Nornagest comments on Positive Thinking - Less Wrong

20 Post author: Swimmer963 07 March 2011 01:03AM

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Comment author: Nornagest 10 March 2011 07:18:06PM 0 points [-]

That's a disturbing page in several ways, but I don't see anything on it which implies actively violating anyone's rights, unless you interpret security from proselytism as a fundamental right.

Comment author: Eneasz 10 March 2011 07:40:07PM 0 points [-]

I used it as an example because a favorite tactic of Ray Comfort is to ask someone "Have you ever told a lie?". Which is tantamount to asking "Are you a human?". After receiving an affirmative answer he asks "Well, doesn't that make you a liar? And god says no liar can enter heaven."

Comment author: Nornagest 10 March 2011 08:27:28PM 2 points [-]

It's tricky for me to wrap my head around the logic of faith and repentance descended from Calvinism, but there's some pretty clever Dark Arts in there. "Your salvation-state has been predetermined by God, and there's nothing you can do about it -- but God only assigns salvation to people he expects to join his church and believe really hard. Do you think you're smarter than God?"

I wonder if Calvinists would be unusually disposed toward one-boxing on Newcomb's Problem?