Happy Easter!
April 4th, 2018 at 3:30:24 PM permalink | |
Wizard Administrator Member since: Oct 23, 2012 Threads: 239 Posts: 6095 |
I would bet missionaries of any religion can say that, including missionaries of atheism, if there are such a thing. Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber |
April 4th, 2018 at 3:52:03 PM permalink | |
FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 |
I think what you mean here is that very few people are self-masochists. What I think needs to be clarified is what selfishness means. To me acting selfish is to do something that makes you feel good emotionally or physically and usually does not consider others. I have hope that this is not what you mean by being selfish. You have correctly said many times that being led by our emotions is not a good way to live. To live by only choosing what will make me feel good could be considered selfish and I think it is destructive. I don't feel like going to the gym but I know I should and I do feel good afterwards. Sometimes I don't feel like going to the hospital in the middle of the night or to go over to the house where the family is in grief or fighting. These things don't make me feel good but I do them to serve others and I feel fulfilled in not doing what I want but what God wants. I was shocked you didn't blink an eye to being a slave of selfishness. This basically means you are a slave to your emotions, your passions, and what makes you happy. You have made yourself into your God and you slavishly worship him. Don't you do anything that you would rather not do but feel a responsibility for or just do it because you know it is the right thing to do? “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
April 4th, 2018 at 3:57:18 PM permalink | |
FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 |
I am sure you would be judged as a really good guy. However, you were not made to be just a really good guy - you are so much more than that! A perfect God made you to be in a relationship with Him and just being a good guy means that you can't and don't deserve that, but God doesn't care He loves you too much and is willing to forgive you for it all. The hypocrisy you see so vividly is because we are loved sinners not perfect people who deserve God's praise. If you looked at yourself and others more as loved sinners instead of really good guys who mess up all the time you might be able to look past the hypocrisy and see God's unconditional love. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
April 4th, 2018 at 3:59:27 PM permalink | |
FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 |
I think anyone in any religion would say that if you want to join to have all the answers you are doing it wrong. Religion is about a relationship with God. It is about love not knowledge. Sure religion helps us to deal with and understand the sorrows, sufferings, joys, and happiness of this life - but it is NOT about answers. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
April 4th, 2018 at 4:03:13 PM permalink | |
FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 |
You don't know that, unless you have blind faith. These men you mentioned never had the faith in atheism you pretend to have here because I believe they were intelligent enough to know that reality points to something greater than material atheism. There is nothing that would lead a logical person to conclude there is no God, absolutely nothing that can bring someone to that conclusion. They knew that and while they did not believe in God I think they seemed to have a much more healthy respect of these big questions than you seem to have. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
April 4th, 2018 at 4:18:25 PM permalink | |
FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 |
I could not possibly disagree more. Everyone has their gullible people, religious or not. Evenbob for example posted recently that in his reading he found the Inquistion to be worse than he thought. This is pure gullibility. Any serious study of this time period will lead a skeptical thinking person that the Inquistion as we see it portrayed in movies, novels, and biased websites is a pure myth or urban legend. This is why skepticism is essential to arrive at truth. The greatest saints and theologians are skeptics who aren't led by what they want to believe but they take an unblinking gaze into truth and promise to be led wherever it leads no matter what. I don't think this desire to be skeptical and relentlessly pursue the truth is completely nature but really dependent on nurture as well. These types of people are open to change be it slight or large in their position. I reject the notion that we are not here to change each other's minds but just hone our own arguments. I would lose respect for anyone who when shown evidence that they are wrong does not change, whether that was me or anyone else. To be brutally honest I am sad to say this is why I have lost some respect for Evenbob over these many, many posts. I don't expect some great conversion, that doesn't happen over a forum. However, I think everyone has at some point recognized the validity of another's argument or admitted they were wrong about something. Evenbob never has and he continues to engage until he is shown to be wrong then he will either stop the conversation, change the topic, or continue to say the same thing over and over again as if we never discussed it. If I didn't believe in the power of words and truth I would have stopped long ago but I just don't believe that someone can be so closed minded to ignore truth over and over again when it is presented to him. Sorry to go on a little rant here but I really like the guy, but he so often disappoints me by his closed mindedness, meanness, and prejudice that I just needed to get this out. I probably deserve a suspension for it. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
April 4th, 2018 at 4:26:01 PM permalink | |
Wizard Administrator Member since: Oct 23, 2012 Threads: 239 Posts: 6095 |
That's fine. Everyone thinks they are the skeptical one and those who disagree have blind faith the other way. I'll let EB address the rest of your post. I am still trying to get him to admit he was wrong in his many predictions on the 2012 election. Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber |
April 4th, 2018 at 4:55:21 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25011 |
That's the negative form of selfishness, running rough shod over others. I'm talking about positive selfishness, which is what most people practice even if they don't know it. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
April 4th, 2018 at 4:58:43 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25011 |
Nah, he created his own reality and a god isn't in it. He doesn't want all that unnecessary baggage. If you had a choice (you don't because you were brainwashed young) you wouldn't want it either. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
April 4th, 2018 at 5:00:53 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25011 |
That's why it always fails, you can't have a real relationship with something fictional. What you end up with is chaos, which describes worldwide tries at religion. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |