Philosophy Now Forum

The flesh is willing, but the spirit is weak.

Greta wrote:

Dalek Prime wrote:Done one, and done with it. I'll let others cause the suffering from now on.

Does that now mean you're just a masochist or are you over that too?

Asking the wrong person. I didn't diagnose myself.

Dalek Prime wrote:

Greta wrote:

Dalek Prime wrote:Done one, and done with it. I'll let others cause the suffering from now on.

Does that now mean you're just a masochist or are you over that too?

Asking the wrong person. I didn't diagnose myself.

I didn't know that one could be diagnosed as a sadomasochist, at least not since Freud.

Greta wrote:

Dalek Prime wrote:

Skip wrote:I have some inkling of the religious impulse, of the need for a caring parent and the desire for a tidy, simple Theory of Everything.
I have a fair grasp on the drive to righteousness and judgment of others.
But I do not understand what makes spreaders of the unwelcome "Word" persist in their thankless labours.

If you were, rightly or wrongly, thoroughly convinced of your message, no matter what others say, would you persist?

A good Christian is prepared for ridicule and torment. As their predecessors were thrown to the lions, so they throw themselves into viper pits of deadly atheists where they not only endure the unjust slings and arrows of the heathens but they walk away unscathed, triumphant as always, as is the will of the Lord.

Tis ye olde worlde bethinking as you'd expect, given that Abrahamic religions are based on two thousand year-old ideas. The law of averages suggests that a meme's rate of change will vary both between and within large populations.

Actually they weren't thrown to the lions. Kristians like to play the martyred victim card. Atheists or 'heretics' have been been genuinely persecuted by kristians and so has just about everyone else you can think of.

http://www.salon.com/2013/02/24/the_myt ... ersecuted/

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: Actually they weren't thrown to the lions. Kristians like to play the martyred victim card. Atheists or 'heretics' have been been genuinely persecuted by kristians and so has just about everyone else you can think of.

They were arrested on many occasions for destroying statues, defacing temples and disrupting services; had to pay damages and fines and serve prison sentences. They resented the hell out of that! I don't doubt some of the slaves brought back from conquered territories were recently-converted Christians - and some of them became gladiators, in which case, slaughtering exotic animals for the amusement of Romans would be part of their repertoire. Burning wasn't in vogue, afaik, until the RCC practiced it much later: if the Romans were really pissed at you, they'd nail (or tie) you to a post along the highway.

Who the hell knows or cares? Why do you even ask such questions?

Melchior wrote:Who the hell knows or cares? Why do you even ask such questions?

You must have cared a bit or you wouldn't even have looked at the topic.

They proselytise because they are arrogant and self-righteous and they really believe they are earning brownie points that go towards a nicer room in paradise (perhaps one with sea views).

There's an old joke (the only kind I know) about the man who died and went to Heaven. Saint Peter welcomed him and led him down the long white corridor to his new quarters. As they approached one section, St. Peter said: "Shh. Be very quiet here. The Catholics think they're alone."
I imagine the American fundamentalist need three layers of insulation on the outside and tufted padding on the inside of their compartment.

I'm sure there are lots of reasons. One of which is a syndrome which I have just made up, called confirmation anxiety. The suffer finds it difficult to believe the comforting nonsense they wish were true. People who disagree make it even harder, so the proselytiser bangs on until their victim submits or dies of old age.

Gotta love you guys. You should team up for a PN article. Who needs Socrates?

Greta wrote: I didn't know that one could be diagnosed as a sadomasochist, at least not since Freud.

And I didn't know Jaded Sage was a psychoanalyst, who could diagnose strangers, no less.

Dalek Prime wrote: And I didn't know Jaded Sage was a psychoanalyst, who could diagnose strangers, no less.

That's undemocratic of you! If any random con artist can be president, why shouldn't any random forum poster be a shrink?

Skip wrote:

Dalek Prime wrote: And I didn't know Jaded Sage was a psychoanalyst, who could diagnose strangers, no less.

That's undemocratic of you! If any random con artist can be president, why shouldn't any random forum poster be a shrink?

I merely said I didn't know 'it' was a psychoanalyst, not wasn't one with telepathy.

Oh. Sorry. I don't know either. What do you figure for odds?