Posted: Dec 21, 2016 6:51 pm
duvduv wrote:Maybe we should just discontinue threads like this on which there is little substantive discussion. I personally don't like forum threads to be transformed into texting or chat rooms. Maybe the moderator has some thoughts about this problem.
What's this "we" shit? You can stop making such threads at your leisure. Or, you can carry on. But, you should probably be prepared for the types of response you're getting.
What's the lesson to take home here? Look where you are. You're surrounded by many people who have looked closely at theism in its various forms, and know a fair bit about it. Most have accordingly rejected what they once believed, or never bothered to believe it in the first place. Don't you get the impression that you may be peddling a discussion on a topic that isn't all that interesting to this august body?
Speaking more specifically for myself, I see little point in discussing what religion X does or doesn't believe, or comparing it to religion Y. They are all religions. By very definition, they deal in the wholesale peddling of unprovable and untestable ideas. All of them. There are no exceptions. The details, therefore, have little meaning in that light, don't they?
Of what value is it to know that religion A believes batshit crazy things 1, 2, and 3, and religion B only believes batshit crazy things 2 and 3, then added 4 through 6? What useful thing does knowing that provide? In this example I gave, I hold no value in things 1 all the way through 6 (and beyond). So, why do I care?
Even if I couch this in terms of learning what motivates behaviors, it isn't of much value. The chance of ever changing the minds of the credulous is near zero.
I've read elsewhere on this forum something to the effect of "we may as well be discussing the causes and effects of left-hand spirals versus right-hand spirals found in unicorn horns." Same thing.