Why Young Christians are Leaving the Church

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09.12.2018 04:18PM

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@Mopac

What fallacy is it when the wrongful use of a word by a large group of people is taken as the proper meaning?

No fallacy at all. Words mean what people agree they mean.

What fallacy is it to take the words of someone who is passingly informed about a subject to one who is a doctor of that subject?

Are you a doctor of religion, that we should take your definition over that of everyone else?

As I said, saying The Truth doesn't exist is a stupid and self defeating position, and that is what atheism toward my God means.

For the umpteenth time, that is not what God means.

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#32

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09.12.2018 04:32PM

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@ethang5

You must think everyone is lying about why they are leaving the Church. Is is really that difficult to understand that, for many people, religion holds little interest? Not because they want to be immoral and follow their own pleasures, not because they hate God, but for the simple reason that they do not believe the claims of the religion are true.

#33

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09.12.2018 05:31PM

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@Stronn

No, I agree that their given reason is true, I'm saying they aren't Christian.

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#34

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09.12.2018 05:40PM

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@ethang5

Well of course, not after they leave the Church.

#35

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09.12.2018 06:12PM

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@Stronn

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us:

#36

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09.12.2018 09:42PM

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@Stronn

You say that The Truth isn't God...

Yet this is what theologians have been saying for thousands of years, including canonized saints, this is actually what the scriptures teach, this is what the dictionary confirms, and this is the only God I profess.

You pointing at reality and yelling, "I don't like what you are, you are this instead!" Is not an argument.

Go ahead and tear down straw man god. We monotheists have been tearing down the same strawmen gods for thousands of years.

But you've gone too far if you deny The One True God. The Supreme and Ultimate Reality.

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#37

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09.12.2018 10:09PM

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@Mopac

Of the sources you named, the only one I consider reliable is the dictionary, and I have never seen a dictionary that defines God as "The Truth."

#38

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09.12.2018 10:36PM

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@Stronn

Merriam-webster...

"capitalized : the supreme or ultimate reality"

In other words, The Truth is God.

So when you deny my God, you are saying there is no truth, because my religion is TRUTH WORSHIP.

And though you may deny the cloud of witnesses backing me up, I am certainly not making any innovations in religion, this has always been True Religion since the very beginning, and there was never a time when my God was not Lord of All.

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#39

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09.12.2018 11:46PM

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@Mopac

Merriam-webster...

"capitalized : the supreme or ultimate reality"

As I said, no dictionary I have seen defines God as "The Truth."

#40

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09.13.2018 02:28PM

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@Stronn

That is what ultimate reality means.

Not simply truth, but the essence of truth... the most true...The Truth.

And it is certainly less of a mouthful, but in the context of this discussion, that is what that means. The Truth is the same as The Ultimate Reality, is the same as The Supreme Being.

If you actually take these words and examine what they mean, they mean the same thing.

The Way It Is in Actuality

The Truth.

And you can take just about any of St. Augustine's writings, and he always makes sure to identify God as being The Truth. This is the identity of God.

So if you say that God is anything other than the God I believe, I will not compromise or budge on this, because you are WRONG. I wouldn't ask you to start treating a 5 as if it was a 3 now would I? If you do not accept the identity of The One True God, you might as well be smashing idols, because you certainly aren't talking about my God.

.There is no argument against God that can stand.

9 days later

#41

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09.22.2018 03:53PM

It's totally understandable since old people are the most religious. You all should see religion as a way to settle down spiritually, something that young people don't think about.

Suffice to go to churches and see what kind of people you find.

#42

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09.22.2018 03:58PM

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@Stronn

I disagree. It could happen in some cases but not in everyone.

Religion is more of a spiritual aid, which means a way to find peace or something like that.

249 days later

#43

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05.30.2019 12:27PM

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@Stronn

That's not what you mean because you know it makes your position stupid.

So what do you do? You debate people who don't really understand theology and shrink away when someone who does tells you that you've been debating superstition of God rather than God.
You are committing the fallacy of appeal to motive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_motive

I commonly refer to this as "dime-store psychoanalysis" or "the mind reader fallacy".

Critical thinking alone will get you to truth about as well as tying a bunch of bottle rockets together to construct a space shuttle to the moon.

Critical thinking without a love of the truth will simply lead you to reject everything, which actually takes about as much intelligence and thought as believing eveything.
I think you are confusing critical thinking with skepticism. Critical thinking is a method for evaluating information in order to make rational, objective judgements about what to believe.

Do you think that clear standards of evidence and skepticism are prerequisite to what you call critical thinking?

