LawfulGood's Journal: Mass Delusion

In response to:

mass delusion

Precisely why I've always held that religion is a form of mass-hysteria, a kind of shared delusion.
On the other hand... maybe atheism and materialism are forms of mass delusion.

Many people insist that their god talks to them. On the other hand, I and a lot of other people have never heard or seen this god talk to me or anyone else; ergo, these god-hearing people are mentally ill by their very own standards.
With all due respect, your logic is flawed. My friend Nancy has talked to me. My friend Nancy has not talked to you or a lot of other people. So everyone who has heard Nancy is mentally ill?

Christianity is just as dangerous to the health of bystanders as a maniac is to those around him. Think the Crusades, the Inquisition, the puritanical Witch Burnings, etc.
On the other hand, consider atheistic states like the U.S.S.R., China, North Korea, Cuba, etc, etc.

Religion is not Logical

[cyranoVR]

With all due respect, your logic is flawed. My friend Nancy has talked to me. My friend Nancy has not talked to you or a lot of other people. So everyone who has heard Nancy is mentally ill?

Wrong. That logic is sound. Your analogy is flawed.

Anybody that wants to can seek out an talk to your friend Nancy. However, as the original poster pointed out, not anybody can seek out and talk to "God." Nor can anybody independently verify that their conversation with "God" actually took place - all you have to g

Re:Religion is not Logical

[LawfulGood]

Thanks for your reply. The original poster added me to his foe list, so I assume he doesn't care to reply. I appreciate the opportunity to explore this matter further.

Why the compulsion to "logically" justify religious faith?
I think you may misunderstand me. I'm not really trying logically justify religious faith at this point. Although, I'd be happy to have that conversation as well.

I'm just raising questions about the validity of his logic. Logic doesn't care what subject you're talking about

Re:Religion is not Logical

[cyranoVR]

Well stated - however I find it interesting that your line of reasoning finds its roots in a very unlogical root - i.e. either "God exists or he doesn't exist." I guess what I mean by unlogical is "overly axiomatic."

If you want to be completely logical, you have to logically question those axioms and develop the conversation to its full depth. That is, discussing varieties of human experience in the physical world, the possible origins and meaning of religion itself, etc. etc. which I don't have the time

Re:Religion is not Logical

[LawfulGood]

i.e. either "God exists or he doesn't exist." I guess what I mean by unlogical is "overly axiomatic."
Honestly, all I wanted to do was to demonstrate his logical flaw. I will admit that I was motivated by the fact that I found his conclusion to be particularly odious. But whether it was distasteful or not, it's invalid.

But... as long as we're on the subject... Starting an argument with either "God exists or he doesn't exist" may or may not be "overly axiomatic" depending on where you're going. If y

Re:Religion is not Logical

[cyranoVR]

I attended Columbia, which has an [in]famously "tightly controlled" reading list that includes the Old and New Testaments, Augustine, various other Reformation apologetics that I can't recall now (Luther, Calvin, et. al.) and most notably Soren Kierkegaard.

It should be noted that many of the "secular" philosophers I listed (Hobbes, etc) were actually committed Christians who imposed their Christian-influenced world-views onto politics, economics, etc. The only atheist I think we read at all was Marx.

Just

Are you sure?

[calebb]

Ahh, but are sure that not everyone can find God of they actually look for Him? Like you said, to talk to Nancy, you would have to look for her - you would need to look up her contact information somehow. If she doesn't have a phone, you would need to travel to her town, find her house, knock on her door, initiate the conversation, etc.

You seem confident that not everyone can find God just as easily - I would say that God is actually easier to find. Have you actually tried to find out whether or not H