Zeb,
You know much less about other people than you think you do.
[quote]pookie wrote:
[quote]ZEB wrote:
No, the difference between you and me (one of them anyway) is that you don’t really understand how human beings think and I do.[/quote]
Since you really understand how thinking works, any plans on doing some of it yourself eventually?
[/quote]
That was funny, you’re good at dropping in saying something clever and then vanishing. So I won’t stop you - vanish clown. 
[quote]swoleupinya wrote:
Zeb,
You know much less about other people than you think you do.
[/quote]
If you think for one second that human beings have more differences than similarities I would completely disagree. And I think that there is an army of Psychologists and Psychiatrists to back me up on this.
[quote]ZEB wrote:
[quote]swoleupinya wrote:
Zeb,
You know much less about other people than you think you do.
[/quote]
If you think for one second that human beings have more differences than similarities I would completely disagree. And I think that there is an army of Psychologists and Psychiatrists to back me up on this.
[/quote]
LOL!!!
Man, I’m gonna’ be laughing about this one for days.
Happy Thanksgiving all!
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
Do I believe in God and Jesus Christ? Yes
Why? Because of the miracles I see everyday in a world full of much distraction and hate.[/quote]
Oh I’m sorry your personal observations don’t count on this thread. But if you’d like to post a nice colorful picture of the cosmos to make a point it will be roundly applauded. You know why right? It’s because of science (eye roll).
I’m saying science exists because of God.
But enough with this thread, just wanted to see what the phobia was all about.
[quote]forlife wrote:
Wrong on all 3 counts:
There’s no reason to leave god behind entirely if your only motivation is to find acceptance for your sexual orientation.[/quote]
As I’ve already explained that has to do with personality makeup. Some might leave God behind (like you). Others might decide that their particular church is wrong and move on to a different one. Remember, we create our own rules based upon our perceptions of right and wrong and what gives us pleasure. They are based NOT on science but on what makes sense in our world.
I think I know what you mean, you’re sort of like a super hero with no special powers. Hey, didn’t they make a movie about that? All kidding aside - Good For You!
Oh stop all the bluster of course you care what I think or you would have been off on another topic with someone else. You’ve spent hundreds of posts crying out for acceptance. You want acceptance from me, and from everyone that’s what you’re we’re about man. Smile, and just know that it’s okay to be you. You are smart and funny and all kinds of fun to talk to.
I’m not attacking you. In fact I stated that we all make decisions pretty much the same way. What gives us pleasure we want to continue and if there is no acceptance with others around us we eliminate them, or change our behavior. It’s pretty simple huh? You have no choice in this nor do I. That’s the way we are wired. We gravitate towards what gives us pleasure and then we rationalize our reasons for that activity AFTER the fact.
Sorry about that I could have sworn that in another thread you said you were an atheist. This board is lousy with atheists so you can see why I might have erred. Some time we should talk about how 90% of all atheists are young males. We can draw some pretty interesting conclusions from the data that I’ve gathered. I have not studied agnostics as much.
Your evidence is polluted and built on sinking sand that changes with the tide. So it really has no impact long-term other than to make you feel good about your decisions. And really that’s all it’s supposed to do. As far as convincing others, well that’s not going to happen. Just like I cannot convince anyone to become a Christian. We are just here doing our own little things and feeling good about it continually reaffirming who we are. And what’s wrong with that? It certainly serves its purpose doesn’t it?
The reason that there are so many different Christian denominations and divisions within these denominations tells us that each person (or organization) is trying to affirm their own thoughts, lifestyle choices and what makes them feel good. The fact that you think you have more than faith in your hodge podge of “scientific” beliefs is simply inaccurate. The fact that you cannot see this speaks to your eagerness to shelve all things “God” and embrace any sort of “evidence” which shuts the door on their being a God. And do you know why? Come on you should know this by now. Because it makes you feel good.
Thank you that is the reaction that I wanted. Keep it up you’re starting to understand.
[quote]I guess you didn’t realize my Ph.D. is in psychology? In a sense you’re right though…the best lesson of my Ph.D. was realizing how little I really know. Maybe you could go back to grad school and join me in ignorance?
[/quote]
Well, if I made you laugh then I did a good thing. :)I actually remember you stating that in another post. As long as you brought it up I’m sure you understand the meaning of “cognitive dissonance”. That my friend is a very strong reason why you and I have done what we’ve done. I agree with you, the more I learn the more I realize what I don’t know. But I do know this; most human beings do in fact think alike. We really all want the same things. I also think that the more everyone realizes this the better world that we’ll have.
[quote]swoleupinya wrote:
[quote]ZEB wrote:
[quote]swoleupinya wrote:
Zeb,
You know much less about other people than you think you do.
[/quote]
If you think for one second that human beings have more differences than similarities I would completely disagree. And I think that there is an army of Psychologists and Psychiatrists to back me up on this.
