Europa, God, and you, or Where it all fits.
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Friday, July 13 2007 10:05
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So, a theist then? The reason I was soooo vague is that there are huge groups of folks who have differing identities which they associate with as God. They even (gasp) use different names and have different assumptions about their deity. In my belief, if there is a god, then it would be extremely presumptuous of me to assume that the belief set that I espoused would be the correct one. Given the common set of Christian boundaries, it would be far more likely that those beliefs chosen by me as the One true correct set, is in fact a misdirection offered up by Satan. So, theist, deist, animist, agnostic, atheist. Pick your philosophical bent. :) -------------------- WWtNSD? Synergy - "I don't get it." Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Lifecrafter
Member # 7723
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written Friday, July 13 2007 11:01
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quote:If you've never been in a car accident it would be better if you never drive. If you drive it's not a question of "if" but "when" you'll be in an accident. If you have been in an accident, you'll most likely have another. The safe bet is to stay at home, or walk, but whatever you do, don't drive. It would be presumptuous of you to assume that you'd make it safely to your destination if you do. Posts: 701 | Registered: Thursday, November 30 2006 08:00 |
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Canned
Member # 8014
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written Friday, July 13 2007 11:05
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Or you could get experience from driving so you can avoid accidents. -------------------- I can transform into almost anything, though not sanity. Muffins n' Hell|Muffins n' Hell: The Muffins Are Back Again WtRM v. 2.0.1 betatesting needs Mac users...Thraini is getting impatient. Posts: 1799 | Registered: Sunday, February 4 2007 08:00 |
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Lifecrafter
Member # 7723
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written Friday, July 13 2007 11:24
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No no, you could crash. Stay in the house - in your room if possible. Venturing out you might meet with uncertainty. Then you may actually have to use discernment and adjust. Posts: 701 | Registered: Thursday, November 30 2006 08:00 |
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Canned
Member # 8014
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written Friday, July 13 2007 11:30
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I am paranoid, but I'm not that paranoid. -------------------- I can transform into almost anything, though not sanity. Muffins n' Hell|Muffins n' Hell: The Muffins Are Back Again WtRM v. 2.0.1 betatesting needs Mac users...Thraini is getting impatient. Posts: 1799 | Registered: Sunday, February 4 2007 08:00 |
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By Committee
Member # 4233
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written Friday, July 13 2007 11:42
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I get the impression then that you don't drive, Stillness. Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00 |
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Canned
Member # 8014
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written Friday, July 13 2007 11:50
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I don't drive either. I'm only 13. -------------------- I can transform into almost anything, though not sanity. Muffins n' Hell|Muffins n' Hell: The Muffins Are Back Again WtRM v. 2.0.1 betatesting needs Mac users...Thraini is getting impatient. Posts: 1799 | Registered: Sunday, February 4 2007 08:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Friday, July 13 2007 14:10
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quote:This is the statement that inspired this poll, as you may have guessed. I was curious how accurate it was and with over 40 responses, there may be valid data. 15 out of 47 are either theists or deists. (32%) 15 out of 57 are atheists (32%) and 15 out of 47 are agnostic (32%) Of those 15 agnostics, 11 also consider themselves theists or deists, pushing that group up to 26/47 or over 55%. They may not all share specific beliefs, but they are believers in a something. I therefore conclude that Lenar's initial impulse is a little wrong, but quite an understandable one. There is definitely no overwhelming majority, and there are plenty of qualified people to discuss the metaphysical. Oh, and you two animists? You are wrong. :P -------------------- WWtNSD? Synergy - "I don't get it." Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Friday, July 13 2007 14:18
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Iffy, you're missing the really heavy-handed allegory. Stillness is not, in fact, saying a thing about driving. That said, I don't understand the point he's trying to make. It's better to believe and chance being wrong than not believe at all? From a utilitarian standpoint that's untrue: time wasted in incorrect faith is useless at best and counts against you in the afterlife at worst. You could be better off as an atheist for optimization. —Alorael, who can believe in an interfering God without believing in obvious "act of God" miracles. But he's in the interesting quandary that he isn't sure whether physics can support non-determinism, and determinism is incompatible with an interfering God. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Canned
Member # 8014
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written Friday, July 13 2007 14:54
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I am not an atheist. -------------------- I can transform into almost anything, though not sanity. Muffins n' Hell|Muffins n' Hell: The Muffins Are Back Again WtRM v. 2.0.1 betatesting needs Mac users...Thraini is getting impatient. Posts: 1799 | Registered: Sunday, February 4 2007 08:00 |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, July 13 2007 15:12
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quote:Alorael's Wager, or If Pascal Was a Munchkin. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Friday, July 13 2007 21:28
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Philosophers and theologians have been coming up with rebuttals and counter-rebuttals to Pascal and his predecessors since they made their statements. I personally think of it as a wager that can't be made rationally. You are, to steal the words of Terry Pratchett and/or Neil Gaiman, playing "an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time." —Alorael, whose personal belief is that God does not particularly care what you believe. How you act is far more important. But in the end, God's probably not handing out rewards and punishments based on some arcane scorecard and performance review. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Friday, July 13 2007 21:55
