Quote Originally Posted by ColinClout(c)
Very nervous about posting - my faults and the gap between my beliefs and my actions are well known to all who know me, but for what it is worth, here goes...
Welcome Colin! Don't be nervous. We're a good bunch.

So many things I could respond to, but two immediately spring to mind, closely related to each other. The first is about absolutes. If you argue that there are no absolutes, you end up with a statement along the lines of 'there is no such thing as absolute truth'. The obvious problem here is, does that statement apply to itself? Is it absolutely true that there is no absolute truth? And to answer yes or no to that statement is equally absurd. Whether we realise it or not, we accept some things as being absolutely true.
Yes I expected somebody to bring that up. The answer for me is no. The statement does not apply to itself. The reason is that I am always open to the possibility that I am wrong. If someone shows me a situation where there are absolutely no exceptions I'm not going to stand there and stomp my foot and say, "No, no. This can't be true." I'll say, "Guess I was wrong." No one has shown me one yet.

The other line of thought that interested me was about whether it matters what you believe. Without writing a book in reply, I think it *does* matter, and for two reasons. The first is that what we believe affects how we act - you can't on the one hand say that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe, and at the same time condemn people whose beliefs lead them to kill, or suppress the beliefs of others.
Well...I dunno about that. Can a belief lead someone to kill? Is it really that close of a relationship? I believe in this God so I will kill the believers of that God? No major religion I know of outright advocates destruction of non-believers regardless of what the poplular media would have us believe. I think people take belief and shape and warp it to their personal needs. I think it gives them an honorable excuse to do what they would have done anyway.

Again welcome to the forums.