Asperger's and Fundamentalism Related?

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Hello there - how may I be of assistance this fine April 1st evening?



I disagree yet again. I will state it again for the nth time: We have no control over how our personalities are formed. None. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Diddly-squat. We develop into the characters we are due to forces completely beyond our control. I can not alter the kind of person that I am, neither can you or anybody else. The "choices" we make in life are completely ring-fenced and circumscribed by the kinds of people we are, and the kinds of personalities we have. If there is a correct "path" to godliness or whatever, some people have ready-made personalities to slot right into it with no effort. Other people have personalities which will completely preclude them from doing so. It is hardly fair to judge these people by the same criteria....... You wouldn't criticise somebody with no legs for losing a race to an able bodied athlete..... Why then would you harshly judge someone with a naturally "bad" personality for making bad "choices" when they are naturally predisposed to do so, due to forces completely beyond their control..... You can no more equitably send an "evil" person to hell for being "evil" than you can send a sprinter with no legs to hell for losing lots of races - its that simple..... There is no possible equitable way for a deity to allocate after-life punishment to people based on life choices.... There simply isn't..... End of story.....



I'm not going to argue quark, strangeness and charm on this topic, sadly It is a demonstrable fact that we have no say over how our lives develop, irrespective of kinks in the time space continuum or whatever....... Endless possibilities may be open to us at every turn, but our innate nature will always exclude the "choice" of the vast majority of these "choices", and inevitably force us to have to select from an, in reality, very small subset of these "choices"..... This fact cannot be argued against, and I'm a little puzzled as to why so many people on this thread are lobbying against this very clear and obvious point....



.....and you were doing so well, too..... The laws of thermodynamics prove there is a God then, eh? Somehow I think not...... This is a blind, logical leap of faith from science to the absurd and I'm sure you know it deep down, really.... No offence....



Always a pleasure matey - It makes a novel change to speak to a "Christian" (I hope I can call you that?) who's at least partly open to new ideas and logic, and who can actually debate on articles of faith..... Let's do it again sometime.

All of these changes and talk of god brings me closer to converting to Islam. I have never really disagreed with them. Being part of a nation that will never fall sounds great as well.
AK

axelcat, thanks for your apology. Chadmaster, do you forgive axelkat?

TAFKASH ( Man, I still have to look at your name every time I type it!)

I can see where you are coming from I think. Is it like if your born a cat you have cat choices you can make. But you can't make dog choices etc.??

ElfMan

Just think "Welsh money" - that'll help you remember it



Not a bad analogy actually - indeed, my point entirely. If somebody decides that you can only get into the "Kingdom of Heaven" by licking people's faces, chasing sticks, wagging your tail and going "woof" a lot, then you'd be somewhat stuffed if you were born a cat, and would be entitled to feel more than a little peeved at the injustice of it all..... Same way as some poor sod who's naturally and unavoidably a git should feel peeved at being excluded from paradise for being a git.... A cat could try to act like a dog, but would have an appallingly difficult time of it, would be acting completely contrary to every fibre of their being, and ultimately could never succeed.... An actual dog, however, gets a shoe in...... Hardly fair is it?

Are you from Wales?
AK

TAFKASH wrote:

BRILLIANT, just BRILLIANT

I needed a good belly laugh. cheers for that

ElfMan

.......from Wales?????? Me????? I've never been so insulted.......

...which reminds me of my favourite Welsh gag, which I can't restrain myself from doing - apologies in advance: Why do Welsh shepherds like herding along cliff tops? It makes the sheep push back harder.....

I plan on not quoting anybody because it takes up to much time and space. By the way, I'm 16.

As for the most recent posts, God well accept you regardless of how bad a person you are, as long as you admit you've sinned and want forgiveness through the sacrafice of Jesus. You don't have to change your personality, only admit you make mistakes like everyone else. According to the Bible, you don't have to convert people to go to heaven. It's only suggested. I know there are lots of fanatics and fundamentalists out there, but there are also people who understand the true meaning of Christianity as the Bible states it.

The pope from what I understand (I'm NOT Catholic) is a messanger between God and people. The Bible states that after the death of Jesus, God would talk to people directly and never through a person. I honestly have no idea what verses say this, but it's in their somewhere.

I am speaking from the viewpoint of a Christian because I am one. This is all mentioned in the Bible. I just don't know where. Glenn, I'm going to church tommorrow, and I'm going to ask my pastor to send an e-mail with answers (including verse locations to back them up). You'll probably need a Bible to look up verses, because it'll be a fairly long post with or without direct Bible quotes.


This debate'll never end.

Sarcastic Name, I think you have done a fine job wording yourself. Certainly better than some adults I have been confronted by in my time.

