JFever wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:55 am
Oh Skip..... , I think you see what you want to see. You must be real good at selective vision. You saying my view is myopic is incredibly ironic. And, it isn't' my view. It is just the view that is supported by evidence. Real evidence. Not made up falsified / doctored up evidence. There is a difference. I'm quite sure you are aware of that.
Jaron, Really not a bunch of "what ifs and maybes" as you put it. Id say that your take there is minimizing some very substantial information. But, if that is how you interpret my explanation, so be it. It's really just basic organic chemistry. But, oh well. Pertaining to Spontaneous Generation, well, I think the name is the misleading part. It is really more of a snail like paced gradual incline of subtle advancements over a vast amount of time. (I'm guessing perhaps its the time involved that throws some folks for a loop because the chemistry part is fairly easy to comprehend once you understand Carbon and it's properties). As a scientist, I am never 100% certain of anything. As in you can't prove something to be true, but, you can disprove things. So, by that logic, If I were presented with solid, observable, testable, and tangible evidence for a god, I'd be forced to accept that information. I'd be just as skeptical of it and accepting of it as I am of any other type of testable / observable phenomena. I am a skeptic for sure but I am an open minded skeptic if that means anything to you. I am not LOCKED into my view. My view is in a way plastic, flexible, and ever changing, yet, contingent on facts and evidence and if the facts and evidence that currently exist in reference to any religion were to change, I too would then change my thoughts on them. The thing is, currently, the overwhelming mountains of evidence that does currently exist, heavily leans toward one side of this discussion.
Lucky, I'm in no position to tell you how to raise your family. You come across as a good person, a well educated caring guy from what I can tell. I don't think you somehow magically obtained these virtues from the religion you inherited however. You and I also have many of the same opinions on fantasy football. So, there is that! I don't blame you or think less of you as a human for holding beliefs within your family. My guess is you practice similar beliefs as your parents and they likely got theirs from your grandparents and so on. It is typical. I do however see the comparison of the teaching of the hot stove and the one about faith in "eternal salvation" as being quite different. One of them is a safety thing, the other is a belief rooted in faith. Faith is a belief which persists without sufficient evidence. Sometimes in the face of overwhelming opposing evidence. Anyway, Again, It isn't my place at all to tell you how to raise your family. If you are passing on values that are important to you that you feel will help your children - then, by all means do that. I may not agree with your logic, your reasoning, and your thought process by which you come to your conclusions, but, I don't disagree with your basic premise of trying to be the best Dad that you currently know how to be. I might suggest that you also teach your kids to think critically of information that is presented. That is ALL information from all sources. This would include but isn't limited to questioning (politely of course) all concepts that are taught in school, all concepts that are taught by you, and by your church authority figures. Questioning the world leads to getting answers. Answers lead to knowledge, and accruing knowledge leads to a well rounded and more accurate I think, world view. Teaching children to blindly accept without any questioning or reasoning - anything, is extremely dangerous in the long run for their development. Also, teaching children about religion in general as in multiple viewpoints, as opposed to just one viewpoint is also not a bad idea. - (This is what I have done) Let them attempt to figure some of it out. Why are we XYZ rather than WZX? There should be an explainable reason. What is the difference between our religion and the religion(s) of your friends? Why do we hold this belief? Where did this belief originate. Is the belief that we claim reasonable. The more effort you put into explaining things correctly, I'd imagine the better off your kids would be. If however, your child asks you - Dad, Why is the sky blue? Or, (points up in the sky), Dad, what is that ? How did it get there? etc, if you respond - Well, son/ daughter, I don't know its a miracle or - That's how God made it. Well, then, you are doing harm. Much better I think to answer honestly. If you don't know an answer or know how to explain something, Tell them so, it's ok to not know everything. Then, just actively look it up with your child. Show them that if there are things they don't currently know, that by being curious and having questions, they can learn about the world. And, if you do this with them, they'll never forget it, they'll appreciate your approach, and it will become a life time habit.
Question for you. Real question(s). I am also curious to see where you sit on these? Do you believe that there is a place called Hell? Do all who don't accept your faith go there when they die? Do all other religions that are not compatible with yours, or, other than yours, go there? Is it forever? Is it really a fiery hot place? Do rapists, murderers, cereal killers that repent at the last minute to ask for forgiveness get to by pass this Hell place of yours and then ascend into heaven to spend eternity with their forgiving / loving god? Meanwhile, in your world view, do Atheists like myself who spend their lives caring for their children and the children of others, giving back, educating, paying taxes, picking up litter, donating to needy, volunteering time to help community organizations, sacrificing gobs of time - just go to Hell then because I find religion to be an unsupported bunch of lies spread by authority figures to control behavior of large social groups? Do you tell your child that is raised under the saving umbrella of your "correct" religion that if he or she has a friend in school that is of a different religious persuasion, that Sorry, your little friend is destined for Hell because he/she doesn't believe what we do? Do your kids grow up fearing this "real" and tangible place? Are you a morally good person because you are afraid that if you are not, that you will go to Hell and suffer for eternity? Do you also believe that despite all the evidence that the earth is 6000 years old? Do you believe in the story of Noah's arc? Do you believe that 65+ million years ago that dinosaurs ruled the world? That Moses was 500 plus years old? Do you believe in a real Adam and a real Eve in a real garden of Eden? Do you believe it is moral, ethical, or forgivable, to kill a person or large groups of person because of personal revelation in a belief or a god? And, it seems simple but at the very root of a larger issue is this - Was Adam and Eve the 1st two people on planet earth? And, did your god really create the entire universe and all that is in it, including all life forms on planet Earth in 6 earth days or 144 hours?
If your world view is not compatible with the following information, I would be one to then not agree with your world view. Check this short clip to see if your current world view is compatible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_jyHp3bmEw