Nerd02

Great idea, we really needed a more specific community. Usually any time I build something I post it to [email protected] , but the scope of that community is so broad it sometimes feels out of place. Plus, as an instance admin I feel it will probably be convenient having a single community to consult for all the extensions and integrations we might want to opt our instances in.

Hey, pretty cool idea. So, if I understood your specifics correctly the bot's functionalities would essentially be twofold:

1. starting new megathreads
2. adding links to existing megathreads

About 1. I think you should seriously consider the idea of restricting the allowed megathread starters in a way. An easy solution would be only allowing community mods to start megathreads (and maybe instance admins? not really necessary, though, imo). So in your example only a moderator of [email protected] could start new megathreads. I think this would be preferable instead of an array of trusted users, because it would reduce the amount of configuration necessary.

2. would be comparatively easier on a permission side and unless any incidents happen it could probably be beneficial to allow everyone to partecipate in the megathread. However removing stuff from the megathread should definitely be restricted to mods and/or admins. Giving everyone the possibility to remove sources they disagree with in a public discussion sounds dangerous.

The biggest challenge would be designing a clear interface for users. What you have proposed:

@[email protected] add to Farm section Market

sounds a bit too long winded and possibly hard to remember.
Furthermore, you might want to assign some sort of unique identifier to your megathreads, as just giving them a title (like "Farm") will likely generate conflicts in the future. The "add link to megathread" action should somehow uniquely identify a megathread, both within a certain community as well as instance wide. Asking the user to provide a link to the megathread they wish to contribute to would be an easy and unambiguous solution, but it might be a bit too difficult on the UX side (bear in mind, users are LAZY).

All in all the idea sounds great, you (we?) should just discuss the specifics in detail before any code is written.

Ok so first off, thank you for typing out a well thought argument.

I posted a summed up version of the five ways, rather than the full text, and now I realize that probably was a mistake. I just wanted to make sure people would have read it, most would have ignored a wall of text. Instead, I will directly quote the full text in my answers here.

Here is a TL;DR, cause this will be long:

Thus beginning a long standing religious tradition of using scientific rhetoric where its helpful and attempting to shoehorn philosophy in where it contradicts or fails to uphold.

I don't think he tried to use scientific rethoric at all, nor that any philosophical shoehorning has happened. Rather, it's entirely philosophy. Doesn't mean it's perfect or necessarily correct, but we gotta call it the way it is. I also think you might be trying a bit too hard to interpret it as science, while that's not really what the Summa was meant to be. Some of your conclusions were drawn from the summary I posted not being accurate (sorry about that, btw) and I adressed them by quoting the full text.

Starting from the fourth way:

Among beings there are some more and some less good, true, noble and the like. But "more" and "less" are predicated of different things, according as they resemble in their different ways something which is the maximum, as a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest; so that there is something which is truest, something best, something noblest and, consequently, something which is uttermost being; for those things that are greatest in truth are greatest in being, as it is written in Metaph. ii. Now the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus; as fire, which is the maximum heat, is the cause of all hot things. Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.

You correctly criticized his mistake in using fire as the source of maximum heat and mixing in scientifical evidence with philosophy, but the full text tells a more nuanced story.
Fire here is more of an example, rather than pure scientifical evidence. It's also not the basis of the point he is adressing here. That would instead be more abstract (and wouldn't you know it, philosophical) concepts like "good" and "true". So while your discussion on splitting natural sciences and philosophy makes a lot of sense, I don't think it applies here.

Onto the fifth way:

The fifth way is taken from the governance of the world. We see that things which lack intelligence, such as natural bodies, act for an end, and this is evident from their acting always, or nearly always, in the same way, so as to obtain the best result. Hence it is plain that not fortuitously, but designedly, do they achieve their end. Now whatever lacks intelligence cannot move towards an end, unless it be directed by some being endowed with knowledge and intelligence; as the arrow is shot to its mark by the archer. Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.

In truth, I think this is the most beautiful of the five ways and the one that, to me,makes the most sense from a scientific perspective. I remained of the opinion that Aquinas wasn't trying to bring in natural sciences into this one, but since you brought up "modern scientifical understanding" I will do my best to make some sense of it, according to modern science.

The message here is not as easy as water flowing because of gravity. It's also not as easy as "what was before the Big Bang?", because that would be, like you said, vulnerable to the "God of the gaps" counter argument.
Rather, starting from the universal constants such as the Boltzmann constant which regulates all of thermodinamycs; the speed of light in a vacuum, which regulates all existing radiation or the gravitational constant, which regulates how all matter and time interact; through science we get a very clear picture of how many pieces needed to fall into place for reality as we know it to come together, let alone life to be possible. According to this modern interpretation, the fifth way states that in order for the universe to exist as we know it, defined according to these specific constants, it must have happened through a higher being, a creator. Here, actually, is the only place where I see a possible mistake, because on a logical level he doesn't prove definitively that the existence of God is the only solution to the problem, the hypothesis of a coincidence remains on the table. However I personally think, when put in this perspective, the religious hypothesis remains the more believable one.

