General Stuff #2
God-polite thoughtful discussion
Archive: 423 posts
| I don't think I could possibly enjoy any kind of an afterlife knowing that other unfortunate souls were trapped in endless torment. I'm just not that heartless... | 2009-02-16 19:52:00 Author: Morrinn3  Posts: 493 |
| If god is a great, loving being, wouldn't he know about forgivness. Wouldn't he feel to much pain by sending his own children to an eternity in hell? | 2009-02-16 20:54:00 Author: chiropractor345  Posts: 161 |
| Most catholics have a live and let live philosophy, so I can't really vouch for the protestant sects when I say this, but it is thought that those that say they are christian and just ignore the poor, break the commandments, etc., are hypocrites and will burn in hell. I think theirs a verse on this, but I can't remember on the top of my head. To be Christian is to be christ like, so by that definition, your a christian if you live a righteous life. By that belief, some of the SS and Jews went to heaven, some went to hell. God is wise, he doesn't discriminate. Just because your _______ doesn't mean you'll go to heaven/hell. (insert whatever group you want on the blank)So I'm an atheistic Christian? *shrugs* Okay. I'd say that your definition of Christian is much too broad as it would correct to say that most Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Shintos, Wiccans, Atheists, etc. are all Christians. It just doesn't seem right to me. | 2009-02-16 21:44:00 Author: Voltiare  Posts: 646 |
| So I'm an atheistic Christian? *shrugs* Okay. I'd say that your definition of Christian is much too broad as it would correct to say that most Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Shintos, Wiccans, Atheists, etc. are all Christians. It just doesn't seem right to me. I wasn't in this conversation, but I wanted to make a comment here. Have you considered the possibility that your definition of Christian might be too narrow, or maybe biased by your own personal experience? There are many different Christian denominations, and the actual differences between them can sometimes be pretty extreme. I grew up in a small town (pop. 2300) and in just one little area we had: Southern Baptist (majority), Catholic, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopalian, Jewish, Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, and a Unity Church that was kind of a "peace, love, and harmony everyone should get along cause we're all part of the same family" kind of place (and was actually very cool). I know many of those could be classified as Protestant, but still, the point being, not even all Christians agree on what it means to be Christian. True example, years ago a friend of mine went on a date with a Pentecostal girl. The mother asked him some questions as soon as he got there, including "Do you go to church?" He said yes, to the Church of God. Her response was, "Oh... well... at least you believe in God." The mother didn't allow them to date again because he wasn't the right type of Christian, his faith didn't believe exactly the same as hers. Crazy. So while I don't consider myself Christian or religious (nor an atheist), I think Reshin's point of view is admirable. It demonstrates tolerance and open-mindedness (compared to some Christians) which is sorely needed in the community at large, not just the religious community. Especially in light of things like this: After 9/11 there was an interfaith prayer service held to pray for the survivors and families of 9/11. In attendance were ministers of a number of different faiths, some Christian, some not. One of the ministers was Lutheran. After the service, the Lutheran minister got into some major trouble with his church leaders because he prayed with people who weren't of his Faith, which held the implication (according to the church leaders) that it might be ok to be other Faiths besides Lutheran/Christian, and they felt that their Faith was the only right one. They threatened to take away his status as a minister in the church. I'm not sure how things turned out since I lost track of the story, but to me, this story was really sad. They could have demonstrated compassion and kindness in the situation, but instead chose this intolerant nonsense, in my opinion of it. So yeah, just saying, short version, opinions vary, lol.  | 2009-02-17 01:44:00 Author: Shalatii  Posts: 103 |
| I wasn't in this conversation, but I wanted to make a comment here. Have you considered the possibility that your definition of Christian might be too narrow, or maybe biased by your own personal experience? There are many different Christian denominations, and the actual differences between them can sometimes be pretty extreme.Christian denominations all contain certain requirements to be called Christian. 1) To believe in a god. 2) To believe in the Christian god. 3) To believe that Jesus is the son of god. Members of other religions might satisfy one of them (#1 in particular), but they do not satisfy all three. Also, Atheists do not satisfy any of them. Therefore, they are not Christian and will go to Hell. I grew up in a small town (pop. 2300) and in just one little area we had: Southern Baptist (majority), Catholic, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopalian, Jewish, Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, and a Unity Church that was kind of a "peace, love, and harmony everyone should get along cause we're all part of the same family" kind of place (and was actually very cool). I know many of those could be classified as Protestant, but still, the point being, not even all Christians agree on what it means to be Christian. True example, years ago a friend of mine went on a date with a Pentecostal girl. The mother asked him some questions as soon as he got there, including "Do you go to church?" He said yes, to the Church of God. Her response was, "Oh... well... at least you believe in God." The mother didn't allow them to date again because he wasn't the right type of Christian, his faith didn't believe exactly the same as hers. Crazy.Yes, it is okay to question the small stuff like: 1) Do babies go to heaven? 2) Is suicide a sin? 3) How many people go to heaven? BUT it is not okay to question the 3 requirements of Christianity. If you don't believe in any of them, then you are no longer a Christian. That is what it means to be Christian. So while I don't consider myself Christian or religious (nor an atheist), I think Reshin's point of view is admirable. It demonstrates tolerance and open-mindedness (compared to some Christians) which is sorely needed in the community at large, not just the religious community.It is better than intolerant Christianity, yes. However, it is stretching and skewing and even omitting sections of The Bible until it is no longer identified as such. If people are going to call themselves a Christian, I want them follow The Bible with discipline and dedication. Do exactly as the Lord wishes you to. Yes, stone rebellious kids, heretics, and homosexuals. Perform blood sacrifices. Tell your wife not to talk in Church. At least, you will be consistent with God's word and you will have earned my respect. | 2009-02-17 05:35:00 Author: Voltiare Posts: 646 |