Also, do you really believe that humans can make "objective judgments"?

#44

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05.30.2019 12:32PM

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@ethang5

But the actual number of Christians in the world is growing, not declining.

Good point. The number of christians is only declining in the english speaking parts of the world.

#45

Deb-8-a-bull

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Deb-8-a-bull

05.30.2019 01:00PM

Gods are pretty cool but . BUT they ain't no Google.

No passages in the bible talk about the Google, it's almost like god didn't know about the intermanets.

I have however ask the Google about the MANYYYYYY groups and gods and well , what doesn't it know ?

If Gods ummmmm, omniscient or whatever that word is.

GOOGLE IS omni times a thousand and thirty two, and a half.

PLUSSSSSSSS asking and " listening " to Gods isn't cool FULL STOP

I have run many tests on this subject and EVERY GOD AND EVERY HOLY TEXT has nothing on the first page of a Google.

So um yeah.

If anyone has any questions for the Google i will be more then happy to ask for them.

Me and the goog are pretty close so feel free to ask me anything and i will hit him up.

Good game.

#46

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05.30.2019 02:52PM

Drunken rants by an atheist afraid of his mommy

#47

Stephen

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Stephen

05.30.2019 04:47PM

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@Stronn

“Learning about evolution when I went away to college”
“Religion is the opiate of the people”
“Rational thought makes religion go out the window”
“Lack of any sort of scientific or specific evidence of a creator”
“I just realized somewhere along the line that I didn’t really believe it”
“I’m doing a lot more learning, studying and kind of making decisions myself rather than listening to someone else.”

Exactly. It is just a crying shame the mopacs of the world can't force themselves to do the same.

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#48

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05.30.2019 10:47PM

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@3RU7AL

Do you think that clear standards of evidence and skepticism are prerequisite to what you call critical thinking?

I wouldn't call them prerequisites. Components, rather.

Also, do you really believe that humans can make "objective judgments"?

Yes.

I don't mean to suggest that people are able to be truly objective. But, by applying logic and reason, one can make the same judgement that would be made if one were truly objective.

#49

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05.31.2019 12:02AM

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@Stephen

“I’m doing a lot more learning, studying and kind of making decisions myself rather than listening to someone else.”

Exactly. It is just a crying shame the mopacs of the world can't force themselves to do the same.

I spent a greater chunk of my life leaning on my own understanding and learning on my own than listening to direction.

I still study and learn a great deal. I certainly have to make decisions. I listen to council. If no one else, I am married!

Really what you would have me do is, like dog returning to their own vomit, return to the conceit of my youth.

#50

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05.31.2019 12:31PM

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@Stronn

Do you think that clear standards of evidence and skepticism are prerequisite to what you call critical thinking?
I wouldn't call them prerequisites. Components, rather.

Please detail the method you refer to as "critical thinking".

Also, do you really believe that humans can make "objective judgments"?
Yes.

And by "yes" you mean, almost?

I don't mean to suggest that people are able to be truly objective. But, by applying logic and reason, one can make the same judgement that would be made if one were truly objective.

How do you quantify the gap between a sort-of-objective statement and a "truly objective" statement?

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#51

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https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766

05.31.2019 09:16PM

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@3RU7AL

There is so much to critical thinking that I could hardly do it justice in a single post. I will defer to this webpage.

I already said what I mean by humans being capable of making objective judgments. I mean they can reach the same conclusion that would be reached by someone who was truly objective.

How do you quantify the gap between a sort-of-objective statement and a "truly objective" statement?

I don't. I know of no way to quantify difference in meaning.

#52

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05.31.2019 10:46PM

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@Stronn

Atheists hate theists. Not gods.

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#53

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05.31.2019 11:18PM

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@Polytheist-Witch

Congratulations on your superpower.

#54

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05.31.2019 11:49PM

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@Stronn

If you don't like getting called on it don't post.

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#55

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06.01.2019 01:47AM

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@Polytheist-Witch

If you don't like getting lied about don't post.

Corrected for accuracy.

#56

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06.01.2019 02:34AM

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@Stronn

Not my fault you are what you are.

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#57

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06.01.2019 04:09AM

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@Polytheist-Witch

No, but it's your fault you lie about atheists.

#58

disgusted

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disgusted

06.01.2019 10:35AM

@witchypoo

Stupid people don't know what they're talking about.

#59

Vader

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Vader

06.02.2019 02:07AM

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@Stronn

Its stupid liberals who say the church is evil just because we feel that being gay is a sin even though we are taught to love everyone, even the sinner.

Stupid stupid stupid liberals trying to ruin the power of the church

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#60

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