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View Full Version : Do you believe in Absolutes?

Skinzaholic
11-06-2003, 05:36 PM
This is based on a statement Keino made in another thread about viewing the world in Absolutes. It is a great topic that few have ever actually sat down and pondered.

An absolute is something that is ALWAYS true ALL THE TIME. It doesnt matter what time, what region, what race, etc. Such as Gravity... it is an absolute. Even if you dont believe it exists, you will still bust yer head by jumping off a building. We have learned to manipulate this absolute... but it is still absolutely true.

So.... do you believe in ABSOLUTE TRUTH?

(This means that you believe Truth is not relative).


As always, please keep your piddly personal attacks to your mirror.
BigCountry
11-06-2003, 05:39 PM
Hard to think of one. Almost every situation is differant therefor can bring differant results.
Spence
11-06-2003, 07:12 PM
Sometimes I believe in absolutes. Sometimes I do not. In other words, I believe in absolutes, but not absolutely.
RedskinsDave
11-06-2003, 08:27 PM
Absolutely!
Spence
11-06-2003, 08:42 PM
I'm absolutely sick of losing to the Dallas Cowboys. Anyone care to join me on that one?
RedskinsDave
11-06-2003, 08:47 PM
Absolutely!
Skinzaholic
11-07-2003, 07:57 AM
Originally posted by BigCountry
Hard to think of one. Almost every situation is differant therefor can bring differant results.



So examine that statement a bit. Are you implying that "truth" is based on the situation? Right and Wrong standards are to be determined through the circumstances alone?

One way most people believe is that "what works for me may not work for you".

Is this thnking correct?
NamVet4
11-07-2003, 07:58 AM
Absolute, with that, Absolutely! :)
Keino
11-07-2003, 08:11 AM
Skinz
I tend to view the world in absolutes. Things either are or they aren't. Truth is perhaps the most absolute concept. A Half Truth is a lie. A woman cannot be kinda Pregnant.
The only problem that viewing the world in absolutes presents is the tendency to oversimplify complex issues..........
AGibbsGirl
11-07-2003, 08:22 AM
I believe in absolutes.

Life...death...evil...goodness...thought...
I believe that we do exsist, that we are not some cosmic dream, therefore, I believe in emotion in all it's forms. These are things that are absolutely true to me.
I've traveled the world and can positively say these things exsist all over and have since the beginning of time...

And oh yeah, I believe in Time!
As well as God...
Skinzaholic
11-07-2003, 08:24 AM
Keino,

I agree with ya! This in no way is meant as a slam toward what you said... I am just very interested in what people believe and why they believe it.

It is my personal observation that MOST people have no real clue why they believe what they believe. Like those who claim they don't believe in God... only to find out they really do (just their own interpretation of "god"... which makes THEM "god").


If all Truth is Absolute... then Murder, Theft, Adultery, etc is absolutely wrong ALL of the time, right?
Keino
11-07-2003, 08:38 AM
Yes those things are wrong all the time. All of those things are forms of sin......
higgybaby
11-07-2003, 08:46 AM
I do believe in absolutes
Spence
11-07-2003, 10:09 AM
Originally posted by Skinzaholic
If all Truth is Absolute... then Murder, Theft, Adultery, etc is absolutely wrong ALL of the time, right? That is the existential question of the play "Les Miserables." If a man steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, is he a sinner or a good father? Or both?
jsarno
11-07-2003, 10:34 AM
Yes, I do as well. This is another thing Keino and I have in common. To me there is no "gray areas" in the world. The world is black and white, and people muck it up to where they can't see the line, but it's still there.
A lot of people confuse this thought and use ignorance as thier guide. (which is fine because none of us knows EVERYTHING, but instead of seeking the answers they fall back on ignorance. I will always contend that everything is black and white.)
RedskinsDave
11-07-2003, 10:39 AM
If none of us knows everything, there can be no absolutes.
Keino
11-07-2003, 10:51 AM
Originally posted by RedskinsDave
If none of us knows everything, there can be no absolutes.

