SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : Should God be replaced?

 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: Greg or e who wrote (2762)10/26/2000 4:45:20 PM
From: cosmicforce  Read Replies (1) of 28931
 
Greg, slowly now.

Can a devout Christian doubt his/her belief occasionally and still be a devout Christian? Maybe intermittently devout. Steve said:

"Now suppose we had a belief system in which the central tenet was insistence that everything be questioned?
Fanaticism would thus be impossible.


The dictionary calls devout a synonym for religious which means Having or showing belief in and reverence for God or a deity.

So can you have an agnostic fanatic? No. It is in the definition. Unless you twist the definition (which is the quote you supplied does) Total agnosticism is self defeating because it assumes some knowledge about reality in order to deny any knowledge of reality."

What the heck is a "total agnostic"? Let's go back to the dictionary. One who believes that there can be no proof of the existence of God but does not deny the possibility that God exists.

Okay, Greg, breathe deeply. How do you twist that into something fanatical (with or without the total modifier)?

So I submit that Steve is right. A philosophy that embraces questioning and doubt can't, by definition, be fanatical. Definition fanatical: Possessed with or motivated by excessive, irrational zeal.

QED
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext