
Originally Posted by
Altenweg
I'm done. This is a never ending battle and I'm done fighting.
Why fight in the first place? Why can we not just discuss the topic?
I don't wish any ill will towards you Tom. I don't agree with you, but I do wish you all the best.
Then why not drop the hatchet and discuss the topic respectfully, and be willing to accept the fact that I do not need to agree with you, and yes, I may strongly disagree with you.
What was the point to begin with, neither one of us are going to change our minds.
My attitude towards discussions differs from yours apparently. I never see the outcome of a respectful discussion to be a loss because no one's mind was changed. I love truth. If I am challenged respectfully in my beliefs, and if after examination, I find that I am in the wrong, then it is a win, because I have learned more about truth. (That is, BTW, why I would never say that I would reject evidence for the sole reason that it disagrees with me - that is why I said that I did not understand why you would take that approach).
If I find that I am right after the challenge, then the fact that I have been forced to do more study and research means that I now am better able to defend the truth and have learned more.
How can you lose if you focus on truth?
It is not, therefore, a matter of who wins or loses, or if someone's mind is changed - often people are unwilling to change their minds. But it is a matter of our focus in life - are we focused on truth and willing to follow it wherever it leads - even if the evidence leads someplace that we wish that it did not.
Yet nonetheless, as I said, you are perfectly welcome to believe as you wish, but if you wish to discuss doctrine/beliefs publicly or you challenge the beliefs of others, you should expect that your opinions will be challenged. If you have problems with others disagreeing, then perhaps religious discussions are not a good place for you. You will have to decide that for yourself.