Posts in Occam's Razor
THE PRECARIOUS NATURE OF BELIEF

When I lost my faith, it wasn't a decision.  It was categorically different from any decision I've ever made.  It was as if something about the world, rather than myself, had forever changed.  The only choice left was whether to accept it or not.

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Occam's RazorBrian Hall
RUMINATIONS

Though I do not believe in religion anymore, I am comfortable recognizing that I used to.  I honestly don't believe in Hell.  A part of me wonders if I ever did, if perhaps the struggles I faced as a Christian finally became a sort of catalyst that forced me to confront an ugliness that I was previously too fearful to face.

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Occam's RazorBrian Hall
THE GOLDEN AXIOM

I'm exploring the premise that universal human value is axiomatic and considering whether it's linked to the uniquely human attribute of self-awareness.  The principle is simple: I value my own life and am able to do so because I recognize that I care how it turns out and that it not be snuffed out prematurely or in vain.

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THE INSPIRED SERPENT

It could be argued that the emergence of sin as a concept and behavioral output is quite fortunate and inevitable, for it allows the possibility for a much greater, more robust and complex good.  So forgive my blasphemy, but I have a sneaking suspicion: if The Fall ever did occur, I suspect God himself was the serpent.

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Occam's RazorBrian Hall
MULTIPLE ASCENTS

I read that a quality mountaineer will point out that any rock has multiple ascents.  Some climbers prefer one ascent, others another.  No one ascent is objectively best, though there may be a personal favorite ascent for any particular climber.

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Occam's RazorBrian Hall
INCOHERENT ATONEMENT

 If this Christ died for all sin, did he not also die for the sin of unbelief?  What is the just reward for unbelief if not death?  Then if death has been offered in a perfect sacrifice for sin, then how could the sin of unbelief not been atoned for as well?

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AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE GOD

I have come to believe that God's love, as presented in Christian theology, is an empty, meaningless expression encompassing all possible interpretations of every subjective experience one ever has, and Job is the perfect illustration of this truth.

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Occam's RazorBrian Hall
THE POSTMODERN FRAME

Having lost my faith, I'm confronting an intriguing effect of this shift in mental frame. When one accepts the foundational premise of a given paradigm, one's secondary, derived beliefs about the world naturally gravitate towards predetermined points of least resistance most commensurate with the foundational premise.

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Occam's RazorBrian Hall
STUNTED PERCEPTION

If theists truly believe it is impossible for a person to not believe in God, how seriously could they have considered other options besides believing in God?  Have they ever given Atheism a fair hearing, providing themselves the opportunity to test this peculiar belief?

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