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Very reasonable. Continuing with the thought of heuristics as a useful tool in the face of limited time and opportunity, unless there is a compelling reason, simply arguing against the existence of things that have not yet adequately been shown to exist is not necessarily a productive use of effort...

What I notice in your comments is a persistent tendency to anthromorphize Deity. Comparing God to Bigfoot, God taking attendance, and the like. For a former Mormon, that is probably the most natural thing to do, and what I am suggesting is that it is these acts of anthropomorphization that probably...

I agree with you that individual people may feel relief and they may feel a sense of freedom. What I am trying to say is that there is too much at stake to justify feeling relieved or free, and it is only by failing to acknowledge the real problems that we allow ourselves to feel those things. I ne...

I don't see how that is an advantage or necessarily a relief. Of course, my guess as to why most people who reject God do so is that they do so largely for social reasons. They tire of the institutional power of organized religion, and the easiest way to untangle from all of that is to simply say G...

My ice cream, broccoli, and spinach example was only to show the general principle that adding an option can sometimes make a choice easier, and so having one more thing to worry about, such as God, doesn't necessarily make life harder. Ice cream was not intended to represent God. It just adds one ...

Then you are arguing that one is better, actually. In any case, my point, although I wandered from it, is that ideally atheism should be even more intellectually demanding than theism, but in practice that is often not the case. People often see not worrying about God as a big relief, but I believe...

I don’t know why Romney comes to kind, since he is one if the most compliant flip-flippers in the history if politics. The only unpopular position he eventually followed through on was his opposition to Trump. No big community coalesced around that position. I don't argue he doesn't flip flop, but ...

Kishkumen wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:08 pm

Who is the leader in your Republican scenario? Q?

Mitt Romney comes to mind. He was the top pillar for a bit. Not so popular anymore even though he has not changed.

I disagree. The people in history who have invested heavily in their community that resulted in positive change have not been those who just go along with what their community always demanded. Those who always made the declarations their community demanded tend to be the sheep, not the shepherds. I...

You illustrate how disconcerting this example was to me. Overall, if you are feeding a kid, the spinach and broccoli rank way higher in 'goodness.' Adding a less good thing that in the short run is far preferred but in the long run is less 'good' is a weird way to introduce god into a discussion. S...