Being openminded enough to change

[nobspeople]

Have you changed your POV since you've been on this (or similar) sites?

Have God spoken to you and you decided that YES, God is real and I must seek him or have your brain taken over and said NO, God is not real and I must now change my life to accommodate that?

It seems, as with politics, arguing religion is pointless most of the time. It's like trying to sell a Silverado to a family that's owned nothing my F150s: their allegiance is pretty much set.

It seems it's less about debating and more about arguing. Maybe that's something that's very human; we can't see past our own noses and open our minds enough to see another POV?

Does/has your open mindedness allow you to change your POV one way or the other?

[William]

Have you changed your POV since you've been on this (or similar) sites?

My POV expands from every site encounter - cyber or otherwise...that is a state of constant change.

Have God spoken to you and you decided that YES, God is real and I must seek him or have your brain taken over and said NO, God is not real and I must now change my life to accommodate that?

My POV has expanded enough that "God" (as he is commonly known by) is probably a real being (think: Wizard of Oz) and dressed up n the fiction of religion.
As to "Creator" I explained how I deal with that already...

It seems, as with politics, arguing religion is pointless most of the time. It's like trying to sell a Silverado to a family that's owned nothing my F150s: their allegiance is pretty much set.

Together religion and politics make a formidable team - world rulers (real-world position) - as Agnostic Boy points out - reasoning is not enough...

It seems it's less about debating and more about arguing. Maybe that's something that's very human; we can't see past our own noses and open our minds enough to see another POV?

Debating is arguing, when it comes to politics and religion...it is a form of distraction so that real-world issues appear unreal...

Does/has your open mindedness allow you to change your POV one way or the other?

Yes - although it is fair to argue (so I will) that the more open minded one becomes the more one learns of the real world the more one cannot accept the mythology over the real-world...although I can see and have/do experience the overlap on occasion - so "be like water" rather than rock...(water shapes rock)

[AgnosticBoy]

Have you changed your POV since you've been on this (or similar) sites?

Have God spoken to you and you decided that YES, God is real and I must seek him or have your brain taken over and said NO, God is not real and I must now change my life to accommodate that?

It seems, as with politics, arguing religion is pointless most of the time. It's like trying to sell a Silverado to a family that's owned nothing my F150s: their allegiance is pretty much set.

It seems it's less about debating and more about arguing. Maybe that's something that's very human; we can't see past our own noses and open our minds enough to see another POV?

Does/has your open mindedness allow you to change your POV one way or the other?

The points that you bring up are some of the reasons why I believe that being a good debater requires understanding psychology. That's probably more true when dealing with hot button issues because factors besides logic and evidence are at play. Like in politics, it is obvious why politicians would not care a whole lot about logic and evidence and that's because power and money big factors in their thinking and decision-making. This is why you tend to see them arguing for one position at one time, and when voters are seeming to go another way, they switch their position and argue for something else. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes exposing some of this psychology in order to progress towards the truth of the matter in a debate.

[John Bauer]

Have you changed your POV since you've been on this (or similar) sites?

Not this site, but yes. I have experienced two massive paradigm shifts as a result of discussions and debates in forums like this, (1) from Arminian to Calvinist theology and (2) from young-earth creationism to evolutionary creationism.¹

_________________________

¹ What is "evolutionary creationism?" Evolutionary creationism is a theological view that deals with how to understand the science and history of evolution from within a biblical world-view. It is not a scientific theory or research program; it is a strictly theological view which holds that natural processes are orchestrated by God's ordinary providence in accordance with his good pleasure and the purposes of his will.

[TRANSPONDER]

Since starting on discussing the subject, my position has changed, somewhat. From sharing the general skeptical view that the gospel accounts are more or less telling a true story but perhaps the events were misinterpreted as divine miracles, I have been driven to the position that they are not true though there may well have been a real person (Jesus) and things that he did that are basic to the gospel story.