No matter how open-minded...

[Unesh52]

someone said the religious, i'd extend that too anyone who simply doesn't think about something.

>implying the religious do not think about their beliefs.

Now, I don't think it's right of course, but certainly you can see how at least some religious beliefs (there's more than fundamentalist Christianity, you know) are at least plausible enough to hold up under the scrutiny of lay people not trained in philosophical thinking, and who have not been exposed to the arguments against the existence of God(s) or the validity of certain religious beliefs. And this is no better or greater scrutiny than we can really expect of them, don't you think? It is awfully hard to be aware of your ignorance unless you are aware of it in retrospect.

That, and it's worth mentioning that some of the greatest minds ever, have been religiously. Sir Issac Newton (who was so unimpressed by his own invention of calculus that he didn't even fucking tell anybody for the better part of a decade), actually taught specifically about the Christian faith. That was like his day job.

 

[Senor Coolguy]

Close-minded people are my problem. I just don't get why my being non-christian or democrat suddenly means that I'm going to h*** or that I'm evil and eat puppies for breakfast.

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

Brony Snip

I've stayed out of the whole "brony war" bullshit. I, like the Swiss, am neutral. I enjoyed the Power Puff Girls quite a lot as a child but have never been inclined to go and watch MLP. At the same time, I've not felt the need to question other people's reason for watching the show, even if they are an adult male (or whatever).

This is the first time I've gotten involved with an MLP discussion and it's simply to say this:

That was a nicely thought-out explanation. I still don't care either way, but at least I can understand the craze (apologies if you take offence to my choice of words) a little better.

= ]

 

[Tselis]

http://news.yahoo.com/remains-274-us-troops-dumped-landfill-report-081234306.html

This. I cannot wrap my head around this. There are no words in the English language that are viscerally strong enough to convey how vile and inhuman this is.

 

[viking97]

someone said the religious, i'd extend that too anyone who simply doesn't think about something.

>implying the religious do not think about their beliefs.

Now, I don't think it's right of course, but certainly you can see how at least some religious beliefs (there's more than fundamentalist Christianity, you know) are at least plausible enough to hold up under the scrutiny of lay people not trained in philosophical thinking, and who have not been exposed to the arguments against the existence of God(s) or the validity of certain religious beliefs. And this is no better or greater scrutiny than we can really expect of them, don't you think? It is awfully hard to be aware of your ignorance unless you are aware of it in retrospect.

That, and it's worth mentioning that some of the greatest minds ever, have been religiously. Sir Issac Newton (who was so unimpressed by his own invention of calculus that he didn't even fucking tell anybody for the better part of a decade), actually taught specifically about the Christian faith. That was like his day job.

i dunno man, i suppose if someone was utterly ignorant of how the world works and the idea of discovery, then maybe their religion might stand up to this pathetic scrutiny, but then i can't really imagine that either. as long as i can remember i've been taught science and critical thinking. maybe i lack empathy or something, but i still can't wrap my head around it.

(also, newton was kind of nuts. jus sayin)

 

[Unesh52]

That was a nicely thought-out explanation. I still don't care either way, but at least I can understand the craze (apologies if you take offence to my choice of words) a little better.

= ]

Thank you! That's exactly the kind of validation that I was looking for writing all that

On a vaguely related note, your use of the term "brony war" made me think of Megadeth.


Someone should make a parody song based on this about the Escapist Brony haters XD

 

[Quiet Stranger]

...you try to be, there's always that one thing you can't wrap your head around.

For me, it's people who aren't moved by music, people who are fine with listening to the radio or club music because it's easy to dance to or it's simple, people who don't go looking for music that inspires them or brings out all manner of emotion/feeling to the surface (be it joy, excitement, anger, passion etc). These are the things I can't accept/understand, no matter how wide I open my mind.

So what's your one thing that you can't grasp?

Your thing sounds just like all the kids I work with at where I work. I know they're just kids but still, if they didn't listen to fucking garbage all day then maybe they'd be more open minded.

I don't understand how people do things for free well sometimes and in some cases.

 

[Rule Britannia]

In fear of being suspended I'll word this lightly.

What's with the bronies thing? I really don't get it. If somebody could quote me and explain in a paragraph or something that would be greatly appreciated.

That was the first time I've really done a full overview and analysis of brony culture. Hope you enjoyed it.

THANK YOU!

 

[zehydra]

I don't understand people that commit crime. I can't wrap my head around how somebody can be so immature that they don't develop a sense of responsibility or empathy for other people by the time they reach adulthood. Spur of the moment reactions are just down to willpower, or lack thereof, but commiting a planned and organised crime with a clear thought process behind that exists for nothing other than personal gain is an action I will never understand.

There's probably a lot more things I could list, but off the top of my head, it's this sort of behaviour that makes me go into a kind of irrational rage.

