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Current time: December 2, 2024, 9:03 am

Poll: Would you've stayed religious?
This poll is closed.
Yes
21.05%
4 21.05%
No
52.63%
10 52.63%
Other
26.32%
5 26.32%
Total 19 vote(s) 100%
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If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
#11
RE: If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
I was a rather poorly read Hindu. I faced a choice of reading more of the stories and legends of Hinduism in order to become better educated. But this left me with a quandary as to which stories and legends to embrace, and which ones not to embrace. The only real criterion I could imagine would be reason. However my beliefs were based on intuition. If I were to embrace reason as the criterion of choice, it would have been at odds with the base of my religious beliefs. So I was faced with adopting a reason based approach to my religious beliefs. This signaled the end of those beliefs. I think if the religious scriptures were better, I would still have faced the same choice of what to base my trust in them upon. Once one gets to that basic choice, the appeal of reason is undeniable, and with it, the failure of faith.
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#12
RE: If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
Define "better."
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#13
RE: If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
(August 28, 2016 at 5:37 am)A Handmaid Wrote: I remember leaving Islam because I found out how absurd the Qur'an is. If the Qur'an/Bible didn't contain supernatural effects, but correlated certain actions/objects with god(Like, for example, fire), would you've stayed religious?

Yeah, I would leave Islam if the old bible (Ingel) was much better.

Because it was givin' to prophet Isa/Jesus by god. Was it not?

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#14
RE: If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
If by "better" you mean scientifically accurate, non-contradictory, reliable and verifiable texts then, yeah, I probably would follow them as far as my own logic and reasoning would allow.
Quote:To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.
- Lau Tzu

Join me on atheistforums Slack Cool Shades (pester tibs via pm if you need invite) Tongue

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#15
RE: If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
I seriously doubt it. I think I just am incapable of the level of faith that is required for anything like that.
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#16
RE: If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
The Bible is just a record of prophecies that were given in particular historical contexts. It does not exhaust the Triune imagination of God which extends far beyond the historical context of the Old Testament and the wars of Isreal etc.
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#17
RE: If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
Primitive writings are the way they are for a reason.

Primitive men with very primitive ideas wrote them.

As we evolve, we begin to dismiss primitive ideas.
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
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#18
RE: If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
I was first inspired to leave theism by John Lennon singing "Imagine". Does that get any better? Rock and Roll vs. Rock of Ages!
God thinks it's fun to confuse primates. Larsen's God!






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#19
RE: If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
If the Bible was believable, I probably would have stayed. But it's not, so the point is moot. Tongue
You don't have to go down in my basement. - Dan Barker

The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike. - Delos McKown
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#20
RE: If the bible/quran/whatever was better, would you've remained theist?
(August 28, 2016 at 5:37 am)A Handmaid Wrote: I remember leaving Islam because I found out how absurd the Qur'an is. If the Qur'an/Bible didn't contain supernatural effects, but correlated certain actions/objects with god(Like, for example, fire), would you've stayed religious?
Thank you for asking this question, Handmaid.  Assuming a particular religion "didn't contain supernatural effects, but correlated certain actions/objects with god(Like, for example, fire)" (A Handmaid), then I would still have the following questions.
First, is human reason (logical correlations, scientific laws etc.) the only valid way of interpreting reality? Second, why must something that doesn't conform to our understanding of the universe be classified as supernatural and equated with divinity: perhaps what we call 'supernatural' and 'deity' is simply another way for different lifeforms to exist? As a result of my inability to answer these questions, I could not in good conscience be a practitioner of a religious faith. In addition, It would be close-minded of me to put all my stock in human reason, because IMO, it seems arrogant to assume the universe can be understood solely through a humanistic, rational mindset.  Perhaps a different life-form (non-deity) has a simpler and better way of understanding things.











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