| You seem to miss my point when I said "To be Christian is to be christ like, by this definition...." under the definition that being christian is being christ like, you can consider people who don't believe in God christian...not many agree, but Jesus said it himself to get into heaven you just have to "Love others as you would love yourself". Also; Contextual reading isn't omitting part of the Bible that it isn't considered holy text anymore, its identifying the true meaning of the Bible. It was written by imperfect people who didn't have the tools and didn't know as much as we do today. Of course a literal translation won't convey the true message God wanted. Most Atheist seem to judge Christians for believing in a book written from the old days where science is lacking, why criticize those that try to make sense of it all | 2009-02-17 06:30:00 Author: Reshin  Posts: 1081 |
| You seem to miss my point when I said "To be Christian is to be christ like, by this definition...." under the definition that being christian is being christ like, you can consider people who don't believe in God christian...not many agree, but Jesus said it himself to get into heaven you just have to "Love others as you would love yourself". Also; Contextual reading isn't omitting part of the Bible that it isn't considered holy text anymore, its identifying the true meaning of the Bible. It was written by imperfect people who didn't have the tools and didn't know as much as we do today. Of course a literal translation won't convey the true message God wanted. Most Atheist seem to judge Christians for believing in a book written from the old days where science is lacking, why criticize those that try to make sense of it all Mythology has some very good morales written in between the lines, there are many parallels between it and the Bible. If you look at it that way (which I do), than the Bible is merely a book of life lessons taught through story. Humanity has a tenancy to start religions based off books about the supernatural. Scientology, Christianity, Jedism (seriously, there is a group of people who believe in a religion based off Star Wars), Paganism, and many, many others, all show this basic trait. On the subject of hell, I look at it metaphorically. If you lie all the time, your life will suck. If you commit suicide, you'll cause problems. If you kill people, people will come and kill you. Blah, blah, blah. Same with idea of god, I look at him as the perfect man/woman we all strive to be. Jesus being his son symbolizes that Jesus can guide you to becoming godly, because sons know their father best. All in all, there is no proof of the existence of a god, or the lack of existence. What does have evidence is science, and that leads me to believe that the Bible cannot possibly be 100% true. Therefore if god exists, he cannot possibly be exactly as the Bible describes him. Which leads me to believe in the Bible as a written book of morales. ... and in the end, I still have no idea of what caused the universe to exist, so I'm agnostic.  / scatter brained | 2009-02-17 07:28:00 Author: Code1337  Posts: 3476 |
| The bible is a rather poor source for moral inspiration in this one's eyes. Better luck can be found by, say, watching sesame street. Many Christians have never read the whole thing, and are not aware of the moral, hmm, teachings that are found in it. Let's look at some: Gen. 17:14 tells us the child is to be punished when his parents neglect to have him circumcised. Is that fair? Ex. 20:8-11, 31:15-17, 34:21, and 35:1-3 tell us that no work may be done on the Sabbath, not even the lighting of a fire. The penalty is death. Lev. 3:17 tells us that we may never eat fat. Lev. 27:1-7 tells us that males are more valuable than females. Do you agree? Num. 5:12-31 tells us that if we suspect our wife has committed adultery, she is to be tested by making her drink water mixed with dirt. If she gets sick, she is guilty. Interestingly, there is no such test given for men, kind of further validating the above mentioned inherit sexism in the 'perfect word'. Deut. 23:1 tells us that eunuch may not enter the assembly of the Lord. I'd love to see the catholic church try to get away with enforcing that... Et cetera ad nauseam... If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death! -Leviticus, 20:9 Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. -1st. Peter, 2:18 | 2009-02-17 11:37:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| You seem to miss my point when I said "To be Christian is to be christ like, by this definition...." under the definition that being christian is being christ like, you can consider people who don't believe in God christian...not many agree, but Jesus said it himself to get into heaven you just have to "Love others as you would love yourself".I am saying your definition is too broad. There are more requisites to be Christian than just being Christ-like AKA good. Considering that Christianity is a Theistic religion, it is impossible for an Atheist to be a Christian. An Atheistic Theist is a contradiction in logic. Therefore, Atheists cannot be Christians. Let's flip this around. What if somebody had a definition that to be Muslim, all you have to be is Muhammad-like? Then you are Muslim. You are a Christian Muslim. Now somebody else had a definition that to be a Scientologist, all you have to be is Xenu-like. You are now a Scientologist, too. You are a Christian Muslim Scientologist. You see how silly this is getting? The reason is because religions have requirements that make them contradict with other religions. If you are Muslim, you cannot be Christian because their doctrines collide. Here is a quote I just found by googling "Jesus none through me": "John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and continue to live in sin, Hell WILL be your eternal home! No if's, and's or but's. Does God send people to Hell? No! Never! That is the very reason why he sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins and your sins so that me and you do not have to go to Hell. It makes sense doesn't it? Unfortunately, people choose and send themselves to Hell every day by not believing in the ONLY begotten Son of Almighty God." I like the "It makes sense doesn't it?" lol. No, no it doesn't. Also; Contextual reading isn't omitting part of the Bible that it isn't considered holy text anymore, its identifying the true meaning of the Bible. It was written by imperfect people who didn't have the tools and didn't know as much as we do today. Of course a literal translation won't convey the true message God wanted. Most Atheist seem to judge Christians for believing in a book written from the old days where science is lacking, why criticize those that try to make sense of it allAlright, what is the true meaning of these quotes? Lev 4:7. This is the Lord detailing how to perform a blood sacrifice. "And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." Lev 18:22. This is God saying to not be homosexual. If you do, it is an abomination. "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." Lev 19:31. This is God saying to stay away from Wizards and those with familiar spirits. "Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God." Lev 20:27. Kill Wizards and or those with a familiar spirits. "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them." Exodus 23:24. Do not allow others to worship a different god. Conquer them and destroy their religious property. "Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images." These quotes, to the honest person, provide no insight into the Lord. They are just dumb or bigoted rules which the Lord commands or desires. There is no true meaning to gather from them. They just are. But even still, they are in The Bible. They are the word of God and must be honored as such. Even if we live in the modern world, these rules should still hold true. | 2009-02-17 15:15:00 Author: Voltiare Posts: 646 |
