Irony, and God's Help.

[bankside]

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3477474.html

A Catholic who believed his prayers were answered when he was rescued from a lift was killed when he went to church to give thanks and the stone altar fell on him.

I always thought it was curious how quickly the religious will heap praise and thanks on the divine for supposed favours, but how unwilling they are to cast the equivalent amount of blame and opprobrium for the equivalent amount of divine malevolence and indifference.

If you're going to thank god for getting you out of the elevator, at least forgo hypocrisy long enough to condemn him for getting you stuck in it in the first place.

Or, you could thank the elevator repair tech. Or the government that inspected the elevator and ensured it was in good working order anyway.

 

[kallipolis]

The Athiest in the Woods

An atheist was walking through the woods, thinking to himself,

"How beautiful the animals are!"

"How majestic the trees are!"

"How powerful the rivers are!"

As he walked along the river, he heard rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned and saw an 8-foot grizzly bear charging towards him. He ran along the path as fast as he could, but when he looked over his shoulder, he saw that the bear was closing in on him.

He kept running, but when he looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. Then he tripped and fell on the ground. The bear was right on top of him with his right paw raised to strike him. At that instant, the atheist cried, "God help me!"

Time Stopped.

The bear froze.

The forest was silent.

A bright light shone upon the man and a voice from the sky said, "You've denied my existence for all these years and have taught others that I don't exist. You've even credited creation to a cosmic accident. Why would you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Are you now a believer?"

The atheist looked into the light and said, "Well, I would be hypocrite to suddenly ask You to treat me as a Christian now, but could you, maybe, make the BEAR a Christian?"

"Very Well," said the voice.

The light went out.

The sounds of the forest resumed.

The bear lowered his right paw and brought both paws together. He bowed his head, and said: "Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive from Your bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen."

 

[kallipolis]

A preacher phoned the city's newspaper. "Thank you very much," said he, "for the error you made when you announced my sermon topic for last Sunday. The topic I sent you was 'What Jesus Saw in A Publican.' You printed it as 'What Jesus Saw in a Republican' I had the biggest crowd of the year!"

 

[Nishin]

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3477474.html



I always thought it was curious how quickly the religious will heap praise and thanks on the divine for supposed favours, but how unwilling they are to cast the equivalent amount of blame and opprobrium for the equivalent amount of divine malevolence and indifference.

If you're going to thank god for getting you out of the elevator, at least forgo hypocrisy long enough to condemn him for getting you stuck in it in the first place.

Or, you could thank the elevator repair tech. Or the government that inspected the elevator and ensured it was in good working order anyway.

Interesting thoughts...

 

[Nishin]

The Athiest in the Woods

An atheist was walking through the woods, thinking to himself,

"How beautiful the animals are!"

"How majestic the trees are!"

"How powerful the rivers are!"

As he walked along the river, he heard rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned and saw an 8-foot grizzly bear charging towards him. He ran along the path as fast as he could, but when he looked over his shoulder, he saw that the bear was closing in on him.

He kept running, but when he looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. Then he tripped and fell on the ground. The bear was right on top of him with his right paw raised to strike him. At that instant, the atheist cried, "God help me!"

Funny joke/story ! ... but constructed on a fallacy... why would an atheist suddenly talk to someone he think doesn't exist in the first place??

 

[kallipolis]

Funny joke/story ! ... but constructed on a fallacy... why would an atheist suddenly talk to someone he think doesn't exist in the first place??

An objective atheist, is always open to learning, something new. In other words, an objective atheist, is prepared to change, when a crisis in his life, evidences that there is more to life, than he originally believed.

In actual fact many pragmatic, atheists are practising agnostics. Which is the sensible, rational position to assume. For the realist remains open to learning.

Those with a closed mind, believe that they have nothing more, to learn.

 

[poolerboy]

An objective atheist, is always open to learning, something new. In other words, an objective atheist, is prepared to change, when a crisis in his life, evidences that there is more to life, than he originally believed.

In actual fact many pragmatic, atheists are practising agnostics. Which is the sensible, rational position to assume. For the realist remains open to learning.

Those with a closed mind, believe that they have nothing more, to learn.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI[/ame]

 

[kallipolis]

^ I'm impressed. I might just study to become a scientist.

Hold on, one minute; I am, a scientist.

 

[bankside]

An objective atheist, is always open to learning, something new. In other words, an objective atheist, is prepared to change, when a crisis in his life, evidences that there is more to life, than he originally believed.

