Marg....What Faith IS!

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_marg

Re: Marg....What Faith IS!

Post by _marg »

Jersey Girl wrote:
Yes! Science and intellectualism are not involved in spirituality. It is wrongheaded to think that one can be determined or measured by the other.


What is your definition of spirituality?

Which is why these types of discussions hit a dead end. You would think that intelligent folks would know that at the outset instead of substituting human arrogance for the thought that they claim to engage.


Give me an example by quoting anyone on this thread who substituted "human arrogance for the thought that they claimed to engage".
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Re: Marg....What Faith IS!

Post by _JAK »

Post Reference 1

Nightlion,

Just to reinforce marg’s question: “How do you demonstrate souls and a God objectively?

Nightlion stated:
I can easily demonstrate all my claims objectively.


Let’s see you do this in light of marg’s challenge in the above cited post.

Post Reference 2

Nightlion stated:
I can easily demonstrate all my claims objectively. Like any sophisticated science, the objectifying is in the pudding. You have to work the science to prove the results. In other words. I would need others interested in proving my objective values to be willing to submit to the discipline required to work the process.....Faith to begin with, and that would only be the beginning.


“Easily demonstrate” and “like any sophisticate science” are irreconcilable. An easy demonstration is hardly “any sophisticate science.”

It is certainly correct that science requires “work” to establish reliable conclusion. And as that reliable conclusion is established, it so done with objective observation, skeptical review, and considerable challenge. When that polio vaccine was first announced (which I mentioned in another post), it was viewed with great skepticism. Only with hundreds and thousands of examples in which the vaccine was used was the proof of its reliability established. The skeptical review was global and universal. It was not done by a few believers. The “objective” in this case was to discover if there was reliability in the vaccine.

What is the skeptical review and what is the wide sample of reviewers in your contention. If “others” are merely “interested in proving” your position (values), that is hardly skeptical review nor is it objective analysis.

What is the “discipline” here? How is the “discipline” measured? Who does the measuring of that “discipline”?

I address your words and your claims here with question. “Faith” is a mercurial term of reference. It means about anything one who uses the term wants it to mean. Hence, “faith” is both unreliable and irrelevant if we are looking for objectivity.

Just what do you mean by: “willing to submit to the discipline required to work the process...... ?

Aren’t you really talking about submitting to a religious dogma prescribed to produce cutter-cookie mindset? You use “faith” as a singular. Other than belief, what do you mean by the term? If “others” all submit to the same “belief” or beliefs, you have no “objective values” as you characterize above.

Can you resolve these ambiguities?

Nightlion stated:
Not the faith of countless failed and phony religions. Faith that can bring forth an objective product.


How are “failed and phony religions” going to be objectively determined? You have demonstrated no mechanism by which “faith” in the context of your usage can “bring forth an objective product.”

That is essential if you intend to make any case here.

Nightlion stated:
Do you think it unfair that I require a competence equal to the merits of the discovery, even that of a living and true God?


(Understanding that this question was for marg) How do you propose to measure “competence”? What’s the criteria for it?

The latter appears a sound bite. What’s the difference between a “living and true God” and a dead and true God?
How do you distinguish between a “living” and false God?

What’s the criteria for God? How is that criteria assessed and by whom is it assessed?

I do not think you have the slightest idea how to address questions such as these, Nightlion. If you do, please articulate in unambiguous detail.

Nightlion stated:
Should it be allowed for gawkers and deniers to observe and validate objective results absent of the earnest of the applied science of spiritual discovery?


You advocate exclusion. The pejorative, slanted language “gawkers and deniers” is also ambiguous. In your discussion with me, you don’t even allow straight forward questions. At least you don’t respond to them.

Are questions acceptable? It appears they are not. So just what people will you include to “…validate objective results…”?

If they must all be believers in the faith at the start, they are hardly objective in any sense. They are yes, yes, Amen people who question nothing. It seems phony to suggest an idea of “objective results” in your context above while denying objective questions relevant to the claims made.

Nightlion stated:
If my religion was cranking out saint after saint after saint, the validity of my religion would skyrocket. I admit the weakness of religion in general is also this lack of product.


Actually, the version of Christianity, Roman Catholicism, which has many saints, has the largest claim to membership of any Christian denomination. It is the world’s largest Christian church. We have the American Roman Catholic Church, the Catholic Orthodox Church, the Vatican Archives which remain a closely guarded secret of the Vatican. In fact, there is likely no figure available to be found that tallies the strength financially of this religious denomination.

Of course, what you mean by “weakness of religion” is left to the guesswork of a reader here. But one could hardly characterize the Roman Catholic Church globally as weak. Your “religion” is 2,000 years behind the curve in the evolution of “cranking out saint after saint after saint” as you put it.

Nightlion stated:
I admit the weakness of religion in general is also this lack of product.


Interesting phraseology! “The weakness of religion…” as if there were one. There are multiple weaknesses of religion. A great weakness of religion is the fact that the various religious groups compete for power and control. In that competition, they have doctrinal disagreements which make them all subject to skepticism. Than cannot ALL be right. Since nearly all have evolved over some time with various interpretations and splinter groups, it’s an unlikely conclusion that any is right or correct or reliable.

Historically, a principle weakness is that members of certain religious groups have gone about to kill members of other religious groups in an effort to be dominate. That competition, perhaps diminished from more primitive religious times, is still very much in play. People convert from one religious group to another for a variety of reasons.

Nightlion stated:
All you got to objectify my claims right now is me. I have not lived forty years of a spiritually productive life with nothing to show for it.


You do not understand (as demonstrated by this statement) the meaning of objectivity. As an individual you, alone, are subjective and reflect subjective perception about most anything we could consider. Each of us alone is subjective in our perceptions as well as our knowledge compared with the collective knowledge possessed by the comprehensive academic world view of all the information accumulated. Much of it is recorded in more recent time and since the invention of the printing press which allows for accurate replication of volumes (Gutenberg 1440 AD).

Prior to the improvements of that earliest printing press, everything written was copied by hand one character at a time. The reliability of that no matter how well attempted, never had the accuracy of mass printing which we have today. So subjectivity was inherent in the copying of everything that was transferred in that way.

As for “forty years,” well Human Evolution which predates the evolution of cultures with language dates back some time. From this link: “The term ‘human’ in the context of human evolution refers to the genus Homo, but studies of human evolution usually include other hominids, such as the Australopithecines, from which the genus Homo had diverged by about 2.3 to 2.4 million years ago in Africa.”

As for a time frame of reference, you might scroll down from Homo sapiens at this website to get a greater handle on the timeline for the evolution of our species. The evolution of communication devices including but not limited to language came along in the relatively recent past as you see the length of time for Homo sapiens in the chart below.

The data is generally information consensus which no religion appears to addresses adequately.

JAK
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Re: Marg....What Faith IS!

Post by _JAK »

Jersey Girl wrote:JAK
You continue to deny that there are many notions of “God” which are at odds with one another. You appear brainwashed by a particular religious ideology with little or no awareness that there are many such ideologies. Religious men do not agree on religious notions. In fact religious wars account for the deaths of countless millions over the centuries. You do not appear to know much history regarding the evolution and emergence of religious myths as well as their declines.



What particular religious ideology do you assume that Nightlion has been "brainwashed" by?


Jersey Girl,

In my address of Nightlion, I did not mention a specific religion. Short of his presenting some case or some defense of a specific religious bias which he holds, it was sufficient to recognize his language to be a defense of some religious bias. My lengthy questions and analysis of his previous posts await response.

JAK
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Re: Marg....What Faith IS!

Post by _Jersey Girl »

Eric wrote:
Jersey Girl wrote:
If you think that science and intellectualism are involved in spirituality, please tell me why you think that.


I'm just curious about why you think "spirituality" excludes the intellect.


I think I might agree with you; if by spirituality you mean some type of communication (imagined or real) with a creator, and by intellect you mean "the faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively."


No, it doesn't "follow" that the intelligence of a person is directly related to how spiritual they are and I never stated so.


Scare quotes around follow? Anyways, this notion of spirituality that excludes science and intellectualism, as you claim, seems intellectually bankrupt -- by definition.