| First: Once again your missing it, I'm not reffering to Christianity, the religion, I mean "Christian", which literally means "Christ Like", to show the qualities of Jesus Christ. This is why context is important, when you read christian you automatically assumed "follower of christ", while I was talking about its definition of being like christ. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and continue to live in sin, Hell WILL be your eternal home! No if's, and's or but's. Does God send people to Hell? No! Never! That is the very reason why he sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins and your sins so that me and you do not have to go to Hell. It makes sense doesn't it? Unfortunately, people choose and send themselves to Hell every day by not believing in the ONLY begotten Son of Almighty God." I like the "It makes sense doesn't it?" lol. No, no it doesn't. I believe I already said this, to believe in Jesus is to act like him. Your once again taking things literally. That verse means "No one gets into heaven but by the way I live my life", which again is a life of charity, tolerance, and righteousness. In other words, to get to heaven, be "christ like" Here's my view on it Lev 4:7. This is the Lord detailing how to perform a blood sacrifice. "And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." Jesus died for our sins so that all can be made right, the sacrifice to forgive sin no longer required, you can do it if you want... Lev 18:22. This is God saying to not be homosexual. If you do, it is an abomination. "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." It is, Pope Benedict said that a few months ago. I have nothing against Gays, I support their right to be legally married (by judge and court, you don't really need a priest to be married), but sexual acts formed on the same gender has no purpose, your not making or going to make babies. This is my opinion, I don't go around calling gays abominations, they are human like you and me... just that I don't really comprehend the point of sex without the purpose of reproduction.... Lev 19:31. This is God saying to stay away from Wizards and those with familiar spirits. "Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God." Don't go near witchcraft, whats so bad about that? Lev 20:27. Kill Wizards and or those with a familiar spirits. "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them." Kill those that made a pact with the devil for they are no longer man, but a force that will bring death to everyone.... If these things aren't good enough for you and cause more confusion then go with the common contexual explination. The book Leviticus was given to the chosen Israelites to keep themselves pure because they are the chosen people of God to bring Jesus Christ into the world. So technectly unless your an Israelite that is roaming the desert for 40 years at a time when Jesus hasn't broken the chain yet...yea.... Exodus 23:24. Do not allow others to worship a different god. Conquer them and destroy their religious property. "Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images." Again context, God said these to the Israelites when he was leading them to the promise land. The land has been occupied by Canaanites and their religions (sex orgies, canibalism, child sacrifices, etc...). The Israelites being God's chosen, didn't want them to be contaminated with these practices. The book of Joshua tells of the Israelites raiding these little towns and killing them so they can reclaim the land promised by God to them. If you want to go further back, as to why these people are being killed, its a curse Noah (yes the Noah from Noah's ark)put on Caanan. These quotes, to the honest person, provide no insight into the Lord. They are just dumb or bigoted rules which the Lord commands or desires. There is no true meaning to gather from them. They just are. But even still, they are in The Bible. They are the word of God and must be honored as such. Even if we live in the modern world, these rules should still hold true. Yes they are in the Bible, don't take them literally or out of context, each statement had an explination to why, and in a situation where it pertains to a certain meaning | 2009-02-18 00:32:00 Author: Reshin Posts: 1081 |
| I wonder if any of the current religions will eventually be though of as mythology like so many religions from the past are now. | 2009-02-18 01:02:00 Author: Rabid-Coot  Posts: 6728 |
| First: Once again your missing it, I'm not reffering to Christianity, the religion, I mean "Christian", which literally means "Christ Like", to show the qualities of Jesus Christ. This is why context is important, when you read christian you automatically assumed "follower of christ", while I was talking about its definition of being like christ.So you are just using the adjective definition of the word "Christian" instead of the noun? I'm wondering though, can people really be Christ-like 100% of the time. If they can, then they would go to heaven. If not, then they would go to Hell unless there is a way to wipe the slate clean. How does one wipe the slate clean in your opinion? I believe I already said this, to believe in Jesus is to act like him. Your once again taking things literally. That verse means "No one gets into heaven but by the way I live my life", which again is a life of charity, tolerance, and righteousness. In other words, to get to heaven, be "christ like"A simpler explanation of what "believe in Jesus" means is to believe that he is the son of God. It even has the word "believe" right in it. But using your definition, that would be acceptable. Jesus died for our sins so that all can be made right, the sacrifice to forgive sin no longer required, you can do it if you want... What sin did he die for? The sins of all mankind from past, present, and future or just for the people on Earth at that time? Why was Jesus necessary? Were the people on Earth not Christian enough in those times? As for the blood sacrifice, it is obvious that God still likes it even if it isn't necessary. The chapter is sprinkled with quotes like this. "it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD." So why isn't it done more often? Why did it go out of style? It is, Pope Benedict said that a few months ago. I have nothing against Gays, I support their right to be legally married (by judge and court, you don't really need a priest to be married), but sexual acts formed on the same gender has no purpose, your not making or going to make babies. This is my opinion, I don't go around calling gays abominations, they are human