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RE: God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy
December 7, 2021 at 7:29 am
Bel, all I heard you say is that god is a concept, a construction of the mind only. This means that man made god, the same way as man made numbers, Santa or the Tooth Fairy. If that hurts theists sensibilities AFAIC that's their issue to deal with, not mine.
That humans have made god complex or achieved things in your gods name (motivated by concept, both good and bad) does not make it a unique concept.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
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RE: God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy
December 7, 2021 at 7:33 am
(This post was last modified: December 7, 2021 at 7:45 am by BrianSoddingBoru4.)
It is yet to be demonstrated that God = Santa Claus is NOT a category error (or at the very least, special pleading). They both:
-Perform miracles.
-Receive and answer prayers.
-Are invisible and mysterious.
-Reward the faithful.
-Punish the guilty.
-Watch over the actions of their adherents.
-Keep a record of those actions.
-Have powers that defy the constrictions of time and space.
A difference that makes no difference IS no difference.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
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RE: God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy
December 7, 2021 at 7:52 am
And it is entertaining how much "elusive" is a keyword which you will always hear when someone is trying to sell you a scam. I know it is "God of the gaps" after all, but it is somewhat entertaining how much people fall for it. For instance, I remember watching some pseudo-science documentary with Charlton Heston about how human civilization is billions of years old. They showed some artifacts that are supposedly evidence, but in the end, it came to how all the evidence will be revealed once Antarctica melts because "Antarctica is Atlantis", and a lot of evidence will be found around the Face on planet Mars.
The speech is always, "[Fill in the blank] exists but they are in the bottom of the ocean, behind you when you are not looking, on the Atlantis, in another dimension, on the edge of the universe, in the morning mist, in a very deep cave, etc."
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
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RE: God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy
December 7, 2021 at 8:33 am
(This post was last modified: December 7, 2021 at 8:41 am by The Grand Nudger.)
It's more tenable than admitting that their gods, as conceived, are the mouthpieces of a kindergarten deontology- stubbornly held into adulthood.
That is how gods are both similar, and differ, from santa and the tooth fairy. None of them are real things, they all stand in as a comment on how we should act and how things should be. I think it's strange that we allow for maturity when dealing with santa and fairies. Somehow....they end up being the more well developed and rational of the two. Seemlessly transitioning into communal experience of a commercial outpouring, and the value of teeth. Gods, not so much. Grown ass people telling us how the world should be on the word of a dead rabbi....and, somehow, all of it hateful. But no, it's vry srs business.
Hide the eggs!
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy
December 7, 2021 at 9:26 am
(December 6, 2021 at 10:59 pm)LadyForCamus Wrote: (December 6, 2021 at 10:45 pm)onlinebiker Wrote: The big difference between the three?
Santa and the Easter Bunny don' t have tax exempt status.
What do you suppose the property taxes on Santa’s workshop ad up to these days? 😛
Contrary to common belief Santa' s workshop is not at the North Pole - but in the Cayman Islands - for tax purposes - and a better night life.....
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RE: God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy
December 7, 2021 at 9:38 am
I'm pretty sure that Santa and his workshop operate as a 501(c)3 charity and are thus tax exempt.
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RE: God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy
December 7, 2021 at 9:46 am
There must be a reason why belief in God (or gods) persists throughout so many people's lifetimes, yet belief in Santa/Tooth Fairy etc. ends early in life.
"Imagination, life is your creation"
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RE: God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy
December 7, 2021 at 9:59 am
(December 7, 2021 at 9:46 am)Ahriman Wrote: There must be a reason why belief in God (or gods) persists throughout so many people's lifetimes, yet belief in Santa/Tooth Fairy etc. ends early in life.
There is, without getting into details it's psychological and sociological.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
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RE: God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy
December 7, 2021 at 10:38 am
(This post was last modified: December 7, 2021 at 10:39 am by Mister Agenda.)
(December 7, 2021 at 9:59 am)brewer Wrote: (December 7, 2021 at 9:46 am)Ahriman Wrote: There must be a reason why belief in God (or gods) persists throughout so many people's lifetimes, yet belief in Santa/Tooth Fairy etc. ends early in life.
There is, without getting into details it's psychological and sociological.
Not to mention adults discourage children from continuing to believe in the Tooth Faerie and Santa into their teens.
Is it a category error to consider Vishnu a magical being? What about Krishna?
I'm not anti-Christian. I'm anti-stupid.
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RE: God, Santa, and The Tooth Fairy
December 7, 2021 at 10:52 am
(December 7, 2021 at 9:46 am)Ahriman Wrote: There must be a reason why belief in God (or gods) persists throughout so many people's lifetimes, yet belief in Santa/Tooth Fairy etc. ends early in life.
Belief in both ended at about the same time for me, for very similar reasons
The meek shall inherit the Earth, the rest of us will fly to the stars.
Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups
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