Popularity and open mindedness - Page 2

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The only difference between faith and mental illness is that faith is more widely accepted.

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You must be incredibly paranoid then. Faith is simply belief put into actions. I get into a car because I believe it will get me where I want to go, that is faith.

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and although today you might just believe in Jesus, tomorrow you might think he wants you to kill homosexuals.

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My faith won't allow me to believe that Jesus would want that however if I became dellusional then perhaps I might be decieved. Mental illness is much less stable than faith.

You mock me because I adhere to a set of standards that you disagree with.

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Are ya SURE? Will Jebus make sure you don't kill homosexuals by whispering sweet nothings into your ear? Will he keep you logical?

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I know of no Jebus.
God keeps me accountable and because of this I will act as responsibly as I am able to.

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Your whole post just says

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"It would be in your best interests to respect the person you are speaking to enough to consume the entirety of their message."

Again you tell others what to do but will not act on your own words.

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God kept Dahmer accountable too. He ate men

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Right but wrong. God kept Dahmer accountable overall yes. But God played no part in Dahmer's decision making. God was, is and will keep me accountable because He is part of who I am.

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You have absolutely, positively no right to criticize "illogical open mindedness" when you claim to believe in things based on God whispering in your ear.

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Do you have a conscience? Because that is the means of God whispering.

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because you are too weak to question beliefs you have built security around.

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How can you tell me what i do or do not do? Is it because you think your conclussions are better than mine? I believe what I belief only because I ask questions that challenge myself.

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build a community around the persecution of homosexuals

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You sure are quick to make assumptions. You know what homosexuality almost never comes up in the context of my Christian community. I don't go out of my way to debate the issue but somehow it always comes back into play. I have no problems with homosexuals as people. One of my favourite coworkers is gay he's a really cool person and I like working with him.

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I envy people who are aware of but don't feel like shooting intolerant people.

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The trick is to actually believe that intolerant people are not worth less than you are.

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My conclusions are better than yours because they are debateable

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I don't know how that's a good thing. If it were debatable then wouldn't it also be questionable.

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logical reasons for my conclusions

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Very true. But, I feel that people can only trust their own logic. What others say or tell shouldn't make conclusions.

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Without analytical thought, how can you decipher between God whispering to you in one ear, and Satan whipering to you in the other?

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this is something i have often thought of, because it says, or i think it does, that lucifer will pretend to be god. right.

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You are part of a group that is bigotted towards homosexuals

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your race is categorized as terrorists. this does, by no means, make you a terrorist. i think the word religion is tossed around to lightly. he may be a "christian", but that does not meen he holds "all" of their ideals. this may not be the case for ethereal, but it is for some. it is simply easier to say "christian" than think out ALL of your own personal beleifs. is that the best way to go about things? maybe not, but i think that is what has takin place here.

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Without analytical thought, how can you decipher between God whispering to you in one ear, and Satan whipering to you in the other?

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You don't. One must determine which is the voice of God by analizing the Bible or past experience with God.

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I think i read somewhere that Dahmer said the same thing. Or was it Hitler?

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Probably both said it. The difference is faith. You see anyone can say anything but without actions to back up the words the words mean nothing. If I say "This is a hammer" and I am clearly holding a basketball would you assume that the ball was indeed a hammer just because I said so? In the same way to consider either Hitler or Damher to be Christians just because they claimed to be would be just as ridiculous.

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My conclusions make me more right than you because you expect me to take your word for it,

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I expect you to take God's word for it.

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you are still a fucking Nazi and support the cause of Nazis.

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To my knowledge the Nazis considered themselves a supreme people. And sought to wipe out inferiors. But seeing as I do not elevate myself above anyone else and thus could not possibly wipe out any inferiors then I must be doing the whole Nazi thing wrong.

I am doing what you are doing. Trying to change a way of thought. Are you a Nazi?