Eric,

I think my writing was either poorly composed or that you didn't understand what I intended. I do expect you to read my mind now and then. The sticking point, I think, is between definitions of intellectualism vs intellect. I will try to get back here with a definition and clarification.

Just to begin with though,

I am not saying that the intellect is not involved in spirituality.
I am not saying that spirituality excludes the intellect.
I am saying that intellectualism does not engage spirituality. Does that make better sense?

I am also not saying that an intelligent person cannot be spiritual. I'll try to better state what it is I am saying next go round assuming that I have the intellect to succeed in that effort.
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
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Re: Marg....What Faith IS!

Post by _Jersey Girl »

One more for the road here and I hope to return to this thread later this evening.

JAK
Jersey Girl,

In my address of Nightlion, I did not mention a specific religion. Short of his presenting some case or some defense of a specific religious bias which he holds, it was sufficient to recognize his language to be a defense of some religious bias. My lengthy questions and analysis of his previous posts await response.



JAK,

You used the term "brainwashed". Do you need to rely on inflammatory remarks to engage another person in thinking or do you do it intentionally to simply provoke? Do you think that the use of inflammatory remarks in any way contributes to thoughtful exchange?

I don't see that it does.
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
_Eric

Re: Marg....What Faith IS!

Post by _Eric »

Jersey Girl wrote:Does that make better sense?


Yes :)
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Re: Marg....What Faith IS!

Post by _Jersey Girl »

Eric wrote:
Jersey Girl wrote:Does that make better sense?


Yes :)


Whew! Good!
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
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Re: Marg....What Faith IS!

Post by _Nightlion »

JAK wrote:
What’s the criteria for God? How is that criteria assessed and by whom is it assessed?

I do not think you have the slightest idea how to address questions such as these, Nightlion. If you do, please articulate in unambiguous detail.

JAK


Christ said, "take my yoke upon you. For my yoke is easy and my burden light."

The discipline is not found after years of practice and struggle to master concepts and calculations that tax the mind and patience of man. It is as easy as honestly looking within, longing for the love of God, willing to take upon you a living relationship with Almighty God. When truly honest you will humble yourself into the depths of humility, cry out in faith for the merits of Christ to intercede between your wanting to be close to God and knowing your unworthiness. Honor God by not mixing this process with any other thought of how you shall eat and what you shall wear and survive in the world or worry more about planning for your future ambitions and crafts and skills with the world but seek first the kingdom of God and his RIGHTEOUSNESS.

This is not done by the coaching of any other person or group. I did it alone, without mentor. This is a work and discipline suited for the meek and pure in heart, it is not for any who cannot come forth in the meekness of a little child with a broken heart striving to reunite with God.

THEN

God is proven by his promised visitation in the POWER of the Holy Ghost and more so by his act of regeneration, the act of conceiving you his own seed, that CREATES within you and NEW heart. This act provides you an unassailable knowledge of God. The new creature that awakens within you is so remarkably robust, mentally keen, and empowered by faith in the love of God that overflows with charity for all mankind, and an advanced moral aptitude wherein you walk in a newness of life that does not diminish over time. It grows to produce and bring forth an abundant life.

Find a host of the most learned men who excel at life's greatest challenges and put one such saint among them and watch to see who is envied the most. It will be the most advanced life form.

Such is not brainwashing. It is proof of God. Few there be that find it. It is not found in existing churches today. This gospel is trampled upon by all sects of Christianity. Even though, without exception, they will admit this is the real deal.
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Re: Marg....What Faith IS!

Post by _JAK »

Post Reference

Nightlion,

Religious dogma is not and has never been “proof” as you falsely claim. Why is that the case? It is because there are many, many religious dogmas and they do not agree with one another. This was previously in a post to you. You failed and fail to address that documented fact.

Successful brainwash is when the target (person, people) is made to believe that he/she is hearing a rational and reasonable conclusion which is entirely devoid of reason or rationale. Assertion piled upon assertion absent genuine transparent, testable evidence is (in your case) religious dogma and brainwashing.

Why are you unable and unwilling to take analysis and question paragraph by paragraph and sentence by sentence and address those analyses and questions? It is because you are quite incapable of rational discussion. You think/believe that by piling on claim after claim with no support but the dogma with which you have been brainwashed that you have addressed something. You have not.

