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Who Hijacked Reality / #518 Christian quotes..

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

 

 

Journal Entry #518

July 31st, 2011

I often see these quotes put up by Christians or believers of other faiths that they feel represent their beliefs. The vast majority of time I don’t think the person who made the quote or the person offering the quote really thinks what is said through.

Now at first glance and if you are viewing life a certain way these quotes might appear wonderful but anytime you are dealing with unverifiable, illogical or an unreasonable position or statement it will be unsound  when examined with the former.

This was a quote put up by a Christian;

And so with God.

Now here is the entire quote they used part of and then added the statement “And so with God”.

 “Faith is forced consent. . . . In common parlance we say a man commands confidence.  We do not trust a man simply because we have willed to, or even because we desire to.  And we cannot distrust a man simply because we wish or will to do so.  We trust a man because we have evidence that to us appears sufficient, evidence of trustworthiness.  When to our apprehension a man presents evidence of trustworthiness we cannot but trust him, even though we hate his trustworthiness and would wish the opposite to be the case.  His trustworthiness may be the ruin of what we think to be our interests, but we cannot but trust him (e.g. the criminal who wants to evade justice, arraigned before a judge whom he believes to be just and fair, may do everything in his power to do away with the judge.  But why?  Because he trusts him.)  We cannot but believe in his reliability and truthfulness.”

John Murray, “Faith,” in Collected Writings of John Murray (Edinburgh, 1977), II:237, italics his.

So let’s take apart the quote the Christian offered;

“Faith is forced consent. . . .

Faith is nothing of the sort, faith is believing something to be true that is not supported by verifiable or credible evidence. You want it to be true so you accept it as true even though you have no idea if it is or not. Forced consent of course are opposites so why say this? Pick a side here.

In common parlance we say a man commands confidence. We do not trust a man simply because we have willed to, or even because we desire to.

I completely disagree as everything we do we desire. It is our choice to trust or not to trust and it will be based on the reasons we see as valid whether they are or not.

 And we cannot distrust a man simply because we wish or will to do so.

Of course we can…

We trust a man because we have evidence that to us appears sufficient, evidence of trustworthiness.” –John Murray

I do agree…

And so with God.

Again I agree as I must based on agreement with the first part but this brings us to the real question, how do we determine the evidence to be true, to be valid.

This is what it usually boils down to the evidence we chose to trust and to ignore. The problem with trusting god and I will say this in context with the gods of man is that there has not been one bit of good evidence offered up until this point and since there has been sufficient time to find it I expect none to ever be offered. Really what appears to be sufficient is just bad evidence and if that is all one needs to have trust in something or someone then trust is not truly valued as it should be.

Very few quotes in support of god ever make any sense but they do fulfill the desires a person may have.

Footprints

One night I had a dream–

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord

and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,

one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of my life flashed before me,

I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that many times along the path of my life,

there was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest

and saddest times in my life.

This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.

“Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,

you would walk with me all the way,

but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life

there is only one set of footprints.

“I don’t understand why in times when I needed you most,

you should leave me.”

The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child,

I love you and I would never, never leave you

during your times of trial and suffering.

“When you saw only one set of footprints,

it was then that I carried you.”

 …Mary Stevenson

 

If you think this through it is full of holes but it sure does sound comforting and nice. At times in our life we need some comfort some fantasy but eventually reality needs to be acknowledged.  Maybe god should have prevented those terrible times in her life to begin with or created the world differently instead of being the saving daddy figure. He said I would never leave you and yet in my view to stand aside and watch someone suffer is leaving them. Now if this poem was about a human being who was there to help I think it would have more impact and value. I can break this down more but I get the point of the poem but think that including god in it is ridiculous unless it is just a metaphor. Sadly many will believe this god to be real.

The world of fantasy can truly be interesting but one will always eventually fall back to reality.

Seek the truth always

Gary David Currie

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Who Hijacked Reality / #517 Rise to another’s level and do not try and bring them down to yours.

Saturday, July 30th, 2011

 

 

Journal Entry #517

July 30th, 2011

I posted this as a note on Face Book today.

There are plenty of people willing to tell you what you can’t do in life..

by Gary David Currie

This was a comment on my blog;

“After reading this post and many others I was amused. Your lack of education, intolerance and immaturity are blatantly obvious…not to mention your prepubescent shot at the rock band thing..quite honestly….zzzzzzzzz…..”

There will always be people there to try and tell you what you can’t do, to be critical. Just because they have lost their hopes and dreams they will try to bring you to their level instead of rising to yours. I am a doer not a talker and to be honest I do this for me and those that want to join in on the journey. If I listened to every critic and person telling me that what I am doing is stupid and that I am too old or not smart enough or any other attempt at grabbing life by the balls and squeezing hard  then I would just shrivel up and die.

 I can’t begin to tell you how many people I know and don’t know are there to tear you down  but there are few there to support and encourage you in life..

There are plenty of critics and talkers out there but few who actually accomplish great things in life..

Fuck em, they don’t have to participate. As Raj from “BE COOL” says ” Don’t be hating , be participating”.

