stiggy wiggy
Well-known member
In another thread, Treeplanter had made this comment, one with which I think we can all certainly agree up to a point:
"And close-mindedness is a very poor pathway to truth, is it not?"
To which I replied:
"Just as the mouth takes in food, the mind takes in truth. If after intake, the mouth never closes to capture the morsel of food and thereby masticate upon it, the food will either fall out or be poorly digested. I'll let you reflect upon the rest of the analogy in regard to the closed mind and truth."
But on second thought, I think more must be said unless my remark neglects a certain danger. In keeping with the analogy, one can certainly close one's mouth on poisonous food or drink to their detriment. And fortunately, our sense of taste can usually pick up on poison, allowing us to spit it out. No one who mistakes a cup of red paint for a raspberry soda will keep the liquid very long in his mouth. Similarly either our common sense or our sense of decency can pick up on beliefs that poison our mind, like flat earthism in the former case or white supremacy in the latter, and our minds can spit those beliefs out before we let them harbor in our souls to fester.
But there are poisons that seem palatable to both our tongues and our minds which we often do close upon. I'm sure that most atheists here would say that one such cerebral poison is Christianity. I hardly need to say that to me Christianity is the nectar, not of the gods, but of God Himself. But why such a disparity in reactions?
Why do hard atheists react so violently to Christianity? For the honest atheist (not the ones who are simply trying to cultivate an image of rebellious iconoclast), I think the problem is that they have been imbibing on Christendom, a poison mixed with Christianity, which their mind can detect as poison, resulting in a violent expectoration of the doctrine. That poisonous element can take many forms, e.g. reading Jonathan Edward's "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God," where God delights in torturing unbelievers, or perhaps just the bad behavior of jerks like me.
If y'all are anything like me, you are reluctant to read a post of much greater length than this, and my bombastic nature may have already discouraged you from making it this far, so I'll close for now (It's 4 AM), but may have more to say on this later. For now, I'll just say that I closed my mind on the Truth of Jesus Christ's resurrection long ago, and the spiritual nourishment and tastiness He has given me is analogously unrivaled even by the tastiest steak you can get at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Y'all think I'm a jerk now, you should have known me B.C.
I now depart for bed with love in my heart for all.
"And close-mindedness is a very poor pathway to truth, is it not?"
To which I replied:
"Just as the mouth takes in food, the mind takes in truth. If after intake, the mouth never closes to capture the morsel of food and thereby masticate upon it, the food will either fall out or be poorly digested. I'll let you reflect upon the rest of the analogy in regard to the closed mind and truth."
But on second thought, I think more must be said unless my remark neglects a certain danger. In keeping with the analogy, one can certainly close one's mouth on poisonous food or drink to their detriment. And fortunately, our sense of taste can usually pick up on poison, allowing us to spit it out. No one who mistakes a cup of red paint for a raspberry soda will keep the liquid very long in his mouth. Similarly either our common sense or our sense of decency can pick up on beliefs that poison our mind, like flat earthism in the former case or white supremacy in the latter, and our minds can spit those beliefs out before we let them harbor in our souls to fester.
But there are poisons that seem palatable to both our tongues and our minds which we often do close upon. I'm sure that most atheists here would say that one such cerebral poison is Christianity. I hardly need to say that to me Christianity is the nectar, not of the gods, but of God Himself. But why such a disparity in reactions?
Why do hard atheists react so violently to Christianity? For the honest atheist (not the ones who are simply trying to cultivate an image of rebellious iconoclast), I think the problem is that they have been imbibing on Christendom, a poison mixed with Christianity, which their mind can detect as poison, resulting in a violent expectoration of the doctrine. That poisonous element can take many forms, e.g. reading Jonathan Edward's "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God," where God delights in torturing unbelievers, or perhaps just the bad behavior of jerks like me.
If y'all are anything like me, you are reluctant to read a post of much greater length than this, and my bombastic nature may have already discouraged you from making it this far, so I'll close for now (It's 4 AM), but may have more to say on this later. For now, I'll just say that I closed my mind on the Truth of Jesus Christ's resurrection long ago, and the spiritual nourishment and tastiness He has given me is analogously unrivaled even by the tastiest steak you can get at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Y'all think I'm a jerk now, you should have known me B.C.
I now depart for bed with love in my heart for all.
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