Comments on: Go ahead. Blow away my free will.

By: amy

amy — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:25:41 +0000

So it really shouldn’t be any trouble at all for him to be as responsive as my laptop.

hahahahaha–thank you for making me smile; I needed that today.

Honestly, though, you’re right. Is it really so much to ask, to be more responsive than a laptop?

By: Joshua

Joshua — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:08:31 +0000

Leo, good article.

This comment amuses me:

Well, ok. But from what I’ve read of yours, nothing would really convince you. You’re a scientist, right? You could come up with a natural explanation for just about anything.

Hmmmm, maybe that’s because everything is natural. If there was something supernatural, we couldn’t come up with natural explanations for everything.

Why does this rarely occur to Christians. Why, oh why.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:06:18 +0000

Sorry to be unclear.. I wasn’t refuting the article but a few of the comments that I saw. I apologize, and sadly cannot remember which ones at the moment..

By: LeoPardus

LeoPardus — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:55:05 +0000

I”m not sure what you’re refuting either Shawn. In the article I addressed both the idea that we’d have no choice but to believe if God did miracles for us (i.e., that miracles would violate free will), and I addressed the idea that people just would not believe in miracles if they saw them.

So what is your point?

By: Quester

Quester — Sat, 23 May 2009 08:02:43 +0000

What exactly are you refuting, Shawn?

By: Shawn

Shawn — Sat, 23 May 2009 03:04:20 +0000

My refutation is as follows: Who says that we would have to believe in him? Say God came down from the heavens, and performed miracles. One, these experiences can be explained through science and reason. The parietal lobes in the brain, near the temple control our perception of reality. One half controls perception of self. The other controls perceptions of the universe. Both of them combined control the perception of ourselves in relation to the universe (obviously). There is significant evidence from a study in Canada that certain electrical fields can interfere and alter the function of these lobes, causing hallucinations which are very similar to that of a religious experience or seeing an Unidentified Flying Object.
If this is not convincing, religious ceremonies and practices are designed and orchestrated in a manner that activates the Limbic system and the amygdale. The Limbic system controls the emotional responses to things. The amygdale “labels” memories, or sensory information, with a certain emotion and emotional response; in essence, it puts priority on certain memories more than others. Things that have a stronger reaction are put into memory better. Now, religious ceremonies, arts, buildings are portrayed, or designed in such a manner that the Limbic system and the amygdale label them both as very important. It is somewhat culturally motivated, but it happens with most religious ceremonies.

Second, people deny things that have been proven all of the time. [Young Earth] Creationists have been denying evolution forever. Some people deny the “theory” of gravity. Some people deny that the Holocaust ever happened. So, this proves just how stubborn we can be.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:48:56 +0000

Dale, most people don’t even think about the theory of gravity. I love your insite and honesty….I wish there were more thinking people.

By: Dale701

Dale701 — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:59:54 +0000

That was very touching Josh, I really felt your pain.

I had doubts right out of the box.
But my doubts came from the general overall plan.
Whereas, some of you got here through contradictions, etc.
I just could not see why an all powerful god needed to sacrifice his only son. This made NO SENSE to me.
Now add a little water and stir.
From my position, if the bible said you had to eat an orange then an apple, and that was the only way to be saved, believers would defend this and ask no questions.
It would make sense to them.
If god needs to give his creatures free will, then his son would need to die billions of times.
If I was jesus, I would be asking when is enough enough?
No wonder he said my god my god why have thou forsaken me.
Of course what do I know, I am still having trouble with the theory of gravity!

By: orDover

orDover — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:33:59 +0000

I’m with Leo. It took me so long because it didn’t seem ridiculous from the inside. If everyone in your town believed that a magical, invisible purple troll lived under the town bridge, then no child born in the town would find that idea silly. As it turns out, in some towns, all of the people know that trolls are mythological beings with no basis in reality. Only in discovering that view does your own troll ideology seem ridiculous.

By: LeoPardus

LeoPardus — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:59:17 +0000

I’m not totally sure why it took me so long. One thing I can say is that when I was in the faith, it really did make sense to me. I read the Bible a lot, read apologetics, read Church history, read theology, taught, studied, and so on…. and it all really made sense. Oh sure, there were some occasional problems or doubts, but they didn’t overwhelm the greater portion that made so much sense.
In the end, it all fell apart pretty quickly.