I've created a Substack publication to share the essays I use in solo video essays like the above. I want to offer a convenient way for those who prefer reading to engage with the content I’ve decided to dedicate so much time to creating. My hope? To create a space that expresses something genuinely unique and honest. If you want to follow along, it's appreciated 🍻👉 thesocraticsessions.substack.com/
Hey Sam, Good video. It is appreciated, and I’m really sorry to hear you’ve suffered so much from your church social circles. In terms of the things you put forth… None truly resonate with me. Maybe that’s a me problem. Maybe the moral and natural evil in the world should give me more pause, and maybe the character of Jesus should be more captivating to me. For example: It’s not like it isn’t true that especially natural evil against innocent animals should probably be a problem for a loving god, but I haven’t seen the god of the bible as loving in a human understandable, modern sense for a long time, so maybe the contrast isn’t as striking to me. You know, the God who according to the texts condemns those who even only look with lust (as all other animals do) to eternal punishment, who chooses the vast majority of all humans to go to hell so that he can be glorified in his wrath, who chose to give dominion over the whole world to Satan and his demons, who ignores the pleas of dying and suffering and raped children, who in his sovereignty chose to only have christianity and its saving message spread to parts of the world other than Europe 1500 years after Jesus died, and that through slavery and abuse. I had accepted those things as true of God when I still believed in christianity. I had accepted that God does things which I can only describe as evil, but His ways are higher than mine and he has a good plan for all of it, we just can’t see it. But in reality, I guess I’m just an awful person, and for most of my life I just didn’t care about these things. I don’t know.
Hey San, thanks for your thoughts here! I'm glad to hear the video is appreciated. It took a lot of work to get it all down, spoken, and then out, but (I think) it's come out well! My main hope is that it will help people. I don't think the 'My desire for God' section is going to convince anyone that God is real - it's really just my inner desire for some of the Christian motifs to be true, and it's my way of expressing what that looks like and why. At the same time, there are many biblical motifs that I have no desire to be true, some of them being Biblical sexism, slavery, and divinely bestowed human dominance (over other creatures and this world). If my desire for God outweighed my concerns about Christianity and, thus, its claim of actually being true, then I wouldn't be a non-theist; I'd be a Christian.
Hey, thanks for the question! Here are some thoughts For me, I was born into and raised to beleive in God - I want what I thought my whole life was based on to be evidently true - which is where the desire comes in - as an answer to your question this is a bit chicken and egg, but I hope that makes sense - the beleif came first, and the desire came when I lost it. Lot's of people hold various supernatural beliefs, and these beliefs can provide comfort, meaning, or a sense of purpose, making them appealing despite a lack of tangible proof. I want to beleive as many true things as I can, which is why I don't believe in Christinaity, as I don't think it's claims are true. Doesn't mean I don't want them to be true (because of my past). Lastly, I find it really interesting that I have this desire, because NO part of me desires any other religious traditions to be true...
@@SamuelDevis89 Thanks so much for your reply! If I may now then respond to some of what you said; You mentioned people getting comfort and a sense of meaning and purpose from these god (and/or other supernatural) beliefs, right? But, since those god-beliefs are an attempt to _answer_ questions of meaning and purpose (suffering; the human condition; etc.), and _designed_ to provide comfort, isn't that to be expected? Especially considering that those who were _brought up_ believing that that's where our meaning, purpose and comfort -questions are answered, while _not_ being taught how to deal with any sort of existential dread in any other way than to ''just place it in the hands of, -and leave it up to'' the supernatural powers that be, and thus leaving you utterly under-prepared and ill-equipped, psychologically, to deal with any crisis in that area, when the belief is lost. Nor is it surprising that one would be longing for a return to this state of peace of mind it is associated with. The thing is, that this peaceful mindset, and even the experiences (like sensations of an all-encompassing _love;_ a loss of ego and an awe-inspiring notion of _oneness_ with the whole of existence), often _claimed_ by the various religions as _''god-given,''_ and thus presupposed as something none-believers must be lacking, _ISN'T_ uniquely theirs, but *_something we can all experience,_* god-believers and lifelong atheists, or those who never even heard of a god-concept, alike. It simply isn't true that the answers that provide you with peace of mind concerning ''the big questions,'' is _the monopoly_ of religion, let alone that supernatural beliefs that are not evidently true, are _needed_ to achieve said peaceful mind and meaningful wholeness of existence. The various religions just claimed it as such, to then provide their followers with no other tools but theirs, to achieve it, and thus leave you stranded once the belief is gone.. (oops: I've now said the same thing twice, didn't I?) It seems I'm rambling (happens sometimes, sorry), so: in closing: You say you ''want to know as many true things as possible,'' right? So do I, but I'd add to that: ''(...) as many true, and as little false things'' as possible, cause: If you just wanna believe as many true things as possible, that is achieved by believing _everything,_ (meaning you're gullible) And if your only goal is to not believe false things, you'd achieve that by believing _nothing,_ (leaving you cynical). It's when the two go together that makes for rational skepticism. And it's _there_ where the experiences and answers, though claimed by the religious to be exclusively theirs, can be found too, without invoking anything supernatural. (and I almost started typing a summary of the above! Dear o dear.... O well: I'm gonna click the 'reply' button, anyway)
I think I made the point of as many true things and as few false things when I said, ‘I want to beleive as many true things as I can, which is why I don't believe in Christinaity, as I don't think it's claims are true. Doesn't mean I don't want them to be true (because of my past).’ I don't think we are saying different things, we are just saying the same thing differently.
