dimreepr

The irony is strong in you, my young padawan.

LOL

Now that's ironic...

It's a shame you can't see the second video, it basically says, "you're predecessor was a raging theist and so will your progeny". Do I really have to spell it out?

Your biases run deep my young padawan...

Well yes, I'm not insisting others aren't allowed. I'm sorry I just thought we were posting irrelevant sayings. The solace of faith isn't about what might happen, it's about what has happened, and how they deal with it now. Are you suggesting your biases are more valuable than theirs?

Really? If all I can perceive is the past, I'm glad I'm stoned now. It gives me time to catch up.

No need, I already accept my failings as a human and I'm content to forgive myself. There's an English saying "you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar". People who believe exist on a spectrum from (it's almost like they're human), "hmm I'm not sure, but why not be charitable and forgiving" to "you're damn straight and I'll rain down my wrath on any who doesn't agree" and most sit in the middle "I'll take that bet...". Most believers are happy to accept a "lie" because they feel better for it and see no reason to deny/question it. Priests are human first, consequently they're just a prone to being an utter c&*" as are we all. Of course, but would you deny those that won't the solace it brings them? Yep, but some can and some can't, but we all feel better when were forgiven our misdemeanours, whoever does it.

Yes... All I can add is: And others...

Really... Perhaps I should have started with, I'm an atheist.

Of course it's a choice, you believe in Hitching and Dr. Carrier. Indeed, the danger is dismissing important messages because you think fiction/analogy/fable/metaphor/simile are not real. An extreme position is one that fails to take into account ones own bias'.

Of course they are, it's right there in pascals wager.

If you think about it, pascals wager works both ways: The atheist does good because it feels good now, whatever the bible says. The theist does good because it might feel even better later, because of what the bible says. Not much of a bet really, unless you forget to feel good now. There's a reason they say confession is good for the soul and it's not god... Confession is acceptance of ones failings, which is the first step towards forgiving yourself (kind of important for your mental health). Most "myths" have a message attached, disproving the myth doesn't making the message any less profound.

I think we're both guilty of that; and deliberately talking past each other. In this context it's the old chicken and egg question. But I still defend my point, which is, printing is more effective at disseminating information to the mass' than language alone; there are many different languages, but if printing evolved with language maybe we'd all be speaking the same one. And lets not forget how quickly human advancement grew after the Gutenberg press was invented, as compared to when language evolved.