It really annoys me when someone asks a spiritual/religious question which isn't condescending in nature and others tear
it to pieces with their own personal beliefs. Likewise with non-religious questions. Is it so hard to give someone an answer to THEIR question without polluting it with our own bias? If someone asks a question about the sevenfold path to Nirvana, who are you to say,"There is none. Nirvana doesn't exist!" (just an example)
I believe it is arrogance and narrow-mindedness speaking for one's insecurities.
4 Answers to "It really annoys me when someone asks a spiritual/religious question which isn't condescending in nature and others tear"
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People become easily offended when they think their belief is being challenged. Some people cannot engage in a philosophical discussion about religion or spiritual beliefs without becoming defensive or feeling the need to voice their opinion about it. Pity. They would learn more about themselves, others and spiritual issues if they closed their mouth and opened their mind.
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Hi Psyshade,
You need to be careful to separate opinion from facts.
To quote your example:
"If someone asks a question about the sevenfold path to Nirvana, who are you to say,"There is none. Nirvana doesn't exist!""
There is no evidence whatsoever for Nirvana, so it quite correct for someone to say it doesn't exist. This is not someone giving an opinion - it is someone making a statement of fact. If there is no evidence for something then we cannot claim it exists until evidence arises. Otherwise, I can quite happily claim that an invisible pony is living inside my nose. This claim is ridiculous, because there is no evidence for it - just like Nirvana.
Someone 'tearing apart' the person who claims Nirvana exists is correcting an error. The person they are challenging is holding an erroneous belief.
However, if the subject is purely opinion, then it is pointless to attack another person's statement.
Example:
'This table is really nice.'
The above statement is pure opinion and cannot be reconciled through evidence.
You need to be careful to distinguish in your mind what constitutes an 'opinion based matter' and what constitutes a 'fact ba sed matter.' The next time you see someone attacking someone else, ask yourself whether the attack is on a claimed fact or on an opinion. If the attack is on a false factual claim, then the attacker is actually helping the attackee by correcting their delusion.
I hope that helps.Like (1)
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I appreciate your use of sound logic in your argument. However, in the interest of addressing the issue of respecting the asker, I would point out that while there may not be empirical evidence for something like Nirvana, there *are* writings on the matter. In the example, the person posing the question appeared to be seeking information about a particular topic, not asserting the existence of something. If I were to ask where Santa Claus lives, though there is no evidence for his existence so he can’t actually “live” anywhere, most people know that the popular myth states that he lives at the North Pole. Similarly, there are texts that describe the sevenfold path to Nirvana and one should be able to discuss those texts regardless of whether they consider them to be myth or fact. :-)Like (1)
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Every answer I have ever given has been polluted by my own bias. I personally think that it's impossible for human beings to be completely ob
jective. I also believe that informed disagreement is healthy for a subject; shouting it down and adding nothing constructive is mere trolling. Like (1)
Best Answer (Chosen by Voting):
Posted by SilenceEvermore Oct 18th, 2012 at 12:51AM
There's no point in arguing about the existence of God. If someone believes? Great, let them. If someone doesn't believe? Great, let them. No one is going to win a "god doesn't exist" argument because there is no way to prove the argument either way.
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Reply by RusticRosePetals03 Oct 18th, 2012 at 12:55AM
Like (1)