Searching for GOD...

[Enki]

(quoted from another thread)

Quite the opposite, blue.
My five years experience on this forum has inspired me to take a break in order to write a new book about discovering God in this modern world.

If it's anything approaching the quality of your article for Mensa, I shouldn't bother, Alan. With its rather parochial deepities and its disregard for logical thought, that didn't really come across particularly well, except, no doubt, to those of a less inquiring mind or to those who were already committed to their faith.

Perhaps, though, in the time you have been on this forum, you might have had time to expand your thinking and developed your ability to challenge ideas based squarely upon rationality and logic. Somehow I doubt this.

I'm sure you'll go ahead however, despite this cautionary post. No doubt you will see your exertions as your way of bringing people to your god. Like the Blues Brothers(a superb film, by the way) you'll see this as part of your 'mission from God'.

[Alan Burns]

If it's anything approaching the quality of your article for Mensa, I shouldn't bother, Alan. With its rather parochial deepities and its disregard for logical thought, that didn't really come across particularly well, except, no doubt, to those of a less inquiring mind or to those who were already committed to their faith.

Perhaps, though, in the time you have been on this forum, you might have had time to expand your thinking and developed your ability to challenge ideas based squarely upon rationality and logic. Somehow I doubt this.

I'm sure you'll go ahead however, despite this cautionary post. No doubt you will see your exertions as your way of bringing people to your god. Like the Blues Brothers(a superb film, by the way) you'll see this as part of your 'mission from God'.

My abilities of logical deduction have been considerably enhanced since I wrote the Mensa article - due to the divinely inspired replies to short sighted materialist arguments which effectively deny my freedom to make such replies.

[Nearly Sane]

My abilities of logical deduction have been considerably enhanced since I wrote the Mensa article - due to the divinely inspired replies to short sighted materialist arguments which effectively deny my freedom to make such replies.

Do you make model buses out of wine crates?

[bluehillside Retd.]

AB,

My abilities of logical deduction have been considerably enhanced since I wrote the Mensa article - due to the divinely inspired replies to short sighted materialist arguments which effectively deny my freedom to make such replies.

Wibble.

[bluehillside Retd.]

AB,

My abilities of logical deduction have been considerably enhanced since I wrote the Mensa article - due to the divinely inspired replies to short sighted materialist arguments which effectively deny my freedom to make such replies.

What I find difficult to process isn’t that you believe some entirely unsupported claims to be true. Lots of people do that about lots of unsupported claims.

Nor is it that you believe these things to be true for very bad reasons. Lots of people have very bad reasons for their beliefs.

No. What I find difficult to understand is that you know perfectly well the arguments you attempt to validate your claims are wrong. How do I know that? I know that because you have just enough awareness and knowledge at least for you to reject the same arguments for other peoples’ beliefs that you don’t believe to be true. If I attempt the variety of false reasoning you deploy here to argue for Ra of for leprechauns you can see that the reasoning is wrong. Yet somehow when identical reasoning leads to a conclusion of which you happen to approve – whichever version of the Christian god it is you happen to believe in – then, by some mysterious process, you think those bad arguments somehow become good ones.

How does that work? Deliberate dishonesty? Cognitive dissonance? What?

Of course you’ll run away rather than answer that just as you always do, but it’s very strange behaviour nonetheless.       

[ippy]

(quoted from another thread)

Quite the opposite, blue.
My five years experience on this forum has inspired me to take a break in order to write a new book about discovering God in this modern world.

I would be glad to give you a few suggestions for a title to this book of yours but I'll leave this to you, you only need ask, it's no good asking Blue or Gordon for their title suggestions they'd more than likely be useless.

See if the Magic Circle'll cover it in their journal.

The kindest of all possible regards to you Alan, ippy

[bluehillside Retd.]

ipster,

I would be glad to give you a few suggestions for a title to this book of yours but I'll leave this to you, you only need ask, it's no good asking Blue or Gordon for their title suggestions they'd more than likely be useless.

Ooh I dunno though…

For Woo the Bell Tolls

Alan’s Adventures in Wonderland

Great Exclamations

Robinson Clueless

The Godfailure

And last but never least...

Waiting for God…oh!

The possibilities are endless!

[Gordon]

I would be glad to give you a few suggestions for a title to this book of yours but I'll leave this to you, you only need ask, it's no good asking Blue or Gordon for their title suggestions they'd more than likely be useless.

Unfortunately someone has already used 'The God Delusion'.

[ippy]

This book, either as a Booker or Pulitzer prize winner should do well among the deluded they come to mind as they're the most likely to bother reading anything like it.

I think 'For Woo the Bell Tolls' gets it for me, as the author nearly made Bishop it does give it a link, but then he wasn't a catholic ohoo!

Regards to all.

[Nearly Sane]

This thread in itself would if printed out be one of the longest books of all time. To paraphrase another famous book '  It was the best of threads, it was the worst of threads, it was the thread of wisdom, it was the thread of foolishness, it was the thread of belief, it was the thread of incredulity, it was the thread of Light, it was the thread of Darkness, it was the thread of hope, it was the thread of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way'

[SteveH]

I think 'For Woo the Bell Tolls' gets it for me...

