To the silent God believers and those that offer their opinion of me...

[sojourner]

If I only have 4 days left until the end of the world, then this is kind of a moot point, but I'll make it anyway.

I believe in something not falsifiable. I believe Jesus is coming back this Saturday. I am the man on the corner with a sign that says the world is coming to an end.

I am sure there are those that have simply read my postings without so much as uttering a word about it, and then there are those that make no qualms about telling me how wrong I am, or how naive I am, or how misguided I have been led.

So what? Am I really that different from you? We all believe in a book or series of books, or some ancient story, all of which claim many un-falsifiable events, places, people etc...
So what? I have come to believe in an idea produced from said books, I am putting my neck out there with something firm, that all can stand back and point in a few days if I am wrong and say "see, what a simpleton" or whatever.

At the end of the day, my delusions will be over in 4 days, and yours will continue on probably until you die. So where does that leave us? Your un-falsifiable beliefs are better than mine? Or are they just safer? Safer from public ridicule and scrutiny?

I can not tell you how wonderful it feels, to know I have searched for the truth for over 20 years and that search for God will end in 4 days. To which I can either go to heaven, or focus the rest of my life on real things, falsifiable things. I get to leave the fog of religion, and move on.

All those pointing at me today, if life goes on after next Saturday, will still be stuck in a delusion of grandeur chasing their tale. Yet you will be safe from most ridicule because your fairy tale offers nothing of real substance by which your faith can be tested. Hence you have no reason to make full sense of your situation as pertaining to faith and God. Your safe zone will go unchanged.

this only works if we assume that your belief (and ours) is based upon anything other than self-delusion. However, we know that to not be true.

If someone believes the world will end Saturday, they must have some kind of evidence that points them to the reality of that event. And that evidence must be misunderstood, because no such real evidence exists. Either that, or the belief is conjured up out of whole cloth, in which case, it means nothing.

Our belief in God, in Jesus, is not "fairy tale." It is not made up of whole cloth, nor is it a misunderstanding of presentable evidence. It is a way of understanding life, based upon an understanding of shared experience. My experiences offer substance by which the faith I hold is tested -- and has been tested time and again. So do those of others.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

this only works if we assume that your belief (and ours) is based upon anything other than self-delusion. However, we know that to not be true.

If someone believes the world will end Saturday, they must have some kind of evidence that points them to the reality of that event. And that evidence must be misunderstood, because no such real evidence exists. Either that, or the belief is conjured up out of whole cloth, in which case, it means nothing.

Our belief in God, in Jesus, is not "fairy tale." It is not made up of whole cloth, nor is it a misunderstanding of presentable evidence. It is a way of understanding life, based upon an understanding of shared experience. My experiences offer substance by which the faith I hold is tested -- and has been tested time and again. So do those of others.

Ok there guy... Whatever helps you sleep at night. I find those still attached to the bible get comfort distancing and maneuvering from me so as to appear "not one of those guys".
To an atheist we are all delusional, granted though, I am easier prey.

Eloquent words based on fairy tales are still fairy tales, so justify away my friend.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

At the end of the day, my delusions will be over in 4 days, and yours will continue on probably until you die.

The odds are against you on that one, Mike.

End-of-the-world believers who follow a set date will almost always follow the explanation of their "prophet" who will explain why the world didn't end, and the prophet simply sets a farther date.

The delusion doesn't depend on fulfillment - it never has. The thrill of believing in an end time prophesy is not fulfillment but the promise of it, and typically followers can't resist this feeling.

 

[sojourner]

Ok there guy... Whatever helps you sleep at night. I find those still attached to the bible get comfort distancing and maneuvering from me so as to appear "not one of those guys".
To an atheist we are all delusional, granted though, I am easier prey.

Eloquent words based on fairy tales are still fairy tales, so justify away my friend.

Who said anything about being "attached to the Bible?"

 

[Just_me_Mike]

The odds are against you on that one, Mike.

End-of-the-world believers who follow a set date will almost always follow the explanation of their "prophet" who will explain why the world didn't end, and the prophet simply sets a farther date.

The delusion doesn't depend on fulfillment - it never has. The thrill of believing in an end time prophesy is not fulfillment but the promise of it, and typically followers can't resist this feeling.

Nah, that is an over generalized statement. I would agree if it was a cult that housed people or somehow had some particular control over them. This information is freely observed and discarded.
It was never about Camping, personally I find him nauseating. I simply think he has given the best possible explanation about the bible, if in fact the bible is infallible.
If a person doesn't give the bible a chance to be infallible, than this simply doesn't apply to them. I decided to give it a chance. That is hardly following a prophet or cult or whatever.
You're entitled to your opinions though.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

Who said anything about being "attached to the Bible?"

OK, then it doesn't apply to you. No big deal...

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Nah, that is an over generalized statement. I would agree if it was a cult that housed people or somehow had some particular control over them. This information is freely observed and discarded.
It was never about Camping, personally I find him nauseating. I simply think he has given the best possible explanation about the bible, if in fact the bible is infallible.
If a person doesn't give the bible a chance to be infallible, than this simply doesn't apply to them. I decided to give it a chance. That is hardly following a prophet or cult or whatever.
You're entitled to your opinions though.

Yes, I did generalize it for precisely this reason. I don't want you to think that I view you as a member of a cult - I was simply pointing out that it's not the fulfillment of the prophesy that is important, it's the belief in it that matters. All folks do is shift the date and merrily go on believing the same thing.

And it seems to me that my point is made - you think that it's the best possible explanation of the bible, and the bible is infalliable. If so, when the prophesy doesn't come true, your interpretation must be wrong because the bible can't be wrong. So you're quite free to accept that the interpretation was slightly off, and the bible still teaches essentially the same thing.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

All folks do is shift the date and merrily go on believing the same thing.
.

For the record Camping didn't shift his date as such. He has only ever really spoken of 1994 or 2011.

He had his chance, and if it doesn't pan out, I move on. Simple as that.

Also, I said I "gave" the bible the chance to prove itself infallible. Camping seems to be the only soul living that actually believes this, and offers a complete interpretation to work with this assertion. I found it interesting, but if he is wrong, for me at least, I will leave him as Alice did the Mad Hatter with his tea set and move on farther into the dream.
God and end of time is only a small part of my dream, but since it is at the forefront currently it appears it is the only thing I have in my dream.

Only time will tell though...