like you and me... just that I don't really comprehend the point of sex without the purpose of reproduction....I'm glad you didn't try to deny this. You have gained some respect, my friend. You should actually be killing homosexuals. Or at least call them abominations. God would be happy since he desires it. "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Lev 20:13 Don't go near witchcraft, whats so bad about that? It's bad because witchcraft doesn't exist. There is no such thing as witches. It's make-believe. The fact that you believe it does exist is at least consistent with The Bible so you get some more respect. Kill those that made a pact with the devil for they are no longer man, but a force that will bring death to everyone.... If these things aren't good enough for you and cause more confusion then go with the common contexual explination. The book Leviticus was given to the chosen Israelites to keep themselves pure because they are the chosen people of God to bring Jesus Christ into the world. So technectly unless your an Israelite that is roaming the desert for 40 years at a time when Jesus hasn't broken the chain yet...yea.... Again, witches don't exist so this is strange for an all-knowing god to say. Plus, this is a big cause of the Salem Witch Trials, where ordinary people got burned to death because of a witch scare. Again context, God said these to the Israelites when he was leading them to the promise land. The land has been occupied by Canaanites and their religions (sex orgies, canibalism, child sacrifices, etc...). The Israelites being God's chosen, didn't want them to be contaminated with these practices. The book of Joshua tells of the Israelites raiding these little towns and killing them so they can reclaim the land promised by God to them. If you want to go further back, as to why these people are being killed, its a curse Noah (yes the Noah from Noah's ark)put on Caanan. What about freedom of religion? Can't the Israelites and Canaanites just live in peace? BTW, what happened to "Thou shalt not kill"? These Israelites don't seem to be very Christian... | 2009-02-18 01:33:00 Author: Voltiare Posts: 646 |
| I'm wondering though, can people really be Christ-like 100% of the time. If they can, then they would go to heaven. If not, then they would go to Hell unless there is a way to wipe the slate clean. How does one wipe the slate clean in your opinion? By covering it up with good deeds, or if your religious, confessions... What sin did he die for? The sins of all mankind from past, present, and future or just for the people on Earth at that time? Why was Jesus necessary? Were the people on Earth not Christian enough in those times? The ultimate sin that seperated God and Man, As for the blood sacrifice, it is obvious that God still likes it even if it isn't necessary. The chapter is sprinkled with quotes like this. "it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD." So why isn't it done more often? Why did it go out of style? I'm glad you didn't try to deny this. You have gained some respect, my friend. You should actually be killing homosexuals. Or at least call them abominations. God would be happy since he desires it. "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Lev 20:13 That sounded like an offensive sarcasm....Once again, context, the Bible was written by man, and is full of figures of speech, exaggerations, and parables... As I said In context of Leviticus, it was given on the journey of the Israelites to keep them pure in their 40 year journey...I repeat "The book Leviticus was given to the chosen Israelites to keep themselves pure because they are the chosen people of God to bring Jesus Christ into the world. So technectly unless your an Israelite that is roaming the desert for 40 years at a time when Jesus hasn't broken the chain yet...yea.... " It's bad because witchcraft doesn't exist. There is no such thing as witches. It's make-believe. The fact that you believe it does exist is at least consistent with The Bible so you get some more respect. Again, witches don't exist so this is strange for an all-knowing god to say. Plus, this is a big cause of the Salem Witch Trials, where ordinary people got burned to death because of a witch scare. Thats your opinion, no great study has been done to prove/disprove witchcraft (because you kinda can't...) so no scientific evidence exsist on this matter Salem Witch Trials were started because of people wanting land, so they promoted the children to keep acting until they can get people with land hanged so they can get it. Why do people keep thinking its because of religion...religion was just the tool used (like it often has for good or bad throughout the ages) What about freedom of religion? Can't the Israelites and Canaanites just live in peace? BTW, what happened to "Thou shalt not kill"? These Israelites don't seem to be very Christian... Of course they weren't, Jesus wasn't even born yet to convince people to stop taking the word of God literally... Notice how it never said respect another religion. Noah (the one that saved all of creation) hated Ham and Canaan so their decendants were bound to be screwed some way. Respect for Religion and just screwing the difference and love one another didn't come until Jesus came and said "Love one another and you'll get to heaven". | 2009-02-18 02:39:00 Author: Reshin Posts: 1081 |
| By covering it up with good deeds, or if your religious, confessions...How many good deeds does it take to clean a sin? Are all sins equal? The ultimate sin that seperated God and Man, Is this original sin as in Adam and Eve? That sounded like an offensive sarcasm....Once again, context, the Bible was written by man, and is full of figures of speech, exaggerations, and parables... No, I'm not being sarcastic at all. I respect Christians that are not hypocrites that pick and choose what they want to believe. The fact that you do think that homosexuality is an abomination and witchcraft exists shows me you take The Bible seriously and are not a hypocrite. As I said In context of Leviticus, it was given on the journey of the Israelites to keep them pure in their 40 year journey...I repeat "The book Leviticus was given to the chosen Israelites to keep themselves pure because they are the chosen people of God to bring Jesus Christ into the world. So technectly unless your an Israelite that is roaming the desert for 40 years at a time when Jesus hasn't broken the chain yet...yea.... " So we cannot gain anything of value from the book of Leviticus? God just threw in some rules that he didn't really like just to keep them pure? Why not just forgive them instead and save everyone in the future the trouble of having to analyze his rules as being obsolete? Why didn't they just do some good deeds to cleanse themselves instead? Or is this only an option after Jesus died? Thats your opinion, no great study has been done to prove/disprove witchcraft (because you kinda can't...) so no scientific evidence exsist on this matterYeah, it's my opinion, but it isn't a wild guess. It is based on my life experiences as well as my knowledge on history. Also the fact that psychics and prayer have been debunked adds some credibility. The default position is to not believe until