Are Christians nihilists?

Discussion in 'Religion Archives' started by MysteriousStranger, May 15, 2009.

  1. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Thats a belief.

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  3. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    No offense, but I find this subject confusing.

    I have no faith at all.
    I do not ignore or seek to overcome nature at all.
    I think nothing has intrinsic value.

    You see why I can't agree..

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  5. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    No that's (based on) reason

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  7. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Yup, its the belief that whatever we think is right, which causes us to believe in ourselves.
     
  8. MysteriousStranger Banned Banned

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    Oh, I think the confusion is coming the misconception that "faith" and "seeking to overcome nature" are the only ways that lead to the belief that "nothing has intrinsic value."

    These things lead to that belief but they are not the only things that do.
     
  9. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    So you contest that arriving at a view through reasoning is superior to arriving at a view simply because you believe it to be true ?
     
  10. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    I defy you to define "better".

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    In what way is reason better than belief and why do you believe so?
     
  11. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Well, your quote suggested precisely that.
     
  12. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    I didn't use the word 'better'

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    Because the view based on reason is rooted in reality by the hard fact that support it, while the view based on belief is at best rooted in reality by pure luck.
    Views based on belief have no supporting evidence or facts whatsoever.
     
  13. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Yes you did, you said "Reason is always better than belief"

    And what is "reality"
     
  14. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Something that exists independently of ideas concerning it. Or the sum of all of those.
     
  15. MysteriousStranger Banned Banned

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    Nihilism reduces everything to nothing. Good and bad. Beautiful and ugly. It is the most abominable thing imaginable.

    Though I doubt many true nihilists exist, if any at all. True that the closer you get to nihilism the more you go down the road of apathy. However, to be a complete nihilist you would care for nothing because attributing nihilism to yourself requires that you value nothing. If nothing is valued then you would do nothing.

    Why would you want to live if neither life nor living has any value?
    Why would you want to be happy if neither happiness nor being happy has any value?
    Why would you want to feel if neither feelings nor feeling has any value?
    Why would you want anything if neither desire nor desiring has any value?
    Why would you do anything if all actions and their consequential outcomes are meaningless?

    You wouldn't.

    A true nihilist would be an apathetic creature in a state of complete indifference. It would simply do nothing (and starve to death).

    I think that christians are not neccessarily nihilists but christianity is something that leads to nihilism as it de-values life and de-valuation is what leads to nihilism, with the de-valuation of everything to zero being the ultimate state of nihilism.

    Quote taken from: http://www.nihilists.net/faqs.html
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2009
  16. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Like your perceptions?
     
  17. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    You mean them chemical reactions inside my head ?

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  18. Cellar_Door Whose Worth's unknown Registered Senior Member

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    The short answer is no. Religions like Christianity are the opposite of Nihilism and simplifying its belief system excessively to prove otherwise is logically flawed.

    Christians believe that God has a higher purpose for this world and the humans that inhabit it. The teachings of the Bible give Christians direction. A nihilist has next to none.

    Can I just ask, why did you choose to target Christianity and not Islam? The modern-day emphasis on heaven and hell is much more pronounced.
     
  19. MysteriousStranger Banned Banned

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    So, in other words: "We do have a meaning but it is only known by our God".
    This is what I was talking about in an earlier post. Christian's base their values on a fictitious world, a world where a "God" exists. Therefore the natural world, the world without a "God", is rendered meaningless by the christian who rejects it. How does any value exist if it is only known by the super-natural?

    I know more about Christianity than Islam so I am more comfortable arguing about it. Though what I said does extend to other religions like Islam and Buddhism which relies on the existance of the super-natural. I find christianity more relevant though, if only to me, as it is more prominent in the western civilization I live in.
     
  20. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    (cough cough)
     
  21. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    Mysterious stranger
    Its not clear how creation negates value.
    I think that the alternative destinations reflect our activities and desire
    The general idea is that the different destinations reflect different opportunities that are determined by consequences.

    IOW the whole scene is completely surcharged with value, meaning, etc.


    Alternatively, Nietzsche was convinced that our intrinsic nature is to be independent. So any attack on that value is perceived as nihilistic.
     
  22. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Did you catch a cold or something ? You haven't been to Mexico lately, have you ?

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  23. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    Your compassion is touching.

    Perhaps you can reveal the chemical composition of such a perception so peace of the earth can prevail.

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