Immaturity and Intellectual Sloth? Really? -response

I found this (http://www.stealthbadger.net/2012/09/immaturity-and-intellectual-sloth-really/) and am responding according.  My comments are in black and the original is in blue.


///I just saw a post over at Sacerdotus that saddens me. I’m not going to excerpt it because of the explicitly-stated licensing conditions on the front page, but it’s a brief read, and I suggest you take a look at it now.

The post is titled “With Age Comes Wisdom,” which was based on an article that Sacerdotus read at The Huffington Post, which I will excerpt from after the jump:///



Sacerdotus replies:

Well first, thanks for not stealing my material.  You can always ask for permission to use it.  All you have to do is contact me and let me know before writing.  

//The problems begin with “which god,” and multiply from there.///

Sacerdotus replies:

This is always the question atheists pose when one speaks of "God."  Which one?  Well, there is only ONE. There seems to be many gods due to the variety of names and descriptions; however, there can only be ONE creator, logically speaking; just like only one mother can give birth to you.  

Man, since his first steps on Earth has always contemplated God.  God, despite being remote was close as well.  So close in fact that man could attempt to describe Him based on man's experience in the world.  All the names and descriptions of gods is exactly this.  It is man's attempt to describe God.  Does it mean there are thousands of gods sharing heaven?  Absolutely not.  Man in his limited capacity used the knowledge available to him in order to define God in terms he can understand e.g. fire, water, sea, storms, thunder, lightning etc.

///Do click on that link there, and cycle through it. #4 is a good example of the strangeness:///

Sacerdotus replies:

I do not see how this is related to my blog post.  

//That article it links to? The actual results and limitations of the study are predictably more complicated than the shorter blurb would have us believe://

Sacerdotus replies:

All studies have limitations.  It is the data gathered that is falsifiable that counts.



///I wonder how well Shi’a Muslims would do in a task where they’re prompted to examine Sunni writings, or Catholics having to analyze the Mormon conception of gods (yes, gods). I suspect the results would be entertaining.1 Back to Sacerdotus.

He then goes on to say that this is a good thing, but that atheists seem to have a problem with “object permanence” (which is the simple realization that something you can’t see doesn’t necessarily not exist), and that a lack of belief exhibits “intellectual immaturity and sloth.”2 Do you want to know what exhibits “intellectual immaturity and sloth?” Conflating the cognitive development stage at which a child realizes that something hidden hasn’t really vanished with the idea that a being whose existence must be taken on faith alone might exist.3 Seriously, the two concepts are different. One involves the mental differentiation between how you see the world and how you think of it (and by extension the realization that the world is a thing that exists beyond what you perceive and desire), or as Phillip K. Dick put it, “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” Faith is belief without requiring evidence. There’s a third possibility, open-mindedness, which is being willing to admit a lack of complete knowledge on a subject and therefore being open to the examination of new evidence. I’m not sure which of the latter two Sacerdotus is talking about, but if they can’t tell the difference between those three things, then perhaps a little mental development might be in order.///


Sacerdotus replies:

Again, God is God regardless of what names call Him.  There is only ONE Supreme Creator.  

Regarding my mentioning of object permanence you basically agreed with me by stating, "One involves the mental differentiation between how you see the world and how you think of it," this pretty much says it.  The self imposed mental processes in the atheist do not allow for the perception of God, so to speak.  They use disbelief as a filter and cannot see God right before them.  The quote by "Philip K. Dick" can be refuted.  People who are under hypnosis can experience an alternate reality which is very real; so real, that some show physical signs on their bodies.  This then brings the question up:  is reality in the mind?   

Faith does not mean belief without evidence.  It means to trust, be loyal and exhibit steadfastness.


///Either way, I’m pretty sure Sacerdotus is paranoid.

1. For me, at least.

2. Insert the immature and emotionally satisfying epithets of your choice here.

3. A god (or gods) might indeed exist. The question is, which one(s)? If any do exist, my money is on “none of those so far mentioned.”///


Sacerdotus replies:

I am not paranoid.. far from it.   Atheists are the ones paranoid with me and constantly go about making all kinds of strange claims regarding me.  

The God that exists is the God that has revealed Himself to man.








Source:

http://www.stealthbadger.net/2012/09/immaturity-and-intellectual-sloth-really/