"Consience is what makes a boy tell his mother before his sister does." - Evan Esar

***

MFM: it's not just fundies
everyone has cognitive dissonances of one kind or another

by the way, have you ever played 'battleground god'?
http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/god.htm

I did much worse than I expected
revealed previously unseen dissonances in my belief system

You are consistent in applying the principle that it is justifiable to base one's beliefs about the external world on a firm, inner conviction, regardless of the external evidence, or lack of it, for the truth or falsity this conviction. The problem is that it seems you have to accept that people might be justified in their belief that terrible things are right. You have agreed that the rapist is justified in believing that he carries out the will of God, and in an earlier answer you indicated that you think that God defines what is good and what is evil. Therefore, to be consistent, you must think the rapist is justified in believing that he acts morally when he acts on his inner conviction. Hence, you bite the bullet and justify the rapist.

anyway, I said taht it's ok to base one's beliefs on solely a firm inner conviction because that's really the only way we can make any decisions at all instead of being in constant philosophical aporia

with the result that I had to admit it was ok for the rapist to rape based on a firm inner conviction.

Me: yeah it is

which is why fundies are talking rubbish when they say god's commands are perfect, glorify abraham for isaac and acquit deanna laney on grounds of insanity
http://www.courttv.com/trials/laney/

MFM: you're amazing. like the panda's thumb bloggers
determinedly shooting fish in a barrel

Me: the sad thing is that there're so many fish to shoot
and so many barrels presented

the intellectual battle has been lost by the fundies
but the fact is that the battle for people's minds has not been won

anyhow this recent spurt has been incited by a fundie emailing me
before that I was rather placid.

look at it this way: if everyone believed the earth was flat, the thing to do would be to convince them that the earth was round
even if we all already knew the earth was round

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" (or words to that effect

MFM: what noble concern

Me: one does one's best
I like to save souls

MFM: the main thing that annoys me about fundies isn't the possible triumph of evil, but the sheer despicability of wilful ignorance and/or stupidity

Me: IAWTC

as I told someone else, I don't mind that so much. admit your religion is irrational. I don't mind.
but when they claim it's logical then commit intellectual suicide - that's what I simply cannot stand

as someone said "the parallels between your relationship to truth and other people's to god are fascinating"

MFM: well this particular aspect is more about methodology than truth. an unthinking atheist is just as bad as an unthinking theist


Me: >This could go on forever. I don't know how to end it. He made our
>minds, the minds that use logic. He made logic and will not be stumped
>by it. We are the ones (or should I say I am the one since you've 'seen
>the light') who is stumped.

Bland assertion does not an argument make. You just claim things without giving me reasons to believe them (ad hoc fallacy).


"The philosopher Ronald de Sousa once memorably described philosophical theology as "intellectual tennis without a net," and I readily allow that I have indeed been assuming without comment or question up to now that the net of rational judgment was up. But we can lower it if you really want to. it's your serve. Whatever you serve, suppose I return service rudely as follows: "What you say implies that God is a ham sandwich wrapped in tinfoil. That's not much of a God to worship!" If you then volley back, demanding to know how I can logically justify my claim that your serve has such a preposterous implication, I will reply: "Oh, do you want the net up for my returns, but not for your serves? Either the net stays up, or it says down. If the net is down, there are no rules and anybody can say anything, a mug's game if there ever was one. I have been giving you the benefit of the assumption that you would not waste your own time or mine by playing with the net down.""

Someone: sigh. you're debating with a fundie? again?! where did your energy come from? can you spare me some so that i'll not run out of it while going round the island for my current job?

enjoy your fun in [using fundie speak] throwing pearls before swine.