Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I said: "Then we go looking for the evidence. " No confirmation bias is involved because we should go looking for the evidence with no preconceptions.You're describing the pathway to motivated reasoning (confirmation bias),
That's what I just said above.which follows when one believes something but the evidence doesn't support him. It's important when evaluating evidence to have no preconceptions about what it signifies and be able to deduce sound conclusions from it, to go where the evidence takes an experienced critical thinker.
No, I never said that. One should not believe God exists without any evidence, so how could one believe God exists first, before having evidence for God? That makes no sense. However, we do need to suspect that there might be a God as otherwise we would not spend our time looking for evidence. Would an investigator go looking for evidence that a murder had been committed if he did not suspect that a murder had been committed?Now look at your words above again in the light of that. You're saying that in order to see evidence for a god, you need to believe it exists first.
I don't believe that one should look at that evidence AFTER choosing to believe that the evidence supports one's belief that God. That is backwards. I believe that one should look at that evidence BEFORE choosing to believe that God exists..I believe that if you look at that evidence AFTER choosing to believe that it supports one's belief that a god exists, that's what you'll see.
Now, read what I said again:
I believe that God will reward those who earnestly seek Him by helping them find the evidence they need to believe.
Manifestations of God (Messengers) are not like ordinary humans so they don't have motivated reasoning.That's also motivated reasoning. No, they cannot know that they have heard from a god for a fact, although they might say so and even believe so. But if they believe that can happen, then that's what they see happening.
They can know they have heard from a God because God ensures that They know that. It is the rest of us who cannot know that They head from a God, so we have to believe Them, or not...
That is correct.The belief shapes one's interpretation of events, which is why one is exhorted to believe FIRST, then interpret experience, which is the reverse of the proper order. The review of the evidence needs to precede belief and needs to be evaluated open-mindedly according to the principles of valid reasoning to acquire knowledge about oneself (what makes one happy and what makes him unhappy) and nature around us (how things are and how they work).
The review of the evidence needs to precede belief and needs to be evaluated open-mindedly according to the principles of valid reasoning.
However, that only applies to would-be believers. It does not apply to Manifestations of God (Messengers). They do not have to review any evidence because They ARE the evidence. Unlike the rest of us They do not have to believe because They know.
In response to @PearlSeeker's question I said: "I believe that Manifestations of God are a different order of creation than ordinary humans because they have a 'twofold nature' that ordinary humans do not have. Ordinary humans only have one nature, a human nature."If you assume that a god exists and channels messages only through certain people, then you'll also believe that those people must not be like us. They're not "ordinary human beings" and you'll believe their message.
Before I did the necessary investigation and CAME to that believe that I did not assume that a God exists and channels messages only through certain people.
That is what YOU see, that is not what I see, and not what other religious people see.But if one begins by looking at the people making these claims and their messages without preconceptions, one sees ordinary people writing and speaking ordinary words.
The Messengers must not be any different from who They are.....the messengers are channeling a god, then they must be different
The Messengers only have to be different from who They are in order for YOU to believe that They are Messengers.
The Messengers do not have to be any different from who they are in order for believers to believe that They are Messengers.