RE: Do Christians really believe most of us are going to hell?
June 30, 2014 at 6:32 am
(This post was last modified: June 30, 2014 at 6:35 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Meh, science schmience. What I mean is, how do we go about questioning the self professed beliefs of others? What framework would be valid if our beliefs - about our beliefs, could not be stated as fact, accepted as a premise. An axiom. It's a sort of logical rabbit hole. I mean, I accept questioning them as useful, I'm onboard...but any claim you want to make about the belief of another simply -has to be corroborated by that other-...or else it's just imagination at play. You may think you're right, you may be right...but that doesn;t mean that they believe that you are right.
My alternative is not practically the same. It is entirely different. In your scenario, from your example, you conclude that perhaps you did not really believe what you thought you believed. I accept that. It's insightful, it's authoritative -for your experience anyway (if your beliefs about your beliefs can be believed)-.
In my example, they really do believe - exactly what they profess to believe....and they've found some other way to deal with whatever dissonance you might imagine that this could create.....if they even feel any. This is not a judgement of these people, it is not an issue of malice. It;s just a statement of what may be possible, that happens to have examples easily evident in our experience.
Let me put it to you this way. I could ask a couple theists on this board if they believed I was going to hell. They'd say yes...and they'd mean it. Completely and utterly.
My alternative is not practically the same. It is entirely different. In your scenario, from your example, you conclude that perhaps you did not really believe what you thought you believed. I accept that. It's insightful, it's authoritative -for your experience anyway (if your beliefs about your beliefs can be believed)-.
In my example, they really do believe - exactly what they profess to believe....and they've found some other way to deal with whatever dissonance you might imagine that this could create.....if they even feel any. This is not a judgement of these people, it is not an issue of malice. It;s just a statement of what may be possible, that happens to have examples easily evident in our experience.
Let me put it to you this way. I could ask a couple theists on this board if they believed I was going to hell. They'd say yes...and they'd mean it. Completely and utterly.
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