Replying to Not my name

We are all very entitled to live our lives how we see fit and I am certainly in no position to say I am right and you are wrong. But what you wrote makes no sense at all to me.

If you are up for a good hearted (not heated! :)) argument, please ask yourself why you need faith and what utility it has. As someone who has no faith and is still subjectively very content and fulfilled, I see no utility in believing in (what I see) as fairytales.
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BitcoinBelle 1y ago

Sure!

I need faith because without it things don’t make sense and life isn’t worth much. I can understand why someone would be faithless though. There are tons of people that weaponize religious texts against others to validate themselves and/or create a sense of superiority over others. They also use their knowledge of the texts to lie, steal, and cheat others out of their time. Those people are incredibly dangerous. They make themselves idols and turn people away. People who do that don’t have true faith; they’re manipulators… and it makes sense for someone w/o faith to see their followers as gullible.

I guess the easiest way for me to explain faith’s utility is juxtaposing Bitcoin w/ fiat. The USD only has power because people believe in the government, banks, politicians, etc that are in control of it. It’s not backed by anything and only has the power that you give it. Bitcoin on the other isn’t controlled by anyone. It is backed by time and a network. It has proof of work. You can’t see what’s backing it but you know it’s working because you can see it work. I mean it went from 0 to 70k in a few years… it’s working.

No matter how content you are in your life or with your choices bad things happen. I’m a follower of Christ so all I can speak for is the Bible. I read scripture for myself and I know Jesus walked the earth, helped people, treated everyone justly, and was ultimately lied on, betrayed by his closest friends, and persecuted. He chose to lay down his life so that people who were flawed, messed up, broken could know that death wasn’t an end but a beginning. People who choose to believe in his sacrifice no matter how many times they mess up can go to him, ask forgiveness, change (as best they can) and be forgiven. A simple belief would save them from an eternity of misery.

Like Bitcoin, there is proof of Jesus’s work. Who I was before I openly accepted Jesus as my savior is not who I am today. I choose not to judge, to listen, to understand that I know nothing and own nothing. All that I have belongs to GOD because he alone is sufficient to supply my every need. I don’t have to see him work to know he is simply because I’m here today not dead, alone, or depressed. It’s not like the dollar where I can see all the bad actors and be helpless to believe that’s all I have. It’s like Bitcoin, it’s dynamic and robust the faith I have now will benefit my kids and hopefully theirs and anyone else who I talk about it with because it works and it doesn’t need me to do it. Whatever sats I stack don’t belong to me they belong to the future and just like faith it’s the substance of something hoped for (sound money that’s not corruptible) and evidence of things unseen (the future).

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Not my name 1y ago

Thank you for this. I promise I will get back to you. Just busy with travel for the moment. :)

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Not my name 1y ago

Ok - I’ve got some time. :)

So first off - thank you again for taking the time to think about something that often results in only a knee jerk response. While I am certainly not the appropriate judge of anything, I nevertheless really also appreciated the fact that what you wrote started with a very insightful review of why someone may disagree with your position. I mean, wow, I have come across very very few people who have the capacity to reason like that. It legitimately made me excited to read the rest of your reply and I’ve genuinely been looking forward to it for the last day or so while I’ve been busy with other things.

That said, I’m hoping you won’t mind clarifying your position on faith relative to Bitcoin. Are you saying that faith is similar to Bitcoin or Fiat? Because I see faith and fiat (they literally are the same word) as much more aligned. As a result I have many of the same issues with faith based reasoning as I do with the fiat economy. Fiat and faith alike seem to me to solve a problem that I’ve never had nor perceived. Clearly lots of other people do find value in them though given how pervasive both are. So I definitely concede to having a minority opinion.

In your next paragraph you seem to be saying that your belief in Jesus helps you with the negative feelings that can come from making mistakes. If that’s the case, I can understand the perceived value of that, but couldn’t you also just forgive yourself for being imperfect? I believe that we are all immensely flawed creatures and when I screw up, I just try to accept/admit my fault and learn from the experience of failure. I don’t see how religions answer to this problem could result in more personal growth than my approach since mine deals with entirely intrinsic factors as opposed to (at least some) extrinsic ones like Gods will, etc.

