Posted on 03/28/2018 7:15:36 PM PDT by ransomnote
If this is true, a Federal vote fraud hammer needs to be dropped on this little bitch.
You go on to claim that ""This definition exactly describes atheism"
I claim it does not.
Most of the atheists I know barely think or talk about it. Thinking six friends who I know are atheists their "interest followed with great devotion" are music, martial arts, their dog, civil war reenactment and beer. In fact they just describe their lack of belief as "I don't believe in God" and/or "I'm not religious"
Your argument is akin to saying "failure to participate in bowling, is a form of bowling."
Your second alternative definition is much better: “a system of belief establishing worldview, and the behavior patterns derived from such belief.”
But again, this is not the core of religion, it's sort of using the word to describe an effect of religion. Using this definition being a "Conservative" "Libertarian" or "Socialist" would be a religion. But, again that's an unconventional use of the word.
Can we really generalize about the "behavior patterns derived" from Christianity? With almost 2 million Christians, I think it's hard to generalize like that.
I think a lot of people's behavior is influenced by religion, and for some it's the overwhelmingly most important influence. But for a lot of people it's not the most important and things like culture, politics, social networks, and education have more influence on their behavior than the religion they profess.
I am really sick of all government at this point.
In Florida you may register at 17... no voting until 18.
I think Q was correct in identifying Parkland as a massive distraction
Seems to me RIF is sowing discord and sapping energy.
It is not by accident, IMO.
And he doesn’t even lift.
You are the best!
Q may be real...Q may not be real.
But the Freepers who research the Q drops are real...and their research (not all but some) is stellar.
I don't know if you do research or just snipe from a distance...but if you were to read and consider some of the more serious research posited here, you might change your mind.
I've pretty much decided to stop posting on these threads because I do not want to be disruptive.
I view these Q threads as almost religious in nature. Indeed the intro which reminds people not to snipe at the posters, reads a lot like the intro of most of the "religious caucus" threads here at FR. Essentially: "This thread is for Mormons. If you are not a Mormon do not post about how Mormonism is a false religion on this thread"
That's basically the response I am getting from a number of people here. It would be churlish to continue to post where disagreement is not being sought.
The idea of "religious caucus" was created a long time ago on Free Republic, to encourage threads where a bunch of Catholics or Mormons or Presbyterians could go and talk about their religion without having the non-believers come in and say "You know you are SO WRONG about ... And, I think that was a very good thing, to enable respectful dialog among believers.
What ever I have to say about Q I will say on "non-devotional" threads, in the future.
As for your other points:
Q may be real...Q may not be real.
Well Q posts are real, that much we can agree on. What we just don't know is who is the author and what are his intentions. Although, again people have interpreted him to say certain things, and there is a lot of consensus about it.
But the troubling fact remains: If Q is not real, if he's not acting in good-faith out of an effort to educate and prepare Patriots for "The Coming Storm" as he has claimed then That Is a Very Big Deal indeed, and not just a harmless little joke.
It really is akin to a false religious leader, who while talking up a set of religious beliefs is profoundly sociopathic, and lying.
There are a lot of examples, but Swami Muktananda is among the most famous. This article gives some background on him.
I was very involved in rescuing two people from this cult in the 1980s. Their deprogramming was consensual, and encouraged by their loved ones, and took a long time to accomplish.
It interesting to wonder about Muktananda, was he always a grifter? Did he start sincere and become corrupted by power? Did he really believe in all his own nonsense?
I'm not able to answer those questions, all I know for sure, was that peoples unqualified belief in him allowed him to do things that he should not have been able to do.
So, my skepticism is hard won. Perhaps I am applying it to the wrong target here, and I do respect the Freepers doing research, but continue to think the main, and most important question is "who is the man you are trusting, and what are his real beliefs and intents", and I remain unsatisfied.
Yes, one can research something Q brings up, and find out all sorts of interesting and important facts, and by the time you get to that third order investigation, that fact that Q was the seed is not that important.
I'm just not that interested in a lot of that historic background and all sorts of things, and much more interested in the core assertions: that there are "white hats" actively working to bring down the Swamp, that they are largely hidden and will at some point be revealed, and that Q is sharing their plans with us.
Anyway, thanks again for your comments. I will be looking elsewhere for a forum for expressing my agnosticism, but may still visit these threads to learn things, because, as you say the work being done by some Freepers is excellent.
Cheers!
This is huge. Let’s run with it.
Strength of belief is essential here.
The atheists you describe are not truly atheists, they are agnostics. They don’t know if God exists and they don’t care. If you don’t see this now, you will see it if you engage them, or have a Christian apologist engage them, in a friendly but serious debate about the existence of God. The vast majority of self professed “atheists” also don’t know what atheism truly is, and will admit they are agnostics after being subject to a real debate.
Atheists feel very strongly about their belief system, and will drive their arguments to the end of the earth. This belief system is a religion in that it purports to answer questions of cosmology, and it outweighs all other beliefs in magnitude of intensity.
Now for the link found in neurophysiology and neuroanatomy. Atheist Sam Harris found in a study a few years back, using functional MRIs, that the part of the atheist brain activated during contemplation of their belief is the same part activated in the Christian brain when Christians contemplate theirs. Contemplation of beliefs included reading respective statements, by atheists and Christians respectively, such as, “The God of the Bible is not real” and “The God of the Bible is real.” The verbiage of these quotes might be off by a word or two, I’m going by memory here.
Bump!
Bump!
Bump!
And, we and our brains appear to be CREATED such that we REQUIRE something/SomeOne to BELIEVE IN, WORSHIP.
An atheist more or less worships their disbelief and the rebellion it supports.
Then they ride the coattails of disenfranchised Judeo/Christian values as a viable substitute for morality (claiming it as their logical own) when, in fact, their cosmology has absolutely NO supportive rational for any morality whatsoever.
bump!
Great points, I agree. Even the agnostics will hold something to be most important in life, because they’re wired that way just like everyone else. It’s something they found through lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh or the pride of life. And that thing is what’s keeping them away from believing in the one true God.
For sure someone needs to look into this “kid” and see who he really is and who actually runs him.
Bravo!
That’s a very good explanation of your point. Thanks for taking the time to write it all up. I do see your point now.
If it was an all women cast, I would be able to see the flames in Florida.
As we used to say, fire’m up
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