Free Thinking 101

My leftist friend Brian does not even realize he is unbalanced since all he can find is one side of any issue and that side of course supports his personal bias, I include here some references which on a quick look appear to have some GREAT ideas to aid any of us on HOW TO THINK CRITICALLY. 

Since I once taught him, perhaps there may be an open area somewhere in his brain that is willing to accept that his reality may NOT be REALITY at all!


So Mr. B, since you are "handing in" poor unbalanced ideas with no effort to give evidence just someone else's opinion who happens to agree with you, you will need to accept this assignment in order to FREE your brain from the one-sided thinking syndrome and obtain a passing grade [hopefully better!] in FREE-THINKING 101.


When that happens you will suddenly realize what free thinking really is. IT is not taking your favorite biased ideas and finding support for them in the form of OTHER OPINIONS which prove nothing but in discovering how to detect truth from opinion and rid yourself forever of pretzel thinking.




CRITICAL THINKING: Research #1

#1 http://www.brentcunningham.org/?p=584

#2 http://www.squidoo.com/applied_kinesiology

This site you should really like as it appears to be humanist. [a disguised form of atheism?]

#3 http://dtstrainphilosophy.blogspot.com/2005/04/how-do-you-determine-truth.html

#4 I included a paragraph below that was interesting and might be of help to your critical thinking skills. 

Even tho this site may offend you because some Bible verses are mentioned, it has a lot of interesting ideas. [Warning: Leftists often have violent uncontrollable reactions to Bible verses which can interfere with their critical thinking!]

http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2007/know_truth.html

 "Right Brain Learning

There are several methods of encountering truth which rely more heavily on intuition and feeling, and also seeing the relation between different pieces. The right brain can process many pieces of information at once, whereas the left is best at looking at things in a series one at a time. One important point here is that there are two kinds of "feeling" which are different and sometimes confused. There is emotional feeling and intuitive feeling. Our emotions are our motivators. When we feel sympathy, we may wish to help the afflicted. That is not learning truth at all; it is being motivated. On the other hand, the intuition (or ESP) feeling refers to sensations such as, "I feel peaceful and good about going into this business venture," or "I feel this salesman is lying. I don't trust him." In attempting to discover truth, it is essential not to let the emotions be a factor. Wanting something to be true does not make it true, but only clouds your perception of reality. Now let us look at some systematic methods of right brain learning. ....."

Here ends Research Session One for those that have been using ONLY the LEFT SIDE of their brains. [Sorry no intention to offend. Just a thought that possibly is what you may have been doing. (:-)

Made any right turns lately?  

Good luck Brian. You may need it. This assignment has caused unusual brain synapses to occur. (:-)

You will notice that I DID NOT just send opinions to support my point of view but actual real evidence?

-c

 

Re: WashPost: Why do Americans still dislike atheists?

Note: The blog post below was sent to me by an agnostic friend. Like all atheistic agnostics I have met he belittles faith in God but at the same time asks us to believe ON FAITH any article he sends to me whether there is EVIDENCE OR NOT. Even the Washington Post lists it in its OPINION section. Opinions are not facts.

This is my response on the blog.               

Oh no. Here it comes again. (:-) 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-do-americans-still-dislike-atheists/2011/02/18/AFqgnwGF_story.html?wpisrc=emailtoafriend

[Note: This will make no sense to you unless you read the article above first.]


Number One Problem: Why do I have to believe this? First of all I see unjust attacks on Christians who may not be wise in what they say. Do I see Christians like Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Charles Price, Brian Houston from Hillsong interviewed or mentioned?

Number Two Problem: Do I see any references or proof of the author's statements? Or am I to accept what they say on faith? Bold statements are made but I see no evidence presented.

Number Three Problem: Do the authors have a bias, reasonable or not? And do they recognize their bias?
If you look at what field they are considered "experts" in, it would tend to make you believe they have a bias against Christians especially the strawmen types that are easy to pick on.

Phrases like:"Is this knee-jerk dislike of atheists warranted? Not even close." are basically ad hominem attacks on Christians who perhaps may have made unwise statements but still it is an attack to say that something is a "knee-jerk reaction". Perhaps they just disagree with atheists. Not everyone that disagrees has knee-jerk reactions.

Is it possible the writing of the authors above could be another "knee-jerk reaction" because they are upset?
Bold statements like this are not accurate and no evidence is presented, just the author's opinions.


