[Worst analogy ever: faith in God is like being tied and bound to a chair and ordered to believe in the existence of stationary]
He used the example of a pencil being on a desk; You cant question whether that pencil is fact or not because you can see it. But people question wether God is real or not because you cant see him. But then I began to think. What if someone put the pencil inside the desk, therefore, nullifying your ability to see it. They then tied you to a chair so you could not look inside the desk, to proove that it was-or was not- there. And they bound your hands, to restrain you from feeling the presence of the pencil. They ordered you to believe. They told you to belive that the pencil was there, that the unknown was fact and the possible deception was absolute truth. And you did; you did believe. You saw the pencil cast a shadow (like christians feeling the presence of God) and your mnd was made. But then you failed to see it for days to came (like christains doubting their faith). Suddenly the person who bound let you free (a metaphor of dying) and you were able to see fi the pencil was their or not; it was.
44 comments
1. If the pencil is in the desk, you can not see the pencil cast a shadow.
CAST A SHADOW? How many transparent desks have you ever seen??OH SHIT! THEY'RE RIGHT! IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! WHAT DO I DO??
Christians can see a pencil's shadow when it is locked up inside a desk? Do they have X-ray vision or something? If so, I think the point of hiding the pencil in the desk is rather moot.
I'm reminded of a similar story about men chained up in a cave, their only pastime watching a shadow play cast on the wall in front of them by people they otherwise can't see. Or was that a song by They Might Be Giants?
If the desk was shifted and the pencil rattled inside, would that make the analogy work better?
Then by your own analogy, God is a sadist, and why in the hell would you want to believe in someone who purposely ties you down and prevents you from discovering things yourself!?
So, God prevents you from knowing... and then puts your eternal soul in the balance over your blind guess?
It doesn't work for me any way you tell it. The problem is that I know pencils exist. I've seen them, held them, and used them. Someone telling me there's one in a desk even though I can't see it is not that far fetched.
It's funny, but I actually suffered through this exact scenario. I was tied to a chair a forced to believe that there was a pencil inside a desk in front of me. When I was finally freed, I looked into the desk to see the pencil.
I would believe that here wasa pencil in the desk. Who cares? Pencils are quiet common in desks, and there not being a pencil in your desk doesn't mean anything apart from you having to buy a new pencil.
"How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?'1984, Orwell
... do they actually listen to themselves when they say stuff like that? makes me want to cry, really.
God=being tied to a desk and forced to believe. Well I'm sold, sign me up today!
Posted by Chan I'm reminded of a similar story about men chained up in a cave, their only pastime watching a shadow play cast on the wall in front of them by people they otherwise can't see. Or was that a song by They Might Be Giants?
That's a well-known scenario known as the Caverns of Socrates. The difference is, the Caverns of Socrates isn't criminally insipid.
What if someone didn't put the pencil inside the desk. They then tied you to a chair so you could not look inside the desk and prove whether it was there or not. And they bound your hands, to restrain you from feeling the presence of the pencil. They ordered you to believe or you'd be cast into a lake of fire. They told you to believe that the pencil was there; that the unknown was fact and the deception was absolute truth. And you did; you did believe.
Yes, the people got loose to see if the pencil was there, and it was! But then these same people got loose to see if god was there, and he wasn't!
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register . Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.