You have presented no evidence for a God claim – absolutely none.

Nightlion stated:
Such is not brainwashing. It is proof of God. Few there be that find it. It is not found in existing churches today. This gospel is trampled upon by all sects of Christianity. Even though, without exception, they will admit this is the real deal.


False! You have presented nothing but programmed dogma of a religion. I’m quite sure you are incapable of recognizing that. Failure to address the many examples, questions, and analysis which I presented is ample demonstration that you are brainwashed.

Why is your assertion “. . . not found in existing churches today”? That’s an assertion. You offer no evidence for the claim – just an assertion. That reflects that you have been brainwashed. You dismiss all churches which regard themselves as Christian churches. You appear not to recognize the difference between claim and fact as disclosed by evidence. You appear to dismiss all evidence here with sweeping generalization. It is a failure, Nightlion. It’s irrational nonsense.

Nightlion stated:
This gospel is trampled upon by all sects of Christianity. Even though, without exception, they will admit this is the real deal.


Really? “all sects of Christianity” Well then, that would appear as an inclusive statement to include your sect (denomination, cult, whatever). With this claim, you exclude any group, organization, denomination. NONE! Make no mistake, YOU are spouting a version of Christianity -one of the 38,000 groups documented in this website.

So then, Nightlion, from what source do you acquire your implied/stated claim that you have the truth? Since “without exception” “all sects of Christianity” are failures, NONE is reliable! That includes you and your Christian version.

How absurd is this!

How do you know what “Christ said”? NONE is reliable of the various and all the “sects of Christianity.” What is YOUR source for the claim?

It’s an assertion, a claim, a product of being brainwashed.

I asked you for “unambiguous detail.” You offer nothing but ambiguity as well as contradiction. Since every version of Christianity “trampled” [upon the gospel], your notion is no more reliable than any other by your own proposition.

Rather that answer questions and analysis, you default to pre-programmed dogma of some religious sect to claim that only you (certainly not your sect since “all sects” trample the gospel – only you can speak to the TRUTH OF GOD.

Your post could not be a better demonstration of one who has been brainwashed by some version of religion.

You have not established any claim for God. You merely assert God. Absent any evidence open for all to see, to review with skepticism, to test, you have nothing. Your pontifications should be rejected.

Where do all your religious claims come from if not from a religious sect? They come from a religious sect. But you throw all of them out in your statement in your above post. Hence, your religious sect has no more reliability than any other. You make no comparative analysis.

I’m confident that you don’t have the slightest clue the extent to which you are a victim of brainwashing. That’s what successful brainwashing is. It is successful in disconnecting people (such as you) from genuine thought and genuine thinking.

It results in blind belief, blind commitment, blind acceptance, and mindless repetition.

It would be nice to say that you have my sympathy. But given all the opportunity you have been afforded on this bb to respond to questions and analysis, you get none. You have been non-responsive, evasive, and have abdicated intellect and cogent response to issues placed before you.

You give clear demonstration that you are mindless relying on religious dogma to regurgitate when confronted with opportunity to engage your mind.

Clearly, questions and analysis are such a threat to you that you dare not allow yourself to think, to use your mind.

And so you hide in/under your religion.

JAK
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Re: Marg....What Faith IS!

Post by _Nightlion »

JAK wrote:"Lots and lots of rabid hate-speak"
JAK


I have confessed and made it abundantly clear that the proof of God is in the pudding. It cannot be appreciated abstract from experiencing it. But, that experience is objective proof of God and not subjective brainwashed dogma.

Because it is always an original discovery and an experience pregnant with such an abundance of gifts and powers and newness of life that no spouted dogma has ever come close to conveying it to the hearts and minds of men. Nor does there exist a means capable of brainwashing anyone to just accept that they are something that they are not in this intimate covenant between man and God. It is more rare than you will allow.

It is rather distracting of you to pretend to put up more dishes in spin than you really have. I am sorry so many have to crash to the ground unattended to. There are not really so many anyways. You make one point only.

I think that I would have to be joined together with someone else in order for me to have a religion or sect or a spouted dogma. I cannot be painted in the the same corner with all the Christian pretenses. I remain original in my generation.
If that means anything to you, at all.
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