(May 22, 2013 at 10:29 pm)Faith No More Wrote: How can I rationalize letting in something that I do not believe exists, or are you trying to suggest that being an atheist is simply deluding yourself into believing sin doesn't exist in order to revel in that sin?You cannot revel in sin if you do not believe what you are doing is indeed a sin. Sin isn't just about stealing and shacking up. It's the little everyday things that slip into our heart if they go unattended: enjoying someone else's failure, that second look at a model' cleavage, leaving tags on clothes so you can return them after wearing them out, etc. I think without that extra prompt of religious conscience you can very easily not even be aware of how self-serving your own motives can be.
(May 22, 2013 at 10:29 pm)Faith No More Wrote: Regardless, my life has actually drifted in the opposite direction. I am less guilty of things you would consider sinful now than I was ten years ago.That's good to hear. I believe many people find themselves less beholden the passions of youth as they age and settle into a responsible life.
(May 22, 2013 at 10:29 pm)Faith No More Wrote: ...you believe that we are all slaves to objective meaning, and that any subjective meaning we humans can ascribe is ultimately meaningless.Nearly. I think God grants you the liberty to choose the purpose to which you will put your gifts. So in that sense, I believe that everyone participates in creating their own meaning. At the same time I believe that purely physical process have no meaning without being assigned to them. Our ability to assign meaning depends on the ability of our non-physical being to impose it onto the physical. Otherwise you have a meaningless physical process assigning meaning to another physical process. All meaning, be it mathematical symbols, language, or logical propositions cannot be a part of the system it describes. The meaning of physical systems come from a higher level of order.
(May 22, 2013 at 10:29 pm)Faith No More Wrote: But we do recognize the source. It is we.I cannot say the same for myself. The best I can do is to stay out of the way while the Lord works through me.
(May 22, 2013 at 10:29 pm)Faith No More Wrote: "Undermines the faith of the vulnerable?" I don't follow...Some younger people may be less intellectual about their atheism and if they live it to its logical conclusion...well, we disagree on that. You probably think you've freed them from a cultural delusion, whereas I see something vital being stunted.