Authority
Poll
3 votes (50%) | |||
3 votes (50%) | |||
No votes (0%) |
6 members have voted
December 30th, 2015 at 4:13:33 PM permalink | |
Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
That's a rather fallacious dichotomy. Here goes a Heinleinian-style argument. Pay close attention: In the second place, everything inherent to you and everything you experience affects you in some way. Isolating one over the other is an exercise in futility, and really just a means to bolster either racial or egalitarian theories. But in the first place, we all have minds and free will. We can't control what we are or much of what we experience, but we can decide what to do about it. This trumps nature, nurture and nurture's "God" to boot.
The impotence or conditional willingness of authority should be self-evident. To take a recent example, consider the infamous "afluenza" teen's case. Do you seriously think the judge or jury who gave this miscreant a slap on the wrist for a heinous act actually believed the arguments the lawyer(s) made? Not a chance. You can fool some people some of the time, but people can fool themselves all the time. What such preposterous arguments do is give a plausible reason for people to do what they want to do but cannot justify doing. Like the infamous "gay-panic" defense worked in the 90s to exonerate murderers. It's all the same thing. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
December 30th, 2015 at 4:28:27 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
Zen is not a religion. It has no higher power, it doesn't worship anything. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
December 30th, 2015 at 5:37:55 PM permalink | |
beachbumbabs Member since: Sep 3, 2013 Threads: 6 Posts: 1600 |
Thanks for the clarification. I thought that was the case, but didn't have the knowledge to make the distinction. Never doubt a small group of concerned citizens can change the world; it's the only thing ever has |
December 31st, 2015 at 1:21:45 PM permalink | |
rxwine Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 188 Posts: 18631 |
I believe all our behaviors are the natural distribution of evolutionary diversity -- including religion. You are more or less susceptible to certain things -- just as people have certain traits others don't have. In this approach, I'm not assigning blame if you happen to be more susceptible to supernatural ideas. I have a good friend who has lots of wonderful traits but I find that she sure is willing to take various sales pitches with little regard for critical examination. As an example, I ended up deep in the woods (literally) with her and her friend listening to a classic (and illegal) pyramid scheme. Airplane (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane_game ) There were at least 50 people there of all ages. BTW, we drove out there, with her refusing to say what was up, sure I would be convinced, (I guess) or afraid I might object straight out. OTOH, I believe all traits can lead to survival. Maybe for 30 years a different cultish group hides out waiting for the End. Well, one of these groups might be the survivor of a major catastrophe just by luck, of being off in an odd place when something happens. Not for being right though. You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really? |
January 4th, 2016 at 6:51:18 AM permalink | |
Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
Maybe. But since the advent of civilization, human evolution stopped being guided mainly by natural selection. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
January 4th, 2016 at 8:40:20 AM permalink | |
Canyonero Member since: Oct 31, 2015 Threads: 10 Posts: 83 |
Nareed, how do you reconcile being an atheist with the postulate of a free will? I am not talking about the illusion of free will that we all need to survive in our daily lives. I mean the actual ontic thing. All the arguments for a free will that I know of rely on spirituality and a higher power. "Magic" if you will. There is really no basis in science for the concept of a free will. Without spirituality, it is all cause and effect on an atomic level. |
January 4th, 2016 at 3:21:08 PM permalink | |
Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
There's no need to reconcile anything. You might as well ask how I reconcile being an atheist with the force of gravity.
Oh, there is a very real basis: it can be observed. We may not know how it works, but we know it exists. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
January 5th, 2016 at 7:39:18 AM permalink | |
DJTeddyBear Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 5 Posts: 265 |
Since when does a religion require a higher power? Is atheism not a religion? I'm an atheist. That's the check box I select on forms that have a religion question. Ignorance is bliss and knowledge is power. But having only some facts can get you into trouble! |
January 5th, 2016 at 11:07:59 AM permalink | |
rxwine Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 188 Posts: 18631 |
If people believing in worshiping Elves and praying to them would be a religion, does that mean that everyone who doesn't is practicing a religion? I can never fathom the argument that atheism is a religion. It just doesn't make sense. You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really? |
January 5th, 2016 at 11:16:51 AM permalink | |
Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
One of my favorites hobbies is not collecting stamps. It's followed closely by not following soccer and not playing golf. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |