Okay...i have heard this as a defense to not following/or beliving in Jesus. If this is true...There are no absolutes, then the statement in its self is not true. Because it can't be absolute.
What do you think?
Agree/disagree.
2006-08-30 22:46:22 · 14 answers · asked by justthinkin 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Of course there are absolutes. The truth is the truth, and morality is morality.
This isn't an atheist problem. Christians often use the "I know it's true for me, and no-one has the right to question it" defense of their false beliefs. I've seen that argument twice since last night, and several other times here. Notice that it amounts to "there are no absolutes".
I don't remember seeing a question or answer here in which an atheist said "there are no absolutes". Somewhere it probably has been pulled out on our side a couple of times, but this whole relativism thing is clearly a mistake that Christians make more often than do atheists.
If that confuses you, here's the simple version: There are absolutes. I don't follow Christianity because it is absolutely false.
2006-08-30 22:57:13 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Absolutely!
Absolutes are absolutely confined to absolutes. This might sound like gibberish but think about it. An absolute is an arbitrary limit. Limits are defined by some ability. Whether it be the ability of an object to resist gravity or the ability of a human to accomplish a task. The biggest limit of all is the ability to conjure up the ability to do/be something. So the more artificial the constraints the more absolute the constrait in the context.
Absolutes are really approximations. They are where you cut of an infinite amount of possibilities and say I will go no farther down this road. Most absolutes are set at practical levels. If you can concieve of just the right circumstances a man can exceed the speed of sound without the aid of an airplane. Most of these circumstances will be absolutely fatal to this person. The abosolute is the approximation taking place. People have jumped out of aircraft and fallen off mountains and survived. However you can be absolutely sure you are going to die if you jump out of an airplane with no parachute. %99.999 of the time you would be right in that assumption. That is close enough and that is what an absolute is formed of. The close enough answer to a problem with more variables than the human mind has time or will to sort out to the possibly infinite degree. Even infinity is an absolute as most infinite things are actually finite, however too explore them to the point they become finite is neither productive nor always possible.
So to anybody who says absolutes are absolute show them the deffinition of possible as an answer. The two are contradictions in the most literal sense. It's a whole lot easier to prove possibility than to prove anythign absolutely.
2006-08-30 23:03:27 · answer #2 · answered by draciron 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Statement "There is no Absolutes" Is an absolute. Now it is not a statement of probability. The reason I say this is that It clear states that there is nothing of something. If it was a statement of probability then it would state that in Statement.
Since it is an absolute, then what is say is true but that creates a problem since it states that there is not absolute.
2006-08-30 23:24:36 · answer #3 · answered by Kenneth G 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I just wanted to say that I hate you bastards. Those who completely defy logic with your beliefs then use logic as a basis to defend them. It's ABSOLUTELY ridiculous.
We can make self referential statements with our language because it is a sloppy language.
"There are no absolutes"
What does "absolutes" mean?
"then the statement in its self is not true"
What does "true" and "false" mean?
We arrive at apparent paradoxes because the language we use to describe them is sloppy. We can't give precise meanings to such broad things as truth and absoluteness.
If you want to logically talk about a question, then you can't use ideas beyond the realm of logic in the phrasing of the question.
Now, to answer your question "Are there absolutes?"
Within the framework that a human mind can comprehend, then the answer is NO. We will always be limited in our scope of what our mind can process and comprehend and sadly concepts like truth, and absoluteness are simply beyond that.
We are limited machines operating in a potentially unlimited world
2006-08-30 23:03:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The statement is false...there are plenty of absolutes.
A friend of mine (who is a college professor) the other day was bemoaning the reality that more and more teachers and classes teach that "there are no right or wrong answers."
She is convinced that if one wishes to succeed in life, one should mainly take classes that teach that there ARE right and wrong answers.
2006-08-30 22:57:09 · answer #5 · answered by 4999_Basque 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Since the premise that you must believe in absolutes to belief in Jesus is false in the first place, the whole debate is moot and therefore pointless.
2006-08-30 23:01:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Doesn't make much sense to me. We have objective things (like the value of Pi or the fact that the planet Mars exists) and we have subjective things (like tastes in food and art, and moral values), but 'absolutes'... I'm not sure what is meant by that.
2006-08-30 22:49:27 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
i just wanna say i hate this **** too.
eg: this statement is true.
this statement is false.
may I ask you a question?
all this circular language, it's a ****** con.
like the scam of religion, it sucks.
2006-08-30 23:24:46 · answer #8 · answered by meta-morph-in-oz 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Of course there are absolutes.
"Thou shalt not" is an absolute.
Ask anyone who says there are no absolutes if they are absolutely sure about that.
2006-08-30 22:51:32 · answer #9 · answered by IL Padrino 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I agree. Absolutly.
2006-08-30 22:56:49 · answer #10 · answered by edward_lmb 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