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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Why do you believe in God?
 
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rudatron
May 31, 2011

by Fluffdaddy

BrandorKP posted:

Things experienced by others are compelling. Should I ignore the queer experience in my beliefs? Should I ignore the African American experience in my beliefs? I'm not either of those things. It's nonsense to ignore the experiences of other people, they are compelling and a rational reason to believe something. They aren't a sole reason, but again it's problematic to rule them out.
The experience of others is only compelling if we can relate to them in some way or another. I don't have ESP and neither do you, so I have no idea that what you say you feel is what you really feel, or whether I have actually had that feeling but had a different interpretation, or whether or not it's a totally new thing. Lacking that knowledge, both you and I are compelled to believe the only thing we 'know' for sure - who we are and what we feel or have felt. That's just being realistic.

That's not a call to not try to empathize or whatever, if for some reason you can't relate to the queer/minority/whatever experience, you have to try, you owe them that. But if you can't recreate a common relation, there's nothing you can do. The real question then is 'does such a basis exist between all people, or are some experiences too distinct to ever be reconciled', and there I remain an optimist in saying that, eventually, all barriers can be overcome.

steinrokkan posted:

Whatever happened to that Kyrie Eleison guy who only posted about the importance of pure Christian life and anime?
Banned as a gimmick. Pity, I had a bit of fun with him.

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Why do you believe in God?