Tom Storm

ST I was just riffing off a theme for mild comic relief - sorry about that. The joke was referencing progressive Christians who energetically jettison...

The bit in the Bible that mentions loving thy neighbor are true - all that other stuff about genocide, rape, torture, retribution, judgment, misogyny ...

How does one determine the difference between the extraneous 'fairy tale' and the significant 'spiritual life'? How do you know what's in and what's o...

Always welcome, W. Heading towards the intersubjective communities of phenomenology. I should point out that I often ask questions even if I have answ...

Ok, but by extension couldn't the Marvel universe also provide much meaning to some people - millions possibly? What criteria is used to distinguish v...

You left out Marvel and Star Wars, (the replacements for Homer and the Old Testament) the true source of Mythos for most Westerners these days.

Indeed and I have met a number of devout Christians over the decades who think the homeless should be euthanized. I guess they are not true Christian/...

What is it we know from theology and what counts as theology? Asking for a friend...

Yes, but for me the key point is they are attached to tangible things. We 'see' love in action, in relation to behavior between people and animals. We...

I always get nervous when people talk of 'true Christians'. Under what authority can such a claim be made? A closer reading of the text? A better tran...

Unconvincing. God remains a metaphor to me - which, frankly, is a kind word for the idea. :smile: Yes, a point I miss gladly as I view faith (as per H...

Move on. I answered it.

I saw Banno's OP as making that point too hence: I generally hold that these two are foundational and abundantly obvious to most discussions of Christ...

I might be wrong but I maintain God is a one word metaphor. Even if you are a believer god is still a metaphor for something beyond human understandin...

I don't get into interpersonal scraps on line, sorry GMBA. When I respond, have something to say in return or, if you don't like it, ignore it.

I just respond to ideas that I agree with, that require clarification, or those which might be seen differently. Often I don't even look who said it. ...

Well, it may still be the case that some people's arbitrary intuitions are correct and so their philosophy might well be sound, despite the pathway ta...

I took it as given that this was part of the OP.

But Banno... surely it's just the translation!? If we knew God's real intention as expressed in the Greek, it wouldn't be 'infinite torture' it would ...

That's not something I have heard to be honest and it is unclear what you mean by 'today's woes' - many of which seem cultural and political, not scie...

I don't hate them, they just never moved me. But I'm not fan of pop or rock music in general. I know almost nothing of my own generation's music excep...

That reminds me, the only real time I have enjoyed weed was listening to The Beatles in an Australian rainforest on a Walkman 30 years ago. Sergeant P...

Never felt the urge. To be honest alcohol (whiskey mainly) was my drug of choice and I kicked it around for some years before quitting for good around...

OK. I don't read very closely. Sorry. Yep, there is no point debating what is abundantly clear. Agree with you.

Fair enough. We need to draw a distinction between science and scientism. Just we there is a difference between religion and fundamentalism. For my mo...

Not really. It's pretty easy to see where the idea of an evil god comes from. The Old testament reveals a thuggish, vengeful god who supports slavery,...

Nice - any jazz recommendations? I admit I was really into Coultrane, Mingus, Parker, Gordon, Django and a bit of cool Hammond B3 with Jimmy Smith nev...

No. Listening to music (classical) is the only experience that's ever felt transcendent or epiphanic. I did find heroin and morphine to provide the be...

Well, all three subjects remain dominant narratives worthy of continuing robust exploration and criticism. It's not as if the matters are settled. One...

I don't think the universe should or should not make sense. It's a metaphysical presupposition (especially held in science) that 'reality' can be unde...

I thought it was Devon Gummidge, Worzel's younger brother...

How do you know it is not an interpretation?

Thanks Joshs - appreciated.

Yes, I though the word pretend might not pass muster. Fair enough. I'm aware of the history from Greek philosophy. But I wonder what philosophers migh...

I see what you are trying to say here. Yes, you are probably correct, but how useful this frame is is moot. You also don't know if there is a god to m...

I do know that. This is from first person conversations with many Christians I know who interpret the Bible in a liberal way. And there are many books...

I often wonder with phenomenology is conducting epoché readily achievable? How feasible is it to pretend you don't know what you are looking at (brack...

:clap: Of course we don't actually know what god thinks about anything. At best we have claims by people and old books written by... people. God has b...

Agree. Ditto for any holy book and there are many of them. I don't say there is no god either - I have simply heard no argument or seen any evidence t...

No doubt about it. The Old Testament supports slavery, genocide and rape and depicts a monstrous and evil creature who insists on being worshipped. Th...

Yes, this is often said. I guess for me (not that you asked) Christianity and Islam (our most popular brands of God) seem to head into literalist and ...

On interpretations like anyone else.

I hope that's not where I'm coming from. I should add that I have several friends - and have known many more - who started as Christians but in thinki...

I think that is an excellent point and a very practical approach to the matter. Why would we let apologists for hatred and violence help build an agre...

Why not? But it does sound like the idea that all forms of knowledge are ultimately grounded on lived experience and intersubjective agreement that ph...

I was just making a quip - not an argument. :smile:

I used to ask fundamentalists; 'How do you know that the god of the Bible is not actually Satan? Wouldn't that be the kind of trick Satan would pull? ...

It's a big 'yuk!' from me.

I like 'advocates of evil'. Yep. As you know, if you go with a divine command theory of morality then anything goes... God wants you to sacrifice your...

I have often felt this way when listening to the baleful preaching of Pentecostals or other fundies. 'God loves you; but you will burn in hell for ath...