"These put-downs have had sticking power. Negative stereotypes of atheists are alive and well. Yet like all stereotypes, they aren't true"

Who says? Perhaps atheists are their own worst enemies.

If anything I would say that of all the atheists I have talked to mainly on the web, they all display an anger and mocking attitude toward Christians in particular and speak with glee when they feel they have scored a point against a Christian. Even Peter Hitchens, speaks about his brother in his book "Rage Against God" as being angry. I have seen it in a friend, Christoper H, and Richard Dawkins and the long-past Madelyn Murray Ohair who was the most bitter person I have ever seen!
I think this anger makes them say stupid things and they themselves as atheists are the cause of people being biased against them.

They also mention another myth: The myth that intelligence equals wisdom. It does not. On the IQ scale the characteristics of a genius and an idiot are very similar. 


The best example I know of this would be the brilliant Howard Hughes. He was "an American industrialist, aviator, engineer, film


producer, director, philanthropist, and was


one of the wealthiest people in the world." 


Despite all of his brilliance and intelligence he ended up with an obsessive-compulsive disorder and became a recluse.  

I know many unintellectual people who have great wisdom, and lead very successful lives of helping others. [Sorry I cannot quote a study right now to prove it BUT remember that as a teacher I have met a VERY large number of people and since I am 67, this last statement I have learned from the best teacher, experience.]

So do I believe what the authors of the above article say? No.

Do I wonder why my friend BC sent it to me? No. It is because HE accepts it on faith. I want evidence and seeing none, I have to discount it.

I have a lot of trouble trying to determine why Brian cannot see that HE has faith in atheistic articles and other tenets of his religion like man-made climate change, and therefore presents no evidence just opinions.


But on the other hand, I must ALWAYS prove my beliefs to him. Seems like a rather unfair way of discussion does it not? 

Have a good!


A cartoon for your thoughts!   


-c

On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 12:23 AM, <noreply@washingtonpost.com> wrote:

E-mail

This page was sent to you by: 

Message from sender: "My perception of "Reality.

Why do Americans still dislike atheists?

By Gregory Pauland Phil Zuckerman

Long after blacks and Jews have made great strides, and even as homosexuals gain respect, acceptance and new rights, there is still a group that lots of Americans just don't like much: atheists. Those who don't believe in God are widely considered to be immoral, wicked and angry. They can't join the Boy Scouts. Atheist soldiers are rated potentially deficient when they do not score as sufficiently "spiritual" in military psychological evaluations. Surveys find that most Americans refuse or are reluctant to marry or vote for nontheists; in other words, nonbelievers are one minority still commonly denied in practical terms the right to assume office despite the constitutional ban on religious tests.

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Atheism Revealed

There are various techniques in arguing which are used in an attempt to convince. Some of them are simply an attempt to get around reason or to throw the opponent off track because we do not have an answer for his argument.

It All Happened by Chance 

Fundamental Technique Used By Atheists  
  
"appeal to ignorance (argumentum ex silentio)
-appealing to ignorance as evidence for something. (e.g., We have no evidence that God exists, therefore, he must NOT exist.) 


Or: Because we have no knowledge of GOD, that means He does not exist. Ignorance about something says nothing about its existence or non-existence."


This is a fundamental reason why atheism is untenable. Atheists say they have seen no evidence for a God so THEREFORE he does not exist. That is like saying, I have NEVER seen Antarctica, therefore Antarctica does not exist.


Therefore I submit that a person cannot be an honest reasoning person if one calls oneself and atheist and uses the above argument.


Just because you have not FOUND God, does not mean he does not exist.


An appropriate and honest response to the existence of God would be. I have found NO evidence that there is a God, so I simply do not know if he exists or not. This kind  of reasoning is honest and simply a matter of your personal search for God and your result: not finding him.


My simple response to an agnostic is: Just because you cannot find your car keys, does not mean they do not exist, just that you have not found them yet. When you look in the right place, you will find them. So you have not found God? No problem. Keep looking in other places until you do. He is simply NOT where you looked.


Of course many proclaimed atheists take the unreasoning way out and have NEVER really looked for evidence of God because they do NOT WANT to find him. If they did, they may have to listen to him since he would obviously be a superior being with superior knowledge. And that is the crux of why many call themselves atheists.

