RE: Your perception of theists
July 6, 2015 at 12:02 pm
(This post was last modified: July 6, 2015 at 12:03 pm by Catholic_Lady.)
(July 6, 2015 at 11:51 am)Napoléon Wrote:(July 6, 2015 at 11:46 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I'm sorry, but I guess I just don't understand the conflict.
A person coming to their belief, or reinforcing their belief, through thoroughly informing themselves, is someone I admire.
^This is not mutually exclusive to not being able to have control over what you genuinely believe, regardless of how you came to that belief.
So you are saying you don't believe in free will then?
And I'm sorry but it is. You can't 'come' to your belief (or reinforce it) via scrutiny and assessment without some control over what you're assessing/scrutinizing. If you have control over what you're assessing, then you are by the laws of cause and effect, in some control over what you believe.
I believe in free will of actions. But certain things like emotions or beliefs cannot be controlled. If I lost a loved one tomorrow, I would have no control over my feelings of grief. An atheist (at least for the most part, as I have heard) has no control over the fact that he simply just doesn't believe that God is real. He can come to this undeniable conclusion either by merely a gut feeling or by thoroughly informing himself... or other, I'm sure.
I have respect for anyone who thoroughly informs themselves in regards to any belief.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh