asbestosman wrote:I think God is still alive. They've never found the body ;)
This would imply that one has met God to begin with. Have you ever seen him in our shared plane of existence or have you just been told that he exists?
I haven't ever seen/heard of Tyler Durdens body. Does that mean that he exists?
And crawling on the planet's face Some insects called the human race Lost in time And lost in space...and meaning
krose wrote:This is what makes "Pascal's Wager" so ridiculous. Why not choose to believe in order to hedge your bets? Uh, no.
I may want to believe in an after-life and a loving, eternal father figure. As a matter of fact, I DO want to. But I can't make myself believe. There is just no way I can now make myself "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain," so to speak.
I prefer to meet the man behind the curtain. He's much more impressive then the talking face.
Problem is that within Mormonism (and religion for that matter) theres just another curtain. You duck behind the second curtain and theres a cardboard sign that says "god Is Dead...move along peasant".
The key is to turn right after the first curtain. That's the one God is behind.
"Surely he knows that DCP, The Nehor, Lamanite, and other key apologists..." -Scratch clarifying my status in apologetics "I admit it; I'm a petty, petty man." -Some Schmo
The Nehor wrote: Wanting to believe in God and the corresponding belief in a higher law is a choice.
I would say that's true, Nehor. You may want to believe in God and that is a choice made (I've done that myself!) although wanting to believe something is true does not in fact make it something you can choose to believe in.
I can choose to try really, really, really hard to believe in the Loch Ness Monster. I can do research, look at photos, read accounts, watch (silly) programs on t.v concerning the evidence. I may squint my eyes tight, hold my breath, do jumping jacks, meditate, sleep with a Loch Ness Monster plush doll, create a haiku in honor of Nessie to repeat a few times a day.... yet, I can't choose to actually accept that the Loch Ness Monster lives in the murky depths...
Ach, Moniker, y'r goin aboot it the wrang way, lassie. A' ye need tae dae is hae a couple o' good belts o' whisky afore ye visit Loch Ness, and yir sure tae see the beastie! (not 'beastie', mind - 'the beastie' - sorry, beastie, for taking your name in vain)
If it's nighttime, and murky enough, you may be left with a belief in what you 'saw', short of absolute knowledge.
There you go.
Don't bother to thank me - observing the flowering of your faith is reward enough for me!
NOMinal member
Maksutov: "... if you give someone else the means to always push your buttons, you're lost."
Ach, Moniker, y'r goin aboot it the wrang way, lassie. A' ye need tae dae is hae a couple o' good belts o' whisky afore ye visit Loch Ness, and yir sure tae see the beastie! (not 'beastie', mind - 'the beastie' - sorry, beastie, for taking your name in vain)
If it's nighttime, and murky enough, you may be left with a belief in what you 'saw', short of absolute knowledge.
There you go.
Don't bother to thank me - observing the flowering of your faith is reward enough for me!
First, thou art forgiven.
Second, this sounds like the same methodology used by the Saints in the Kirkland temple...
We hate to seem like we don’t trust every nut with a story, but there’s evidence we can point to, and dance while shouting taunting phrases.
asbestosman wrote:Do we choose what to believe, or do simply have beliefs and then choose how to act upon them? Can we suddenly choose to believe that there are married bachelors or that Nehor is an extra-celestial? Is it that while we cannot simply choose to believe, we can choose our circumstances such that we are more likely to believe or not? If so, could we make our circumstances such that we really do come to believe that 2+2=5 and that we love Big Brother? If faith is not a choice, why is it the first principle of the gospel and how can we be judged for it? How directly or indirectly can we influence our degree of faith?
Interesting questions... I respectfully suggest that they are all negated by the false premise of the authenticity of "the gospel" (good-news) as understood by the whole of our inherrited Christendom. Particularly, its LDS expression of "faith" being, "the first principle of their gospel" (Good news)
In the state of Mormonism's unbridled egotism, "We are THE ONLY TRUE CHURCH!!" They know not their ignorance, nor the threat--sweet folks they may seem--that they represent to the advancement of human civility. IMSCO... Warm regards, Roger