Originally Posted By: fw707Originally Posted By: seeknulfindOriginally Posted By: fw707Originally Posted By: SlickerThanSnotthat dang pascal is causing rift among the ranks.
i vote he be deported.
Yes, but he sure has answered a lot of questions too.
He was responsible for my access to a blog entry that was very revealing and enlightening.
It was titled "The Arrogance Of An Atheist".
Now I have always thought that atheists were just normal people who believed the way they do because they have no evidence of proof of a deity, especially one who talks to us and takes an active part in controlling our lives. I really didn't see where even a tiny bit of arrogance was required for that.
So then I read this in the blog entry:
"Men have worshiped the sun and the stars and the earth. Men have worshiped rulers and governments. You name it, someone has likely built a shrine to it. Most will insist only their object of worship is true. I know I do. I also know we cannot all be right. Thus, I, like any other serious practitioner of my faith can fall into the trap of smug certainty. After all, I would not be a Christian if I weren't convinced I was on the correct path. I am quite sure a Buddhist, a Hindu or a Muslim would feel the same. Thus the we are sure to feel to some extent that all others are just plain wrong."
So it appears that an individual who is an atheist toward all but one of the estimated 4200 religions in the world can claim "smug certainty" as a reasonable justification, but when somebody else decides to add that one chosen religion to make the total an even 4200, they are called a "arrogant atheist".
If I was smart enough to do one of those blog things, I would like to make an entry titled "Making a Case For Smug Certainty in Religion, and How It Differs From Arrogant Atheism".
But I'm just not that smart.
*
I was going to leave this alone but you pointed out an obvious problem. It may help if you took the time to look at the statement you quoted and read it in context.
The sentence was not referring to atheists at all. Not even a hint. It is written in quite plain and uncomplicated English:
Quote:Thus, I, like any other serious practitioner of my faith can fall into the trap of smug certainty.
Notice the words "like any other serious practitioner of my faith"? Not only did I disclude atheists but also those who worship any other than what I consider the one true God and Father of my Lord Jesus the Messiah. And I went further and segmented out anyone who were not serious practitioners.
Now for the hard part... please read carefully. I will try to help you as you claim to be "not that smart":
I only described one arrogant atheist and that one arrogant atheist was myself. I was merely contrasting my own frame of mind from long ago with my frame of mind today.
If you are serious about starting your own blog, I'd be happy to help. I know you can do it as you seem quite capable of posting to this forum. Not much difference really. Soon visitors will be flocking to hang on to your every word as they do mine.
"The Arrogance of an Atheist
Recently an atheist attempted to turn the Manchester bombing into an attack on “religion”. The attempted argument was so weak in so many ways I never bothered to reply. "
If you're going to type it, you need to have the nerve to own it.
Good luck with your blog. If you keep your posts separated by subject maybe you'll have less chance of contradicting yourself.
*
By the way, I edited and totally changed this post because after re-reading it, I realized I misunderstood your comments. Obviously, I was not fast enough to prevent your quoting and thus preserving the original post. It happens. All I ask is for those of you reading the original post to take it with a grain of salt as I immediately reconsidered my reply upon reflection.