@book
>black people are actually Jew
Oh no... oh no no no... THOSE lunatics got to him?! The
Black Hebrew Israelites?! I thought it was just general, weirdo, conspiracy theory anti-semites. You know, poa.st users. I never suspected the other fuckers.
@hrast @book @Xenophon
>You can still respect someone if you don't like them
True. I don't see respect and the love/hate spectrum being connected. You can probably even like someone to some degree but not actually respect them.
>respect is fundamentally incompatible with hatred.
Don't know how true that holds, but can't think of an example off the top of my head either.
>hatred is a choice which affects you more than what you're hating
Not sure it's a choice. It is an emotion, and emotions are generally irrational. There is some argument to be made about recognizing your emotions, and trying to steer yourself away from the hatred, but that's gonna be an after the fact thing. As in, you're gonna decide to stop focusing on something you hate after you realize it's doing you harm. But it's gonna be more of a diverging your focus away. Unless something fundamentally changes in your relationship with the person you hate, when/if you focus your attention again on them, the hatred is likely to return.
>and a persistent denial of belief
You can't really "deny" a belief away, the way Christians think Atheists do. I can't choose to belief in a god, the same way an anti-semite can't choose to believe Jews did nothing wrong. You either believe in something because that's how the evidence fits together in your mind, or you don't. There's not much choice in the matter.
You could say I can choose to pretend to believe in a god, and go to church, and all that. But it's ultimately a farce, which I find insulting not only to myself, but to true believers too.
@hrast @book @Xenophon
>That's right, you can choose.
I think there might still be some misunderstanding here. Yes, beliefs shape actions. But the choice of pretending to believe is an action that would go contrary to the belief. I've heard arguments that such actions can in time themselves reshape the initial belief into one that would then further shape the initial action, but I never found such arguments convincing. And I find the entire idea to be an act of lying not only to myself, but to the people around me.
@hrast @book @Xenophon
I don't think this is even a matter of intent or not, I would still partake in a deceitful act, no matter what the goal is.
I also find it strange that spiritual or religious people are so convinced that non-spiritual/religious people are limiting ourselves in our perception or expression. I've had an unquenching curiosity of scientific matters for as long as I can remember, and longer than for how long I've had an understanding of god. And I constantly contemplate and imagine what else might be out there, what humanity might discover next, and so forth. Which is why science-fiction is still my favorite genre of entertainment.
And I've absolutely considered the question of spiritual and supernatural phenomenon too. It's just that in the end I have not been convinced by it. It is fun to go on a thought train, to try to come up with how ghosts, or some spiritual thing, might work. But I just end up empty handed at some point, as the idea slowly unravels itself.
@hrast @book @Xenophon
But even if it's an attempt of honest discovery, it is still a deceitful act. A white lie might have the best, most sincerely loving meanings behind it, but it's still a lie. The same with this. Sure, I can try for a while to say, "ok, maybe the supernatural is real, what now" and act accordingly, but deep down I still know that I don't truly believe those words. The best I can do is acknowledge this from the start, and just take it as a role playing thing of sorts, to have fun for a while with the idea. Enjoy speculating about ghosts or something, but as a means of entertainment, not personal development. I simply can't do the latter, as long as I know in my heart that I simply don't believe myself when I say "maybe X supernatural thing is real".
>And I am still firm in that belief, as we simply can't perceive higher-order beings
I'm not sure "we can't perceive" is synonymous with "we'll never be able to perceive". Sure, I can't perceive 5th dimensional beings, but I do wonder and speculate about if/when/how humanity could discover the existence of... well things existing in a different dimensional state, or some kind of parallel universe and so on. One theory in particular I find interesting right now is the possibility that the universe is cyclical, constantly re-birthing itself anew. Kinda like a hindu reincarnation, but on a cosmic level.