Where In The World Is~~~Kevin Eleven☹️!

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Exactly, evidencing that your beliefs were not delusional at that time (as they did not ignore incontrovertible evidence to the contrary).

It is for this reason that the average chap who believes in ghosts is not delusional, as incontrovertible evidence does not exist that such a belief is wrong.

I don't think "incontrovertible evidence" enters into it.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Unlike FMF, I do not classify theists as delusional.

That said, we all share the same basic human desire to want answers as to how we got here and where we are going. (If anywhere). It could be argued that theists willingly accept the wrong answers while atheists soldier on in pursuit of the right answers, and forgo the hope of immortality that most religions would afford them.

Thanks for the background thinking, but this was the question I asked you:

Do you think that you never having held any form of religious belief is indicative that you are in some way mentally stronger than those people who do, or have in their past, held a form of religious belief?

Bolded to help you.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
@FMF

A child who believes in Santa because his parents told him he was real is not delusional. But if, when he grows up, he is presented with incontrovertible evidence that Santa isn't real, he would be delusional, in the every day sense of the word (if he chose to ignore this incontrovertible evidence and continue to believe Santa was real).

Belief in Santa, albeit harmless and not unusual in early childhood, is a delusion.

@fmf said
Exactly, evidencing that your beliefs were not delusional at that time

I have never claimed that I thought they were delusional at that time.

Not while you were a Christian, but now in retrospect.

Why do you always struggle to follow the nuances of conversation?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
I am arguing that you are arguing you are predisposed to being delusional. (Believing as you do that you were indoctrinated into delusional beliefs that you held for a quarter of a century).

You’re reaching with this, and expect you realise it.

@fmf said
I don't think "incontrovertible evidence" enters into it.

You are mistaken.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
It is for this reason that the average chap who believes in ghosts is not delusional, as incontrovertible evidence does not exist that such a belief is wrong.

This whole "incontrovertible evidence does not exist that such a belief is wrong" is a red herring in so far as it relates to my perception of what a delusion is. I think a belief that ghosts are real is a delusion.

@divegeester said
Thanks for the background thinking, but this was the question I asked you:

Do you think that you never having held any form of religious belief is indicative that you are in some way mentally stronger than those people who do, or have in their past, held a form of religious belief?

Bolded to help you.

As explained, we all share the same basic human desire to want answers as to how we got here and where we are going. (If anywhere). It could be argued that theists willingly accept the wrong answers while atheists soldier on in pursuit of the right answers, and forgo the hope of immortality that most religions would afford them.

So yes, it could be argued that atheists are mentally stronger than theists. Marx called religion the opium of the masses.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
I think you are, and have been for weeks, misusing the term 'delusional.'

You’ve been claiming for weeks that a person claiming they have been visited by angels who said some words which they claim changed their life… is NOT delusional.

You said it is “something else”.

If it’s not delusional, then what is it?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
What 'I get' is that you fail to understand the meaning of 'delusion,' even in the every day sense.

Why don’t you explain it?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
You are mistaken.

No, I'm not. There is nothing about "incontrovertible evidence" in the definition I have been basing my comments on here for 10+ pages and on those 100+ pages recently on the SF.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
@FMF

A child who believes in Santa because his parents told him he was real is not delusional. But if, when he grows up, he is presented with incontrovertible evidence that Santa isn't real, he would be delusional, in the every day sense of the word (if he chose to ignore this incontrovertible evidence and continue to believe Santa was real).

You have “incontrovertible evidence” that Santa isn’t real?

@fmf said
Belief in Santa, albeit harmless and not unusual in early childhood, is a delusion.

Only if that belief lingers into adulthood, despite evidence that he doesn't actually exist.

@ghost-of-a-duke said

So yes, it could be argued that atheists are mentally stronger than theists. Marx called religion the opium of the masses.

So you think you are mentally stronger than FMF and myself?

@divegeester said
You’re reaching with this, and expect you realise it.

I am highlighting the absurdity of the position FMF has taken.

I expect you realise this.