Could it be that you all are afraid of what you believe?
Nope. As I have stated multiple times. That appears to be your insecurity. It is not mine..
Let's tell the whole truth here by restoring the context of what I said:
Unknown Soldier:
Actually, I can't prove what anybody believes or not. I've also told you that I don't know what you believe. So what you're posting here has nothing to do with anything I'm trying. Could it be that you all are afraid of what you believe?
I never said that you're afraid of believing in God but only asked if you are.
You have said multiple times that you do not believe that we know our own truth, that you think we all believe in gods as you do, we just don’t know it, etc. The posts are all there. And everyone who reads English knows that “could it be you are?” Is not the same question as “are you?”
But agsin, it’s all there. I am not writing to change your mind. I am writing for discussion with all the readers of the topic.
I’ve been clear multiple times, rewording in the simplest way to help you.
I've read what you've posted.
You deny believing in any Gods.
Correction: I *DO NOT* believe in any god(dess)(es).
I do not “deny believing in,” as if there is a question that I am lying or deluded.
Rather, I DO NOT believe in any god(dess)(es). It’s a positive statement, certain and true.
I answer this repeated kind of content-changing post because I find this to be an interesting example of how poeple with an agenda will try to “make one say” something that is not true for one to say. So it’s interesting to discuss. Some might ask, “why do you engage with Unknown Soldier when he repeatedly misrepresents you, and says things about you that you clearly did not say?” And I answer, because he’s not the only one in the world who does this, and it is useful to practice recognizing and neutralizing that kind of misrepresentation. This is like a little pop quiz.
They take a persons clear and unequivocal statement, and they switch it out to equivocal language, claim it is an exact synonym, and then they point to their own inserted language and report you as equivocal. It’s slick and it’s interesting how the nuances of words, juxtaposed with their broad comonalities, can be used to attempt to undermine your intended communication and replace it with theirs.
So it's not a question of clarity in what you tell me but a question of what I can know about what you tell me.
See? Like that. I say something clear, but he knows there is *somethinng*else* being said.
There isn’t. But his posts attempt to create his position in my words.
I think that I've been "clear multiple times" about that. Yet you twist that fact to insult me implying that I'm too dumb to understand what you're claiming.
I do not know why you fail to receive what I’m saying. Or, more accurately, why you fail to convey an accurate reflection of what I’m saying.
- Perhaps you understand it perfectly well, but you don’t like it, so you change it to discredit my testimony.
- Perhaps you really cannot understand the difference between “I do not believe in gods” and “I deny that I believe in gods”
- Perhaps you undeerstand it perfectly, but don’t have the language to convey the same meaning, and are somehow constrained against simply using the same words to ensure the same meaning.
You’ll have to be the one to reveal the true motives there. I can’t know.
But it is faschinating continuing to give you more and more clear and simple words to see if we can arrive at the answer together.
And remember: To fail to believe what we are told on this board constitutes an accusation of the poster lying which is an insult and a TOS violation. You must then believe all that I tell you.
Oh, I think you misunderesgtand the rule. Let me help. The rule says you cannot accuse another member of lying. Of being deliberate in deceit. The reason for this rule is that one CANNOT KNOW if someone is lying, so it is an unnecessary insult. ON the contrary, however, one may be sure that what the person is saying is not the truth, but one cannot accuse them of deliberately lying. The person could be misinformed, deluded, out of date, biased, forgetful, coerced, or, indeed, lying. There is no rule that says you have to believe them. Only that you cannot insult them by calling them a liar. It’s better to assume they are misunformed, “
never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by stupidity,” as the kids say.
So no, I do not have to believe all you tell me. Nor do you ”have to” believe what I tell you.
Although it does make one a bit of a dick, doesn’t it, if they ask you about your feelings and then tell you you’re wrong?
I’v done it again for you, here. Hope that clears it up for you finally. I am not you. My beliefs do not scare me; that is your story, not mine.
I believe that like those Christians seeking divine healing believe Benny Hinn!
So let’s explore why it terrifies Unknown Soldier SO MUCH that there may be people who do not believe nin God(dess)(es)?
There are lots of statements people make that one can think, “I do not believe what they are saying is true.” But this one? This statement that I don’t believe in any god(dess)(es)? What needs to be in place for a person to become invested in denying that I hold that position?
Why is it wrong for me to hold that position?
Why does it worry Unkown Soldier so deeply?
What could make him react this way to my declaration of what I don’t believe in?
I recall writing an exam essay for a college philosophy class. I had been clashing very lightly and subtly with the teacher all semester, and getting comments that didn’t quite make sense on my papers. It wasn’t until I realized she was intensely uncomfortable with an atheist viewpoint - to the extent that I think she had conviced herself there were no atheists in her class and that I was just bad at writing philosophical ideas. I finally figured out her barrier by the final exam and wrote a paper that expressed relief at the presence of God to alleviate the shear terror of an infinite uncaring universe. She gave me an A+, and an A in the class and wrote several comments on my paper at how far I had come in understanding over the semester. SHE was terrified of the universe, so I wrote the exam from her point of view. (As one does with all college exams).
You remind me of her, US. She wasn’t authoritarian, she was terrified. It’s so interesting.
So every poster must believe what every other poster tells them? Sounds like a cult! And the last person to believe, of course, is you.
