You must realize that your statement makes no sense. How is it possible for Cofty to have evidence leading him to the conclusion that God does not exist and for you to have other evidence that God does exist. Clearly, either one of you is wrong or you are both wrong.
Clearly one of us is wrong, yes.
I merely tried to make the point that in the same way that Cofty says he simply follows the evidece, that one whose faith is based on evidence does the same.
But yes, at least one of those two people is going to be wrong.
This does not concern me. I know what is real in my life; I know what I have experienced. Cofty simply does not have (or does not accept) the same evidence as I have been given. There is no conundrum for me. There is only a conundrum for him, if he cares at all, and since he is here I assume he must care some. But while I can accept that he does not have the same evidence - this takes nothing away from mine. Whereas he(and others like him) have to believe that the evidence that I have is wrong or fake or misinterpreted.
He has to discount my evidence; but he does not have anything for me to discount to begin with.
Please bear in mind that I'm not saying who is wrong in this case. I'm just merely pointing out the illogic of your statement. Therefore, if one of you is right you must consider that at the face of evidence that leads to the contrary, at least you tec, as the one concerned, must examine your own evidence and demonstrate all others as false. I would really like to see you exercise some critical thinking and go for that examination so that you can either vindicate of your beliefs or do some serious take-back on your views.
I totally understand what you were saying, and that it was the statement that could not be true.
I would like to ask why you think that i have not exercised critical thinking and examination of my faith, and of the position of others? I assure you that I have.
We humans are not intellectual vacuums. When we lose an ideology, our nature quickly takes over and fills the void. That's why being atheist or agnostic is not a cold and barren proposition. We fill the space of what was lost with reason and other purposes that have the same effect (not the same purpose) as when we believed. We turn our attention to other things that provide similar warm and fuzzy feelings; it may be nature; it may be love of family and friends; it may be awe of the universe; it may be the beauty in music, etc. Consider this and realize that indeed there is another way.
I agree with you. If I lost my faith (truly lost it, even if only for a spell), then i would find something else to fill the void that would be left. I meant it when I said that I can imagine the other 'side'. One thing that humans are good at is filling the void, even sometimes, to the point of ignoring the void enough that you forget that it is even there. That, I know, I could do... if left on my own to do it.
It is not fear of non-belief that keeps me from non-belief. It is knowing that Christ is alive and here, and so also His Father.
Peace to you,
tammy