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Boom. We finally get to the root. The Bible is truth. You are a closed minded fool because that is unquestionable to you.

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It would seem that your prejudice of me has been unquestionable to you this whole time and therefore you are also closed minded. You are also closed minded in you certainty of empathy being the way to a better world. While you try to pretend you are tolerant and open minded the truth is you aren't (by your own admission) while I know that I am intolerant and also closed minded (at least in part).

If one is open minded then how does one handle contradictory ideas?

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There are a thousand and one reasons that all point to the Bible being a book of lies, incorrect historical facts, and psychological vices.

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Like what? People always insist that the Bible is wrong but as of yet no one can tell me why.

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And in the end... anyone more open minded than another will always surpass them. This has been my experience my whole life, and logically psychologically makes perfect sense.

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Again you lack the ability to percieve that other people are equal to you. While I may be closed minded as least I can walk my choosen path while you will never achieve pacifism because you cannot empathize with people different from yourself. So while my closed mindedness allows me to love all people regardless of what they do your open mindedness makes you intolerant.

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In fact, my frustration with closed minded people stems from my belief that they are fully able to exceed that.

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This is why you cannot empathize with them. Instead you should consider the possibility that you also could be closed minded. If you work from the basis that they can be where you are then you almost instinctively look down on them.

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So it is out of respect and in a way, love, that I try to open your mind.

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My mind is open enough. I am content with who I am and the things that I closed my mind to. Closed is not the same as locked if at some point someone can give me good reason to reconsider my views then I will. It happens more often then you would think.

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So it is out of respect and in a way, love, that I try to open your mind.

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thats so sweet.

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My mind is open enough.

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do you really think so, or was this just something clever to say? i don't beleive a mind can be open enough, unless it is completly open. open mindedness shows respect, intelligence, freindlyness, and modesty. these are all atributes that most people see appealing. so , i think, that is why a lot of people choose to vbe open minded, rather than closed. also, if you didn't notice, every time some one is called 'closed minded' they imidiatly defend themselves. this is a sing that we know that closed mindedness is ugly, but lack the ability to surpass the vice, as such are embaressed about. i think that means it is our nature to be open minded.

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i don't beleive a mind can be open enough, unless it is completly open

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Complete openness means absolute uncertainty. It allows one to think all things may be possible but maintains the idea that nothing is certain. Without certainty there would be no law only chaos. Open minded people claim to accept all views except for ones that they deem closed minded and thus by not accepting closed minded views they have limited their thought and are themselves closed minded. I have no problem with filtering my mind of ideas that I deem useless. But as an open minded person you would have complete ignorance because while your mind may contain all ideas it does not believe that they are true and therefore you know nothing.

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there would be no law only chaos

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assumption only makes an ass out of you and me.

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This whole time I have been trying to point out that your beliefs make you closed minded, that that is self-inflicted, that you do this for staiblity, yet you argue with me, and now by your own admission you admit it.

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I was not arguing against my own closed mindedness I was arguing about the fact that you cover up your closed mindeness and call it open mindedness. My beliefs give me stability and you mock me. While you try to gain stability and do not achieve it. And all the while you try to tell me that this quest for ignorance is a better way.

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The quest is not for ignorance... the quest involves the acceptance of variable truths. Your word play is incorrect.

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It is for ignorance. The acceptance of all ideas leaves no room for certainty and therefore while you have ideas you do not know them because without certainty nothing can be known.

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And you were arguing your own closed mindedness

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I stated several times that I am closed minded on some topics but what of it?

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And obviously I am open minded if you state that due to this I am less stable than you. Don't contradict yourself.

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You are less stable because your failed attempts at openmindedness leave you with nothing

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And you have chosen, by your own admission, the first choice.

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How does having certainty make me ignorant?

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I choose the second... because I cannot accept anything except truth. My blood and soul won't permit it.

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And yet you cling to a feeble minded path that encourages people to accept that there is no truth.