definitions aren’t really why I am here, so I will move on.
Definitions are so important! Oftentimes we talk past each other, thinking we’re arguing when we actually agree on 95% of the issue, but we’re using different working definitions of our words, and misinterpreting each other accordingly.
When you say “complete denial”, do you mean the kind of denial of that secretly knows some unfortunate truth, or literally denying?
I have no background in psychology, but I don’t think denial necessarily involves secret knowledge. I just went to research the topic, and quickly remembered that I dislike the entire field of psychology, so I didn’t get far. Sorry. But no, I don’t pretend to know what you really know and what you don’t. That’s between you and God, not me. I just think you’ve intentionally decided to refute God, and thereby unknowingly invited Satan to guide your thoughts.
I don’t believe in either of the sides you are talking about. So it’s kind of like asking “are you rooting for team A or team B”, but the sports teams* that you’re talking about are all fictional. It just doesn’t make sense for me to say I am on a sports team that I think is made up.
That’s a good analogy, and I understand your perspective. But the problem is that good and evil are entirely real, and it’s absurd to pretend they’re not. You’re ignoring the spiritual warfare that underlies everything happening in our world, in our lives, and indeed in this very conversation. You’re denying the foundational tenets of Western Civilization, based on millennia of correspondence with and guidance from the Lord our God. You arrogantly pretending you’re somehow smarter than our ancestors who built this civilization with God’s blessing, and what’s far worse is you’re arrogantly pretending you’re somehow smarter than God Almighty Himself. That’s why I say you’re in denial. God does not like to be denied. But the Devil does, and seizes upon that denial to manipulate you.
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.
—Verbal Kint
I’m embracing neither. I can’t embrace something I don’t believe in.
But you can, and you do. When you deny God, you embrace Satan. There is no third option.
I know you don’t think I was ever a christian, but when I was, I thought I had abundant evidence. But the closer I looked at my reasons for believing the more I realized they weren’t good reasons.
I find that completely believable. You predicated your faith on faulty reasoning, and as a result, your faith was unstable. Solid faith cannot be predicated on reasons at all — that’s what makes it faith. But when your faith is solid, you’re then provided with the ability to see the abundant evidence for what it truly is. The key is that the evidence comes second, contingent on faith.
I think trying to single out a single document that defines a 246 year old country is a mistake, because no such document could possibly define such a long and chaotic history/country.
I’d say that’s reasonable if I wasn’t familiar with the US. But every child memorizes key lines from that single document, and learns all about how it made us the greatest country on earth. And every American refers back to it in common parlance, while discussing and debating a wide variety of issues. And that single document continues to influence all of our legislation and jurisprudence. So in the case of the US, that single document really does define our culture.
It’s worth noting, though, that you mention that we’re a 246 year old country, and it’s 247 (welcome to 2023!), but more importantly I’d say most of what happened during those intervening years are far less important than what happened at the outset. Even if our state and federal governments were to topple, and a foreign army was to invade, American flags would still fly because our national character was established at the outset of our founding, and it cannot be destroyed.
Out of curiosity, if it wouldn’t be invasive, which state are you in (or from, or most familiar with)?
Definitions are so important!
Definitions are also defined by the way in which the majority of people use them. The word “yeet” was utter nonsense until enough people understood the word and its meaning to land itself a spot in dictionaries.
So I hesitate to argue over definitions, because there is an “objective” answer so to speak, and from what I can tell you seem to use completely different definitions from the norm. So I don’t see much point in talking about it.
That’s between you and God, not me. I just think you’ve intentionally decided to refute God, and thereby unknowingly invited Satan to guide your thoughts.
I hate to repeat myself but this goes pretty close along the lines of what I said in one of the other threads, and that is that beliefs as I understand them are not a choice. So it simply doesn’t make sense to say somebody has intentionally decided to refute god. Just as I cannot choose to become christian, you cannot choose to become muslim. We can choose what ideas we are exposed to and that can have an effect on us, but it is indirect at most.
But the problem is that good and evil are entirely real, and it’s absurd to pretend they’re not.
I know a lot of christians understand god to be good itself and satan to be the opposite, but that’s not really how I see it. Sure, good and evil exist but they are human concepts, human labels that we ascribe to actions. They aren’t literal entities that exist. I am not pretending good and evil don’t exist. They exist just as much as friendship does. It isn’t anything physical or some being, it’s a human label.