evidence proves the contrary. As such, that is my position on witchcraft and it's worked so far. Salem Witch Trials were started because of people wanting land, so they promoted the children to keep acting until they can get people with land hanged so they can get it. Why do people keep thinking its because of religion...religion was just the tool used (like it often has for good or bad throughout the ages)Religion does have some of the blame because it encourages people to actually believe witchcraft exists. If the majority of the people (especially the church-controlled court) didn't believe in witches, then the witch trials would have never happened. People would've just said "Are you crazy? lol" and then moved on with their day. Of course they weren't, Jesus wasn't even born yet to convince people to stop taking the word of God literally... Notice how it never said respect another religion. Noah (the one that saved all of creation) hated Ham and Canaan so their decendants were bound to be screwed some way. Respect for Religion and just screwing the difference and love one another didn't come until Jesus came and said "Love one another and you'll get to heaven".Did God command all this to happen? Did he order them to kill and destroy? | 2009-02-18 03:37:00 Author: Voltiare Posts: 646 |
| How many good deeds does it take to clean a sin? Are all sins equal? varries from religion to religion Is this original sin as in Adam and Eve? Varries from religion to religion, I think so... No, I'm not being sarcastic at all. I respect Christians that are not hypocrites that pick and choose what they want to believe. The fact that you do think that homosexuality is an abomination and witchcraft exists shows me you take The Bible seriously and are not a hypocrite. Contexual reading isn't being a hypocrite, believing that their is more to the text than what is written is important. If you were really angry one day and said "Screw the world!!!" then 10000 years later, your quoted "Voltiare hates the world evidince proves he said screw the world..." that doesn't mean you do, in context you were just pisst off one day... So we cannot gain anything of value from the book of Leviticus? 1)We can, its one of the first 5 books of the Jewish bible, it helps provide contexts, helps see how the Jews lives before, some rules and guidlines that are good to live by today.... God just threw in some rules that he didn't really like just to keep them pure? 2)Who knows if God liked it or not, all that matters is the supreme rule "love each other, you'll get to heaven..." probably said because people started taking the statements literally and have been doing things without even thinking about if it is right or not. I don't understand the incarnation of a God, maybe it was required maybe it was not....maybe it was a test, maybe not, Why not just forgive them instead and save everyone in the future the trouble of having to analyze his rules as being obsolete? 3) As I said it provides many information that helps contexual reading, and some still live by most of those rules, if you read Leviticus, some of those things make sense. I woudn't say they are obsolete, (its actually offensive to say that). I just say in context some of the rituals are no longer needed, since a gap between God and Man was filled by Jesus. Why didn't they just do some good deeds to cleanse themselves instead? Or is this only an option after Jesus died? I don't know the methods and requirements for God incarnation, so as I said, God probably has a reason, ask him... Yeah, it's my opinion, but it isn't a wild guess. It is based on my life experiences as well as my knowledge on history. Also the fact that psychics and prayer have been debunked adds some credibility. The default position is to not believe until evidence proves the contrary. As such, that is my position on witchcraft and it's worked so far. No scientific evidence have been provided that debunked prayers or psychics, do be careful on what you claim is scientific fact, thats how hatred and misuse of science starts... Religion does have some of the blame because it encourages people to actually believe witchcraft exists. If the majority of the people (especially the church-controlled court) didn't believe in witches, then the witch trials would have never happened. People would've just said "Are you crazy? lol" and then moved on with their day. Even without religion, you coudn't prove/disprove witchcraft back then, so they probably would believe in it even without religion. A little knowledge of physics and suddenly you will be an oracle among them. Did God command all this to happen? Did he order them to kill and destroy? Yes, he infact help them....as to why? They were sinful and refused to listen to reason, so he does what he does back then, blow them to kingdom come. He does this many many many many times.... | 2009-02-18 04:55:00 Author: Reshin Posts: 1081 |
| (.......I'm still wondering why people think god was human, I believe no human should be given that much power even though I am a catholic. I still have a few questions.... Why do we exist? Why is there suffering? Whats the point of religion? What made the universe? What made what made the universe? What made(and on and on and on) the universe? Can there actually be a parallel universe? I am an 11 year old boy living in New York, what purpose do I have in this enormous universe? Is there any sort of accident or hole in the universe? May life be a dream? If I break a very small atom in a solid cup of tea why would the cup and everything around it disintegrate? Is there such thing as no suffering?....) | 2009-02-18 06:50:00 Author: EchoEchoOneNine  Posts: 61 |
| If I break a very small atom in a solid cup of tea why would the cup and everything around it disintegrate? If my understanding is corect you get two atoms and some engrgy is released. | 2009-02-18 11:55:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| ?Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?? -Epicurus | 2009-02-18 12:09:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| I'm an atheist. I was a christian until about 3 years ago, but while living at a seminary with my wife (an ordained minister), I began to doubt and eventually let go of my faith. It was the revelation that came after reading through my wife's textbooks and homework. The Bible was not the infallible, inerrant text that my parents and many other Christians claimed it to be. It contained errors, contradictions, etc. There were additions and deletions made to the text, there were translation errors. It was this scholarly understanding of the Bible that led me to research and study scientific ideas that I had previously dismissed. Ideas like evolution, the big bang, issues of morality, etc. Ultimately, I discovered that there is no evidence for a God and with my new understanding of the Bible, that's what I would need to believe. I still maintain an interest in the Bible and with my wife being a christian minister (although she's not your stereotypical christian) I still tend to have many religious discussions. In fact, after becoming an atheist, I feel that I actually understand religion and the Bible a lot better. | 2009-02-18 14:45:00 Author: mrsupercomputer  Posts: 1335 |
