RE: Question(s) for the Religious
August 9, 2013 at 10:48 am
(This post was last modified: August 9, 2013 at 11:10 am by The Reality Salesman01.)
(August 9, 2013 at 9:38 am)John V Wrote: No. There are numerous ways to evaluate a claim. I typically start as Frodo did - the very first thing I'll assess is whether the claimant actually believes it himself....So, if someone REALLY believes it, that increases the possibility of it being true?
(August 9, 2013 at 9:38 am)John V Wrote: You admittedly don't, so why should I?Why did you give him the power of telling you what you can believe?
(August 9, 2013 at 9:38 am)John V Wrote: This criterion isn't restricted to spiritual claims.
Believing stuff, if somebody else really believes it. This is criterion of truth to you? I know of a few philosophers that would probably not agree with you there.
(August 9, 2013 at 9:38 am)John V Wrote: If I tell my kids that there's a turkey in the back yard, they'll run to the window to see it. If one of them sees me wink as I say it, indicating that I don't believe it myself, she won't run to the window.
If you tell your kids that Santa's coming, and run out of convincing reasons to keep them believing you, they'll stop believing that Santa's coming. The same is true for us, and why we don't believe your God. However, if you're willing to accept the things you've been talking about here as convincing reasons to continue believing, well, my guess is that there also won't be any lit fires on Christmas Eve at the John V household. Kids or no kids.
(August 9, 2013 at 10:31 am)fr0d0 Wrote: 1. I couldn't dispute it on any grounds. I couldn'tWould that be the only reason you wouldn't believe it? Knowing nothing about it? There are plenty of religions available to choose from now. There is plenty of material available to read about each of them. You just choose Christianity because its the one you "know about"? Surely there must be more to it than that.
believe it either, for the same reason: I know nothing about it.
(August 9, 2013 at 10:31 am)fr0d0 Wrote: 2... I found the information persuasive enough to then believe in its truth.
1) Can you give a specific example of the nformation you found to be persuasive?
2) What process did you use to evaluate this persuasive information, and determine that it was more likely true than false?
That's what I've been trying to get you to tell me.
