse to seek it.
Cave people did not seek it, did they? If they did, then they ended up suffering from the same psychological problem you have: self-delusion.

(what about different religions...) why does it provide this knowledge in different ways so as to produce conflicts among the people?

What if the different religions all expressed aspects of the revelation of God that was distorted in different ways (Jews distort the Old Testament, Muslims distort the New Testament, Buddhism is like a philosophy that distorts some aspects, Christian denominations distort different teachings and come to different ideas).

What if they just express the human desire to provide some explanation of the surrounding world, in order to keep them at rest? what if the multitude of different divinities are just a mirror of the people who created them?
Ra, the sun god, would be quite important for a people who have too much sun, like Egyptians.
Thor, the god of thunder, would be important to a people who depend on the sea, like the vikings.
Yahweh, would approve of genocide, by a conquering people, like the jews.
Jesus would be for peace, by a people under the pax romana.

F'in heck! It fits!

I wouldn't call you crazy, but then again, I don't know you, besides all the things you write on here... I'd call you deluded, at least.

What evidence do you have that I am suffering from delusions, a specific medical term that is a very serious accusation to level at someone? To say that someone is deluded is to intentionally call their credibility into question. You don't typically see scientists accusing each other of having delusions. This is a very serious attempt at character assassination, you are trying to discredit someones testimony.

What evidence to you have that people are deluded.

Whoa there, big boy.
Evidence for your delusions? You claim that ... heck, I'll just quote you:

I have experience it myself. God showed me a revelation of hell in which I saw all the events of my life. I recieved supernatural confirmations and powerful displays of the glory of God. God showed me how God had judged all the events of my life. I was punished for sins that I had commited and God showed me the reason why.

How do you do it? How do you communicate with god?
Would you be willing to submit to some psychological evaluation? EEG?
Science would much desire to study this human-god interaction.
No such interaction has yet been found, in spite of thousands of people claiming to have it.

The human mind is a very powerful thing.
If you wish for something, you can become convinced that that thing exists. If that something is defined as not material, then finding it becomes completely open to the mind's ability to deceive itself.

I read somewhere that you've done drugs and become schizophrenic when you're on them... this is symptomatic that your brain has some screw loose.
I advise you to read further of neural pathologies and try to find some where you fit.... you could start with Van Gogh's: Vincent van Gogh's health.