| Holy Texts & Dogma What's with all these books that people bet their lives on? This forum is all about dogma and reasons for circular arguments. |
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05-23-2007, 05:32 PM
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#51 (permalink)
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The 'war on terror' is not devised to strangle my rights as a human being. If you think WMD suspicions are propaganda, what is that?
rstrats, why not just reask them instead of making him search for them?
__________________ The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.
The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.
The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to. --Chuang Tzu | 
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06-03-2007, 08:47 AM
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#52 (permalink)
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lauraclay,
re: “...why not just reask them instead of making him search for them?”
No need to search - just scroll back to posts #38 and #44. | |
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06-05-2007, 05:30 AM
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#53 (permalink)
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Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Florida
Posts: 5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rstrats  Sapphira1212,
re: “Yes, people always make the choice to believe things. Belief is nothing but a choice in my opinion.”
Perhaps you can help me, then. I have never been able to consciously CHOOSE any of the beliefs that I have and I would like to be able to do that - for example to effect a belief that it is possible for me to become a more compassionate person. Since you seem to be implying that you can consciously CHOOSE to believe things, I wonder if you might explain how you do it. What do you do at the last moment to instantly change your one state of belief to another? What is it that you do that would allow you to say, “OK, at this moment I have a lack of belief that ‘x’ exists or is true, but I CHOOSE to believe that ‘x’ exists or is true and now instantly at this new moment I do believe that ‘x’ exists or is true? ? Saint Pats is just around the corner, so maybe you could use something like leprechauns to demonstrate your technique. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, a leprechaun is “a fairy peculiar to Ireland, who appeared in the form of an old man of minute stature, wearing a cocked hat and a leather apron.” So, assuming that you don’t already have a belief in them, how about right now, while you are reading this, CHOOSE to believe - be convinced without a doubt - that they exist. Now that you believe in leprechauns, my question is, how did you do it? How did you make the instantaneous transition from lack of belief to belief? |
Alright, so maybe I was a bit hasty in my comment. You make some good points. There are certain situations where belief is inevitable, and you have no choice in the matter except to accept something is or isn't real. BUT, there are also situations where you have to make a choice. To believe or not believe. You can have as much information on one subject as you want, but when it all comes down to it, you have to make the choice to believe it or run from it. | |
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06-28-2007, 08:19 AM
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#54 (permalink)
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Sapphira1212,
re: “There are certain situations where belief is inevitable...”
Agreed. But I maintain that the belief was not consciously engendered. I have yet to see anyone demonstrate their ability to consciously CHOOSE to believe something. | |
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06-28-2007, 04:28 PM
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#55 (permalink)
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Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Florida
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rstrats Sapphira1212,
re: “There are certain situations where belief is inevitable...”
Agreed. But I maintain that the belief was not consciously engendered. I have yet to see anyone demonstrate their ability to consciously CHOOSE to believe something. |
Well then you obviously haven't been keeping your eyes open. There are many cases which call for a person to conciously choose to believe something. For instance, an old childhood fear. The boogeyman. You never find any proof that he is real or not, so you have to conciously choose not to be afraid of the dark, and to believe he's not real. Bigfoot, you conciously choose to believe in him or not. Like math, if it makes sense to you, you believe it and use it. If it doesn't, then you choose not to believe it works and not to use it. As I said before, there are some cases in which you have no choice, but there are also plenty of situations in which you do. | |
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06-29-2007, 01:07 PM
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#56 (permalink)
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Even though I am not afraid of the dark, because I have convinced myself nothing changes with the flick of a lightswitch, there is still that lurking fear, way in the back of my head, when I wake up at 3 in the morning to a weird noise and I have to get up and go to the bathroom. Even though I choose to believe there is nothing in my bed, there is still that vague fear deep in my brain that a killer is going to sneak out after I fall asleep to get me. And I still check the back seat of my car before I get in when it's been parked for a long time at night. I choose to believe that nothing is there in all of these situations, or rather, I choose to act like nothing is there, and I choose to acknowledge the strong probability that nothing is. But I cannot choose to believe with 100% certainty to never be afraid of the dark.
P.S. I'm not really scared of the boogeyman, and I don't use a nightlight.
__________________ The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.
The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.
The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to. --Chuang Tzu | |
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06-29-2007, 01:15 PM
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#57 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,226
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Quote: |
Originally Posted by lauraclay And I still check the back seat of my car before I get in when it's been parked for a long time at night. | Weird. I thought only old ladies did that.
Hehe there's no room in the back of my car for a killer. 
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Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate | |
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06-29-2007, 01:17 PM
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#58 (permalink)
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Posts: 712
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaej Weird. I thought only old ladies did that.
Hehe there's no room in the back of my car for a killer. | Yes, there definitely is.
__________________ The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.
The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.
The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to. --Chuang Tzu | |
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06-29-2007, 01:20 PM
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#59 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,226
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Because you've been in the back of my car lately to know how much junk is there. Obviously.
__________________
Μολὼν Λαβέ
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate | |
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06-29-2007, 01:22 PM
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#60 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 712
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a)psh, lately
b)more junk to hide under
__________________ The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.
The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.
The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to. --Chuang Tzu | |
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