And your right. This debate can't even be agreed on by the highest and smartest of people. It's just one of those things I guess.

TAFKASH (hey it worked ... welsh money)

Do you mean to say that god does not live in a spacecraft??

ElfMan

i'm getting dizzy with the circles this discussion is going round in. the whole point of the thread was about fundamentalism, i believe. well, as i've probably said, i have no problem with people having their own spiritual paths (or religion, if you wish to call it that). i DO have a problem with having someone else's beliefs/views/opinions/punishments shoved down my throat, though, whether it's fundamentalism in religion, politics, fashion sense, musical tastes, or any of the "isms". and the idea of burning in a hell prescribed by someone else, and in which i do not believe rather entertains me, to be quite honest.

i don't think everything we do is pre-determined - my own path is about personal responsibility. I'M responsible for what i do, think, say, not anyone else. some things i have control over, some i don't. but i don't go round blaming Life, God, the Universe, Great Spirit, Karma, Fate - whatever you want to call it - for everything (good or bad) that happens to me. i do not believe there are good or bad people - in fact, i don't believe in Good and Evil at all. it goes against both my personal responsibility stance, and against the whole idea of actions, thoughts and words having intent and will behind them. there is no such thing as a "bad" deed/action, for example, only one which is inappropriate as far as right time, right place and right person is concerned. and i know i'll be jumped on and yelled at that Hitler's actions were bad, bad, bad, and of course they were horrific, but i'm not going to go into that right now. what i mean is... chopping off someone's leg is not "bad" if they've got gangrene. it's about intent and will, and context. nothing is that black and white, most of the time.

and i may as well get it over with and say it now - i've heard all the eulogies about Pope John Paul II (you couldn't excape it last night), and i'm going to get my tuppence ha'penny in now. yes, he did marvellous work in helping to freeing eastern europe from one sort of tyranny (and i have firsthand experience of working in eastern europe since, so have seen some of the benefits for myself - don't get me started on how the capitalist systems are starting to take over and cause grief, though). BUT, and it's a huge but... i cannot grieve for a man who caused untold misery in his conservative, traditionalist stance on matters such as abortion, contraception, and the role of women - thousands, if not millions of people have suffered and will suffer because he said condoms were verboten, and the spread of HIV infection and AIDS has escalated wildly. (catholicism is on the rise fastest in africa, where HIV and AIDS is running riot at the moment - it was on Radio 4 this morning - you can argue with the Beeb if you like, but i think it's unlikely they'd get THAT particular issue/statistic wrong, myself). let's put him into context before we jump up and down and say what a great chap he was, shall we?

oh, and by the way - there ARE some christian churches who say that you get to heaven by proselytising and converting people - the International Church of God is one, i believe. 70 converts and straight to heaven (i may have got the figures wrong, but the principle is there). wonder if there's a discount scheme...? and if i've got the name or the numbers wrong, then, quite frankly, i don't care. check it if you wish. as in my own path, i have the courage of my convictions, as it were, and don't feel the need to defend myself, evangelise, proselytise, threaten anyone with hell, convert anyone, tell anyone they're wrong for what they believe (unless it goes against basic human dignity/rights) or call a fatwa on anyone for saying my "beliefs" are crap (although i don't actually "believe" in anything as such - my path involves things which Are, and what others would call "faith" is just down to quantum and how we don't understand stuff yet, probably). mine works for me, yours works for you, and i'm happy to agree to differ, just don't start on racism, sexism, abuse of power, etc., etc. in the name of your religion/spiritual path.

Hey Vetivert, I don't agree with your politics but that was a good post. I'm particularly impressed that you dared question the diktat of the Vatican at such a time. A refreshing change to the sycophantic eulogising I've been subjected to courtesy of BBC news.

lol This whole thread IS fundamentalism.

I am really enjoying reading every one's opinions. And the amount of conversion attempts has decreased dramatically. I find it fascintating how frustrated human's become when they face an opposing belief structure.

Yep Verivert. I agree with what you state about self responsiblity. Everything does come from intent. Unfortunately, I no longer accept that everyone's core intent is good.

I have been grasped by the hands of a few faiths in my life, but now I don't beleive even my own perception. But I have a certain amount of respect for those able to have faith. I have lost most of mine as far as anything is concerned really, so I find it amazing when others still have faith of some sort.

I read buddhist teachings. I'm not trying to convert you, just letting you know why. I don't see it as a religion for me. If I did, I would become a monk. But I use it's teachings as a phylosophy for how to get through life and avoid as much suffering as possible. And basically it boils down to self responsibility. But I really like the way it words things.