'For WOOM the Bell Tolls'.

[Nearly Sane]

'For WOOM the Bell Tolls'.

LOL

[bluehillside Retd.]

SteveH,

'For WOOM the Bell Tolls'.

A Woom With A View?

[ippy]

SteveH,

A Woom With A View?

Twitwoo!

Regards.

[Alan Burns]

My proposed title may be -

A Peace the World Cannot Give  [John 14:27]
Finding God in the modern world

[Nearly Sane]

My proposed title may be -

A Peace the World Cannot Give  [John 14:27]
Finding God in the modern world

How about ' The Incredulity Journey'? Or 'Logic: Its Part in My Downfall"? Or maybe 'Fallacies: A compendium"

[Gordon]

My proposed title may be -

A Peace the World Cannot Give  [John 14:27]
Finding God in the modern world

What about 'Christianity (in the UK anyway) is Fucked'.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/11/faith-religion-politics-british-attitudes-survey

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/11/uk-secularism-on-rise-as-more-than-half-say-they-have-no-religion

http://www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk/media/39287/0_bsa36_keyfindings.pdf

[Enki]

My proposed title may be -

A Peace the World Cannot Give  [John 14:27]
Finding God in the modern world

Well done, Alan. From the tenor of your suggested title you obviously have all sorts of comforting things to say which will no doubt show just how magnanimous your god is towards people, especially, of course, those that accept that it actually exists, and wish to follow your particular version of Christianity. I would like to say that I can't wait to read these potentially exciting and revealing ways in which we all may find your god.

However, wait a minute!

Going on your past record over the years that you have been contributing to this forum, it seems that all we have to look forward to are half digested ideas, a propensity towards producing excruciating deepities, a total lack of being able to see any other view but your own, an absence of logic, a regrettable tendency to produce a multitude of totally unevidenced assertions, a seemingly desperate desire to proselytize. Need I go on?

So, I have to admit that I've changed my mind. On second thoughts I don't think that I will be bothered to seek out your 'piece de resistance', whenever it is finished. I've far more useful things to do with my time, which, quite honestly, I find much more fruitful.

[Alan Burns]

What about 'Christianity (in the UK anyway) is Fucked'.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/11/faith-religion-politics-british-attitudes-survey

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/11/uk-secularism-on-rise-as-more-than-half-say-they-have-no-religion

http://www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk/media/39287/0_bsa36_keyfindings.pdf

This post reminds me of the prophetic last volume in the Narnia series of books by CS Lewis, in which Azlan has become a figure of ridicule to most of the population.  We have not quite reached that stage yet, but it is sadly where we seem to be heading.  So I feel more obliged to share the good news of salvation before it is too late.  If I can help just one soul to discover the joy of God's love I will be overjoyed.

[torridon]

So I feel more obliged to share the good news of salvation before it is too late.  If I can help just one soul to discover the joy of God's love I will be overjoyed.

Well if you believe God answers prayers then pray to God to ask him to stop hiding his love and come out into the open.  I'd put money on it if I were a betting man, that he would ignore that request.

[Gordon]

This post reminds me of the prophetic last volume in the Narnia series of books by CS Lewis, in which Azlan has become a figure of ridicule to most of the population.  We have not quite reached that stage yet, but it is sadly where we seem to be heading.  So I feel more obliged to share the good news of salvation before it is too late.  If I can help just one soul to discover the joy of God's love I will be overjoyed.

Then in your constant desire to proselytise, Alan, you again miss the point: the links I included indicate that is the UK your religion continues to decline - 'one soul' will be insufficient as a response given the statistics shown in the link no matter how joyous it makes you feel.

By the way ridicule is a perfectly response to the ridiculous - but that wasn't the point of my post.

[Alan Burns]

Then in your constant desire to proselytise, Alan, you again miss the point: the links I included indicate that is the UK your religion continues to decline - 'one soul' will be insufficient as a response given the statistics shown in the link no matter how joyous it makes you feel.

The universe exists in the perception of one soul - yours.  Statistics are irrelevant to the salvation of one human soul

[Enki]

The universe exists in the perception of one soul - yours.  Statistics are irrelevant to the salvation of one human soul

Yet another deepity and yet another empty assertion. You can't escape from them, can you? I suppose it never crossed your mind that it is eminently possible that for every 'soul' you think you may 'save', several others may be so put off by your facile and superficial statements, that your idea of their 'souls' being saved  might well be considerably reduced.

[Gordon]

The universe exists in the perception of one soul - yours.  Statistics are irrelevant to the salvation of one human soul

True to form, Alan, rather than engage with recent information indicating the decline of Christianity in the UK you resort to meaningless theobabble: no wonder Christianity is on the way out here.

[SteveH]

The more sneering, sarky, pseudo-intellectual, straw-god-attacking posts from the non-believers on this forum that I read, the less attractive do I find the idea of abandoning Christianity (though I'm often tempted). Your sheer unpleasantness is a useful evangelistic tool for the church. Keep it up, chaps! (And before former azure slope, our resident fallacy-finder, accuses me of the consequentialist fallacy, I should point out that I'm not saying that the unpleasant attitude of the nonbelievers disproves non-belief, just that it puts people off it.)