You’re denying the foundational tenets of Western Civilization
So be it. If there are problems with the foundation of western civilization then there ought to be changes to fix the problems. There used to be a time when western civilization permitted slavery (and technically still does), so why would I treat it as perfect?
You arrogantly pretending you’re somehow smarter than our ancestors who built this civilization with God’s blessing
Humans stand on the shoulders of our ancestors through our ability to transfer knowledge from one generation to the next. Couple that with our ability to analyze history and hind sight, and it’s very easy to discover flaws of the past. I am not saying or pretending I am smarter than previous generations because you don’t need to be to discover such flaws. To put it in an analogy, I play chess a lot and have a friend who is significantly smarter than me at it. He beats me basically every time. However, when he makes a mistake in the game I still have (on occasion) the ability to discover it, and very occasionally beat him. Yet I never say or pretend I am smarter than him.
you’re somehow smarter than God Almighty Himself.
I can’t say I am smarter than something I don’t believe exists.
But you can, and you do. When you deny God, you embrace Satan. There is no third option.
The third option is that these beings simply do not exist.
faith cannot be predicated on reasons at all
And therefore I want none of it.
So in the case of the US, that single document really does define our culture.
Too much has happened in our country for that to be true.
and it’s 247
Whoops! I should have paid slightly more attention to my google search result.
Out of curiosity, if it wouldn’t be invasive, which state are you in (or from, or most familiar with)?
I’d rather not say at the risk of doxing myself, but I’ll say I am from the north east coast.
So I hesitate to argue over definitions, because there is an “objective” answer so to speak, and from what I can tell you seem to use completely different definitions from the norm. So I don’t see much point in talking about it.
If you ask a hundred people for the definition of any word, you’ll get a hundred different definitions. Sure they’ll be similar, but no two will likely be identical. Usually we assume similar is good enough. But when we disagree over a contentious topic, it can help to define our terms because they may be radically dissimilar.
For many such terms, the political Right and Left will both use their own flavor of definitions which are quite different from the other side’s. I suspect that’s what you’re observing when you say my definitions are different from the norm. It’s all too easy to think we disagree when in fact we mostly agree but are defining words differently.
Just as I cannot choose to become christian, you cannot choose to become muslim. We can choose what ideas we are exposed to and that can have an effect on us, but it is indirect at most.
I chose to become a Christian. Nobody found me and convinced me. I sought it out, learned about it, read the Bible, and accepted Jesus. It was totally a choice. And what’s more, I’d say I repeatedly choose to be a Christian every time I struggle, every time my faith is tested, and every time I slip and sin. I turn to Christ and ask for forgiveness, again and again, and every time I choose to be Christian. Of course it’s a choice, and you choose too.
Sure, good and evil exist but they are human concepts, human labels that we ascribe to actions. They aren’t literal entities that exist.
Yes, they are human concepts, and yes these two concepts are distinct from the literal entities of God and Satan. But where do you think the two human concepts came from? Adam and Eve had to reflect on their expulsion, and conceive of concepts to describe the situation. So we all do, as we go through life. Just as the word “photosynthesis” describes a human concept which describes a real phenomenon, so true good and evil are predicated on our experiences contending with literal entities.
If there are problems with the foundation of western civilization then there ought to be changes to fix the problems.
I give you credit for at least admitting it. So often it seems like leftists are following a program to destroy western civilization, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve witnessed an admission of your willingness to do so.
Listen, our politics are different, reflecting our different personal values, experiences, and understandings of the world. As a conservative, my raison d’être is to preserve Western Civilization (AKA Christendom). In all of our messages, most (all?) of what I’ve written comes down to that. To my view, it’s crucial and nonnegotiable. Everything we have of any value at all comes from Western Civilization. It’s destruction can result in nothing more than the fulfillment of end-times prophecy.
Humans stand on the shoulders of our ancestors through our ability to transfer knowledge from one generation to the next. Couple that with our ability to analyze history and hind sight, and it’s very easy to discover flaws of the past. I am not saying or pretending I am smarter than previous generations because you don’t need to be to discover such flaws.
