G.K. Chesterton?

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mirco
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Re: G.K. Chesterton?

Post by mirco »

nrose619 wrote:This man named G.K. Chesterton said "If you don't believe in God you've lost your common sense." I find this statment quite ridiculous since I can reason fully and clearly without beliveing in a supreme entity who created us. What do you guys think about this?
Hi,

I have no ideas of what kind of god Mr. Chesterton is thinking of. Do you? I mean, how do you know that his god is a "supreme entity who created us"? That maybe is your version of a god. A helpful question for you might be, why do you have issues with that concept.

Regards :-)
Last edited by mirco on Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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nrose619
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Re: G.K. Chesterton?

Post by nrose619 »

Well since he is a Christian I assume he believes in one God (monotheism) that has the ability to dictate our lives through the manipulation of a permanent "soul" (that is the basis of Christianity). I do not agree with this since I do not believe there is a soul or unbreakable human essence. The main "issue" I had with his statement however, was the absoluteness of his proclamation he appeared to make (if you don't belive in a god= you don't have common sense) I am not saying his belief in a God is "wrong" but rather his bold statement which came off as quite disingenuous to human beings of other beliefs. But perhaps you are right and I should ask myself why I reacted to that statement in the way I did, If that were the case I'd say I've grown weary of the Christian contradiction of having a pure code of ethics (kindness, compassion, generosity) tainted by desire of conquering and unrelenting persuasion.
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tiltbillings
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Re: G.K. Chesterton?

Post by tiltbillings »

This not the first time a Chesterton comment has been a topic here.

http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 53#p204716" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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pilgrim
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Re: G.K. Chesterton?

Post by pilgrim »

nrose619 wrote: Paul also makes an emphais on the existence of self, " What is so terrifying about my being executed at dawn and reborn as a cockroach is that it is simply, quite straightforwardly, the end of me"- From this it seems Paul did not leave behind Buddhism because of the teachings themselves but rather his need for self-preservation and not clearly seeing that the ego is an illusion.
Appears that he wasn't looking for truth, but for comfort. If not for Christianity, any other myth would do.
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Cittasanto
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Re: G.K. Chesterton?

Post by Cittasanto »

nrose619 wrote:This man named G.K. Chesterton said "If you don't believe in God you've lost your common sense." I find this statment quite ridiculous since I can reason fully and clearly without beliveing in a supreme entity who created us. What do you guys think about this?
thanks,
:anjali:
He was raised up in an environment to believe, his perception was imbued with it, so for him to think in another way is unfathomable.
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He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
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