| That's pretty amazing that neither you or your wife let your personal beliefs get ruin your relationship. Kudo's to both of you. Edit: Just out of curiosity, what 'flavour' christian is Mrs. Supercomputer? | 2009-02-18 14:51:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| By flavour do you mean denomination? If so, she's a member of the Disciples of Christ. | 2009-02-18 15:14:00 Author: mrsupercomputer Posts: 1335 |
| in my opinion there are no GODS and there's nothing besides our phisical existance........ hard to believe?? maybe... mankind allways needed to explain what he didn't find answer for... so... with his ingenious capabilities he invented complex mass manipulation schemes to control in some parts of human history the liberty of speech that make human kind move forward and evolve... time will somehow have those myths clarified and we will be soon in a global state of lightning consciousness....LOL... this one maked my laught.... | 2009-02-18 15:30:00 Author: misterwonderloo  Posts: 164 |
| ?Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?? -Epicurus Heres the answer to this philosophical question... God knows and can stop suffering, but he refuses to do so. Simply because if he stops all the evil in the world, their will only be good. If their is no choice between good or evil their is no free-will. God gave humans free-will, he wants us to choose him because we love him not because he made us too. Thus he suffers as he watch his beloved creation destroy each other, hoping that they would listen to him and choose to be good. [IMO of course] | 2009-02-18 23:40:00 Author: Reshin Posts: 1081 |
| We should bring back Thor, he was cool. | 2009-02-18 23:51:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| (.......I'm still wondering why people think god was human, I believe no human should be given that much power even though I am a catholic. I still have a few questions.... Why do we exist? Why is there suffering? Whats the point of religion? What made the universe? What made what made the universe? What made(and on and on and on) the universe? Can there actually be a parallel universe? I am an 11 year old boy living in New York, what purpose do I have in this enormous universe? Is there any sort of accident or hole in the universe? May life be a dream? If I break a very small atom in a solid cup of tea why would the cup and everything around it disintegrate? Is there such thing as no suffering?....) Allow me to answer a few of these questions ( i will go in order to help out) All of these are just my opinion and obviously could be very wrong. WE exist to reach maturity and reproduce, hopfully passing on good traits that allow our offspring to survive. SUFFERING, just like death, is a part of life. "for every reaction there is an opposite but equal reaction." Every thing good in this world has an equally bad thing. We as humans cannot deal with bad things happening. RELIGION is many things. It is a way to explain the unexplainable, it is comfort for some, a fear for others. It is also an excuse. People have used religion as an excuse for so much violence and hatred. NOONE knows, and i doubt anyone will know. Big bang, creationism, are both ideas about the creation of the universe. ONCE again, it differs from person to person. Some belive god has been here forever and created the universe, and for some reason HE can exist forever. Others, like myself would say that MATTER has ALWAYS been. then it just goes into the big band etc.. same as the last one. Maybe something has always been, maybe nothing exists and nothing created the universe because it doesnt exist? I'D say so. But understanding our own universe is much more important than discovering if there are parrallel ones. But i would GUESS that there are. AS sad as it is to say, i doubt you do have a purpose in the universe. I doubt any of us, as individuals have a purpose in the universe. Humans think to highly of ourselves, there are plenty of other specis on our planet alone who do not trouble themselves with their role in the universe. In something so large as the universe, Anything we do has no effect on anything. We may THINK we have an impact, when we can explore the galaxy/universe we might think what we do impacts anything, but we only affect the things and people we touch. There are plenty of accidents/holes in the universe. Black holes for example. where the gravity is so strong light cannot escape. Some people believe that in the center of a black hole, time has completly stopped (dont ask me i dont know why). THinks like naked singulairties are similar to black holes and can affect space and time drastically. Worm holes are another thing, rips in the fabric of space in one area that goes to another possible light-years away. I DONT see why life couldn't be a dream. We could be a videogame, a massive computer program. Or maybe we are actually here and all of this is "real." Then we get into wierd definitions of reality etc... "I think, therefore i am" is a popular quote. IF you could split in atom in a teacup, extremely large amounts of energy would be released. The atomic bombs were as simple as splitting a single atom, creating the largest explosions know to mankind. NOT during life. When you die you will not suffer because you have no means to percieve pain, discomfort, unhappiness etc... Hope that helps with your questions. I capped the begining of each answer as well. | 2009-02-19 01:24:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| IF you could split in atom in a teacup, extremely large amounts of energy would be released. The atomic bombs were as simple as splitting a single atom, creating the largest explosions know to mankind. It's all to do with the type of atom thats split though. Splitting an atom in the teacup would release lots of energy but it would be a one off, when the atoms are split in atomic bombs there's leftovers that go on to split more atoms releasing more energy and lefovers and repeating the process. | 2009-02-19 11:55:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| It's all to do with the type of atom thats split though. Splitting an atom in the teacup would release lots of energy but it would be a one off, when the atoms are split in atomic bombs there's leftovers that go on to split more atoms releasing more energy and lefovers and repeating the process. Furthermore - as to which you alluded, Rabid - it all comes down to the stability of the atom at hand... | 2009-02-19 19:03:00 Author: supersickie  Posts: 1366 |
