"Truth" is a human concept. If he wants to say that humans are an accident, then he should also be saying that the existence of the concept of truth is an accident.
--> -->Fundamentalism - the anti-American, anti-Christian branch of American Christianity <-- <--
All of the arguments of CS Lewis are bad. I am amazed that anyone would think he was some sort if brilliant philosopher. His arguments are no better than those of a freshman philosophy student.
What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence. -Christopher Hitchens
Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts
"God did it" is not an argument. It is an excuse for intellectual laziness.
If your viewpoint has merits and facts to back it up why would you have to lie?
Oh good, more evidence-free waffle and the fallacy of personal incredulity thrown in for free.
The fact that Lewis, you and me find our existence incredible does not mean goddidit.
Nor does it mean that a God came to earth as a Jewish man to redeem us of our sins, was killed and sprang back to life only to disappear into the clouds to be never seen or heard of again. Now THAT is unbelievable.
It's not even a logical thought process. Why isn't it more incredible that a god did it all? After all a god that could make 'life the universe and everything' that you simply can't believe could have come about naturally must be even more unbelievable.
You can't answer the problem of infinite regress by planting an artificial full stop in mid sentence. Lewis is utterly clueless, god knows why you're so impressed by him, I suppose it's because you think he says the things you believe in better. Well he might do, but what he says is still fallacy-ridden nonsense.
Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis Juif. Je suis Parisien. I am Mancunian. I am Brum. I am London. Olen Suomi Soy Barcelona. I am Ukraine.
"Science adjusts it's views based on what's observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved." - Tim Minchin, in his beat poem, Storm.
Give GDR a break. He is in essence working out his beliefs and testing them against the unemotional impassive intelligence of the peanut gallery. You are right in that we *should* be having fun here. Already I miss ringo. He showed up every day to answer every post that was directed at him. He and I never agreed, but it was fun to attempt to frame and re-frame my (hopefully lighthearted) arguments which he would promptly demolish again and again. I sincerely hope that he is ok and is just taking a break from the crazy that can be this place! If any of you know how to get in touch with him, let us know if he is ok or not. Canada has a reasonably priced health care system, but he may need help. Now...about the ether. (Either Orrrr) What were you saying, EZPaul3?
AZ writes:
There are no requirements to respond here.
True, but if one simply trolls and then crawls back under their rock, they are employing hit and run tactics to our scintillating discussion!
AZSoulTrain writes:
This is supposed to be fun. (but?) I will not be offended if you ignore my ravings to follow your (religiously injured) heart.
The national peanut gallery used to call liberals "bleeding Hearts". Does anyone know where the term originated? Lets throw that one on the pile along with "woke". We can define them later if we have any time!
All of the arguments of CS Lewis are bad. I am amazed that anyone would think he was some sort if brilliant philosopher. His arguments are no better than those of a freshman philosophy student.
Speaking of student philosophers, allow me to introduce Alex O'Connor, the one and only Cosmic Skeptic! https://youtu.be/QqasvA9gba8
Science will never have the computing power to even define the parameters of such a "thing". Science will never have the capability to gather the evidence required.
"Heavier than air flying craft are impossible."--Lord Kelvin, 1895
This doesn't make much sense to me. Our brains store life experiences and are conditioned by them. Are you trying to tell us that this god of yours is directly causing our thoughts and motivations minute by minute?
No, I'm contending that this so called still small voice of God is there influencing us to do the right and loving thing just as there are other natural influences and desires influencing us to do the selfish thing.
He has told you, O man, what is good ; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God.
You seem to want to re-frame this into a my opinion vs your opinion thing. My opinion actually agrees with you - I think an external intelligence for life would be a very good answer. It has the potential to explain a lot of things. The thing is - reality doesn't care about opinions or imagination - not mine, and not yours. Reality is whatever it is. And reality is telling us that no external intelligence exists.
A man commits suicide. We might look at things in his life to try and figure out why, but other than for mental illness or damage to the brain it is simply surmising. We can never know for sure what triggered his action but whatever it was it was real, without material evidence.
I simply see that the most likely cause for the fact that we can rise above selfishness, or like I said previously the survival of the fittest is an external influence. Of course I don't have nard evidence but I do contend that it is the most likely answer.
He has told you, O man, what is good ; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God.
Historical result of Science of the Gaps - Science develops better technology to study the concept, learns more about the natural process, advances human knowledge, no external intelligence is ever found. Historical result of God of the Gaps - No one ever looks any further, nothing is ever learned, human knowledge stagnates, no external intelligence is ever found. Science of the Gaps is actually a strength of science - not a weakness. It identifies areas of further study, and we end up learning more. God of the Gaps is, well, exactly what you think it is. The only reason you could possibly think that "not knowing something" is a weakness - is if you have a historical record of being unable to learn new things due to a personal issue of clinging to tradition regardless of it's veracity. In science - "not knowing something" is an exciting opportunity. It means we're about to learn something. And we always do. We just never find an external intelligence, is all.
No real problem with any of that. I agree that science should go on investigating without giving a thought to any possible supernatural explanation. Where I do have a problem with science of the gaps thinking is when it is assumed that what can be examined materially will always ultimately provide and answer to a problem. I do have a problem that when we look at processes such as evolution, and conclude that the reason for its existence is the fact that it exists.
He has told you, O man, what is good ; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God.
quote:Ride the currents of popular culture with Ian Shoales. It's all rock-n-roll to him.
Sadly, Ian had slowed down considerably by this time. His delivery on the radio was much more rapid-fire. You couldn't quote him later to a friend because it went by so fast that you had no time to memorize any of it.
Basically, he was what Ben Shapiro could have been if Shapiro had turned to good instead of evil.
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Leonard regarding Sheldon Cooper:
"He's just one laboratory accident away from becoming a super-villain."
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ABE: A better sample of Ian Shoales from 2000, before his expiration date:
No, I'm contending that this so called still small voice of God is there influencing us to do the right and loving thing just as there are other natural influences and desires influencing us to do the selfish thing.
I still don't understand. How is your god influencing us if he's not directly influencing us?
Je suis Charlie. Je suis Ahmed. Je suis Juif. Je suis Parisien. I am Mancunian. I am Brum. I am London. Olen Suomi Soy Barcelona. I am Ukraine.
"Science adjusts it's views based on what's observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved." - Tim Minchin, in his beat poem, Storm.
™ Version 4.2
