God And Free Will: Why Is There Evil?

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jadoig Male, 30-39, Canada 389 Posts	Friday, March 2, 2012 10:49:39 AM I see what you're saying. One thing catches me though. Perhaps I`m simply misunderstanding... "Making that decision is not a choice. I could choose to accept an undetermined claim as `true` but in reality I would be dishonest (with myself) in doing so. " Making the decision is not a choice, but the decision itself is (as is any decision) and regardless of whether or not you`re being honest, you still have that option, that choice. In that case, Otto, there is nothing, including my religious views, that I conclude is true AND I did not use reason and logic to come to that conclusion.

Otto67 Male, 40-49, Midwest US 438 Posts	Thursday, March 1, 2012 7:46:28 PM "I choose to believe she is faithful because I think I know her, and if she wasn't, it would hurt and there would be a mess, and I love her. But I do NOT, without any uncertainty, know it." You have come to the conclusion your wife is faithful, I think righfully so. But you based that on reason and evidence, of course you can`t `know` 100% that she is faithful so it is a belief, and a reasonable one. SHe has shown herself to be truthfull and honest over a long period of time. Knowledge is information, belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true. When a claim is made by someone you have to decide if that claim is true, false or you do not have reasonable knowledge to accept the claim, it is undetermined. Making that decision is not a choice. I could choose to accept an undetermined claim as `true` but in reality I would be dishonest (with myself) in doing so.

jadoig Male, 30-39, Canada 389 Posts	Thursday, March 1, 2012 4:32:55 PM Otto: My wife is not cheating on me. I have no evidence she is not, but I'm reasonably sure of what kind of person she is and, though I could be mistaken, she wouldn`t do that. I choose to believe she is faithful because I think I know her, and if she wasn`t, it would hurt and there would be a mess, and I love her. But I do NOT, without any uncertainty, know it. I agree, it would be insane to believe in santa, that was merely the first thing that popped into my head. swap it out with Sasquatch, UFO`s (Which ARE real, I see things in the sky I can`t identify all the time). The effect is the same. You didn`t comment on my replacing belief with knowledge. I wish you would. I think I`m on to something there.

Otto67 Male, 40-49, Midwest US 438 Posts	Thursday, March 1, 2012 11:37:45 AM jadoig: Outside of your religious views, Name one belief you hold about the world that you conclude is true AND you did not use reason and logic to come to that conclusion. If you can name one explain your justification for believing it.

Otto67 Male, 40-49, Midwest US 438 Posts	Thursday, March 1, 2012 11:18:01 AM "I can choose to believe in Santa if I want." You can choose to say you believe in Santa, and probably even tell yourself some rationalizations to convince yourself, like "Santa lives in our hearts". But a person cannot use reason and choose to believe an actual fat man lives at the North Pole and delivers presents to all the worlds children. If you could convince yourself of that you would be delusional and if you have enough delusions you are insane.

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