rationalskepticism.org

SpeedOfSound wrote:

John Platko wrote:

SpeedOfSound wrote:

John Platko wrote:

Ahhh I recognize that church, I think that's the one Paul Dirac attended.

I think it typical of how an atheist would imagine god. Now I'm wondering how you do it. Do you imagine a motive being, kind of like a human?

These days I mostly imagine God as a positive force directing the universe - something akin to what we Catholics would call Grace. But when I'm imagining a more personal God, I imagine a connection with all the snippets of knowledge bounding around my brain.

So what I would call prayer is really a dialogue with these snippets of knowledge - most of which I am not conscious of. In practice, this can feel like a real dialogue with a being that is very wise. But even though I know it's me, because what else could it be, at times it feels greater, and other, than me.

Thank you Sir. You have given me new hope for our species. Me, the atheist, and you, the believer, are no different. I am BTW an atheist who prays and almost daily uses the g-word in my practice of recovery from addiction.

Now I am left with the supposition that you just like to play here at pissing people off or am I missing some history?

Well I stumbled upon this place by accident years ago, I was looking for a group that could talk rationally about the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, google sent me here. They were mostly horsing around in that thread but I did eventually get what I was looking for about that.

So once here I thought I'd post a bit and pretty much immediately the forum's immune system kicked in because I identify as a theist. Some rule #3 nonsense. I had never encountered anything like it before, and it took me a while to sus out what was going on. Let's just say I did a few experiments to help me figure it out.

But you didn't seem to have any problem cutting through my posts. You asked a few pointed questions, I gave you a few honest answers. And it is obvious that there isn't much difference between us. As I try to untangle the religious, and other, nonsense that was impressed on my neurons before I was old enough to protect myself from such doings I find it sensible to keep the bits that aren't crap - and that heuristic seems to bug the hell out of some members. Why? Maybe they just want to be able to wave a magic wand and make all that kind of damage go away - but it doesn't work that way.