In actual fact many pragmatic, atheists are practising agnostics. Which is the sensible, rational position to assume. For the realist remains open to learning.

Those with a closed mind, believe that they have nothing more, to learn.

An atheist is of course prepared to accept evidence. Do you have any? Keep in mind platitudes and anecdotes don't count.

An objective atheist is also prepared to die alone in a foxhole, if, as it turns out, that is all there is to life.

The opposite of a closed mind is not believing the first old legend one was taught as a child. You, kallipolis, are, fighting with every comma, against, closed-mindedness, not, Atheism.

 

[poolerboy]

^ I'm impressed. I might just study to become a scientist.

Hold on, one minute; I am, a scientist.

I see the content of the video flew over your head.

 

[kallipolis]

I see the content of the video flew over your head.

Your perceptions, tell us, much about you.

 

[bankside]

Your perceptions, tell us, much about you.

It would be appreciated if you could articulate what poolerboy's perceptions tell you.. I wonder if his perceptions tell me something very different than they tell you.

 

[poolerboy]

Your perceptions, tell us, much about you.

Yes, that it. Rather than question a disagreement with the content brought up, let's resort to ad hominems. That's what Jesus would do.

 

[kallipolis]

An atheist is of course prepared to accept evidence. Do you have any? Keep in mind platitudes and anecdotes don't count.

Dictating how people should address your questions, does indicate that you are only prepared to read that which suits your beliefs.

An objective atheist is also prepared to die alone in a foxhole, if, as it turns out, that is all there is to life.

Fox holes are also refuges from reality. Such hiding places are the natural habitat of the man, who closes his mind to that which can be experienced, despite not being recognised by the senses.

The opposite of a closed mind is not believing the first old legend one was taught as a child. You, kallipolis, are, fighting with every comma, against, closed-mindedness, not, Atheism.

The rational man is always prepared to embrace his life's experiences, despite not seeing, all that the experience is revealing in his life. For our sight, does not always reveal all that is here, and there.

 

[poolerboy]

The rational man is always prepared to embrace his life's experiences, despite not seeing, all that the experience is revealing in his life. For our sight, does not always reveal all that is here, and there.

And aren't you assuming with your hypothetical that a) the atheist has experienced God and b) that if an unexplained experience is attributed to being supernatural and/or divine that the interpretation is correct? That was a main point of the video I posted. If there is an objection to a statement in the video's content I'd love to here it as well as why it is wrong in your view.

 

[kallipolis]

It would be appreciated if you could articulate what poolerboy's perceptions tell you.. I wonder if his perceptions tell me something very different than they tell you.

They may well do. Tell us all, that they tell you, Then I'll play my hand.

 

[kallipolis]

Yes, that it. Rather than question a disagreement with the content brought up, let's resort to ad hominems. That's what Jesus would do.

More, perceptions.

 

[poolerboy]

More, perceptions.

Likewise..

 

[kallipolis]

And aren't you assuming with your hypothetical that

a) the atheist has experienced God

No, that is your assumption.

and

b) that if an unexplained experience is attributed to being supernatural and/or divine that the interpretation is correct?

In reverse it could be said, that rationalising an apparent paranormal experience, not to be of supernatural origin, is evidence of an unwillingness, to consider the experience as being of supernatural design.


That was a main point of the video I posted. If there is an objection to a statement in the video's content I'd love to here it as well as why it is wrong in your view.

The purpose of your captioned video is to entertain the viewer with the thought that cold logic can persuade a person that his life's experience can always be rationalised. For many people such reasoning begs the question, as to why so many inexplicable, occurrences cannot be rationalised according to logical deduction.

 

[poolerboy]

No, that is your assumption.

The rational man is always prepared to embrace his life's experiences, despite not seeing, all that the experience is revealing in his life.

In what sense can the atheist in your hypothetical "embrace his life's experiences" if he has not experienced God?

The purpose of your captioned video is to entertain the viewer with the thought that cold logic can persuade a person that his life's experience can always be rationalised.

No. The video objects to people ignoring natural explanations because it's an illegitimate approach to facts. It objects to what people call supernatural/paranormal 'explanations' because they're not actually explanations. They're placeholders for things which haven't been satisfactorily explained. As soon as we develop a valid explanation for something, ie. isolate why it's happening, it ceases to be supernatural/paranormal.