Thoughts

[asdr83]

So I kept meaning to write a post yesterday and didn't and now I don't know what I was going to talk about so instead I'm gonna rant a little about my philosophy class, please excuse me the venting space. So yesterday in my philosophy of mind class we had the really cool assignment to watch The Matrix, read a philosophical article about whether we could be living in a Matrix, by David Chalmers and then write a short paper about whether or not we believe that it is possible for us to be living in a matrix right now. It was a lot of fun. Class wasn't quite though. We started the discussion about whether or not it was possible that we lived in a matrix. I contended it was possible but probably not provable either way and that it didn't really matter because this is the reality that we're stuck with. Now I don't mind people disagreeing with me, it makes for a good debate but what I do mind (especially in a philosophy class) is a flat indefensible statement that I'm supposed to respect and not attack. Here I'm speaking of the girl in my class who asserted that there is no matrix and this she knows as an absolute fact because she believes in God and doesn't have to defend her ideas because she reads the bible. She came to her unshakable faith on her own, she says she was not indoctrinated by her church, and yet she has no defense of it, it's just something she knows. Firstly I'd like to say that unshakable blind faith is something magical and wonderful to me, I sometimes wish i had it (and something to believe in) because it would make my religious life easier, no more questing for truth and evidence for it, i'd just have faith. That being said I think if she couldn't come up with something to further the discussion she should have kept her mouth shut. It is extremely socially unacceptable to argue someone's faith in God, I've found that since I was a young child. I've also found that people feel it's perfectly ok to tear my agnosticism, religion and faith in science to shreds. Or to try anyway, with such arguments as "if you reread the Bible believing that it could be the word of God then you will see that it is". I decided that i really couldn't say much about her faith in God. After reading the bible myself I find that there are many descriptions of God in it and that they tend to be contradictory. I do not believe that any of the version could possibly exist and I certainly don't believe that all versions are able to exist in one being, however I also believe that the God of the girl in my class is absolutely real because her faith makes Him real, for her. I decided to try the tactic of maybe we're in a matrix that God designed and was told by another girl in my class that God doesn't write in computer code, cause He's a divine being and divine beings don't do that so we're not in a matrix. It is so frustrating to be in a philosophy class which is supposedly based on logical arguments and be running into the brick wall of faith. Grrrr. ok rant over.

Comments

Re: Actually

[firewolfalpha.livejournal.com]

JDucouer said:

~OTOH, I don't know what proportion of the Christian population this actually represents. It's certainly the *noisiest* bunch, but I'm not sure that it's actually particularly representative, any more than the Taliban are representative of Islam. There are certainly plenty of self-described Christians who seek a middle ground, trying to rectify current knowledge with their faith. I suspect they're more numerous, although less assertive.~

Let me open by stating for a fact, yes; Those of us who ARE christian/catholic etc. we for the most part are quietly assertive of our religion and faith, Everyone should have Faith in something be it a god, person (themselves is usually the best), pet, favorite TV show etc. My religion has such things as the Spanish Inquisition, The Crusades, and many other Atrocities to it's name, the Muslims have terrorism in the present past and probably the future, But as you aid, it's not even close to being representive of our Religion.
So many people believe that if they think thier god is the ONE TRUE DIETY blah blah blah blah, they speak the ultimate undeniable TRUTH! WRONG!, we al ldeserve the right to speak out, so we can say i BELIEVE! or I DO NOT BELIEVE! or I MIGHT Believe! etc. ok short story here, I despise that fanatical mindless "I got faith, so i am the one who is always going to be right" kind of mindset, it makes me vomit. It's that sort of thinking wich creates Terriorist groups like al-Qaeda.
~jimmy