Has anyone ever here changed a deeply-held belief?

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WBraun

climber

Jan 22, 2015 - 09:53am PT

Americans have become ......

Unbelievable

Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber

Old and Broken Down in Appalachia

Jan 22, 2015 - 10:12am PT

Americans have become ......

Unbelievable

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-jones/is-this-country-crazy_b_6451880.html

Mike Friedrichs

Sport climber

City of Salt

Jan 22, 2015 - 11:08am PT

I tried. But I still think "The Big Lebowski" is one of the worst movies of all time. I walked out of the theater when it was first showing. Due to the overabundance of praise on this forum I rented it and suffered through the whole thing hoping that I missed something the first time, or was just not in the mood. I really like almost all of the Coen Brothers movies too.

But alas, I still found it an inane, insipid, uninspired mess. Still don't grasp why someone peeing on the carpet is high art...

Texplorer

Trad climber

Sacramento

Jan 22, 2015 - 11:33am PT

That comment really ties the thread together man.

Jan

Mountain climber

Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa

Jan 22, 2015 - 11:46am PT

That Huffington Post editorial certainly summarizes my experience overseas as well and I think it relates to the topic of this thread.It's quite clear to someone who's been away from America for a long time that we're not coping with reality and that the old men who run both our political parties are mired in the past.

rbord

Boulder climber

atlanta

Jan 22, 2015 - 12:31pm PT

Jan, Mark Zuckerberg is 28. Do you mean younger than that?

I remember loving Wild in the Streets as a kid. Fourteen or fight!

Fat Dad

Trad climber

Los Angeles, CA

Jan 22, 2015 - 12:42pm PT

I find articles like the one from the Huffington Post rather insufferable. Believe me when I say that I know our country isn't perfect and, yes, many Americans hold believes that I cannot fathom. I've been lucky enough to travel all around this globe. But let's face it, people are people. I have learned that there are enough f-ed up political systems and institutions to share equally. It's my opinion that the common thread for most America bashing is simply anti-American sentiment, not the result of some reasoned approach to the issue they're complaining of.

fear

Ice climber

hartford, ct

Jan 22, 2015 - 12:42pm PT

I used to believe that paper money had a stable and real value.

I used to believe that the state was at the very least, well intentioned and representative of the people's will.

Both of those really changed the way I look at everything and didn't happen until I was well into my thirties...

this just in

climber

Justin Ross from North Fork

Jan 22, 2015 - 12:49pm PT

I try to avoid deeply held beliefs.

Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber

Old and Broken Down in Appalachia

Jan 22, 2015 - 12:52pm PT

I find articles like the one from the Huffington Post rather insufferable...

Yes, but still true nonetheless.

I have traveled all the way around the world in 180 days (literally), and have been to 40 other countries. I've developed the sense that America has gone crazy. It was very rewarding to find an article written by someone else who feels exactly the same way as me.

JEleazarian

Trad climber

Fresno CA

Jan 22, 2015 - 01:27pm PT

To answer the OP, I was an atheist until a couple of years after my graduation from Berkeley. I don't think any of the subtle (and not-so-subtle distinctions offered in previous posts) can account for a complete turnaround in such a deeply-held belief in the non-existence of God to a belief in, and trust of, Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.

AND, I changed my mind on anthropogenic global warming based on posts by Chiloe in this forum. I was convinced that the reliability of the anthropogenic global warming hypothesis was grossly overstated, and the hypothesis unverifiable because of a lack of a "control earth" for experimental confirmation. Chiloe pointed me to material from the American Statistical Association that changed my mind. That probably was not a change in an underlying belief, because it rests on my experience and education as an econometrician, and consequent belief in statistical methods.

Still, I believe that what people say, even on ST, can change opinions if the would-be persuaders are respectful, logical, and set forth relevant, objective reasons for their positions.

John

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Jan 22, 2015 - 01:43pm PT

^^^^ I bet you would if they thought they could get on American Idol or,
even better, a green card in the USA.

Fat Dad

Trad climber

Los Angeles, CA

Jan 22, 2015 - 02:10pm PT

There are many countries all over the world, where wealth isn't as great and opportunity isn't as great as the USA, but at least they have that excuse Fat Dad. What excuse do Americans have for the level of cynicism, delusion and ignorance that puts it on the same plane as any third world backwater?

You think the criticisms are unwarrented? How do explain how you give power to people like James Inhoffe or Michelle Bachmann? you consider torture OK so long as you do it? You have exactly no problem with rigging votes so long as your guy gets in? half your population thinks dinosaurs walked with jesus?

Dude, chill. I'm not saying that they're aren't oodles of stupid Americans. There absolutely are. I kind of agree with a sentiment that Walter Cronkite expressed a number of years ago when he observed that the American public simply doesn't make a sufficient effort to educate itself about the political process to cast an educated vote. I'm just saying that Americans don't hold an exclusive right to that claim. I've seen lots of ignorant morons the world over to convince me of that. I just get annoyed by

I'm not really sure why this is directed at me. I'm a dyed in the wool democrat and believe in universal coverage. Michelle Bachman is a pyscho. I intend to urinate on Inohofe's grave once he's in the ground. I, and most other Christians, don't interpret the Bible literally. That's an evangelic characteristic. In fact, it's a doctrine of the Catholic Church that the Bible should NOT be interpreted literally. St. Augustine expressed similar ideas back around 300 A.D.

Tough room.

JEleazarian

Trad climber

Fresno CA

Jan 22, 2015 - 02:23pm PT

Not to change this to a theological discussion, but even Evangelicals don't say that the Bible should be interpreted literally. Several Biblical passages are explicitly allegorical (see, e.g., much of Revelation, Daniel or Ezekiel, where they describe something like something else. If the reader takes that passage literally, the reader eliminates the words "something like," which is contrary to orthodox canons of Scriptural interpretation.

We do, however, take Scripture as the authority on matters of faith and doctrine, so if someone contends that Christian doctrine differs from explicit Biblical text, we reject the doctrine that contradicts Scripture. This differs from "literalism" which, for the reasons I set forth above, actually contradicts Biblical doctrine.

John