• They do not want to find anyone with superior knowledge to their own
• Therefore they do NOT look
• They simply wait until God appears before them and of course he never does, so they say they are atheists.
• Isn't that like saying, "I cannot see my car keys. Therefore I will wait until they appear before me." How reasonable is that? And yet that is what self-proclaimed atheists often do. 

Another reason an "atheist" (who should be calling himself and agnostic) does not look for God is that he then may have to subject himself to listen to the superior mind and teachings of such a being and therefore does NOT WANT to find out where God is. 


For these simple reasons, if one was honest about knowing the existence of God, one would call oneself an agnostic. Agnostics simply have not found God and therefore do not know if he exists or not.


Isn't this more reasonable than denying the existence of something you have not looked for or have not looked for in the RIGHT places?


If one is reasonable enough to admit that one is an agnostic, then we can point them in the right direction to find evidence of God. He can still reject the evidence but at least he is willing to look at it.


There are many evidences of God.


It is fair to remember that no one can prove the existence of God OR NOT! Why? Because God is an intangible non-physical entity which cannot be weighed, measured or simply made to appear at will.


Does LOVE exist? I am talking about the CARING kind of love that one sees by the action of the person who loves. (I am not talking about physical attraction type of love..)


How would you prove that kind of LOVE exists? Would the evidences below be examples?

• if someone helps someone less fortunate, then would you say that is an evidence of love?
• If someone pushes someone out of the way of an oncoming vehicle? 
• If one donates money to help those lest fortunate?
• If one spends time helping in a food kitchen to feed those less fortunate?
• If one donates any kind of time to help others?

Would these not be evidences of LOVE? Love too is intangible and not physically measurable. So do we deny there is such a thing as love simply because we cannot measure it? Of course not.

It Was Built By Chance

• We measure love by the evidences of caring.             

Can we use this same technique to give evidence that God exists? What would we look for as evidence of his existence? What evidence can be presented to the open-minded that maybe there is a God, even if they have not found him yet?

The Logs Fell Together After a Violent Tornado

Accidental Mountain

[Okay I am waiting for your comments to see what you would say before I spout off.]

 

What makes you believe that God exists? 

This Train Was Built by Chance

The sites below explore their reasons:

Window Falls Together by Chance

• EveryStudent.com
• Does God Exist?
• An Experience
• Interesting takes
• Got Questions?
• Reborn Humanity
• Why I Left Atheism
• Former Atheists and Agnostics
• Freedom to me
• Birth & Death of an Atheist
• Atheist Goes to Church
• Does God Exist?
• Challenging Atheism
• A Word to Atheists
• Jesus Fulfilled Hundreds of Prophecies
• Who is God?
• Israel Reborn in One Day Prophecy
• Vicki's Abuse Story
• Joni Eareckson Tada
• Paul Bird - Former Atheist
• Atheists, Agnostics, Intellectuals Became Christian

Each Piece Fell Together by Chance!

This story reveals something about the nature of God.

There is a story told of an old farmer who lived by himself in a cabin. Next to his cabin was a barn. One very cold wintery night, birds began to crash into the windows of his warm cabin, trying to escape the deadly cold. So the old man went outside and opened the barn door. It was warm inside the barn. He waved his arms and shouted at the birds to go into the barn, into safety. But they did not understand him.

It was then that the old man wished that he could become one of them. If he could become a bird, then he could lead the other birds into the barn, to avoid death. And at that moment the old farmer understood why Jesus had come. Though the old man could not become a bird, God could become a man. So he did. "For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). 

Wild Garden Forms Star and Circle by Chance !!!

Stories of People Who Became Christians
Marilyn Adamson: "I studied the philosophies of Dostoyevsky, Sartre, Nietsche, Socrates and others - looking for an overriding, motivating purpose to my life. Every few weeks I would 'try out' a new philosophy to see if it could work. But I found these philosophies didn't make sense or they simply weren't useful in actual life situations."


From Atheism to Agnosticism to Christianity
S. B.: "Then it happened! There was a violent rushing wind from above...There was no wind outside and as the doors and windows were closed there was no draught. It was like a scene out of Pentecost!"

Amazing Rink Lands Inside Mall !!!