An absolute statement in and of itself..........
Keino
11-07-2003, 10:57 AM
Originally posted by Spence
That is the existential question of the play "Les Miserables." If a man steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, is he a sinner or a good father? Or both?

I would say he is both. The wrongness of his theft is not cancelled out by the Honor in his motives. Sometimes one has to chose between two wrongs. I would think many of us confronted with the same choice would also steal the loaf of bread to feed our families.........
jsarno
11-07-2003, 11:12 AM
Originally posted by RedskinsDave
If none of us knows everything, there can be no absolutes.

ahhh, but you are thinking too simplistic.

NONE of us knows EVERYTHING, but as a group we all know pieces of something that others don't, therefore as a group we know EVERYTHING.

Again...just because we (singular) may not know something, doesn't mean it's not an absolute. Our ignorance should not hinder us from knowledge.
jsarno
11-07-2003, 11:18 AM
Originally posted by Spence
That is the existential question of the play "Les Miserables." If a man steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, is he a sinner or a good father? Or both?

He is absolutely a sinner first, that is absolute. As a father, that could be debated since he is showing his kid that stealing is "right" under circumstances, which it of course is not.
Given the extent of people that help now-a-days, this really isn't even an issue.

But as a hypothetical question, the answer is YES to both. That is still an absolute. Our minds try to rationalize and say "well there is only one answer", that is not true. For many questions there is more than one solution, and it doesn't make any one of them any less of an absolute.
Spence
11-07-2003, 12:55 PM
Originally posted by jsarno
He is absolutely a sinner first, that is absolute. As a father, that could be debated since he is showing his kid that stealing is "right" under circumstances, which it of course is not.
Given the extent of people that help now-a-days, this really isn't even an issue. Thousands of people starve to death on Earth every single day and it isn't because they are not willing to work.
RedskinsDave
11-07-2003, 12:56 PM
It's because Sally Struthers ate all their food.
IowaSkinsFan
11-07-2003, 12:57 PM
Speaking of catch 22's, did yall hear about the US military person who is being charged with assault for firing his weapon into a barrel to coerce a Iraqi prisoner to disclose information of a pending attack against US soldiers?

What do you think about that?
Spence
11-07-2003, 01:13 PM
Originally posted by RedskinsDave
It's because Sally Struthers ate all their food. :D
Spence
11-07-2003, 01:14 PM
Originally posted by robert11273
Speaking of catch 22's, did yall hear about the US military person who is being charged with assault for firing his weapon into a barrel to coerce a Iraqi prisoner to disclose information of a pending attack against US soldiers?

What do you think about that? I'd like to learn more about that. Link?
Skinzaholic
11-07-2003, 03:43 PM
The problem with Absolutes... is that most people would agree that they exist as long as the absolute is in line with their own personal world view.

I have seen this many times in my own line of work. Someone makes the claim RedskinsDave made... and yet if someone did not personally label Murder as "absolutely wrong" and chose to shoot them then their point of view quickly changes.


Most of us here have said that there is the existance of Absolute Truth... well then... what is it? Who decided what was absolute? What if someone disagrees with the "Truth"... is it still absolute?


By the way Spence... Les Miserables was an awesome show on broadway!
jsarno
11-07-2003, 05:02 PM
Originally posted by robert11273
Speaking of catch 22's, did yall hear about the US military person who is being charged with assault for firing his weapon into a barrel to coerce a Iraqi prisoner to disclose information of a pending attack against US soldiers?

What do you think about that?


I'd like to see a link as well...but it's still possible to get "assualt" charges. Assault, as in assault and battery is the act or threatening bodily harm. The Battery is the actual beating.
For instance...if I say I'm going to break your arm, then I actually do it. I committed assualt and battery. The assualt was me saying I was going to do it, and the battery was me actually doing it.
So he very easily could be brought up on "assualt" charges, but I'm not sure if shooting a bullet into a barrel would qualify as assualt.
It does seems to have a "silent inevitability" behind it.