Let me elaborate on this post;

I will speak from personal experience but I am sure most of you will be able to relate in one way or another. We all have hope and dreams even if you have given up on them they are still there buried inside somewhere and there will always be those who want to bring you down to their post in life of giving up on their dreams. They will do this by telling you that what you are doing is ridiculous in some manner.

Why do I say this, It appears obvious to me because if they did not feel this way the general response would be to not comment or even pay attention to what you are doing.

Let me relate this to my musical journey. Now I will share a little more information than I have before as it is pertinent to the point I am trying to make.

So it is comments like the one above “not to mention your prepubescent shot at the rock band thing..quite honestly….zzzzzzzzz…..”  that I have heard from many over the years from both strangers and  people I know.

If you have read any of my blog posts you will get the ides that I am a realist and as a realist I approach all I do in life from this position. I have no illusions of being a ROCK STAR. This is not the reason I play music and work hard at creating an album supported by videos and all the trimmings. I do it because I love making music and it is something my kids have taken an interest in as well.

THE FREEMAN

To be able to create this music with my kids is amazing. I approach it from a professional positive perspective with hopes of  being heard as this is the reason most people are musicians. It will go where it will go but if I attempt nothing then nothing will surely happen.

I have been doing this a long time but in my case I fell it has taken a long time before I actually had something worthy to write about and it has been the magic of creating this music with my sons that has propelled this to new levels.

When we first had our children I put all this on the back burner to properly in my opinion raise and devote myself to my family. This is and always has been more important then the music. Now my kids are grown and it just naturally evolved back into prominence in my life.

Who decides the age that someone should give up? Society has a stereotypical idea of what a proper age is to be an artist and if you do not fit into this mold they do not accept you well I don’t really care. If you are good at something and you enjoy it then do it anyways. If you plan is realistic and achievable go for it.  Where this will go I have no idea but what I do know is that I have built a body of work that will last a very long time.

Also I have influenced many people through this process and inspired the ones that are to be inspired. These are the people I will focus on and as I have said earlier “ FUCK the rest of them” they would never buy or listen to our music anyways.

I feel sorry for those who have given up on their lives, given up on their dreams as they will regret it on their deathbed.

I will have no regrets

The more you tell me I can’t or should not be doing something  that is realistic and rational in its pursuit is actually part of the drive that will take me there.

Seek the truth always

Gary David Currie

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WHo Hijacked Reality / #516 The FREEMAN is asking for your help in our music video.

Friday, July 29th, 2011

 

 

Journal Entry #516

July 29th, 2011

Tomorrow which is Saturday July 30th, 2011 we are shooting the footage for 2 music videos from our upcoming album SANDBOX JUNKIES”

One of the songs we are doing is called “What’s Your Story” We will be asking for anyone who is interested to participate in the music video. I will be posting an intro and the song on You Tube with instructions of how you can get in the video.

We are looking for people from all over the world, all different ages and backgrounds.

We are hoping people will sing along and give us a short intro of their first name and what country they are from with video footage shot outside of they can.

We hope you enjoy the song and want to be part of our story.

Stay tuned for further instructions and the video with our intro and lyrics on YouTube. This will not be the final version of the song as we hope to include you in it.

Please pass this along and look for the initial video in about 3 weeks.

Thanks from Gary David Currie & Zack Currie of the FREEMAN.

Seek the truth always

Gary David Currie

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Who Hijacked Reality / #515 The lawgiver argument for god and why it is not sound.

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

 

 

Journal Entry #515

July 28th, 2011

I tried to very hard to engage in a discussion with a person who I have had many discussions with in the past. Now I highly respect this person and very much enjoy talking with him. He is highly intelligent and knowledgeable but we consistently run into this wall and in my opinion it is because you cannot defend fantasy , faith  or the believe that your god is true b y using logic as logic is based in reality.

A sound premise or logical proof in its structure must then be defined by the definition of the terminology used. If you are just demonstrating a progression of a logical argument then anything will do fine but once  it is used  to prove a certain position then you run into problems if the position being defended cannot be confirmed.

Let me demonstrate as here was the initial proposed logical premise or proof;

1. If God does not exist, objective moral values don’t exist.

2. Objective moral values do exist.

3. Therefore God exists.

Now the progression is fine but now for it to be valid we must define the terms. We must define god and objective morality.  Now I could not get the person to do this. He simply avoided it.

1. If evolution does not exist, objective moral values don’t exist.

2. Objective moral values do exist.

3. Therefore evolution exists.

If we replace the term god with evolution then one can see the progression of the argument but still the terms must be defined in order for it to be true.

This is basically the law giver argument used by C.S. Lewis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere_Christianity  MORAL LAW

Let’s examine this; first of all I do not accept objective morality as it has not been proven and reasonable doubt can be cast.

Objective morality means that there are set rules for behaviour that cannot be changed. …

These behaviours are subjective as the rules change all the time. What we consider right and wrong is not set in stone. Also this only is implied to humanity and there is a big ole universe out there.  Now evolution has shown us that certain morals produce better results for our survival but that has nothing to do with rules set in stone.