Greg Bond: "An atheist until 1990, I came to a belief in God because I am an alcoholic, and one traumatic night He removed the obsession to drink from me. I prayed to the God that I didn't even believe in (and told Him so, too!) because I had nowhere else to turn, and He immediately answered my prayer."


J. Budziszewski: "This practical nihilism was linked with a practical atheism...The upshot was that although God might exist, He would be irrelevant. I couldn't quite rule out the existence of God, but I thought I could rule out the existence of a God that mattered."

Amazing Train Bridge Drops out of Sky Right On Track!

Why I Left Atheism
John N. Clayton: "What was happening to me was the same thing that Lord Kelvin, a very famous British scientist, described in his writings when he made the statement, 'If you study science deep enough and long enough it will force you to believe in God.'"


Daz: "When I came to adolescence I decided that life would be easier to bear if I cut out all feelings and contact with other people...I had achieved my goal: my life was empty of any emotions or meaningful contact with others. It sucked."

Trees Came Together By Chance

John Jeremiah: "I finally came to the conclusion that I was an agnostic...And this is where my journey began. I wasn't satisfied with not knowing the answer to the questions of all questions. I had to know whether or not there was a god. If a god indeed existed, in what way should I relate to that god?"


G. Zeinelde Jordan: "Christianity repulsed me. I was so repulsed I chose to battle it...
"LaHaye did not convince me a God existed, but he clearly depicted I believed what I believed merely because I had been indoctrinated."


Eric Knickerbocker: "Would I have chosen Christianity? No. It went against my every instinct, against my every grain. But I have nonetheless been transformed."


Makhonyola: "I received a letter from my older brother...Wasn't this the same guy that tried again and again to convince my mother that we didn't need religion?"

The Molecules of This Butterfly Got Together by Chance

Ralph Martin: "'Okay, okay, okay,' I said in exasperation. 'I'll go. But I warn you: I am not going to pretend to have a religious experience just to make you happy. I know what's going to happen. You're all going to sit around and sing songs and be nice to each other, and you're going to call it God. Well, I'm not going to call it God. I'm going to call it clever group dynamics. I'll go, Phil, but I won't sacrifice my intellectual integrity.'"


Josh McDowell: "I thought most Christians were walking idiots...But these people challenged me over and over. Finally, I accepted their challenge. I did it out of pride to refute them, thinking there were no facts. I assumed there wasn't any evidence a person could evaluate."


Arnold Neumaier: "I still had the idea of God as a human construction; but Jesus' construction must have been particularly powerful, and I set out to discover what it was, strip it from its religious superstitions, and integrate the essence into my life. At least that was my plan."

Rev. R. G. Rindfuss: "I...stepped outside just in time to see my youngest son toddle across the grass and sit down on top of the biggest fire ant mound I have ever seen. Randy is highly allergic to fire ant bites...If he gets bitten enough times, he'll die."

A Pile of Feathers, Some Skin and Flesh
Merged in WhirlWind and Formed
Perfect Bird !!!

Tucker Russell: "This new worldview...allowed me to believe in a god that was near to me and ever-present, yet it also allowed me to adhere to this world and its pleasures, with no real accountability. It seemed like everything you could want, and I followed religiously (and excelled among my contemporaries) for the next three years. But deep down I was always dissatisfied. I know now that I did not actually want something that would make me feel good, I wanted what I knew to be actual truth."


Paul Smith: "Many things permanently changed inside me that morning, and so I never became able to rationalize my experience away as anything but a genuine encounter with the Creator of the universe."


Antony Solomon: "I had rejected all the 'proofs of God's existence' - they did not convince me. But this did."


Joni Eareckson Tada: "I believed in God, but I was angry with Him...How can permanent, lifelong paralysis be a part of His loving plan for me? Unless I found answers, I didn't see how this God could be worthy of my trust."


Vicki: "I became very agitated with God and threw the Bible to the floor. I just didn't understand why I wasn't well, if he had healed this guy so long ago."


Webmaster of BibleDesk.com: "My idea was to find out if the Bible was really true. Indeed, if I could find one contradiction, one error, or anything in the Bible that was not true, then that would be all that was needed to disregard it...Finally, I had to admit after spending almost countless hours of research - I was wrong."


Heather Williams: "I believed in the power within me to make a significant difference in the world....Yet, the more I tried to change the world, the more frustrated I became. I confronted bureaucracy, apathy, and...sin."