Religion and Ethics Forum

Religion and Ethics Discussion => Philosophy, in all its guises. => Topic started by: Walt Zingmatilder on February 12, 2024, 12:16:15 PM

Title: A thread, the purpose of which, is the avoidance of humbug.
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on February 12, 2024, 12:16:15 PM
Would forum atheists given to denouncing the Bible as just a load of ancient writings and worth less for being  declare Stoicism as the same or, continue in a state of HUMBUG and HYPOCRISY ?
Title: Re: A thread, the purpose of which, is the avoidance of humbug.
Post by: jeremyp on February 12, 2024, 12:44:27 PM
Would forum atheists given to denouncing the Bible as just a load of ancient writings
Which forum atheist has been given to denouncing the Bible as just a load of ancient writings?

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and worth less
Worth less than what?
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for being  declare Stoicism as the same or, continue in a state of HUMBUG and HYPOCRISY ?
did the stoics profess to believe in a miracle wonderman who did magic tricks and died and came alive again?
Title: Re: A thread, the purpose of which, is the avoidance of humbug.
Post by: Steve H on February 12, 2024, 12:55:01 PM
Would forum atheists given to denouncing the Bible as just a load of ancient writings and worth less for being  declare Stoicism as the same or, continue in a state of HUMBUG and HYPOCRISY ?
Why, do you use, redundant commas?
Title: Re: A thread, the purpose of which, is the avoidance of humbug.
Post by: Aruntraveller on February 12, 2024, 03:58:14 PM
I don't denounce it as a load of ancient writing.

It is a fact that it is a load of ancient writing.

The rest of your post lost me due to it not making any sense, so sadly I can't comment further.
Title: Re: A thread, the purpose of which, is the avoidance of humbug.
Post by: jeremyp on February 13, 2024, 08:14:42 AM
Why, do you use, redundant commas?

There are no redundant commas in the OP. There are two commas missing, before "given" and "declare" and there is a misplaced Oxford comma that should be before "or", not after.

Title: Re: A thread, the purpose of which, is the avoidance of humbug.
Post by: Outrider on February 13, 2024, 09:43:28 AM
Would forum atheists given to denouncing the Bible as just a load of ancient writings and worth less for being  declare Stoicism as the same or, continue in a state of HUMBUG and HYPOCRISY ?

This appears to be less of a thread about the avoidance of humbug and more about the avoidance of intelligibility. Parsing what I think you mean - and feel free to try to explain further if I've misunderstood - but you seem to be suggesting that people who are dismissive of a collection of fairy tales and moral precepts (i.e. the Bible) as just a product of their time should be equally dismissive of the works of Stoicism.

The problem is that, whilst the works of stoicism start from an expressed core set of principles (wisdom, moral courage, moderation and justice), for which attempts at justification are documented, the Bible comes across as just a list of explicit behavioural expectations with an assertion of moral value but little to no moral justification - 'God wants it' is not a moral argument, it's just an attempt at creating an absolutely unaccountable authoritarianism.

The early writings of Stoicism are a set of principles - which can be questioned or argued - whilst the Bible is a set of expectations. Principles can be interpreted in a new context, but explicit instructions devoid of any basis either apply or they don't.

That's why people dismissing the Bible as an artefact of its time have a case whereas it's less applicable to the works of the Stoics - of course, you're welcome to try and make the case if you wish, but that doesn't seem an unreasonable differentiation to me.

O.
Title: Re: A thread, the purpose of which, is the avoidance of humbug.
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on February 13, 2024, 04:00:46 PM
Vlad,

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Would forum atheists given to denouncing the Bible as just a load of ancient writings and worth less for being...

Perhaps you should consider starting a discussion called "A thread, the purpose of which is the avoidance of straw men"?
Title: Re: A thread, the purpose of which, is the avoidance of humbug.
Post by: Steve H on February 13, 2024, 08:15:54 PM
There are no redundant commas in the OP. There are two commas missing, before "given" and "declare" and there is a misplaced Oxford comma that should be before "or", not after.
I meant in the thread title.
Title: Re: A thread, the purpose of which, is the avoidance of humbug.
Post by: jeremyp on February 14, 2024, 10:04:37 AM
I meant in the thread title.

The unnecessary comma after "which" clearly escaped from the OP.
Title: Re: A thread, the purpose of which, is the avoidance of humbug.
Post by: splashscuba on February 14, 2024, 05:34:14 PM
I don't denounce it as a load of ancient writing.

It is a fact that it is a load of ancient writing.

The rest of your post lost me due to it not making any sense, so sadly I can't comment further.
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