I understand your perspective. But I also know we frequently think the past is flawed just because we don’t understand it. Similar to how teens believe they know so much more than their parents, only to realize years later that they were wrong about pretty much everything.
Why do you suppose ancient people were overall more religious than people today? When we look up at night, we see light pollution. Most of us have no clue what our own sky looks like. When we look out of our windows, most of us see buildings, cement, infrastructure, people, vehicles, and maybe a few landscaped trees and lawns. Most of us have no clue what our planet naturally looks like. Maybe we visit a national park and snap a few photos for Instagram just to prove we were there.
Ancient peoples saw God’s handiwork everywhere they looked, and it was breathtakingly jaw-dropping and truly awesome. We live in a world where we’ve built all of these things to constantly blind us from that. We have absolutely no idea, on average, what our own world looks like. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is what we’ve built all around ourselves. Our only hope of knowing truth is to look to God, and read His wisdom and knowledge passed down to us from the ancients: the Bible.
If you see a mistake, it’s probable you’re evaluating an illusion.
I play chess a lot and have a friend who is significantly smarter than me at it.
You’re fortunate to have a chess partner. I haven’t had one in ages. I miss playing it.
I suspect that’s what you’re observing when you say my definitions are different from the norm.
Potentially, but at least in this case I believe the difference was over the word “secularists/secularism”, and usually the best people able to define a group are those that are within the group. A christian is generally more qualified and familiar with the definition of “christian”, and the same applies to secularists.
I sought it out, learned about it, read the Bible, and accepted Jesus. It was totally a choice.
That part was a choice, but that is not the totality of the process of coming to believe something. Everything after that was to my understanding not a choice.
But where do you think the two human concepts came from?
Humans are social creatures by nature, and a part of that socialization is language. There was a need to describe actions that helped and hurt people, so the words good and evil came about. Or at least some version did, and then as each language evolved from some predecessor, it eventually turned into what it is today.
so true good and evil are predicated on our experiences contending with literal entities.
So it seems we are in agreement that “good” and “evil” exist at least in the form of concepts, so do you still hold to what you said earlier:
- “But the problem is that good and evil are entirely real, and it’s absurd to pretend they’re not.”
I give you credit for at least admitting it. So often it seems like leftists are following a program to destroy western civilization, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve witnessed an admission of your willingness to do so.
I think you are exaggerating what I said. If the foundation of your house is infested with termites, the correct thing to do is to fix the problem. There are a million different ways to do so, but you have jumped to “burn the house down” as the solution where I have not suggested it. In my opinion the solution it so determine if the foundation is salvageable, if it is, then it is time to bring in an exterminator to deal with the pressing issue, and then to replace any beams that have gone too far. If instead the problem is not salvageable it is instead time to build a new, better house, and then move into it once it is ready. At no point should the house be burned down with people inside of it like you seem to think I am suggesting. I think civilization should still exist, and would very much prefer that.
Why do you suppose ancient people were overall more religious than people today?
Because humans are intensely uncomfortable not having the answers to things, so they try to explain the unknown through any means possible, including through incorrect answers. Nowadays we have an explanation for lightning, so nobody blames Zeus anymore.
The space of unknown things in which god resides shrinks more and more the longer we study the universe. And that’s a big part of why more and more people are less and less religious.
Most of us have no clue what our planet naturally looks like
I agree completely. If I had it my way, there would be significant changes to our infrastructure to reduce the light pollution, regular pollution and to add more green to our cities. Unfortunately this isn’t a game of sim city. This is a big topic, so if you are interested, I’ll leave you with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOc8ASeHYNw
Our only hope of knowing truth is to look to God
Given that you believe the only source of truth is the christian god, how do you contend with science, a process that never turns to the bible or invokes the name of god?
If you see a mistake, it’s probable you’re evaluating an illusion.
That’s a very broad generalization.
You’re fortunate to have a chess partner. I haven’t had one in ages. I miss playing it.
I have two friends whom I regularly play with, usually daily-timed games, and then another two of complete randoms. I usually have an ELO of about 1100, but have been sitting around 1050 for a bit just because I haven’t had much ability to concentrate this last year or so. Our of curiosity, what’s your ELO if you have one?
