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From: magore@watdcsu.UUCP
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc,net.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Tim Maroney's world stoppin' questions!!
Message-ID: <2573@watdcsu.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 23-Sep-86 13:37:05 EDT
Article-I.D.: watdcsu.2573
Posted: Tue Sep 23 13:37:05 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 29-Sep-86 00:59:55 EDT
References: <5005@decwrl.DEC.COM> <2966@pyuxd.UUCP>
Reply-To: magore@watdcsu.UUCP (M.A.Gore - ICR)
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 47
Xref: linus talk.religion.misc:238 net.religion.christian:4720


>From pyuxd!rlr Tue Sep 23 12:44:26 EDT 1986
[munch munch]
>Ken says:
>> 
>> I can hear the churches emptying and see the blank slack-jawed look on the
>> faces of ministers across the land!  NO ONE EVER THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE!!!!! 
>> EGAD!  TIM'S SHOWN US HOW IT ALL MAKES NO SENSE!!!!
>> 
>> THANKS TIM. [KEN ARNDT]
>
>Ken makes a very important point here.  When it comes to any gap or hole in
>Christian religious thinking, the churches will NOT empty, the clergymen will
>NOT scowl and frown, the theologians will NOT ultimately care.  They will
>simply go on as if no important unresolved issue or contradictory evidence
>existed.  For that is the way of religion.  That is what faith is all about.
>Not caring a tinker's cuss about the fact that if you really stopped to use
>brain power to think about such things and reflect on the evidence, you might
>not believe anymore.  (Actually, the theologians don't just "not care".  As
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
	No the point He is making is that many people (non-Christians)
do NOT have the background that Christians have in understanding
Christianity. So they (non-Christians) *tend* to ask DUMB questions.
Or you might say that they seldom can ask a good question( this is not
just a snip...). Many of the questions I have seen are like the old joke about 
the lawyer that asks the accused 'So when did you stop beating your wife??'. 
Here the lawyer guides the 'truth'(by what he thinks and asks ) into untruth. 
Many (non-Christians) have posted similar questions and then go on to prove 
how dumb we are ( one might say 'circular' attacks). The point above is tongue
and cheek as I see it (to an extreme) to point out that perhaps Christians are 
not so dumb after all (as if to point out the very problem). Remember that 
both Christians and non-Christians can ask dumb questions but it is up to us 
*all* to discard 'noise' so as not to fall into the trap of using it (noise) 
as a measuring rod to measure reason. 
	I contend that many Christians believe God from experience. That is 
the Bible tells of a testable method to find Him (no blind faith just be 
determined). Such experience is what I contend is the reason for yet more 
'faith'.  Just as we understand that the sun will rise (because we know why).
That is the sort of faith you should understand Christians in general to 
have. (There may be exceptions BUT so there is in all fields, we don't judge
a field of study by those who are questionable.) But making up stories about 
how Christians think etc... also does not help the cause of discussion...


# Mike Gore 
# Institute for Computer Research.
# These ideas/concepts do not imply views held by the University of Waterloo.