[/quote]
LOL!!!
Man, I’m gonna’ be laughing about this one for days.
Happy Thanksgiving all![/quote]
As I’m sure you won’t want to be laughing by yourself (sometimes not a good thing) let me know what part of that specific line that I wrote amuses you.
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
I’m saying science exists because of God.
But enough with this thread, just wanted to see what the phobia was all about.
[/quote]
It should be called “God-O-Phobia” that would make more sense.
[quote]pookie wrote:
Just thought I’d say hi while I’m here.
[/quote]ROFL!!!
[quote]forlife wrote:
<<< I guess you didn’t realize my Ph.D. is in psychology? >>>[/quote]That explains a lot. I’d hire a witchdoctor before going to modern psychology for anything meaningful.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:That explains a lot. I’d hire a witchdoctor before going to modern psychology for anything meaningful.
[/quote]
This should be an interesting response, but… why?
[quote]ZEB wrote:
[quote]ephrem wrote:
ZEB, please stay on topic without your usual diatribal ranting.
Sexual preference has nothing to do with [a]theism, so take it somewhere else.[/quote]
But our emotions have much to do with our belief system. We find the facts that reinforce our beliefs, and we all do it one way or another. If you don’t like the facts maybe you better take it somewhere else.[/quote]
This is a common theme among true believers. As I said before, they MUST attribute a nefarious motive to those of us who disbelieve or question the existence of a deity. To do otherwise would mean that maybe, just maybe, the emperor really isn’t wearing any clothes.
I probably live more like a Christian than most Christians. Been married for many years to one woman, never wanted to “try” being with another man (don’t take offense forlife because I care not what others do in the privacy of their bedrooms, nor do I “worry” that watching figure skating might suddenly predispose me to be attracted to men), I don’t cheat or steal, I don’t do drugs and never have, I have a regular job and work hard to support my family.
I wish there was a supreme being, I really do. How cool would that be to have a benevolent being watching over us? Although I think that some religious people are scary, I have no phobia or fear of any deity. Why would I? I would WANT nothing more than to believe that a benevolent supreme being exists. And yet…
I cannot accept that one exists. While I don’t deny that one can possibly exist, I cannot accept one either. I simply do not know. No one can KNOW. You can believe with all your might. You can pretend that you “feel a presence.” You can insult those who question the existence of a deity all you want. But you will never, ever KNOW.
My agnosticism can be explained very simply: I don’t just want to believe, I want to know. And there simply is not enough evidence to KNOW. Period. That’s it. No desire for an “alternative lifestyle” or whatever else the believers may attribute to my skepticism. There simply is not enough evidence to KNOW.
[quote]Dmgctrl wrote:
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:That explains a lot. I’d hire a witchdoctor before going to modern psychology for anything meaningful.
[/quote]
This should be an interesting response, but… why?
[/quote]Because aside from being anything other than scientific with it’s ever evolving inconsistent explanations for everything, it’s an assault on the gospel. I would study advanced finger painting before secular psychology. There is almost no discipline I have less respect for. That isn’t to say that nothing formally true at all can come of it, but witch doctors will get something right sometimes too.
It won’t do any good to go into detailed debate about individual ideas. Each one will have dozens of schools of thought attempting to define and explain them anyway. I have direct first hand knowledge and numerous associations demonstrating the utter uselessness of what we call psychology beyond somebody to talk to which makes perfect sense because 2 dead people don’t make a life.
[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:
<<< No desire for an “alternative lifestyle” or whatever else the believers may attribute to my skepticism. There simply is not enough evidence to KNOW.[/quote]I attribute your skepticism to being born in sin just like me. What particular form it takes is irrelevant. The promiscuous atheistic homosexual or faithful church going husband are equally dead unless and until they are regenerated into new life in Christ.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
[quote]Dmgctrl wrote:
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:That explains a lot. I’d hire a witchdoctor before going to modern psychology for anything meaningful.
[/quote]
This should be an interesting response, but… why?
[/quote]Because aside from being anything other than scientific with it’s ever evolving inconsistent explanations for everything, it’s an assault on the gospel. I would study advanced finger painting before secular psychology. There is almost no discipline I have less respect for. That isn’t to say that nothing formally true at all can come of it, but witch doctors will get something right sometimes too.
It won’t do any good to go into detailed debate about individual ideas. Each one will have dozens of schools of thought attempting to define and explain them anyway. I have direct first hand knowledge and numerous associations demonstrating the utter uselessness of what we call psychology beyond somebody to talk to which makes perfect sense because 2 dead people don’t make a life.
[/quote]
So depression is not caused by an imbalance of serotonin levels in the brain but a lack of belief in God which would otherwise bring joy to everyone?