Your next section gets to the issue of who or what is responsible for us being moral creatures who have the capacity to treat each other well or badly.

Religion to me seems to like to take credit for the good in people while blaming the bad on a lack of faith. This is very problematic line of reasoning for me, who, as an entirely non religious person has dedicated my life to helping others. God didn’t put the good in me and not did the absence of faith cause me to do the bad things that I have done.

If history tells us anything, it’s that religion and faith can be dangerous in the wrong hands (as you started out by so insightfully saying).

So my request of you would be to please just think about this a little more. If for no other reason than to try out a different perspective, consider that you may just be a decent person who has learned from your mistakes like me. Of course if attributing this to a God is your version of humility or if it still brings you other forms of comfort/contentment then great. Just consider that all the positive feelings you describe above can be achieved without belief in things you cannot explain. And by extension, you can be just as happy without subjecting yourself to the risks associated with blind faith in something.

Thank you so much for a great and fun discussion. :)

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

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BitcoinBelle 1y ago

I was aligning faith and Bitcoin. I can see where you see the opposite. I hadn’t thought about it from that angle so maybe it was a bad analogy but I was more so attesting to the elements of bitcoin that reflect principles of Christ and Fiat reflecting principles of man made errors and problems. I was trying to show Bitcoin is built on rock foundation and fiat one of sand.

Let me be clear, I’m not religious. I choose to follow Christ and uphold his teachings because I’ve found peace, freedom, confidence, and security there. I read the Bible and the apocrypha for myself to grow closer to my creator but I also meditate and spend time in nature to pray as a way of humbling myself to listen and dismantling pride. That’s what I meant about religion being a house that allows the light (GOD/faith) in but you can also step outside the house and experience the light for yourself. Although, I attend a church that I love I’m not a “member” of any church for that very reason. I wanna love the lord with my heart mind and soul because I know he is real and I know he is good and I’ve learned from his teaching not from what someone has told me. You have to be careful what you align yourself with there are tons of wolves in sheep’s clothing. They know the word to manipulate people with it and turn them from GOD.

It’s more than dealing with feelings. My faith has saved my life. It may be difficult for you to understand but I’d be dead in more ways than one had Jesus not saved me… so it’s not as simple as forgiving myself for mistakes when some of the mistakes I’ve made could’ve easily resulted in my not being here physically or mentally. Feelings don’t matter what matters is the root. Why are the feelings negative? What did you do? Why did you do it? Was it right or are you justifying wrong? I’m big on forgiveness. Forgiving myself, others, and asking for it. It’s humbling but whatever I’m forgiving myself for need not happen again. Forgiveness is more than “I’m sorry” it’s acknowledging, repenting, and changing.

Oftentimes people place themselves on the same level as GOD and think they are in control. That feeds pride so yes without faith a person may seem good but pride grows from self-centeredness (who they believe they are) so they’d have to look beyond themselves to the extrinsic to really be good. Why are you helping people? Is it for their wellbeing or yours? How do you know you’re helping them instead of enabling them? I don’t think it’s my place to judge what makes a person good or even if I’m a good person. I’m a sinner who has been blessed with the grace of GOD. I fall short everyday and I’m blessed to not only be forgiven but also covered in his blood (protected). I’m not decent nor am I good… all I am is blessed. I’m grateful for his word and the ability to draw near. I’m joyful because he has provided hope and security in my future… all of that stems from faith that he is not only real but also in control.

Humans are incredibly flawed that’s why civilizations fail over and over despite GOD sending Jesus and a slew of prophets before him to show them their folly and lead them. We are stubborn, hard headed, and prideful. We know it all and don’t acknowledge who GOD is and all he does. It’s more than being happy, positive, or negative. It’s the essence of peace and wisdom. I don’t ask anything of you for this conversation because I trust GOD to give you understanding and I pray that in your justification for faithlessness you gain some… all it takes is a mustard seeds worth🫂💫.

Thanks for chatting! I hope I’ve explained it well enough. This has been fun! Good luck with everything that’s keeping you so busy🌻💫