Zerinus and Introspection Illusion

[_SteelHead]

As far as the atheists are concerned, they are very dishonest with themselves. I have no difficulty understanding what they are trying to say.[/color]

Explain to me how they are being dishonest with themselves.

Gadianton, myself and others have tried to get zerinus to answer direct questions.

Good luck Jersey Girl.

[_Jersey Girl]

Gadianton, myself and others have tried to get zerinus to answer direct questions.

Good luck Jersey Girl.

That's because you guys suck at it.

[_Gadianton]

There is a difference between passively wondering through life, neither believing nor disbelieving in anything, or not being able to make up your mind; and actively and positively declaring and affirming your belief that there is no God. That is what an atheist does, or supposed to do. That is the true definition of atheism. I don't care what anybody else says. And that is also a belief system, just as theism is a belief system.

That's not consistent with what you said before about elves. You were very clear that a person who believes in magic elves but does not worship them like a God does not have a belief system. There are a lot of folks out there who wrap their lives around paranormal phenomena and positively declare their beliefs in ghosts, aliens, magnetism (franktalk), government conspiracies, but do not specifically look to these things as "God" nor would it make sense to call them theists.

I don't care what anybody else says.

this is sig worthy and probably the statement that best describes Zerinus.

I don't think you are attracted to Mormonism because you really have a testimony. I think you are attracted to it because, somewhat like a guy called mfbukowski, you like the supposed theology where your beliefs, whatever they are, are by definition true, and you're by definition, not in danger of being wrong about anything. I could mention other names from this forum but I won't. Basically, you think very highly of yourself and want to be right, and a theology that allows you to believe you are right without any risk is very attractive.

[_RockSlider]

I kept trying to edit my post, and it kept duplicating it instead.

Well there's your trouble, computer illiteracy.

There is a world of discovery awaiting the 'faithful'
Welcome to the dawning of 2017

[_Gadianton]

Brother Z often finds himself in the "not even wrong" category. Quite a gift.

You aren't kidding. Right after you said this, he said:

Science cannot and does not disprove any of those things.

So now God is unfalsifiable. What's crazy is that if this is really what he believes, then why doesn't he call atheism a belief system for this reason? If science is incapable of disproving God, then it would seem belief against God is a position of "faith". In fact, more often than not, when a Christian says atheism is a belief system, this is what they mean: An atheist can't know there isn't a God by scientific means, and atheists are fully vested in science, therefore atheism is a faith-based religion. Next in line would be the accusation that the atheism is a belief system because it's a worldview, specifically one with fevered, extra-rational devotion.

Last would be that atheism or better, naturalism as a broad philosophical position that guides inquiry. Well, fine, but, the point of the believer's label isn't to properly categorize atheism, but to take a swipe at it -- generally to say atheism operates irrationally within an atheist, contrary to atheists insisting they are guided by reason.

Z has fallen for the sound byte "atheism is a religion" without clarifying in his own mind what that really means.

[_schreech]

I seriously can't wrap my head around what this zerinus cat is trying to accomplish here aside from making a total fool of him(her)self. Is he/she trying to convince us to change our lives and live them more like the sad, angry, gullible, ignorantly arrogant individual that he/she portrays here? Is he/she just an unintelligent, lonely zealot who has chased everyone in real life away by acting like a never-wrong tool so he/she finds online Mormon themed groups and proceeds to tell everyone how they are wrong as a way to deal with the insecurities that come with wasting life following a foolish religion? Is he/she hoping that through a series of mind-numbingly childish posts he/she is banking Elohim points to cash in at the end of life for a bigger plot of land in Mormon heaven? There havent been many times in my life that I have encountered someone who thinks so highly of themselves and their own delusion but that is so obtuse and spectacularly wrong about so many things.

I've said it before but, If living life by the will of the Mormon god as "revealed" by the "holy ghost" leads someone to the barely intelligible "thought" processes that Mormon die-hards (like Z) exhibit, why in the name of Zuess would anyone want to recreate whatever experiences led this crotchety, naïve stooge to spends his days trolling the internet telling happy people they are living their lives incorrectly? Im baffled...nothing that Z has posted has led me to pause and think "man, I really want what he/she has!". In fact, Z's posts have had the opposite effect in every way - It is a reminder of how damaging blind faith and religious fanaticism can be. I just sort of feel sorry for this person...

[_Lemmie]

I seriously can't wrap my head around what this zerinus cat is trying to accomplish here aside from making a total fool of him(her)self. Is he/she trying to convince us to change our lives and live them more like the sad, angry, gullible, ignorantly arrogant individual that he/she portrays here? Is he/she just an unintelligent, lonely zealot who has chased everyone in real life away by acting like a never-wrong tool so he/she finds online Mormon themed groups and proceeds to tell everyone how they are wrong as a way to deal with the insecurities that come with wasting life following a foolish religion? Is he/she hoping that through a series of mind-numbingly childish posts he/she is banking Elohim points to cash in at the end of life for a bigger plot of land in Mormon heaven? There havent been many times in my life that I have encountered someone who thinks so highly of themselves and their own delusion but that is so obtuse and spectacularly wrong about so many things.