The term god is vital to define for this logical proof. If we are talking about the gods of man then which god and what are the parameters and how do we know them? This will all be subjective and pretend and that is the problem with using an argument like this to prove your god.

While this is an interesting proof it is not sound when applied to prove the god you believe in as you must define the god first.

If god is defined as;

Anselm

in this argument he states that only a believer can accept the premise of the arguments.

It its not the premises that are logical but the argument itself once you’ve accepted the premise.

Anselm Argument for the definition of GOD>

God is something than which nothing greater can be thought

So God exists in the understanding

But to exist in actuality would be greater than existing only in the understanding

Thus God (b/c nothing greater can be thought) must exist in actuality

To conclude otherwise is to violate the def of God

 

This argument is sound  but in no way is a proof for the gods of man and when you get right to it if this is what you are presenting to prove your god then you are fooling yourself.

After trying very hard to discuss this I got this;

Gary, this really sounds like there is no point in feigning a discussion as you truly believe that you know the outcome of every argument (relating to this topic). 

Gary David Currie..  (MY rebuttal which was completely ignored.)

That is a cop out  that I usually hear when people have nothing to back up what they say and then make me the topic of discussion. I get this all the time. I have presented you with several discussion topics here that have nothing to …do with me. I presented an alternate logical statement. I asked you to define god in your premise and to define the other terms if you did not agree with my definition. So how did we get to this point where you feel I think I know everything on god and that I have assumed the outcome of every argument.

Why do you try and create this alternate version where god exists and when I ask you to define the parameters of it so I can talk in that realm I get nothing. Look  if you are going to profess god as real at least bring something to the table. If I say it is fantasy and you disagree then show me why it is not instead of saying that I see things in a different world. Show me this world you profess and how it works and why I should accept it. Give me some good reasons for anything you present instead of making me this topic which you are doing.

If the fact that I value evidence that is credible is not acceptable to you then show me why it is not acceptable. This is how one argues and how logic is used which you are trying to use.

To this topic if you present the same arguments over and over of course I know the outcome as they have been refuted over and over beyond a reasonable doubt. That is how life works my friend and I am truly sorry that you do not accept this as the way life works and have not been able to show me that it does not work that way.

I refuse to just pretend that something is true I will always have to have good reasons backed up by evidence. Show me another way I have asked you and you have been unable to do so.

The bottom line here is that your arguments are not sound your reasoning is not sound and your premise is not sound in reference to god as true, If it was I would surely accept it.

On the entire topic of god you only have a faith position and that is what I refer to as fantasy and I will not accept this as true just based on faith, why should I? You have not given me one good reason to and that is what I have been asking for. When I see a good reason I will accept it and the argument will be over.

We have no way of knowing exactly where we get our morals but the evolutionary process is the best explanation so far. To imply a law giver you must first prove he exists. And that has not been done so far.

By the way the gods of man are certainly not presenting morality I would follow as a complete guide.

As I have said before logic and reason will trump fantasy every time as it is based on verifiable evidence not speculation.

Seek the truth always

Gary David Currie

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Who Hijacked Reality / #513 Burning the candle at both ends.

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

 

 

Journal Entry #513

July 27th, 2011

I was having a conversation with my youngest son who is 17 about life. We were talking about the fact that you just can’t have it all so one has to make decisions. I introduced the idea of time management again to him but this time it may sink in a little better as he is living it. You cannot tell a 17 year old very much they just have to experience it.

He is at that teenage angst stage where everything sucks and no one is listening to him. Now with my kids so far this has been a very tame stage. I am fortunate that my kids are fairly well balanced as they search their way through life.

So my son was telling me how tired he was so I asked him why he thought that was. He said he was not getting enough sleep as he had to get up at 5:00 a.m. to go to work then work a 10 hour day with 2 hours travel time. SO I said so why are you not getting enough sleep. He said that he wanted to do other things besides just work so he was staying up late. So I said what is  the solution to your problem is as it was becoming a huge problem. He said to get more sleep.

So he decided that if you want to get more sleep then you have to get more sleep. You can’t burn the candle at both ends and expect there to be any candle left.

We are a hardworking family and I take pride in the fact that we keep our word but the goal is to always do what you love to do and get paid for it. Not an easy task.

We only have a designated amount of time in each day and you can only do so much with it. I do find that if you want something done it is best to give it to someone who is productively busy because if they agree to do it they will usually keep their word and actually finish the task.

So I was about ready to write my post last night when the next thing I know it we 2:30 a.m. so I did not get it done in the days time frame. My body usually tells me when it has had enough by just falling asleep. I am usually fairly good at time management as I realize the reality of the situation. I can only do so much each day so I prioritize but this sad fact gets to me as well as there is so much I want to accomplish and so little time to do it in.

So as much as it sucks we just have to deal with the time we have and not waste it.

I wish I could get a bigger candle or a flame that lasts forever but that is not the way reality works.

Seek the truth always

Gary David Currie

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