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How do we know the afterlife test is all or nothing? Maybe you get part marks for being close. Or maybe the test is on an entirely different subject. The idea that God is obsessed with precise theology seems ludicrous to me. Depending on what precisely it means, agnosticism may be a viewpoint for which there is a strong case, or mere laziness. Atheism is a faith I can respect, but I don't understand atheists who consider their view more rational than theism. I think the Qu'ran puts it well, in Sura 45, verse 24 (Pickthall translation): quote:The void is a guess. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Friday, July 13 2007 23:16
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A few of the posts here make me wish I could still say "STFU" with impunity. :( -------------------- Encyclopaedia • Archives • Members • RSS [Topic / Forum] • Blog • Polaris • NaNoWriMo Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. | I have a love of woodwind instruments. "That damn meddling eskimo." --WKS about Alorael Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Friday, July 13 2007 23:30
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quote:Yeahbut. You do what you have to do in order to make it from point/time A to point/time B. You take risks, which occasionally increase with the rewards. I (according to your faith) am risking quite a bit by living my life of glorious hedonism. You (according to my faith) are risking the never-ending wrath of my deity for failing to take full advantage of the bounty that has been provided on this planet. And as far as accidents go, I'm getting better. They happen less frequently now, and injuries to humans seldom exceed bumps and bruises. So I guess I must be doing something right. -------------------- WWtNSD? Synergy - "I don't get it." Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Saturday, July 14 2007 02:04
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quote:These forums must be doing more for JS than they do for me. Maybe I should loosen up, take a walk on the wilder side for a change. YEEE HAWWW!!! :D :cool: :D :P :eek: Hmmm. I must not quite have the hang of it yet. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 73
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written Saturday, July 14 2007 12:02
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 -------------------- My Myspace, with some of my audial and visual art The Lyceum - The Headquarters of the Blades designing community The Louvre - The Blades of Avernum graphics database Alexandria - The Blades of Exile Scenario database BoE Webring - Self explanatory Polaris - Free porn here Odd Todd - Fun for the unemployed (and everyone else too) They Might Be Giants - Four websites for one of the greatest bands in existance -------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Posts: 2957 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Saturday, July 14 2007 12:21
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quote:I may have slightly exaggerated. A smidge. -------------------- WWtNSD? Synergy - "I don't get it." Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 6785
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written Saturday, July 14 2007 13:47
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Most accidents occur at home, so live outside in your car. Not doing anything is still a choice just as not believing. You just don't know what the result will be until it's too late to change. Posts: 4643 | Registered: Friday, February 10 2006 08:00 |
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Agent
Member # 4574
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written Saturday, July 14 2007 13:50
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quote:I knew the Flying Spaghetti Monster would show up eventually. On topic, or atleast more so, I am athiest, though my heart wants me to be an agnostic. Whenever something happens, like a loved one passing away, I turn agnostic because I'm scared. However if I could operate without emotions all the time clouding my judgement and reason then I'd be an athiest full time. -------------------- I am the awesome-est-orz. Posts: 1186 | Registered: Friday, June 18 2004 07:00 |
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By Committee
Member # 4233
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written Sunday, July 15 2007 05:33
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Agnosticism as laziness? Perhaps, but I think it could just as easily be said that unquestioning faith is just as lazy, if not lazier, and sprinkled with disingenuity because of an unwillingness to face unpleasant questions about the nature of being. In that sense, the unquestioning believer chooses never to get into the car, believing that that way they can avoid all accidents. Actually, a better metaphor might be how horses keep running back to their barns even though the barns are on fire... Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00 |
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Post Navel Trauma ^_^
Member # 67
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written Sunday, July 15 2007 08:02
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About Pascal's Wager: I could easily imagine a situation where jews get into heaven, and god doesn't mind atheists either, but christians really get it for corrupting his religion. Picking one religion could be worse than picking none. Of course, what I should really do is look through all religions looking for the one with the nastiest hell and the most gullible god, but somehow that feels wrong. -------------------- Barcoorah: I even did it to a big dorset ram. New Mac BoE Posts: 1798 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00 |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Sunday, July 15 2007 08:17
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This above all: to thine own god be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any god. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Sunday, July 15 2007 08:33
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Sure thou canst. Thou simply needst a sufficiently difficult deity. —Alorael, who is in favor of archaicism. You little thees, you! Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Sunday, July 15 2007 12:25
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Yep, a believer who simply never bothers to think seriously about things is every bit as lazy as the lazy kind of agnostic. Unquestioning belief of that lazy kind isn't even really belief, as I see it, let alone faith. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |