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  1. AlexanderG

    Determinism/Free Will

    No. I'm saying we are caused to make certain choices for reasons or for no reasons. If for reasons, then our choice is determined by the reasons. If for no reasons, then our choice is random. You're free to define the mechanism that underlies "free will" that is based on neither reasons or no...
  2. AlexanderG

    U.S. Capitol building invaded!

    People coming into the Capitol to interview Congressmen without having the proper visitor pass is an "invasion"? Are you really trying to equate this with breaking windows, stealing property, beating police officers, and shouting for executions?
  3. AlexanderG

    Determinism/Free Will

    You make choices by considering reasons for and against. How you weigh those reasons is determined by other causes like your past experience, personality, current mood, how hungry or tired or cold you are, etc. It's reasons behind causes behind reasons, all the way down. Alternatively, something...
  4. AlexanderG

    God explaining himself?

    Given the attributes asserted by theism, a god could have created humans with the ability to comprehend him. He chose not to. What is god hiding? I guess he could be evil and just lie to us, and we would never know it.
  5. AlexanderG

    Determinism/Free Will

    The best approach to free will I've heard is that every effect either happens for reasons, in which case it is caused by those reasons, or happens for no reason, in which case it happens randomly. This is a true dichotomy. There is no space for free will as some third option. The consensus in...
  6. AlexanderG

    What are the attributes of a worthy God?

    Ok? I mean, "If a person did the things my god does, we'd consider him a malignant psychopathic narcissist, but since he has divine magic then god is perfectly good when he does the same things" isn't really a good look, is it? Wouldn't a good god do all the things that the best humans do, but...
  7. AlexanderG

    Disappointed in our bishop

    “[The long history of the Catholic Church hiding, facilitating, and protecting the sexual abuse of children] sends a mixed, confusing and scandalous message to the public about the Church’s stance on these important moral and social issues.” There. I fixed it. Didn't Jesus say something about...
  8. AlexanderG

    Christianity Is Only Popular Because Of Its Idle Threats

    I've really never understood how "do what I say or you'll be tortured" can be a message of love. I don't understand how "he tortured me so that you'd have a tiny loophole not to be tortured, but only if you worship me and do exactly what I say" doesn't sound like some kind of horror movie plot...
  9. AlexanderG

    Signs of superior eloquence in the Sunnah (the other miracle in Islam)

    Out of curiosity, by what standard is one text's eloquence determined to be "superior" to another text? What are the objective criteria? On a related note, by what standard can you determine that a god wrote a text, versus a human? What are the criteria to look for? Or is it just confirmation...
  10. AlexanderG

    Logical Proof for Love. God is Love in Person.

    You sound like a troll, but I'll bite. Let's see if we can break your sloppy argument from "Bob" into an actual argument with premises. You said: "The All-Knowing One also knows that the All-Knowing One exists. So, in Omniscience, there has to be this knowledge. God exists. Proven?" It sounds...
  11. AlexanderG

    Alarm Bells Are Ringing At DNC

    I mean, didn't Texas just get finished aggressively redistricting more GOP seats into existence in their state? In the House of Representatives at this point, it's more accurate to say that the representatives get to choose their voters, rather than the other way around. Austin, TX, for...
  12. AlexanderG

    What are the attributes of a worthy God?

    So if I told you to do something, and then told you that I'd torture you if you disobeyed me but that you were free to chose either option, you're saying I would not be making a demand in that case? That's news to the mafia, dictators, inquisitors, etc. Would any court hold someone responsible...
  13. AlexanderG

    What are the attributes of a worthy God?

    If anyone demands or expects worship, I think that would immediately disqualify them from being worthy of worship. A worthy being wouldn't care if it were worshipped, or would actively discourage such behavior. If I'm coerced or encouraged to admire someone, how is it even meaningful when I do...
  14. AlexanderG

    Why are so many Christians unwilling to say they are Christians?

    Do you think it's because Christianity is becoming more of a political identity than a religious identity, at least in the US? Maybe people want to distinguish themselves from the politics? I don't know.
  15. AlexanderG

    My Saint Anthony miracle!

    I'm glad you have ideas that keep your life meaningful. However, this is a textbook case of confirmation bias.
  16. AlexanderG

    Tensions I've felt in Christian apologetics

    Here are a few statements I've heard basically verbatim from Christian apologists, clustered in groups to show the tensions in their reasoning that I've noticed. If it's not your particular version of your faith, that's fine and I don't want to strawman anyone, but I have heard all of these from...
  17. AlexanderG

    Daniel Boyarin and the Jewish Problem of Hermeneutics.

    I'm having a hard time parsing the point that you're making, here. What is the spirit of your thread? I agree that humanity is approaching a post-Christian age. I think that Orthodoxy has "found a tough nut it's unable to crack" in the form of science and reason. Namely, Christianity appears to...
  18. AlexanderG

    Must be considered immoral, I think

    Over 9 billion animals are slaughtered for meat each year, in the US alone. Numerically, that's about two holocausts per day. If a race horse dying seems immoral, then I'd argue you should eat less meat because I don't see a significant moral difference. I'm not a vegetarian or vegan but I've...
  19. AlexanderG

    Trump’s incendiary Texas speech may have deepened his legal troubles, experts say

    I can't see Biden pardoning Trump. Only if he expressed remorse or acknowledged wrongdoing, which he can't do because of his personality disorders. As is, it would be less corrosive to the country to allow him to serve prison time than to pardon him. There have to be consequences.
  20. AlexanderG

    What evil is

    Right, it's not atheists that feel compelled to explain why slavery, genocide, and drowning toddlers is actually good because there must have been morally sufficient reasons, or how torturing someone infinitely for any finite crime could be perfectly good, etc. We are free to explore moral ideas...
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