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"Can you consider the possibility that you don't understand what theism is?"
Can YOU consider the same possibility? I'm telling you, every theist I have ever met believes that God is physically out there. Tell them that you believe that God is a useful mental exercise, that it's internal, and claim to be a theist and they will look at you like you have two heads.
I said: "Ask them if they think a God physically exists, and they will say 'yes.'"
You said: "You are assuming all theists are idiots"
Is that to say that a belief in God's actual existence is idiotic?
"I'm not saying red objects don't exist, all I'm saying is "stuff exists","
True, but the label "red," though it may be interpreted by our brain, has its sources in reality (i.e. the wavelength of the light reflected by the object.)
"The true solipsist is the person who believes that labels exist. A person such as yourself."
When did I lead you to believe that I think that labels genuinely exist? I do not consider God to be a label.
"the concrete existence of God is associated with the concrete existence of the universe"
But people still apply unfounded traits onto that universal source (such as sentience and emotion) For you to dismiss our notions of God and still remain a theist amazes me. I've never seen anything like it. If it's just an acknowledged mental exercise, why should it comfort us and make us happy? It shouldn't, any more so than an adult should eagerly await for Christmas so Santa Claus will arrive.
"don't ask Joe on the street about that, his understanding of theism is too simplistic for Mario the intellectual inquisitor."
Intellectual Inquisitor? Do I really come across as that harsh?
"I hope you keep in mind that if you charge people with accepting religion without first solving its philosophical challenges, you must be as critical of their blind acceptance of science."
Absolutely, yes. If you want to talk about why I think science is a reliable source of information, that could be fun, too. |