On your last point, I don't see how the fifth way would violate what he has established from the first way. The fifth claims that motion of inanimate objects happens naturally and repeatedly because of "some intelligent being [...] [whom] we call God". The first instead says that God was the first who put everything in motion, and that because of that things have been kept in motion ever since the universe began. I think these two point go hand in hand, rather than being opposed:
God first created the universe, by putting things in motion. God also defined the patters according to which things should have moved after his initial "push". This makes perfect sense to me.

Quite funny really

I know, right? Like I said it was mostly a semantics issue, I wasn't sure what OP meant. When they kindly clarified their question I gave them my answer, coming from a different perspective from most of the commenters.
Then in you came, and started slandering my religion. Like you might have guessed it didn't quite sit right with me. Assuming you are an Atheist, it's like I came at you saying that "Atheists have no morals" or "Atheists are nothing but hedonists". I don't think you would have liked it. So I tried my best to provide sensible answers to your remarks. I guess that makes me too an apologist; I don't really have a problem with that label.

Everything before your last sentence presupposes your personal interpretation of your god.

No, it is the interpretation of the Catholic Church, which is the church followed by most Christians on this planet.

I'm not looking for philosophical evidence [...]

Alright, you do you then. It seems to me that you are trying to explain God through science, and I'm not sure whether that is possible. Science, from a Christian perspective, is the study of God's creation. Inferring knowledge about the creator from His creation seems like an arduous task to me. I think using reasoning and philosophy would be a more reasonable option.

Clearly this is the Christian god of the Bible and definitely not any other god humans have believed in [...]

One step at a time. Once we are both on the same page that a higher being exist and the universe and life aren't just the product of mere coincidence we can discuss why I think the "Christian God", like you called him, is the right interpretation. But first you would need to accept religion(s) in general.

I mainly write JS and not having a backtick on my keyboard annoys the fuck out of me. Other than that the Italian keyboard is alright, never had any other problems with it.

I literally quoted a source. Want more? This is the Cathechism of the Catholic Church on the topic of free will:

1730

1730 God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him."

1739

1739 Freedom and sin. Man's freedom is limited and fallible. In fact, man failed. He freely sinned. By refusing God's plan of love, he deceived himself and became a slave to sin. This first alienation engendered a multitude of others. From its outset, human history attests the wretchedness and oppression born of the human heart in consequence of the abuse of freedom.

If instead you were looking for philosophical evidence for God's existance, I recommend reading Thomas Aquinas' Five Ways.

That is spot on. Contrary to Protestant (and in particular Evangelical) belief, the Catholic Church teaches that there are four senses through which one can read Scripture: one is literal, while the other three are spiritual (allegorical, moral and anagogical) and can help us interpret Christ's message and how we should or should not behave during our earhthly lives. This is the relevant section from the Catechism.

I am not familiar with Orthodox theology, but I would assume they would have a similar position on the topic.

Oh yeah. No doubt about that, you never stop learning. It applies to all aspects of life, not just religion.

Reading that links it looks like I actually did know what the discussion is about and just got confused. I googled "christian apologists" like OP called it, found no exact definitions and so I started wondering if maybe it was something I didn't know about. Protestant denominations often have weird names and I keep finding out about new ones, maybe there was also a prot denomination called "apologists". Guess not, though.

Uh I see. I didn't know any of those people, so I had to google that discussion between Alex O'Connor and Wiliam Lane Craig. Listened along for quite a bit and it was actually very interesting (so thank you, I'll definitely finish listening to the whole thing later on).

From the way the used that "technique" I am guessing it isn't really that much about Christianity but rather, as others have said, a way to connect to the other person. People often get understandably heated during theological debates (understandably so, our most important beliefs are being challenged), maybe calling the other person by their name is a way to try and remembering the human and forming a sort of emotive connection that could otherwise get lost during the discussion.

Why specifically Christians? I don't have an answer to that one. I am guessing it might happen more frequently with religion talks rather than say politics, or other frequent topics of discussion, because religion tends to appeal more often to morality and thus emotions. Just a guess, though.

What do you mean when you say: "christian apologists"? I'm afraid I am not understanding your question and that's me speaking as a Christian.

Do you mean people defending Christian positions in thelogical debates? Or is it the name of some niche sect I am not aware of?

I guess we could all see this one coming. IIRC all three nations had been suspended after their respective military coups, so it's understandable that the dictators had little simpathy for ECOWAS