The very act of questioning makes theists beleive they're right
Offline All of the theist questions I've seen have been smug - as if asking a question was all the interaction they needed to prove their point. I couldn't figure out why, since asking a question is usually the beginning, not the end, of knowledge. But here's what I've come up with.
Stipulate that theists believe that their deity is infallible; never makes mistakes. Therefore questions cannot be asked of a deity because such would indicate either a lack of infallibility or lack of faith (and this is beat out of them early). So if no questions = perfect, then questions = imperfect.
To theists, the very act of asking questions means that the topic/people questioned are imperfect, fallible. This kind of smug subtext seems to pervade every question theists ask. It's a catch-22 because the logic is correct but the premise is not, and proving the premise wrong is not something that can be done from outside influence.
On one hand, I'm sad that this is such a perfect trap for theists, and on the other, isn't it astounding what Organized Religion can do?? Best. Racket. Ever.
Ultimate personal responsibility requires a peculiar type of moral courage that theists may never achieve.
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Interesting. I can't say that I've thought of it this way, but you're right about one thing for certain. There is a smugness about many theists when they talk about their "knowledge" of the infallible god.
Also, there is definitely a fundamental difference between the world a theist sees and what you and I see. When I was a Christian, I saw the world as a place of black and white answers to questions. If an event was happening, it was part of "The Plan," and while it was certainly ok to question the motivations and actions of people, it was never ok to question the state of the world, or anything like that.
Do many theists use this dichotomy to bolster their own position? I dunno. In a way, I think maybe not. It takes a certain mindset to be able to be able to see both sides of this philosophical position, and I'm not sure that the nature of theist epistemology even allows them to understand our side well enough to use it in their arguments.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
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I haven't seen Christians use this line of reasoning openly (except "God said it, I believe it, that settles it!" ) , but I have seen Muslims do so. The ability to make and upload videos in a religion that still believes in a flat earth is a beautiful contradiction.
Christians seem to use the dichotomy more as a guide for their black-and-white vision as you mentioned. If it can be questioned, it's not God, and probably bad....and therefore automatically discredited. After theists ask a question, they sit back, smug and happy and they really don't care what the answer is. This also allows them an excuse to never have to learn from the answers they get. *eyeroll*
Edited to fix smilies eating a close parenthesis.
Ultimate personal responsibility requires a peculiar type of moral courage that theists may never achieve.
The only comfort about the future, even if rational people cant perswade humanity from the abyss of it's own stupidity, is that nature, including human phycology, is just that, natural, and that there is no fictional hell any side can shove their enemies in.
Be it a meteor, gama ray, or human stupidity with nukes, the death of the species will be just as magical as taking a shit, and should suprise no one.
I would like to think the species could at least get it's head out of it's collective ass, and not become self distructive. But, it wouldn't suprise me.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
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