I think that buddha new something about quantum that the rest of us have not figured out yet.

ElfMan

Thank you. it will be interesting to hear your pastor's comments. He doesnt really need to post a lot of Biblical verse locations, though. The Bible is only acceptable as the word of God by those that are already believers; unfortunately, to those that are not Christians, and do not have faith, there is no proof that it is the word of God other than the fact that it states it is (a rather circular argument as I've said before!) What I am seeking by my questions is some kind of reasoned explanation as to why men hold a concept of God that seems . to me at least, both irrational and contradictory. or, if you like, (if your beliefs are more fundamental) why indeed your God should act in such an unreasonable way, whether or not the Bible tells us that that is His nature!
And yes this debate seems never-ending, but I guess that's because it is a very interesting debate to a lot of people, even if they disagree!
Glenn

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PeaceMaker wrote

There seems to be some similarity here with Buddhist belief, which sees all beings as part of a greater reality, not as completely separate “souls” as Christianity does. But I also think there is a problem with terminology. I have certainly met people who do not share the orthodox Christian beliefs (and certainly not any “fundamental” beliefs) who speak of God as “love” or the “unifying principle’ of all of creation, or some such generality (“Mass consciousness”, perhaps. I am not sure that I understand fully what they mean, but there seems to be a suggestion that Gid is all of us, we are all part of God, and that “God” is just another name for such a mass consciousness. But while this may be a valid way to picture God for some people, for the purposes of this debate we have been discussing a more standard, Christian concept of the godhead. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I understand the basic Christian concept is that the nature of God is completely separate from that of His creation, mankind. Man can aspire to be rewarded by heaven, to be in the everlasting presence of God, and he might believe he was created by God in His (spiritual) image. But man can never aspire to be God, to become part of him. The fundamental nature of God and his creation is forever separate and different.
It is maybe facetious, and a bit of a cliché to suggest that actually Man created God in his own image, and not the other way round (Which could be termed the”official version”!) but I think it is true, especially when we consider the way that many people visualise the meaning of ‘God’ and his relationship to mankind.
It is for this reason that I asked my questions. You see, they are perhaps not only about why God would behave in what to me seems an irrational way, but why people would even want to believe in a God like that! It seems to demonstrate a concept of God that is both anthropomorphic and somewhat childish.Yet it does seem that a lot of people have a need to believe that we understand God’s intentions, even if they do not entirely make sense. The only way we can do this is to attribulte to God the mental characteristics and emotions of humanity, even though, as stated earlier in this discussion, God simply cannot have human emotions.
The alternative of course is to admit we do NOT understand the mind of God ... because “He works in mysterious ways” and perhaps man is not ‘meant’ to understand his plans, let alone question them. But that sort of belief opens a whole new can of worms, as far as understanding God goes! Because why would God create an species which he expects to worship him, and threaten them with punishment if they ‘sin’ or go against his moral laws .... and yet not give them enough intelligence to understand him and his morality fully? Would not this be a requirement for blind obedience, not a choice based on knowledge and free will?
And re the free will concept ...
TAFKASH wrote


I am sorry but I disagree. Certainly we have no control over the circumstances and influences of our birth, or the forces which form our personalities. But I do think we have a choice about what we DO with the material that fate has dealt out to us! Someone like Hitler, for example, never developed beyond the infantile state when only ‘self’ is real. To him, other people and their lives an emotions were both unreal and unimportant... he was the supreme egotistical child, greedy for power and for his own desires and needs to be gratified. Taken to extremes, we see this as pure evil, and so it is, I guess. But most people, as they mature, learn that such attitudes are destructive and hateful. They realise that people are all similar, with the same hopes and feelings - perhaps they realise that we are all one creation (as discussed above) and therefore to cause pain to others can ultimately hurt you too, and it will be self inflicted harm, not something done by a vengeful God! In other words; such people have managed to change, to learn, to build upon what nature doled out to them. They have (gasp) CHANGED !
Nothing is permanent (says Buddhist teaching ...I don’t think we or our natures are set in cement, for eternity!

Glenn

I was too nervous to ask my pastor the questions, but he would have quoted the Bible (some of you don't believe it), as all pators would. I really don't know what to think right now, because some of you don't seem to understand the full meaning of Christianity. There are so many ideas that differ between Christian and Catholic. Once again, the line is being blurred.

As for sinning, God knows you sin. All he wants is admittance of doing so and asking of forgiveness through the sacrafice of Jesus. You can't say that you've never done anything wrong, because everyone's lied before. Everyone has probably stolen something at one point in their life. Saying you've never done anything wrong before is wrong because you're human. That's all I have to say for now.