Elizabeth Edwards diagnosed with cancer.

I read your long response last night. While you still sounded mostly like a robot (which in it you said you were not a robot), you did show a bit of your humanity in it.

It was a good response and you should have left it up for reading.

 

That long response, was it in response to my question, cause if it was, I never had the chance to see it.
If it wasn't, I would still like a response to my question.

 

Yes, I believe so. He described how he felt during 9/11.

 

he basically said 9/11 truly impacted him deeply because it was right in his face when it occurred even though he didn't know anyone who died in the attack. Even said he had nightmares for about a year.

then tried to associate empathy with proximity and then restated how joe public is no more important than celeb x.

So, I think he wanted to make a point how he doesn't really care about much but himself yet he came across as a somewhat feeling, caring person.

Then, he deleted it before you could make that assessment. He has a role to play.

 

Hopefully, he'll repost it, I would've liked to have read it.

 

thats true. i basically explained how you dont have to believe in god to be empathetic during tragedies, because empathy is a product of evolution (my theory, which i am bad at explaining). and like tirk said, i pointed out that it becomes more difficult to be empathetic for random celebrity than it is for the guy getting murdered with explosions that you can hear and see yourself, even though empathy is of no real value in most cases.

basically i think that it isnt really worth anyone's time to care abot people who have nothing to do with anything, or are famous for whatever unimportant reason. and that doesnt mean i am a robot, even though i admit i care a lot more about myself than i do anyone else (i dont have kids).

i dont think it matters for much if we sit around and pretend we give a damn about someone like whats-her-name edwards. all we are really doing is being reminded of our own problems and how much they sucked, and then telling ourselves prayer is something more than a waste of time, to calm our nerves.

 

Up front, so you know, I'm a believer, that being said, I could also argue the point that there is no God almost as well as you, because it is impossible to prove the existence of God.
For my arguements sake, there is a God, and one of the biggest things he provides is COMFORT, meaning there will be things that happen in our lives(such as 9/11 and nightmares for a year for you) that mentally overwhelm us, and you can reach a point that you think to yourself, that it wouldn't take much more for you to just lose it completely. You will see this as being dilusional, but being able to mentally lay these unbearable burdens at the feet of God, is what allows us to keep our sanity. If you truly believe the way you do, I don't know how you cope with any tragedy in your life.
How sad it must be, to not believe in anything but yourself. Even Doctors and lawyers know, anyone who treats or represents themselves has a fool for a client.
I know you read all the threads here, and so you know my son is in Iraq. There have been lots of responses here from posters that they will keep him in their prayers, I don't know exactly how to explain it to you, but knowing that they pray for my son is a huge COMFORT, and it allows me mentally, not to worry 24/7. I know your response or your thought will be, that it worked because I diluded myself. My response would be, maybe thats why God gave us dilusion.
Can you show me a better way for handling the problems of life?

 

no, it sounds like religion works for you. deluding yourself is fine. it doesnt work for me because i cant force myself to believe things that i know are obviously crazy, even if they would make it easier to accept things like the mortality of myself and my peeps. thats all i am sayin.

 

Thats the point, you "choose" not to believe, but it's not obviously crazy, because you can not prove that there is no God, anymore than I can prove there is. So it would seem that failing on the side of something that brings piece and comfort, would be the better path to choose.

Now lets not confuse any of what I am saying with those that are fighting for Holy Lands and such, those people should just be left alone to weed themselves out.

 

i have explained this a billion times.

believing in something is not a merely a matter of choice, if you are rational.

you can come to me and say "i can fly, and if you believe me, i will give you a billion dollars". i cannot just choose to believe you. no matter how much i want the billion. it is not possible for me to believe you. i have no choice. i cannot say "well, i sure want peace and comfort of a billion dollars, so i believe you". does anyone understand that? i can try as hard as i can to delude myself into believing you can fly, but i still know you cannot, even though i have no proof that you cannot.

it doesnt matter how comforting something is, if it is magical and silly and childish and a fantasy, i cant force myself to believe it, even if the reward is peace of mind. it isnt possible. it is literally an impossiblity for me to be christian. i cannot choose to believe, as some sort of insurance policy, just to be safe. i cant pretend that something is true, just because i wish it was.

most people need to delude themselves. thats fine, i hope they enjoy it. i cant do it.