[quote=Yoda]Yeah, I'm with you on that last one, adi. I was mainly objecting to what I felt was a much broader statement, initially.

Any sort of hope is going to appeal to desparate people. If you're hanging onto a cliff for dear life, you may indeed grab the very first rope you find. I tend to think of that as a separate issue from whether or not the rope will save you, though. And I imagine that's about as far as I can take that analogy... :)[/quote]

[quote=adidasss]Sorry for the multiple edits...[/quote]

[quote=Sir Toose]Not at all. That's a lucid argument and much better than implying believers are universally soft minded. Point taken.[/quote]

[quote=adidasss]And those answers provide comfort. Surely there are [i]some[/i] benefits to believing?

I think we've had some radically different experiences with religion. You're from an industrialized country, I come from a developing country where the vast majority of church goers are uneducated and poor. They don't go to church because they seek answers, they go out of habit and because they know of nothing else. They go because their lives are for the most part, very difficult and they want some reassurance that at least in the after life, they'll have their reward...that's comfort. If such people were presented with hard evidence that everything they believed in and put their hopes in is nothing more than a fairy tale, I'd wager they'd have a similar reaction to that woman...not everyone would lose their minds sure, but some might. Is that really so hard to accept...?[/quote]

[quote=Sir Toose]Well, I think you're way off base and I think the film is off base as well, particularly in that regard. You can't say 'believers' seek comfort. How do you know? Believers consistently seek answers versus sitting back on their respective haunches and waiting for perhaps science to dig something up.[/quote]

[quote=adidasss][quote=Sir Toose]It was ridiculous. They picked a hysterical old (er) woman to represent the Christian in the group. When told what she wants to hear she settles down and becomes compliant. Christians, like everyone else, seek truth every day. It's stupid to paint them the way they were painted in that film.[/quote]No, Christians, as all believers seek comfort.

How would you have her act...? "Oh, ok, my whole life is a lie, sweet, let's have some tea and biscuits shall we?" C'mon...:rolleyes:[/quote]

[quote=Sir Toose]**as incapable of understanding/comprehending new ideas.[/quote]

[quote=Sir Toose]It was ridiculous. They picked a hysterical old (er) woman to represent the Christian in the group. When told what she wants to hear she settles down and becomes compliant. Christians, like everyone else, seek truth every day. It's stupid to paint them the way they were painted in that film.[/quote]

[quote=adidasss]I was focusing on the second part actually. Plus, I'd say Toose exaggerates, it shows ONE woman who gets extremely upset when presented with very solid evidence that the majority of the New Testament is false. I'd say that would probably happen to a vast majority of true believers...which is only logical...

I'm not sure where he gets the desperate part...but as far as real life goes, there certainly are a whole lot of desperate people turning to religion, including Christianity...:\[/quote]

[quote=PimpDaShizzle V2.0]Being a part of counter culture is apparently more important than being a part of reality.[/quote]

[quote=Yoda][quote=adidasss]@Yoda: My response was related to The man from earth, which I'm guessing you haven't seen. I was referring to hard evidence that Jesus Christ wasn't the son of God...so, not the possibility, but fact. 

You're saying such a thing wouldn't have a profound impact on your life?[/quote]
Sure it would. But Toose listed two claims of the movie: 1) "Christians are desperate people" and 2) we would become "unhinged if presented with a new truth."

The first is the one I have a problem with, though I'd add that experiencing a "profound impact" isn't the same thing as becoming "unhinged," either. The latter clearly implies an inability to accept or cope with the new information.[/quote]