We're all biased, at the end of the day. None of us really know a single thing about the world we live in for what it truly is, because every detail of it is skewed abd distorted by our own personal mindset, wants, hopes, fears, values and opinions, whether we know it or not. True open mindedness doesn't exist.

I understand what you mean, I'm similar to you when it comes to destruction of property.

Have you ever played any of the Elder Scrolls games?

 

[BOOM headshot65]

Anti-marijuana laws, and the morons who defend them.

So apparently, according to you, I am a moron.

And on that note:
People who smoke marijuana and other illegal drugs
People who smoke at all and drink excessively
People who knowingly break the law
People who expect to get something for nothing (with extreme exceptions)
People who say that marriage is dying off (seriously, WHY!?)
Anarchist...nuff said
People who disrespect the military and police
People who cry "police brutality" when the police so much as touch them
People who say that the South fought to protect slavery, when everyone who studies the Civil War knows it was over States rights
People who think ALL religious people are stupid or violent
People who treat Kansas like some Hermet Kingdom with the moral code of the Tailban (there more than you think who think this)
People who think that just because I am Republican means I dont care about the elderly or other people and that I must be some lackey of the Kock Bros
...
I think I will stop now

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

Thank you! That's exactly the kind of validation that I was looking for writing all that

On a vaguely related note, your use of the term "brony war" made me think of Megadeth.


Someone should make a parody song based on this about the Escapist Brony haters XD

I don't think anyone should do that.

God, why do all you bronies have to change everything into something pony-related. You make me sick. = P

I think someone should make a parody of 'Summer of 69' based on your username. = D

 

[Unesh52]

(also, newton was kind of nuts. jus sayin)

Fair enough, Newton was kind of a fruit. Brilliant fruit, but not really someone I'd want to share a drink with. But my point is that there are otherwise very intelligent people, even scientists, who study the natural world using rigorous methodology all the time, and theologians, who are formally trained in critical thought in some of the best schools in the world and think about their religion as part of their job, are religious. There are even some that believe in traditional, Western monotheism - take John Hick for example. I just studied his theodicy for my class this semester. These are not ignorant people, regardless of whether they are wrong or not. There are compelling psychological and logical reasons for believing in religious concepts. The fact that you see through them doesn't change that, and it's grossly inaccurate to assume that those who don't just haven't thought about it, or are woefully ignorant of the world.

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

People who cut themselves. Just no. How could that possible solve or help anything (working on the basis the person is depressed)? Cutting one's self could only lead to further depression, what could possibly be going through a person's mind, when they decide? "The only way to solve my problems is it cut myself"

Some people I feel cut themselves because it's part of the gothic/metal culture kind of like peer presure but on a scale of fitting into a huge group of people that happen to like similar music to you. Some of them just happen to cut themselves 'cause...well I'm not sure why really...

Probably sounds dumb to rant about something I don't fully understand...

Well, a lot of it is just a whole mess of teen angst and it being somewhat fashionable in certain circles. I dated a girl once who has suspicious cuts on her arms and really it made me feel uncomfortable.

Having said that, I did cut myself fairly regularly at one point. It wasn't a fashion thing, I made sure noone knew I did it by wearing jumpers or hoodys all the time and all this. I was going through depression and a lot of the time it manifested itself as self loathing. I cut myself because I wanted to punish myself. I didn't really want to die or anything and it wasn't some kind of masochism thing, I just had a lot of things bottled up and I didn't know how to deal with them.

 

[Joccaren]

someone said the religious, i'd extend that too anyone who simply doesn't think about something.

>implying the religious do not think about their beliefs.

Now, I don't think it's right of course, but certainly you can see how at least some religious beliefs (there's more than fundamentalist Christianity, you know) are at least plausible enough to hold up under the scrutiny of lay people not trained in philosophical thinking, and who have not been exposed to the arguments against the existence of God(s) or the validity of certain religious beliefs. And this is no better or greater scrutiny than we can really expect of them, don't you think? It is awfully hard to be aware of your ignorance unless you are aware of it in retrospect.

That, and it's worth mentioning that some of the greatest minds ever, have been religiously. Sir Issac Newton (who was so unimpressed by his own invention of calculus that he didn't even fucking tell anybody for the better part of a decade), actually taught specifically about the Christian faith. That was like his day job.

i dunno man, i suppose if someone was utterly ignorant of how the world works and the idea of discovery, then maybe their religion might stand up to this pathetic scrutiny, but then i can't really imagine that either. as long as i can remember i've been taught science and critical thinking. maybe i lack empathy or something, but i still can't wrap my head around it.