| Allow me to answer a few of these questions ( i will go in order to help out) All of these are just my opinion and obviously could be very wrong. WE exist to reach maturity and reproduce, hopfully passing on good traits that allow our offspring to survive. SUFFERING, just like death, is a part of life. "for every reaction there is an opposite but equal reaction." Every thing good in this world has an equally bad thing. We as humans cannot deal with bad things happening. RELIGION is many things. It is a way to explain the unexplainable, it is comfort for some, a fear for others. It is also an excuse. People have used religion as an excuse for so much violence and hatred. NOONE knows, and i doubt anyone will know. Big bang, creationism, are both ideas about the creation of the universe. ONCE again, it differs from person to person. Some belive god has been here forever and created the universe, and for some reason HE can exist forever. Others, like myself would say that MATTER has ALWAYS been. then it just goes into the big band etc.. same as the last one. Maybe something has always been, maybe nothing exists and nothing created the universe because it doesnt exist? I'D say so. But understanding our own universe is much more important than discovering if there are parrallel ones. But i would GUESS that there are. AS sad as it is to say, i doubt you do have a purpose in the universe. I doubt any of us, as individuals have a purpose in the universe. Humans think to highly of ourselves, there are plenty of other specis on our planet alone who do not trouble themselves with their role in the universe. In something so large as the universe, Anything we do has no effect on anything. We may THINK we have an impact, when we can explore the galaxy/universe we might think what we do impacts anything, but we only affect the things and people we touch. There are plenty of accidents/holes in the universe. Black holes for example. where the gravity is so strong light cannot escape. Some people believe that in the center of a black hole, time has completly stopped (dont ask me i dont know why). THinks like naked singulairties are similar to black holes and can affect space and time drastically. Worm holes are another thing, rips in the fabric of space in one area that goes to another possible light-years away. I DONT see why life couldn't be a dream. We could be a videogame, a massive computer program. Or maybe we are actually here and all of this is "real." Then we get into wierd definitions of reality etc... "I think, therefore i am" is a popular quote. IF you could split in atom in a teacup, extremely large amounts of energy would be released. The atomic bombs were as simple as splitting a single atom, creating the largest explosions know to mankind. NOT during life. When you die you will not suffer because you have no means to percieve pain, discomfort, unhappiness etc... Hope that helps with your questions. I capped the begining of each answer as well. I'm still puzzled at why we have to reproduce and mature and whats the reason for the reason of that? Besides my first question thanks for answering the rest of them dude. | 2009-02-19 19:24:00 Author: EchoEchoOneNine Posts: 61 |
| the reproduction and maturity is all biology. The need to survive and mate is the driving force for every creature on earth. When humans get past our emotions, and thoughts, we are still animals with those basic needs. We reproduce because that is how our bodies are structured. We spend time reaching the peak level of fitness. During that time, we are fully developed and ready to create offspring. As we age, we loose this ability and then die. and your welcome for the answers. | 2009-02-19 19:34:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| ahh, thank you | 2009-02-19 20:37:00 Author: EchoEchoOneNine Posts: 61 |
| varries from religion to religion Varries from religion to religion, I think so... Well, let's go with Christianity. What does the Bible say about the subject? Contexual reading isn't being a hypocrite, believing that their is more to the text than what is written is important. If you were really angry one day and said "Screw the world!!!" then 10000 years later, your quoted "Voltiare hates the world evidince proves he said screw the world..." that doesn't mean you do, in context you were just pisst off one day... The quotes about homosexuality and witchcraft are not out of context. So we cannot gain anything of value from the book of Leviticus? 1)We can, its one of the first 5 books of the Jewish bible, it helps provide contexts, helps see how the Jews lives before, some rules and guidlines that are good to live by today....Well, the rules and guidelines don't apply since it only applies to the Jews traveling in the desert, right? And the account of the Pharaoh and the Jews doesn't have much evidence for it's historical validity. God just threw in some rules that he didn't really like just to keep them pure? 2)Who knows if God liked it or not, all that matters is the supreme rule "love each other, you'll get to heaven..." probably said because people started taking the statements literally and have been doing things without even thinking about if it is right or not. I don't understand the incarnation of a God, maybe it was required maybe it was not....maybe it was a test, maybe not, Well, I'm guessing he didn't like them because then I would have better morals than a perfect being, which is impossible. As for the test, tests are unnecessary for an all-knowing god as he knows every choice anyone will ever make, regardless of free will. Why not just forgive them instead and save everyone in the future the trouble of having to analyze his rules as being obsolete? 3) As I said it provides many information that helps contexual reading, and some still live by most of those rules, if you read Leviticus, some of those things make sense. I woudn't say they are obsolete, (its actually offensive to say that). I just say in context some of the rituals are no longer needed, since a gap between God and Man was filled by Jesus.Yes, but the things you read don't apply since we are not Jews wandering the desert for 40 years as you said. I don't know the methods and requirements for God incarnation, so as I said, God probably has a reason, ask him... I cannot. I have never heard God communicate in any way in my entire life. So what does the Bible say on the subject of his methods and requirements? No scientific evidence have been provided that debunked prayers or psychics, do be careful on what you claim is scientific fact, thats how hatred and misuse of science starts...Actually, there have been double-blind experiments on both of them. The experiments of prayer have shown that prayer does nothing to affect reality. As for psychics, it is shown that the mind has power over yourself, but not others. Even without religion, you coudn't prove/disprove witchcraft back then, so they probably would believe in it even without religion. A little knowledge of physics and suddenly you will be an oracle among them.This isn't an argument of whether they would believe in witchcraft regardless of Christianity. This is an argument that the Bible, the divine word of a perfect being, admits that witchcraft does exist. As such, it provides evidence (in believer's eyes) that witchcraft exists. Even if they already believed it, it strengthened their position on the subject. Yes, he infact help them....as to why? They were sinful and refused to listen to reason, so he does what he does back then, blow them to kingdom come. He does this many many many many times....Why does God care about sin? Does it hurt him? Where does sin come from in your interpretation of the Bible? But thou shalt not kill. Are you suggesting that God is above his own rules and/or that this commandment isn't absolute for those committing the act? | 2009-02-20 03:55:00 Author: Voltiare Posts: 646 |
