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Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina  I suspect bright is trying to determine whether or not to label me as "saved" or "unsaved."
Despite answering this question multiple times, including addressing it in various blog posts, a podcast (Beyond Religion), and quite thoroughly in Chapter 13 of my book, some people still have a hard time accepting my answer because it doesn't fit within the religious framework they currently subscribe to. Not much I can do about that except to direct such people to the answers that have already been provided. Chapter 13 of my book is perhaps the most thorough.
I don't buy into bright's frame, so I can't answer the question from within that frame. It may be a yes/no question, but from a broader perspective the question is largely nonsensical.
It's similar to asking a virgin, "Did you enjoy your last sex partner?" It may be a yes/no question, but it has no meaning because the frame makes an invalid assumption.
Bright seems overly attached to the idea that I integrate beliefs into my identity. His question "Do you believe..." pre-supposes that. Since that assumption is erroneous to begin with, the question is meaningless to me. Bright appears to be a mono-framer, which limits his/her perspective and makes it difficult to understand other viewpoints.
If bright wishes to receive a meaningful answer from me, it's necessary to switch frames and ask the question from within a context that makes sense to me. Otherwise the best answer I can give is an eye roll.
Additionally, the question "Do you believe in God?" is pretty vague to begin with. Different people use different definitions of God when they ask that question. But the bigger problem in this case is the "Do you believe..." portion since it starts off with an invalid assumption that people are equivalent to their beliefs.
Hopefully bright will someday learn the value of a multi-frame perspective and may shed the inherent limitations of mono-framing, with respect to the ongoing pursuit of truth. Until that happens, people like me will probably be a source of frustration. |
Hmmm, I hope this isn't the reason you didn't answer *my* question. Because I'm not trying to label you or presuppose anything with the question I asked.
I'm trying to figure out why it's important to be specific with what you want but not be specific from who/what/where you want it from.
The poster above who attempted to answer didn't really answer that very well for me. Hopefull I can get some others to chime in.