Seriously, what is wrong with Christians?

I meant an 18-19 century slave owner. My previously posted 'example' was just to point out that people could start out believing that other people are different without "adding new ones" (cognitions) to create a consistent belief system.

So ? We are talking about justifying immorality using the Bible,specifically in relation to black slavery. To say "the Israelites used to do it so it's OK for me to do it" - doesn't do it. You could say that Jesus never directly spoke out on abolishing slavery just the same as him not speaking out on death penalty cases but he wasn't a law changer, some things need changed from the inside -out.

Because you are mixing the Genesis creation with your own understanding of the world as well. You said you had no idea how bananas play into a "supposedly moral God advocating enslaving certain peoples." Why bother playing guessing games when the the Genesis account tells us that slavery was the result of the fall of mankind ? I was trying to accommodate your scientific understanding of the world. Mine to,honestly.

You have to the contrary ? Maybe because I didn't claim it as fact, I claimed it as my belief.

Because you are not all knowing.

 

I realize how desperate you are to provoke an emotional response so as to divert attention from the patent lunacy of your contentions, but that's a pretty threadbare gambit.

Actually anyone with a lick of sense can see that's pure drivel, although it probably takes above-average insight to grasp what such a position reveals about the psychology of those who espouse it.

And it isn't, obviously.

 

I had to step AFK for a few days while about 20 pages of dialog continued. Those 20 pages can be summed up thusly:

The scientific method is to gather facts, form a hypothesis, and then look for further facts that contradict or disprove that hypothesis.

The Christian method is to form an opinion then look for facts that support the opinion while ignoring MOUNTAINS of evidence that prove it to be wrong.

I don't think insanity is the right diagnosis. I think they are just really REALLY bad people. Of course some are worse than others. Some simply refuse or cannot think. Others are capable of twisted evil thoughts. The range is from sad to utterly disgusting.

 

And yet, you couldn't let it go...

Again, you could attempt to explain WHY its drivel, if you like.

Your understanding of the meaning of 'obvious' is deeply flawed.

 

You've got it wrong about evolutionists, according to this one:

"We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door." - Richard Lewontin, ‘Billions and billions of demons’, The New York Review, January 9, 1997, p. 31

Completely wrong, lots of intelligent Christians looked at the evidence first, then believed.

What a juvenille statement.

 

Odd as it sounds, most of the trouble I ever get at work is from Christians.
Our school is mixed with four religions, all together except for the religious lessons.
If I mention Darwin, evolution, meditation or much else that isn't bang on the literal voice of the bible, they go bloody hairless but the Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus don't give a (*)(*)(*)(*) either way.

That pisses me off a bit, more so as I have to dance around many subjects for fear of upsetting the Christians.

 

Social morals for free are what can achieve a Commune of Heaven on Earth where "from each according to their ability to each according to their need" may be a reality.

 

You could start with an Amazon search for mythology. Funny though I would have thought you'd have at least enough intelligence to figure that much out.

How much time would you like me to waste studying it knowing that the conclusions are utterly warped?

I have an unfair advantage over people like those. If they are Christians then they are WRONG. All I have to do is figure out the specific details as to why.

I'm not saying that all American Christians are right-wing evangelical fundamentalists. I'm simply saying that all Christians, American and otherwise, are WRONG. Of course some are worse than others. But if you are going to defend the worst among them they you must be pretty far gone yourself.

You must have some kind of compulsion to prove me right. Because you keep doing it.

It really doesn't take that much effort to come to an insurmountable point where your religion becomes worthless. Any effort spent beyond that point is just a waste of time. However you compound the problem by refusing to learn.

Only an idiot would believe a story that violates the laws of physics simply because decades after the story SUPPOSEDLY took place some ignorant and illiterate sheep farmers (NONE of whom were even there) said it really happened. In fact there isn't a single document from Jesus lifetime that even mentions him at all. Nor is there a single word of the NT that would be allowed as evidence into a court of law in the US

I many not have read all the theology books you have. But as it happens my IQ is over 150. I would liken this to the vast number of people graduating with doctorates in theology these days who are not seeking employment in the church. It seems it just takes some people a bit longer than others to realize that Christianity is nonsense.

The very basis of Christianity is fundamentally flawed and disgusting. But you'd have to be able to think rationally to understand that. And btw Martin Luther King was anti-Semitic just like Martin Luther before him.

 

No, you explain how it follows from "morality comes FROM god" that "god's might IS what makes it right".

 

Paul since I myself score in the top point one percentile (one out of one thousand) I can tell you something most people don't know. Just because someone scores very highly in one area of an IQ test that qualifies them as genius it does NOT mean that they have ANY more knowledge outside their area of specialization than anyone else. In fact only one in 20 MENSA members are able to qualify for Triple Nine Society like I do.

 

Ah, gotcha, and agree.

Wait, why doesn't that cut it? If God was okay with slavery, and he is absolute morally, why not think that it's justified?

Where does Genesis say this?

Why believe things which you have no evidence for?

Uh, doesn't that make it even worse? That I can come up with a better plan when I am not omniscient?

 

Because that makes morality entirely arbitrary to God's will. Pretty simple to grasp.

 

Well, yeah when I worked for my father after school, because he was just getting started in th bakery bus and not much was coming in.

I guess he was actually slavbing for the customers until the volume rose.
I was a willing servant and still glad of it.

 

Too scary to answer honestly, huh?
I understand.
Both you and your father were willing participants, so you are both completely irrelevant to this discussion.
Don't be afraid to discuss honestly.
And never forget, God is watching!
He knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake!

 

Intelligence and Knowledge are two very different things. Intelligence as well is not strictly limited to Analytic ability as there is also Social IQ...Emotional IQ...Creative IQ...etc.

As well most IQ Tests are FLAWED.

Back when I was a Jr. in High School IQ Tests were Mandatory so everyone had to take them. I scored ridiculously high and because of this I no longer bother to tell people what I scored as they will not believe it as such things are ego driven.

Still....when I took the test I found a question asked that had a multiple choice answer to have an answer that the Testers had decided was the best answer out of the 5 or 6 choices. What they didn't realize is that another answer was a better answer and I chose the answer they wanted but wrote in an explanation that the other choice was better and provided evidence which earned me extra credit.

Still....just because I or anyone else might have scored high on such a test means very little for our ability to learn and absorb knowledge.

Some are good at absorbing only specific knowledge and some people of relative average IQ's are capable of retaining knowledge much better than a person with a High IQ.

AboveAlpha