I will not contradict myself.

I am surprised we have come so far along in this debate without defining contradictory. Contradictory •Any of a pair of propositions that cannot both be true ============ CONTRADICTIONS: ============ Contradiction #1: My opponent does not believe Santa Claus is real. Santa Claus is at very least an idea (based on that definition), thus exist as an idea. My opponent believe ideas exist (and agrees to my definition), ergo . . . a contradiction. --- Real: being or occurring in fact or actuality; "real objects"; "real people, not ghosts"; "a film based on real ... My opponent himself said: "[ideas] mean what exists in the mind." I will agree with my opponent, also, that "Santa Claus is at very least an idea." Santa Claus is an idea. Ideas are what exist in the mind. Santa Claus exists in the mind. Real is 'being or occuring in fact or actuality.' Santa Claus does not occur in fact or actuality. Santa Claus is not real. The idea of Santa Claus can exist in the mind whether or not Santa Claus is infact Real. Common sense shows this: Santa Claus is not real (or so I am told.) Many young children have the idea that Santa Claus exists. These can both be true, (and they most certainly are!) so they cannot be contradictory. One last note on this 'contradiction,' I may or may not have reached into my bag of assorted hallucinogens, containing joints made from a variety of dangerous drugs (http://www.buzzle.com...), pulled one out, and smoked it this afternoon. This particular experience gave me the idea that I was a mermaid. I suppose that if my opponent believes that the simple idea that St. Nick exists would be enough to make him real, then my opponent is debating a mermaid, for I had that particular idea this afternoon. ====== Contradiction #2: My opponent believes that God can do anything. He also believes that the Bible accurately interprets who/what God is. Based on the Bible, there are a number of things God cannot do: http://www.letusreason.org...... Ergo . . . contradiction. --- I'll just post the relevant questions/ answers here, so that nobody needs to look back to previous arguments to double check. I'll also point out that I, like many other (most other) Christians have not read the entirety of the Bible as it is quite a long book. I only make assumptions on what it says based on what I have read and what I hear from others. #9. Do you believe God can do anything? Yes Revised Question#5: Do you believe that the Bible accurately interprets who/what God is? Yes, I believe that the Bible accurately interprets who/what God is. Due to time constraints (bed time) I won't be able to read my opponent's source. I'll assume, based on the context used, that his source shows some proof or evidence supporting the claim that the Bible says God can't do anything. There's atleast 3 possibilities here: 1. God can't do anything. 2. The Bible does not accurately interpret who/what God is. 3. The sources in his link are false/illogical/misinterpreted or in some way draw a valid conclusion. As I have testified in the two above questions, I believe that both 1 & 2 are false, meaning the third option must be true about this source of his. As long as I believe option 3 is true, then it stands to follow that both of these statements are true: "Yes, [I believe God can do anything.]" "Yes, I believe that the Bible accurately interprets who/what God is." I do believe and will continue believing that the source, whatever it may be is untrue, that God can do anything, and that the Bible accurately interprets who/ what God is. This means the statements I have made are not in any way contradictory to each other. Perhaps my opponent could have caught me in the way he seems to have intended to by asking "Can God do anything?" or "Does the Bible accurately interpret who/what God is?" Instead, he has asked me what I BELIEVE. It is entirely possible that both of my statements are true because I can and do believe what I claimed to. In short, my opponent, to prove that the statements are contradictory, would have to show that I can't possibly believe both of the things that I said I did. It is possible that I can believe both; I do believe both; therefore, they are in no way contradictory, regardless of whether my opponent or anyone else agrees with what I believe. ====== I certainly have not contradicted myself so far. I wish my opponent luck in finding contradictions in these answers. Unfortunately, I will not have a chance to respond. ========== QUESTIONS | ========== 1) Is the answer to this question "I don't know?" No 2) Is the answer to the above question "I don't know?" No 3) Is the answer to this question "no?" It ain't 4) Must something be logical to exist? I have so many thoughts on this, at the risk of being misinterpreted and not having a chance to clarify or respond, I will have to say that I'm not sure. 5) Are your bones very hard? 'Very' seems subjective, as does hard. How hard is 'very hard'? I don't know. They are very hard compared to paper, I should think. They aren't very hard compared to diamonds. I do not know how my bones compare to other bones in terms of hardness. 6) Do you think it's possibly to truly "know" something? This word 'truly' has me worried. I'm not exactly sure how it changes the meaning of the sentence. In the way that I use the term "know" on a daily basis, it would make sense that one could know something. I know the answer to question #7 in the homework packet. No, I didn't know that we had a test today. It might be possible for my opponent to argue that knowing really means something or that we don't really know what we say we know. However, based on the way I most commonly see the word used, my answer is yes. 7) Are contradictions ever beneficial? Yes 8) Are lies considered contradictions? It depends. I could truthfully state that I hate carrots and then lie by saying that I love them. In this case, it seems that lie would be a contradiction. On the other hand, I could continuously maintain throughout my life that I love carrots, never uttering a word otherwise. It is possible that I could lie in such a way and avoid ever contradicting myself. My answer would be that lies are sometimes contradictions. Lies can be contradictions, but not all lies are necessarily contradictions. (I'm assuming here that a contradiction would be disagreeing with oneself, as it is being used in this debate round, and not in some other way as in 'contradictory to the truth') 9) Is it possible to create a rock that cannot be lifted? Yes, I see no reason why an omnipotent God would be confined to doing the logical. I realize that this one of the common arguments in the debate over God. I have also realized that many of the judges on this site don't share my strong belief in God. I trust your judgment, but please keep in mind that my job is not to prove all of my statements true (trying to fit an argument for the existence of God into my remaining 500 characters would be absurd!), my job is not to contradict myself. 10) If Batman and Spider-Man had to fight, would Spider-Man win? I'm not too familiar with the two, but I could imagine it going both ways dependent on the circumstance. If I ever do see them fight, I'll root for Spidey.