(also, newton was kind of nuts. jus sayin)

Some aspects of religion can stand up to scrutiny quite easily. Disprove that there may be a deity out there who created the universe, even by simply starting the big bang, that is completely non-physical, and can only be seen by the dead, who's spirits are also non-physical. Your not going to get very far as the simple 'non-physical' aspect of it means that you can not in any way interact with it. As such, there may be a deity that started everything, but we will never be able to tell for sure. What is the significance of this deity if we cannot interact with it? None at all.
Now, some specific things in religion can be disproved or scientifically explained. I once saw a scientific explanation for everything that happened in Moses's story, though having forgotten most of it I do not know how well it will hold up about 3 years later. Things like god flooding the world, however, have been disproved. How? The ancient Egyptians. They were around and writing Hieroglyphics at the time of the great flood. The person who ended up decoding Hieroglyphics found this out, and was forbidden by the church to let the information get out. One of his descendants did that thankfully.

Science and critical thinking tend to push aside religion mostly on the grounds of what it gets wrong is wrong, and therefore invalid, and what it says that might be right is untestable, and thus irrelevant. Its like me saying a race of ancient aliens set of the Big Bang at the start of our universe, destroying themselves, their universe, and all evidence of the event in the process. Is it possible? Yeah, it could have happened. Is there any way we can test that it happened? Nope. All evidence was destroyed in the process. Does it in any way impact the way in which the universe works? No. Does it therefore matter? Nope. Is it largely just some wild reason for what might have happened? Yes.

 

[Pegghead]

You're all probably sick of seeing posts regarding religion at this point, so I'll talk about other things for now. I can't really wrap my head around...people who constantly and un-waveringly pirate everything they can get their hands on. Game doesn't have a demo? Sure, go ahead and download, play the first few levels to get a feel for it. Searched top to bottom for a decades-old film with no luck? GO ahead. Desperately need one track to make a video-project complete, but you'd be forced to spend 100 bucks on itunes for the whole album? Sure, noone's gonna stop you. But when you pirate media that you could easily obtain at a fair price, and then feel you still have a right to complain, that's stretching it a bit. Hell, I know guys whos hard-drives are packed with EVERY movie that's been released in theatres for the past few months, it's like they pirate less for the media itself and more for the sake of downloading things.

Now, another thing I can't really wrap my head around is the fact that people can (note the italics, yo) get so...well, rude about other people being in some way, shape or form religious. Most religions rub you up the wrong way? You're not too fond of the idea of worship or of gods? Sure, go ahead, you have every right to be proud and happy and have your say with that mind-set and I for one won't stop you or judge you.

But, with that said, is it too much to ask that those who have a religious standing can be afforded the same without heckling or belittlement? Does the knowledge that someone, somewhere out there right now could be praying to their god really bother you that much that you have to judge not just their religion, but what that creed shapes them to be? Don't get me wrong, I've heard the stories about non-religious people facing persecution at the hands of close-minded communities, and nothing gets me riled more than bigoted assholes (because behind the creed, a jerk is always just a jerk). But if you look around, actually get to know an array of people that spans multiple faiths, you'll find that most people aren't going to lynch you for not being religious, so if you find it difficult to make peace with what other people believe, in their own heads (beyond any legitimate grievances with a religion itself or actions that have been carried out in the name of a religion) just get over yourself and realize that your perspective regarding religion (just as much as anyone who identifies as religious) does not entitle you to be an asshole.

 

[Logiclul]

German grammar...
IT MAKES NO SENSE!!

Edit: So many people saying they can't understand religious people. Here is a slightly logical answer:
If [insert deity here] does exist: you will go to heaven or be reborn as a cow or something.
If it doesn't exist: doesn't matter now that you're dead, does it?

stop it.

Seriously stop it because somehow, SOMEHOW, people think that Pascals' wager is legit.

It is a LOGICAL FALLACY and is not at all a decent way to make a decision. I will go into detail if requested, or you could google why and hopefully get some comprehensive result.

 

[Vykrel]

i dont get how otherwise intelligent people are religious. im convinced that they are religious out of habit, or they are afraid of the unknown.

 

[Unesh52]

I think someone should make a parody of 'Summer of 69' based on your username. = D

Hey neat! My brother and his friend play a game where they find the number "69" hidden throughout the world. I can send them that song.

 

[MeatsOfEvil]

...you try to be, there's always that one thing you can't wrap your head around.

For me, it's people who aren't moved by music, people who are fine with listening to the radio or club music because it's easy to dance to or it's simple, people who don't go looking for music that inspires them or brings out all manner of emotion/feeling to the surface (be it joy, excitement, anger, passion etc). These are the things I can't accept/understand, no matter how wide I open my mind.

So what's your one thing that you can't grasp?

You kind of just described me lol... I don't know, I never really found music moving. If the music means something to me (like it's from something I like) then I associate it with that thing, but beyond that it doesn't do much for me. Good white noise though.

 

[Pandabearparade]

Anti-marijuana laws, and the morons who defend them.

So apparently, according to you, I am a moron.

Unfortunately I am unable to honestly respond to that question due to the rules of this forum.

Instead I will post a picture of a cute kitten.