Apr 23, 2005
154
0
0
I was just talking to a fundamentalist Christian who was trying to re-convert me, bring me back into the fold as they put it. He was talking about sin, how a person can get caught up in it and not realize just how far into sin he has gone. To illustrate, he used an analogy about boiling frogs that goes like this: If you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, he will jump right out. But if you put the frog into a pot of cold water and then only gradually bring up the heat, the frog will sit there until he boils to death.

So, is this true? I had heard this analogy before but I?m a bit skeptical. I mean the gradual rise in temp might not worry the frog much, but it seems like at some point it would get too hot and the little fellow will be hopping around trying to get out. In this case, the analogy falls apart.

I don?t see many frogs up here in AK where I live. Anyone living around an abundance of frogs want to put this to the test?

 

Mo0o

Lifer
Jul 31, 2001
24,227
3
76
yeah it's true

edit: hmm guess not, swear I saw it in a school video, oh well
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
Who cares? Sin all you like IMO, it's like money, kind of.
With money, spend it, you can always get some more.
With sin, well if the bad things come, move on and go elsewhere where you put the bad stuff behind.
<-- doesn't believe in any kind of afterlife.
 
Apr 23, 2005
154
0
0
Originally posted by: Lonyo
Who cares? Sin all you like IMO, it's like money, kind of.
With money, spend it, you can always get some more.
With sin, well if the bad things come, move on and go elsewhere where you put the bad stuff behind.
<-- doesn't believe in any kind of afterlife.

same here. I wasn't asking if I should believe him though. I was asking if his metaphor about boiling frogs was true.
 

imported_Lucifer

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2004
5,139
1
0
Originally posted by: Lonyo
Who cares? Sin all you like IMO, it's like money, kind of.
With money, spend it, you can always get some more.
With sin, well if the bad things come, move on and go elsewhere where you put the bad stuff behind.
<-- doesn't believe in any kind of afterlife.

 

Rastus

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
4,704
3
0
Originally posted by: Subterranean Homesick Alien
Originally posted by: Lonyo
Who cares? Sin all you like IMO, it's like money, kind of.
With money, spend it, you can always get some more.
With sin, well if the bad things come, move on and go elsewhere where you put the bad stuff behind.
<-- doesn't believe in any kind of afterlife.

same here. I wasn't asking if I should believe him though. I was asking if his metaphor about boiling frogs was true.
It's nuts.

 

imported_Lucifer

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2004
5,139
1
0
Originally posted by: Subterranean Homesick Alien
Originally posted by: Lonyo
Who cares? Sin all you like IMO, it's like money, kind of.
With money, spend it, you can always get some more.
With sin, well if the bad things come, move on and go elsewhere where you put the bad stuff behind.
<-- doesn't believe in any kind of afterlife.

same here. I wasn't asking if I should believe him though. I was asking if his metaphor about boiling frogs was true.

Christians say ridiculous things. Don't believe him.
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
81
Maybe I'm ignorant, but what the hell does boiling a frog have to do with being a sinner?????
 

NiteWulf

Golden Member
Jan 3, 2003
1,112
1
0
Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Maybe I'm ignorant, but what the hell does boiling a frog have to do with being a sinner?????

It has to do with moving away from God and closer to hell. Obviously a devout person will object to a "big" sin like murder, but they may lie to safeguard someone's feelings. They build up the "little" sins, gradually building up immunity to the guilt of sin. Pretty soon they are so far into sin that they're going to burn (or boil, speaking of the frog) without realizing that they're getting hotter.
 

eLiu

Diamond Member
Jun 4, 2001
6,407
1
0
Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Maybe I'm ignorant, but what the hell does boiling a frog have to do with being a sinner?????

I think it means something like...

You'd be repulsed if I handed you a gun and asked you to shoot the guy next to you (tossing you into boiling water).

But given a long time of slow-buildup & minor nudging, I could turn you into a killer.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
81
No, that's a bunch of horsesh!t.

If you dropped a frog into boiling water, it would die.

If you put a frog into a pot of water and put it on a burner, the frog would hop out the moment he felt any disturbance(heat) on his feet.
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
i guess he didn't try this boiling technique himself. didn't even sacrifice his pinky finger...sad. wouldn't have hurt;)
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
81
Originally posted by: NiteWulf
Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Maybe I'm ignorant, but what the hell does boiling a frog have to do with being a sinner?????

It has to do with moving away from God and closer to hell. Obviously a devout person will object to a "big" sin like murder, but they may lie to safeguard someone's feelings. They build up the "little" sins, gradually building up immunity to the guilt of sin. Pretty soon they are so far into sin that they're going to burn (or boil, speaking of the frog) without realizing that they're getting hotter.
Makes sense logically, but it doesen't work like that in real life. Normal people don't have that problem, yet normal people tell so-called "little white lies", to safeguard someones feelings in your example.

I suppose it's a good message though, and something that everyone should practice whether religious or not.

You shouldn't have to use religion as an excuse to be a good person, ie: refrain from lying, cheating, stealing, etc.
 

reverend boltron

Senior member
Nov 18, 2004
945
0
76
Originally posted by: Subterranean Homesick Alien
I was just talking to a fundamentalist Christian who was trying to re-convert me, bring me back into the fold as they put it. He was talking about sin, how a person can get caught up in it and not realize just how far into sin he has gone. To illustrate, he used an analogy about boiling frogs that goes like this: If you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, he will jump right out. But if you put the frog into a pot of cold water and then only gradually bring up the heat, the frog will sit there until he boils to death.

So, is this true? I had heard this analogy before but I?m a bit skeptical. I mean the gradual rise in temp might not worry the frog much, but it seems like at some point it would get too hot and the little fellow will be hopping around trying to get out. In this case, the analogy falls apart.

I don?t see many frogs up here in AK where I live. Anyone living around an abundance of frogs want to put this to the test?

I still think that the case of the frog holds true, not what your friend said about it boilding to death, but about it eventually hopping out. I know that before I had accepted christ in my life, I was definitely sitting in a pot getting ready to boil. Things didn't seem that big of a deal to me. First when I was young, smoking pot was insane and I couldn't believe people did it, then my friends and I tried it, and it wasn't that big of a deal anymore. The temperature went up a little. Then someone was talking about doing acid, and I thought that was horrible, I mean, people go crazy from that, but I tried that too. And the water got a little hotter. Soon, I was saying "well, nothing up the nose or in the arm for me" and pretty soon I was snorting away. Gradually things got hotter and hotter, but they didn't seem to be that big of a deal anymore. Ya know. Because I got used to the situation and I adapted to it. But there got to a point of waking up every day with a hangover, or getting a bloody nose at my ex-girlfriends graduation party, to never having any money and always feeling depressed that I needed somewhere to jump to. Ya know? And I was offered a helping hand and a place to cool off and get my bearings. That might not hold true for everyone, but it definitely held true for me. I honestly think that if I was not introduced to Jesus and his teachings that I would probably have boiled to death. Props to your friend for being a friend.

On a side note, I think that if dropped a frog in freezing cold water it would jump right out too. If you know what I'm saying. So I just hope he wasn't trying to shove anything down your throat, but that he left the door open.