This is an excellent example of why religious belief can become dangerous - this anti-science attitude. Not all religious people are anti-science, but some clearly are. If science conflicts with my beliefs, then science loses. So what if there are mounds of evidence - it’s just a conspiracy by the scientific community to get rid of God. And you’re not the only one, T. Look at Zeb’s view on homosexuality. He won’t even acknowledge that perhaps homosexuality is caused by something physical or biochemical going on in the body. I have no idea what causes homosexuality, but I do know that I couldn’t wake up one day and decide to have sex with a guy. That leads me to think that perhaps, just perhaps, there is a physical component to it. And the very idea of global warming is just plain stupid because God would never allow humans to destroy the earth. Now, I’m pretty far away from being a hippie environmentalist and I, too, have some doubts about the causes and severity of global climate change, but I at least believe in gathering evidence and reviewing all of the facts before forming an opinion. And don’t get me started on evolution vs. creationism - suffice it to say that I think saying “I don’t believe in evolution” is like saying “I don’t believe that 2+2=4.” But that’s the great thing about religion. Those who embrace religion suddenly become experts in psychology, biology, climatology, and cosmology without even having to open on single book on those subjects.
[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:<<< So depression is not caused by an imbalance of serotonin levels in the brain but a lack of belief in God which would otherwise bring joy to everyone? >>>[/quote]That’s a physical malady that hinders the function of the brain. If you think this is what I’m talking about you must believe I’m an idiot and I would be wasting my time talking with you which would be a disappointment for me. You really do hold me in this low a regard don’t you. I know I forced you into it. I didn’t even read the rest of your post.
I’m talking about psycho babbling counseling methods and techniques that even spawn spoof movies like “What
about Bob” which was a great flick BTW. Hilarious.
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
I’m saying science exists because of God.
But enough with this thread, just wanted to see what the phobia was all about.
[/quote]
If God exsists then he created science. I think some times people are a little shallow in what they percieve as God. I think most Religions are guilty of dumbing down God. They want toackage it so it is something a non intelectual can explain. I would go as far as saying that all Religion ,if there is a God would be anti god
[quote]pookie wrote:
Just thought I’d say hi while I’m here.
[/quote]
Pookie!
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:<<< So depression is not caused by an imbalance of serotonin levels in the brain but a lack of belief in God which would otherwise bring joy to everyone? >>>[/quote]That’s a physical malady that hinders the function of the brain. If you think this is what I’m talking about you must believe I’m an idiot and I would be wasting my time talking with you which would be a disappointment for me. You really do hold me in this low a regard don’t you. I know I forced you into it. I didn’t even read the rest of your post.
I’m talking about psycho babbling counseling methods and techniques that even spawn spoof movies like “What
about Bob” which was a great flick BTW. Hilarious.
[/quote]
I’m no expert but I believe that modern theories of mental illness now look at physical/neurochemical causes. There is now a whole field of neuropsychology which explores the interplay between the physical and emotional. Freud is pretty much considered a relic. The whole “tell me about your childhood” or “tell me about your dreams” lines of questioning, while still somewhat relevant in certain contexts, are by no means the end of the story. So, I do agree with you about the “psychobabble” stuff, but I contend that modern approaches to mental health issues has progressed well beyond that. You’re thinking self-help books which are bullshit. Then there is the whole field of cognitive psychology which studies how we think and process information. Cool stuff and certainly based more on scientific observations. But I may be wrong on this.
I sometimes get cranky, but then I calm down. You’re definitely pretty reasonable, T. The thing is, I actually had a very religious person (he was a priest but kind of odd) tell me that there really was no such thing as depression. When I asked him about the serotonin imbalance he just waved his hand and dismissed is as “something scientists just like to say.” Then again, he also told me that exercise and diet were a waste of time because if God wants you to live a long life, he’ll let you live a long life, but if he wants you to die, then you’re dead, and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m not kidding. But I realize that this guy was extreme.
What I think is really sad, but more common? If a kid with a love and talent for dance or art gets picked on by other guys because “he must be gay.” That’s just sad. I realize that religion is not completely responsible for this ignorant attitude but I do think it plays a role, sometimes a large role. It’s the attitude that it’s okay to make fun of the gays, or those who even might be gay, because God disapproves of gays so it’s all good. Whatever happened to “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?” And no this didn’t happen to me - my dancing gets mistaken for a seizure and I can barely write legibly let alone draw. I do, however, love music, and I did get a few snide remarks about playing the piano when I was a kid.
[quote]pittbulll wrote:
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
I’m saying science exists because of God.
But enough with this thread, just wanted to see what the phobia was all about.
[/quote]
If God exsists then he created science. I think some times people are a little shallow in what they percieve as God. I think most Religions are guilty of dumbing down God. They want toackage it so it is something a non intelectual can explain. I would go as far as saying that all Religion ,if there is a God would be anti god[/quote]
X2!!