On Wed, Jan 10, 2007 at 04:35:12AM -0600, Nikolas Britton wrote: > On 1/10/07, Greg 'groggy' Lehey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >[irrelevant cruft removed] > > > >On Tuesday, 9 January 2007 at 23:54:02 -0600, Nikolas Britton wrote: > >> On 1/9/07, Greg 'groggy' Lehey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >>> On Tuesday, 9 January 2007 at 17:08:45 -0600, Nikolas Britton wrote: > >>>> Why should I continue using FreeBSD when the project never delivers > >>>> on it promises? > >>> > >>> You shouldn't. You obviously don't understand the issues. We don't > >>> owe you anything. Play an active part or go away. > >> > >> Fuck off Greg, > > > >You've proved my assumptions. Clearly you don't want to play an > >active part. Go away. You may learn to grow up elsewhere, though I > >wouldn't bet on it. > > > >> Sincerely. > > > >You've got to be joking. > > > > I'm going to answer why I said what I said above with a parallel > example that hopefully points out one of the problems with some, > conservative, members of the FreeBSD community... > > Why Won't God Heal Amputees?
Sorry for top posting this part of the rant, but it works out easier. This is first of all, irrelevant to the topic, just a private rant. Second, it completely either misrepresents or misunderstands the Christian concept of God or a god and of prayer - although, I admit, some people do cherish such immature ways of thinking/believing. Even if it was complete and accurate, it still does not negate your responsibility for making whatever contribution you can toward the project you use so freely and claim that you need and love and that needs some serious work done. Nothing in prayer relieves a person of personal responsibility. ////jerry > > It's a simple question, isn't it? We all know that amputated legs do > not spontaneously regenerate in response to prayer. Amputees get no > miracles from God. If you are an intelligent person, you have to admit > that it's an interesting question: > > - On the one hand, you believe that God answers prayers and performs > miracles. > > - On the other hand, you know that God completely ignores amputees > when they pray for miracles. > > How do you deal with this discrepancy? As an intelligent Christian, > you have to deal with it, because it makes no sense. In order to > handle it, notice that you have to create some kind of > rationalization. You have to invent an excuse on God's behalf to > explain this strange fact of life. You might say: "Well God must have > some kind of special plan for amputees." So you invent your excuse, > whatever it is, and then you stop thinking about it because it is > uncomfortable. > > Here's another example. As a Christian, you believe that God cares > about you and answers your prayers. So the second question is: Why are > there so many starving people in our world? > > Look out at are world and notice that millions of children are dieing > of starvation, It really is horrific. Why would God be worried about > you getting a raise, while at the same time ignoring the prayers of > these desperate, innocent little children? It really doesn't make any > sense, does it? Why would a loving god do this? To explain it, you > have to come up with some sort of very strange excuse for God. Like: > "God wants these children to suffer and die for some divine, > mysterious reason". Then you push it out of your mind because it > absolutely does not fit with your view of a loving, caring God. > > Do you see what has happened here? When we assume that God exist, the > answers to these questions make absolutely no sense. But if we assume > that God is imaginary, our world makes complete sense. It's > interesting, isn't it? Actually, it's more than interesting. It is > incredibly important. Our world only makes sense when we understand > that God is imaginary. This is how intelligent, rational people know > that God is imaginary. When you use your brain, and when you think > logically about your religious faith, you can reach only one possible > conclusion... The "god" that you have heard about since you were an > infant is completely imaginary. You have to willfully discard > rationality, and accept hundreds of bizarre rationalizations to > believe in your "god." > > Why should you care? What difference does it make if people want to > believe in a "god", even if he is imaginary? It matters because people > who believe in imaginary beings are delusional. It matters because > people who talk to imaginary beings are delusional. It matters because > people who believe in imaginary superstitions like prayer are > delusional. It's that simple, and that obvious. Your religious beliefs > hurt you personally and hurt us as a species because they are > delusional. > > As Carl Sagan once said: "It is far better to grasp the Universe as it > really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and > reassuring." > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" _______________________________________________ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
