Simone Weil's weird take on religious belief

Simone Weil's weird take on religious belief Apr 26, 2019 7:08:13 GMT

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Post by Arlon10 on Apr 26, 2019 7:08:13 GMT

Apr 25, 2019 13:57:18 GMT rizdek said:

Apr 25, 2019 11:29:38 GMT Arlon10 said:

I have no idea exactly what goes on inside other people's heads. I did mention that Judaism is basically an "ethical system" as often understood and practiced. I'm sorry for the lack of details, but it does imply a sort of judgement. I suspect your expectations are not realistic. It is difficult and might be impossible to explain what any god is in terms of everyday items like bricks, animals or people (elementary things). If you were blind I would have extreme difficulty explaining the concept of green to you. This is not really a failing on my part.

I didn't imply it was a failing on your part.

What do you think my expectations are regarding an omnipotent God...why should any expectations be "unrealistic."

What are your expectations for God and why do you have those expectations.

   Discussions about any "god" are fraught with uncertainties. It has been compared to explaining the color green to a blind person. There is no "literal" way to do that. If you can see green at all then I can quite "literally" inform you that the leaves on some particular tree at some particular time are green. Otherwise we are left with more poetic attempts at communication. There might be less than perfect analogies available. You might (!) be dissatisfied with the explanation, such as it is, that I can offer.

   I do not "expect," I already know that there are things beyond the plain sight and hearing of human eyes and ears. There are things unknown. We are left to speculate and perhaps on a good day surmise some of the details, but a full picture can be most difficult to obtain.

   Many "Christians" have a habit of assuming their certainty about those things is more justified than it actually is. There are indeed certainties in science, but there are many things quite beyond such science to explain. It is normal to be uncomfortable with uncertainty and many Christians choose not to face uncertainty or pretend to be more certain than they can justify.

   Atheists and fundamentalists are much alike that way. Atheists often claim to know the age of the Earth with more certainty than fundamentalists, but they are all fooling themselves and no one else. No one really knows exactly how old the Earth is. I do not know exactly how old the Earth is and I do not "expect" any god to tell me any time soon.

   This is my point. Atheists and fundamentalists are "plainspoken" in the perjorative sense of that term. They are low ranking soldiers or "grunts" who believe they or their leaders know more than is actually the case. They read at an elementary level and often misread it all.