We live in a day and age where everyone wants proof of everything. Yet, many times, when you give them sufficient proof they still say that it proves nothing. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual or metaphysical matters. It's as if some people make up their minds about a certain thing and no evidence to the contrary can ever change their thinking. These are the kinds of people that sneer at, and even insult those whom they think are less educated than themselves. Yet their own facts are faulty and even in error. Just as an example, a number of these individuals will scoff at Christians and tell them that Jesus was a myth and that he never existed. But did you know, that there is no serious historian who will actually agree with that view. Even those historians who are nonreligious shake their heads at the nonsensical notion that many of the new hipster academics are perpetuating.
If some folks are so brazen as to deny actual history, how will you ever be able to convince them that their is substance to your faith, and legitimacy to your personal experiences? The answer is, you can't. But you also can't let the nay sayers harpoon your belief system with their big words, endless discourses and so called facts. Remember, most of these individuals are cherry picking the evidences for their own belief, or non- belief, and turning a blind eye to many facts that contradict their point of view. Just as an example, I once had a conversation with two gentlemen on the Internet on the topic of life after death. Neither of these individuals believed in such a thing, and referred to God as the Santa Claus in the sky and the afterlife as a fairytale paradise. For their benefit, I painstakingly looked up two articles on the Internet that I had read about quantum physicists who believe they are on the cusp of proving that consciousness survives the state of death. The scientists involved in these studies were from prominent universities and some were considered as heavyweights in the field of quantum theory. I also provided them with links to articles, written by actual scientists and medical doctors who had some very interesting things to say about the near-death experience. In the end, both of these individuals told me that they were very familiar with quantum physics and that all the scientists involved in the study were quacks. And the scientists and medical doctors who studied and wrote extensively about the near-death experience, were just given a hearty... "LMFA" on the computer screen.
So, if a couple of guys working in an office, claim to know better than the actual quantum physicists; where do we take the conversation with such people? The answer, you don't take it anywhere. Because I have had many very long and tedious conversations of this caliber, with people both on and off the Internet. I have presented them with quotes from historians, scientific research, and words from some of our best scholars and theologians. But none of it made any difference. The personal opinion overrode the facts, even though their mouths kept spewing the words, science and proof.
Why write about such a topic today? The reason is, I have heard many stories of spiritual people becoming confused and even driven to tears by these relentless debaters with their so-called educated arguments against things of the spiritual nature. Maybe someone reading this blog today has had that experience themselves, or know someone who has. If so, there's one thing you need to know; and that is, these people do not have all of the facts and no matter what you tell them or what evidence you give them, they will sneer at it and say that it is a forgery, quackery or just plain BS. It doesn't matter what kind of impressive names of scientists or historians you give them. They will shrug their shoulders, and tell you that they're well educated in these particular fields and the proofs you have given them were written by a bunch of delusional people.
What can we conclude with then, if the people in the laboratories and libraries whose names have appeared in important pieces of literature and journals are quacks and delusional; the rest of us must be pretty feeble then, in the eyes of these arrogant individuals. But don't let them frustrate you, damage your faith or reduce you to tears. Understand the kind of mind you're dealing with in these situations, and simply walk away. If you're like me, and find it difficult to walk away, just present them with a stack of well researched evidence and leave it at that. If they refute it and say that they know better, tell them to come talk to you when they are ready to stop fooling themselves and are brave enough to have actually read what you have given them. Because the truth of the matter is, many times they have not read what you have given them at all. They perhaps skimmed the title and content. Just like the religious person whom they accuse of being afraid to find out that there is no God, they are very much afraid to find out that there might be one. Either that, or they are educated fools whose rendition of critical thinking is to be hypercritical of everyone else's beliefs and opinions. Either way, they're not worth getting upset over.
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