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RE: Atheists: have you ever had a religious experience and what did you make of it?
January 21, 2015 at 6:46 am
I can't remember where this verse is from, I think it got removed from canon:
"I don't hang around with mostly men because I'm gay. It's because men are better than women. Better trained, better equipped...better. Just better! I'm not gay."
For context, this is the previous verse:
"Hi Jesus" -robvalue
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RE: Atheists: have you ever had a religious experience and what did you make of it?
January 21, 2015 at 6:49 am
(This post was last modified: January 21, 2015 at 6:49 am by Alex K.)
Exian,
nice story, the journey could be a metaphor for something. And a sign-maker, another great metaphor. Just for what...
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: Atheists: have you ever had a religious experience and what did you make of it?
January 21, 2015 at 7:01 am
(January 21, 2015 at 6:40 am)Alex K Wrote: Considering that people don't even recognize their own mothers if they get a stroke in wrong part of their brain, I am highly sceptical how much useful information this disembodied immortal soul actually carries with it. As the philosopher Eric Clapton famously asks: Will you know my name, if I saw you in heaven? Answer: probably not. No man, you got it all wrong. Obviously memories are made of mental sticky stuff that's different from physical stuff. 
It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley, but to believe or not believe in God is not important at all. - Denis Diderot
We are the United States of Amnesia, we learn nothing because we remember nothing. - Gore Vidal
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RE: Atheists: have you ever had a religious experience and what did you make of it?
January 21, 2015 at 7:01 am
I think there will be a strong correlation between how suggestable someone is and how many "religious experiences" they have. Also lack of critical thinking, going straight for the argument from ignorance, "What else could it have been?" And of course, the desire to have such experiences.
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RE: Atheists: have you ever had a religious experience and what did you make of it?
January 21, 2015 at 7:02 am
(This post was last modified: January 21, 2015 at 7:10 am by Exian.)
Those are my thoughts exactly. You could imagine how I told the story when I was a Christian. As an atheist, I sort of struggle to have a point while telling that story, other than overcoming the minefield of mental fallacies associated with coincidence.
(January 21, 2015 at 6:49 am)Alex K Wrote: Exian,
nice story, the journey could be a metaphor for something. And a sign-maker, another great metaphor. Just for what...
Ooo, I just noticed you said sign- maker; an important distinction. Perhaps the metaphor could be something like "What at first appears to be a sign from god, is nothing more than a man-made craft." But, you know, flowery wording and what not.
I can't remember where this verse is from, I think it got removed from canon:
"I don't hang around with mostly men because I'm gay. It's because men are better than women. Better trained, better equipped...better. Just better! I'm not gay."
For context, this is the previous verse:
"Hi Jesus" -robvalue
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RE: Atheists: have you ever had a religious experience and what did you make of it?
January 21, 2015 at 8:15 am
(This post was last modified: January 21, 2015 at 8:39 am by watchamadoodle.)
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RE: Atheists: have you ever had a religious experience and what did you make of it?
January 21, 2015 at 8:53 am
(This post was last modified: January 21, 2015 at 8:53 am by Faith No More.)
I haven't read this entire thread, but have we established what a religious experience is?
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Atheists: have you ever had a religious experience and what did you make of it?
January 21, 2015 at 8:56 am
(This post was last modified: January 21, 2015 at 8:58 am by Alex K.)
(January 21, 2015 at 8:53 am)Faith No More Wrote: I haven't read this entire thread, but have we established what a religious experience is?
To quote Justice Potter Stewart,
"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that."
Ok, prize question: what was the honorable Justice originally talking about?
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: Atheists: have you ever had a religious experience and what did you make of it?
January 21, 2015 at 9:07 am
(This post was last modified: January 21, 2015 at 9:15 am by watchamadoodle.)
(January 21, 2015 at 7:01 am)robvalue Wrote: I think there will be a strong correlation between how suggestable someone is and how many "religious experiences" they have. Also lack of critical thinking, going straight for the argument from ignorance, "What else could it have been?" And of course, the desire to have such experiences.
I'm very suggestible. When I watch movies, I can often smell aromas in the movie. For example, if somebody lights a cigarette or pipe, then I usually smell it. I am sure I would be easy to hypnotize, but I have never tried it.
Several years ago, I was depressed (as usual), and I became obsessed with UFOs. For a week or two, I spent hours reading and pondering all the classic UFO cases. Then one afternoon I looked into the sky, and there was a UFO. I watched it for a minute or two with great excitement. I ran off to get my camera, so I might see it better through the zoom lens. Then as I glanced down to adjust my camera, the UFO was gone. I reported this to MUFON, but now I suspect it might have been a hallucination in response to my obsession with UFOs. I still hope it might have been a UFO. 
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RE: Atheists: have you ever had a religious experience and what did you make of it?
January 21, 2015 at 10:55 am
(This post was last modified: January 21, 2015 at 10:57 am by robvalue.)
The brain is amazing at fooling itself. I mean, it's the perfect inside man. It knows everything you know, and what buttons to push to make you believe what it wants. Of course I'm talking as if you and your brain are separate. I suppose I'm talking about the difference between all the physical stuff in the brain versus the perceived conciousness. That's about as good as I can describe it. The conciousness is at the mercy of the brain, which is why it is so unreliable.
I don't know how you could possibly define a religious experience. I would say that there's no such thing, that it is by definition an argument from ignorance. It is always going to much more likely that the person just doesn't undstand what happened than they had a unique "divine" experience. And since no one has anything divine to compare to, they are essentially making up the explanation. It's not surprising that the brain can produce images from the mythology you are familiar with.
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