Thanks Religious Forums, it's been a slice,
It's been fun asking and replying to questions and learning about different religions,
but I've decided to leave these conversations behind me and move on.
I realized that I'd rather have 21st century conversations about the important questions in...
We know now that all of this happens in the brain. There is no evidence for a soul, and no need to invoke the idea of soul to make things work. It's all done through the brain
The "real me" is my brain, and it is being altered all the time. If someone has a brain tumor that results in them being extremely aggressive, what is the effect on the soul? What about autistic children? Do they have souls that are deficient?
Under this definition, consciousness (the soul) is dependent on brain activity, and could not be eternal.
Consciousness can be easily altered by alcohol, lack of oxygen, sleep deprivation... all kinds of things. Where does the soul go when we are unconscious?
thoughts, feelings, speech, and actions can be changed/ altered/ influenced by many things (age, alcohol, brain tumors, drugs, to name a few). Is the soul effected by them as well?
Intuition is not evidence. The free will question is falsifiable with evidence of determinism. Living under unproven assumptions is arguably what religion is.
I could not claim such healing came about naturally, which is why I picked this example. Nor would I change the subject if presented with said evidence
no, I'm saying if one believes that god can miraculously heal people, then one would expect to see an example of an amputee being healed. e.g. If there were 10,000 real accounts of divine healing, one might expect to see at least 1 case of an amputee being healed
I'd rather have evidence of Gods existence before I freely choose to worship him. Indeed, he might have some plans that would require him to hate amputees. I'm not saying God heals everyone who asks, I'm saying that if God miraculously heals some people sometimes, then it follows that some...
The story you referred to is just that, a story. If healing miracles happen today, there should be at least one contemporary example of an amputee gaining back a limb. We can actually properly document and test such stories.
So the knowledge that miracles can actually happen would compromise knowing God through faith. Why can't we commune with God after we know he actually exists?
Do you believe God can miraculously heal people?
If so, why is God so discriminatory with whom he heals?
It appears that God is only willing to heal ailments that can also be healed through natural means.
For example, people have prayed for God's help and recovered from cancer and other...
I'd also like to add (after a quick Google search) that a 1 month old "baby" has about 200 cells. Compare this to an ant that has about 250,000 brain cells
Disclaimer, I haven't contemplated or researched this topic much.
I am pro choice. I would absolutely have no problem aborting sperm, eggs, embryos, or a 1 month old fetus. They are just nowhere near a human being. Yet I would be venomously opposed to aborting an 8 month old fetus, or if...
Honestly, I never thought about circumcision as cruelty until I started studying religion.
When I was younger I thought it was primarily a health/ hygiene based decision. When I finally understood it is an ancient religious practice it became disgusting to me.
Sam Harris has some thought provoking material on the illusion of free will. I find the whole topic hard to understand, but what I have taken from his position is that ultimately we do not have free will because our thoughts are a productive of our biology, environment, and circumstances. There...