I've created a Substack publication to share the essays I use in solo video essays like the above. I want to offer a convenient way for those who prefer reading to engage with the content I’ve decided to dedicate so much time to creating. My hope? To create a space that expresses something genuinely unique and honest. If you want to follow along, it's appreciated 🍻👉 thesocraticsessions.substack.com/
Hey Sam,
Good video. It is appreciated, and I’m really sorry to hear you’ve suffered so much from your church social circles.
In terms of the things you put forth… None truly resonate with me. Maybe that’s a me problem. Maybe the moral and natural evil in the world should give me more pause, and maybe the character of Jesus should be more captivating to me.
For example: It’s not like it isn’t true that especially natural evil against innocent animals should probably be a problem for a loving god, but I haven’t seen the god of the bible as loving in a human understandable, modern sense for a long time, so maybe the contrast isn’t as striking to me. You know, the God who according to the texts condemns those who even only look with lust (as all other animals do) to eternal punishment, who chooses the vast majority of all humans to go to hell so that he can be glorified in his wrath, who chose to give dominion over the whole world to Satan and his demons, who ignores the pleas of dying and suffering and raped children, who in his sovereignty chose to only have christianity and its saving message spread to parts of the world other than Europe 1500 years after Jesus died, and that through slavery and abuse. I had accepted those things as true of God when I still believed in christianity. I had accepted that God does things which I can only describe as evil, but His ways are higher than mine and he has a good plan for all of it, we just can’t see it. But in reality, I guess I’m just an awful person, and for most of my life I just didn’t care about these things.
I don’t know.
Hey San, thanks for your thoughts here! I'm glad to hear the video is appreciated. It took a lot of work to get it all down, spoken, and then out, but (I think) it's come out well! My main hope is that it will help people.
I don't think the 'My desire for God' section is going to convince anyone that God is real - it's really just my inner desire for some of the Christian motifs to be true, and it's my way of expressing what that looks like and why. At the same time, there are many biblical motifs that I have no desire to be true, some of them being Biblical sexism, slavery, and divinely bestowed human dominance (over other creatures and this world).
If my desire for God outweighed my concerns about Christianity and, thus, its claim of actually being true, then I wouldn't be a non-theist; I'd be a Christian.
Why would one desire to believe in something that isn't evidently true? (is a genuine question I'd appreciate an(y) answer to)
Hey, thanks for the question! Here are some thoughts
For me, I was born into and raised to beleive in God - I want what I thought my whole life was based on to be evidently true - which is where the desire comes in - as an answer to your question this is a bit chicken and egg, but I hope that makes sense - the beleif came first, and the desire came when I lost it.
Lot's of people hold various supernatural beliefs, and these beliefs can provide comfort, meaning, or a sense of purpose, making them appealing despite a lack of tangible proof.
I want to beleive as many true things as I can, which is why I don't believe in Christinaity, as I don't think it's claims are true. Doesn't mean I don't want them to be true (because of my past).
Lastly, I find it really interesting that I have this desire, because NO part of me desires any other religious traditions to be true...
@@SamuelDevis89 Thanks so much for your reply! If I may now then respond to some of what you said;
You mentioned people getting comfort and a sense of meaning and purpose from these god (and/or other supernatural) beliefs, right? But, since those god-beliefs are an attempt to _answer_ questions of meaning and purpose (suffering; the human condition; etc.), and _designed_ to provide comfort, isn't that to be expected? Especially considering that those who were _brought up_ believing that that's where our meaning, purpose and comfort -questions are answered, while _not_ being taught how to deal with any sort of existential dread in any other way than to ''just place it in the hands of, -and leave it up to'' the supernatural powers that be, and thus leaving you utterly under-prepared and ill-equipped, psychologically, to deal with any crisis in that area, when the belief is lost. Nor is it surprising that one would be longing for a return to this state of peace of mind it is associated with.
The thing is, that this peaceful mindset, and even the experiences (like sensations of an all-encompassing _love;_ a loss of ego and an awe-inspiring notion of _oneness_ with the whole of existence), often _claimed_ by the various religions as _''god-given,''_ and thus presupposed as something none-believers must be lacking, _ISN'T_ uniquely theirs, but *_something we can all experience,_* god-believers and lifelong atheists, or those who never even heard of a god-concept, alike.
It simply isn't true that the answers that provide you with peace of mind concerning ''the big questions,'' is _the monopoly_ of religion, let alone that supernatural beliefs that are not evidently true, are _needed_ to achieve said peaceful mind and meaningful wholeness of existence. The various religions just claimed it as such, to then provide their followers with no other tools but theirs, to achieve it, and thus leave you stranded once the belief is gone.. (oops: I've now said the same thing twice, didn't I?)
It seems I'm rambling (happens sometimes, sorry), so: in closing:
You say you ''want to know as many true things as possible,'' right?
So do I, but I'd add to that: ''(...) as many true, and as little false things'' as possible, cause: If you just wanna believe as many true things as possible, that is achieved by believing _everything,_ (meaning you're gullible) And if your only goal is to not believe false things, you'd achieve that by believing _nothing,_ (leaving you cynical). It's when the two go together that makes for rational skepticism. And it's _there_ where the experiences and answers, though claimed by the religious to be exclusively theirs, can be found too, without invoking anything supernatural.
(and I almost started typing a summary of the above! Dear o dear.... O well: I'm gonna click the 'reply' button, anyway)
I think I made the point of as many true things and as few false things when I said, ‘I want to beleive as many true things as I can, which is why I don't believe in Christinaity, as I don't think it's claims are true. Doesn't mean I don't want them to be true (because of my past).’
I don't think we are saying different things, we are just saying the same thing differently.