I've said it before but, If living life by the will of the Mormon god as "revealed" by the "holy ghost" leads someone to the barely intelligible "thought" processes that Mormon die-hards (like Z) exhibit, why in the name of Zuess would anyone want to recreate whatever experiences led this crotchety, naïve stooge to spends his days trolling the internet telling happy people they are living their lives incorrectly? Im baffled...nothing that Z has posted has led me to pause and think "man, I really want what he/she has!". In fact, Z's posts have had the opposite effect in every way - It is a reminder of how damaging blind faith and religious fanaticism can be. I just sort of feel sorry for this person...

Apparently (and sadly! as you pointed out), it is common enough that there is a name for it:

(And check out the nickname. There could not possibly be a better name for Zerinus than Philotroll !)

The Sophist Troll.

Sophist Trolls, or "philotrolls," fancy themselves Enlightened Philosophers or Learned Experts of the highest order....

When confronted by opinions with which they do not agree – particularly when they do not see any means of successfully arguing their contrary views – Sophists resort (repeatedly) to a variety of intellectually dishonest tactics. Most often, this is characterized by an overly snide, condescending, patronizing attitude....

When cornered they are quick to resort to personal attacks. A philotroll's bag of rhetorical tricks includes a variety of transparent ploys, such as willfully misinterpreting the opponent's words, committing Straw Man fallacies, accusing his or her opponents of engaging in the very tactics used by the philotroll, and so forth.

When engaging in their sophistry, philotrolls are among the most hypocritical and aggravating of trollkind.

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=179139

[_Jersey Girl]

As far as the atheists are concerned, they are very dishonest with themselves. I have no difficulty understanding what they are trying to say.[/color]

Explain to me how they are being dishonest with themselves.

Just moving my question forward...

[Guest]

The Sophist Troll.

Sophist Trolls, or "philotrolls," fancy themselves Enlightened Philosophers or Learned Experts of the highest order....

When confronted by opinions with which they do not agree – particularly when they do not see any means of successfully arguing their contrary views – Sophists resort (repeatedly) to a variety of intellectually dishonest tactics. Most often, this is characterized by an overly snide, condescending, patronizing attitude....

When cornered they are quick to resort to personal attacks. A philotroll's bag of rhetorical tricks includes a variety of transparent ploys, such as willfully misinterpreting the opponent's words, committing Straw Man fallacies, accusing his or her opponents of engaging in the very tactics used by the philotroll, and so forth.

When engaging in their sophistry, philotrolls are among the most hypocritical and aggravating of trollkind.

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=179139

Lemmie,

Thanks for the "The Definitive Guide to Trolls" link. Had not seen this before and found it informative and entertaining.

However, after reading the description of each type, I would argue zerinus is such an extreme example that a new category might be justified.

Since he/she exhibits characteristic behaviors of several troll types, the term "Omnitroll" might be appropriate.

One could also imagine "Fundatroll", "Religatroll" or "eternatroll".

He/she could be breaking new ground here

[_zerinus]

I seriously can't wrap my head around what this zerinus cat is trying to accomplish here aside from making a total fool of him(her)self. Is he/she trying to convince us to change our lives and live them more like the sad, angry, gullible, ignorantly arrogant individual that he/she portrays here? Is he/she just an unintelligent, lonely zealot who has chased everyone in real life away by acting like a never-wrong tool so he/she finds online Mormon themed groups and proceeds to tell everyone how they are wrong as a way to deal with the insecurities that come with wasting life following a foolish religion? Is he/she hoping that through a series of mind-numbingly childish posts he/she is banking Elohim points to cash in at the end of life for a bigger plot of land in Mormon heaven? There haven't been many times in my life that I have encountered someone who thinks so highly of themselves and their own delusion but that is so obtuse and spectacularly wrong about so many things.

I've said it before but, If living life by the will of the Mormon god as "revealed" by the "holy ghost" leads someone to the barely intelligible "thought" processes that Mormon die-hards (like Z) exhibit, why in the name of Zuess would anyone want to recreate whatever experiences led this crotchety, naïve stooge to spends his days trolling the internet telling happy people they are living their lives incorrectly? Im baffled...nothing that Z has posted has led me to pause and think "man, I really want what he/she has!". In fact, Z's posts have had the opposite effect in every way - It is a reminder of how damaging blind faith and religious fanaticism can be. I just sort of feel sorry for this person...

Stupidity and idiocy reigns supreme in this forum I can see. That is a remarkable achievement.