tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20909790.post2724405609640457783..comments2024-01-20T19:06:18.542+08:00Comments on Hokum-Balderdash Assay: Clear thinking: Suarez and the deaderebusnyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11988464368427565221noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20909790.post-58728908459203062482008-05-30T23:05:00.000+08:002008-05-30T23:05:00.000+08:00Give me the names of these other healing priests a...Give me the names of these other healing priests and online articles about them and I'll just as well advertize their inanity on this blog. It just so happens Suarez is the only healing priest I know and is currently hogging the limelight.<BR/><BR/>You're asking me to leave believers alone? Why don't you leave critics of quackery/delusions and their critiques alone? Why do you care? Well I care about people going and falling for delusions and snake oil. Been there done that. I've been duped, I've fallen for flim flam, I've believed in things which had no evidence for them, I was ignorant of the many logical fallacies and of how to think rationally and critically. I certainly don't want others to make the same mistake, and be taken in by the same ruses and claptrap.erebusnyxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11988464368427565221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20909790.post-78061171106374269252008-05-30T17:00:00.000+08:002008-05-30T17:00:00.000+08:00Why do you single out Fr. Suarez from all other kn...Why do you single out Fr. Suarez from all other known healing priests in the world? I couldn't understand why you are so affected by what Fr. Suarez is doing.If you don't believe in the power of healing, so be it. Just leave the believers with their faith alone.<BR/><BR/>By the way, you are gifted with the power of writing.... use it in a better avenue. <BR/><BR/>Good luck!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20909790.post-1243123042468076872008-04-04T22:17:00.000+08:002008-04-04T22:17:00.000+08:00"wonder if YOU get seriously ill, a life-threateni..."wonder if YOU get seriously ill, a life-threatening one, would you seek Fr. Suarez? if you have a strong faith, perhaps you might get healed or with your unrelentable skepticism, the opposite. would be a good eye-opener, indeed!"<BR/><BR/><BR/>That's one thought experiment. But I don't think I'd seek Suarez for healing. The problem--even if I go crawling to him--is that I "know" too much. What I mean by that is I've been disillusioned, the blinders are off. Deities, prayer, religion--these are now broken myths. I know of the placebo effect. I know of the danger and illusory effects of subjective validation. I know that even if I get better there's the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, that evaluating the causal factors in my recovery is hardly child's play, that doctors and thorough long term investigations would be necessary. I know that correlation does not necessarily imply causation and a sample size of one would, in the absence of any plausible causal link, be better attributed to coincidence. I know that the plausibility of faith healing is close to absolute zero. I know that there is not one case where faith healing has been incontrovertibly determined as the cause of healing. I know that declared miracle healings by the Catholic Church are at best the product of fallacious reasoning. I know that the best scientific studies have refuted the claimed power of prayer. And I know that even if my recovery ever puzzles the Einsteins of the world, it still would not prove that I got better because of Suarez. <BR/><BR/>You say that if one has a strong faith then one can get healed. Why does faith lead to healing? How do you know it does? What would be your criteria for determining that someone has been healed by faith and supernatural means? How do you know this set of criteria is objectively correct, robust and reliable?erebusnyxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11988464368427565221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20909790.post-63192059511141377322008-04-04T22:06:00.000+08:002008-04-04T22:06:00.000+08:00Sorry for this very late reply. I just saw your co...Sorry for this very late reply. I just saw your comment. For some reason Blogger did not inform me when you posted your comment. Now let me address your remarks.<BR/><BR/>"here's something. when you can PROVE to me that your proposal of there being nothing else that exists beyond reality? then i'll take your side."<BR/><BR/>First of all what can exist beyond reality? If your deity is real then it is part of reality, right? Or do you have a different definition of "reality"?<BR/><BR/>Secondly, if what you're asking me to do is to prove there is nothing beyond the universe, then analogously, if you can prove to the world's religions that their supernatural entities don't exist then maybe they'll take your side and convert to your religion. <BR/><BR/>You see you've fallen for fallacy of illicitly shifting the burden of proof. If I claim that malevolent invisible undetectable gremlins in your brain are the cause of your religious delusion, the burden of proof is upon me to prove this extraordinary claim. You're claiming there is something else beyond what you call "reality." Well prove it. Since no one has been able to, then there is no reason to believe that incredible, far-fetched claim. Likewise with my gremlin hypothesis.<BR/><BR/><BR/>"but there's a lot of stuff out there you and science just can't explain. science can only do so much in the physical, understanding the spiritual helps ppl more than you think."<BR/><BR/>What is the spiritual? Explain how it is distinct from and can be distinguished from the psychological, from perceptions, from emotions. What tests are there that evince the reality of this thing you call "spiritual"?<BR/><BR/><BR/>"you blame religion for all the petty things and see it at face value."<BR/><BR/>What are these petty things you're alluding to. What exactly do you mean by seeing them at face value?<BR/><BR/><BR/>"you don't bother to take the time to look around at the big picture."<BR/><BR/>What's this big picture? And how do we find out whether the big picture you have in mind really is true, valid, correct? <BR/><BR/><BR/>"i've read your quotes and it all sounds a little egotistical and arrogant. despite what you've said, no one can prove a damned thing. so what's wrong with believing?"<BR/><BR/>Are you saying humans can't prove anything? Or are you limiting what cannot be proved to a certain subset? I believe it's pretty easy to prove that you have blood and that you can bleed. Let me count the ways. Shall we begin with a drop from a 100-storey building?erebusnyxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11988464368427565221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20909790.post-75407010171190192582008-04-04T05:07:00.000+08:002008-04-04T05:07:00.000+08:00wonder if YOU get seriously ill, a life-threatenin...wonder if YOU get seriously ill, a life-threatening one, would you seek Fr. Suarez? if you have a strong faith, perhaps you might get healed or with your unrelentable skepticism, the opposite. would be a good eye-opener, indeed!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20909790.post-86025070754181236882008-02-12T20:23:00.000+08:002008-02-12T20:23:00.000+08:00spoken like a true atheist.here's something. when ...spoken like a true atheist.<BR/><BR/>here's something. when you can PROVE to me that your proposal of there being nothing else that exists beyond reality? then i'll take your side.<BR/><BR/>but there's a lot of stuff out there you and science just can't explain. science can only do so much in the physical, understanding the spiritual helps ppl more than you think.<BR/><BR/>you blame religion for all the petty things and see it at face value. you don't bother to take the time to look around at the big picture. i've read your quotes and it all sounds a little egotistical and arrogant. despite what you've said, no one can prove a damned thing. so what's wrong with believing?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20909790.post-58625486295586089412008-02-03T14:09:00.000+08:002008-02-03T14:09:00.000+08:00Well faith can move mountains and father Fernando ...Well faith can move mountains and father Fernando is just the chosen few and I believe in him. MORE POWER !!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com