| Well, let's go with Christianity. What does the Bible say about the subject? Their are a lot of Christianity sects, for Roman Catholic, a sin is a sin, nothing matters more or less to God. The quotes about homosexuality and witchcraft are not out of context. Well, the rules and guidelines don't apply since it only applies to the Jews traveling in the desert, right? And the account of the Pharaoh and the Jews doesn't have much evidence for it's historical validity. 1)The Homosexuality and Witchcraft being claimed as a sin isn't out of context. But outright stoning and killing them is out of context since we are not the chosen Jews to be made pure. 2)Leviticus has some graphic rituals and rules that should no longer apply (the blood rituals for example since God and Man have been reunited by Jesus). It doesn't mean the whole book shoudn't apply...it has some great guidelines to life, and it helps you to read in context. 3)Thats the point of contexual reading, don't think of the Bible as factual truth but spiritual truth Well, I'm guessing he didn't like them because then I would have better morals than a perfect being, which is impossible. As for the test, tests are unnecessary for an all-knowing god as he knows every choice anyone will ever make, regardless of free will. Thats a fatalistic view on things...For it to make sense, I think of it as "God sees whats going to happen and tries to change it by getting humans to do his work, its then up to the humans to do it or not, thus free will" Yes, but the things you read don't apply since we are not Jews wandering the desert for 40 years as you said. Read up, Leviticus has some things that help a christian or any believer, I think some of the rituals and rules shoudn't apply since God and Man have been reconciled. But life is still life, some of those texts make sense to apply to our lives today... I cannot. I have never heard God communicate in any way in my entire life. So what does the Bible say on the subject of his methods and requirements? As I said I don't know, God responds to anyone who is willing to listen...We probably coudn't even hope to fully understand all his knowledge.. Actually, there have been double-blind experiments on both of them. The experiments of prayer have shown that prayer does nothing to affect reality. As for psychics, it is shown that the mind has power over yourself, but not others. I am curious on this scientific study, how can you disprove prayer.... how can you prove a physical change when the change was caused by the divine God and melds with reality. As for the Psychic abilities, their has never been hard proof, and their have been record that some people are just abnormal freaks of nature that have a weird ability that most people in the world coudn't hope to have. (Nikola Tesla's total recall for example) This isn't an argument of whether they would believe in witchcraft regardless of Christianity. This is an argument that the Bible, the divine word of a perfect being, admits that witchcraft does exist. As such, it provides evidence (in believer's eyes) that witchcraft exists. Even if they already believed it, it strengthened their position on the subject. Thus the problem of reading the Bible literally...It talked about killing Witches, so what do people do...kill what they think are witches. Its Literal interpretation like that, is what causes such horrible things done in the name of religion. Why does God care about sin? Does it hurt him? Where does sin come from in your interpretation of the Bible? Sin is the denial of the will of God (generally, hurting others; not loving your fellow man). As I said Freewill is our choice to do God's will, which is his desire to change things for the better since he knows whats happening/ going to happen But thou shalt not kill. Are you suggesting that God is above his own rules and/or that this commandment isn't absolute for those committing the act? God is God, not a computer. Humans can make rules and break them when they find it necessary, why can't God... and before you say humans are humans God shoudn't be like that; Humanity is made in the image of God, so some of our traits came from God himself. | 2009-02-20 06:25:00 Author: Reshin Posts: 1081 |
| On prayer -- It's been studied for a very long time. Sometimes it will even make the World News. Some studies have shown clear evidence that prayer works and does help sick people to heal faster, and these studies are often cited as proof that prayer works. Other studies have shown that prayer doesn't seem to have an effect, and these studies are often cited as proof that it doesn't work. End result, it hasn't been proven or disproven and I don't see this changing any time soon. (The exact same thing can be said of psychic and/or paranormal experiences.) I'm not one to pray, but I do have considerable experience with meditation, and I consider prayer a form of meditation. Given all the positive effects of this practice, I think that prayer is at the very least self-beneficial for people who believe in it and practice it. | 2009-02-20 10:55:00 Author: Shalatii Posts: 103 |
| I love to make hypothesis but I hate assumptions. I think life is about exploring, questionning and not "accepting answers" aka "assuming". Questioning is the only hope for true evolution and to reach ultimate wisdom and peace. The word "faith" or "believe" doesn't compute for me. Things "exist" or "don't exist". The only nuance is that there's "stuff we know about", "stuff we don't know about" AND, extremely important to undertand last one: "stuff we will NEVER understand". I'm perfectly fine with not knowing certains things because it's perfectly logical. We are bound by our perception of reality. Religions or any other way of thinking are good for certain people because it fills their "void" inside, that insecurity they get from "not knowing something". Religion places answers in the holes for them and makes them feel confident and great. That's why while I don't "believe" I totally respect religious people as long as they aren't harmfull to other people. . | 2009-02-20 19:03:00 Author: RangerZero  Posts: 3901 |
| Not knowing things is important. It gives us something to strive for. if we knew everything, what would we do with ourselves? It would take all of the excitement and exploration in life. | 2009-02-22 02:04:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| Me and my dad had this conversation last night and I think it was a pretty neat concept. A lot of Evolutionists say that god can't exist because of, well evolution. But what if Adam and Eve really were the first two humans, the earth was in FACT made FOR humans, and all this history was just placed before us by god? Think about it, if God is all powerful, this would be possible! | 2009-02-22 23:24:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| Me and my dad had this conversation last night and I think it was a pretty neat concept. A lot of Evolutionists say that god can't exist because of, well evolution. But what if Adam and Eve really were the first two humans, the earth was in FACT made FOR humans, and all this history was just placed before us by god? Think about it, if God is all powerful, this would be possible! I don't know many people who say that God doesn't exist because of evolution alone. I mean, evolution doesn't even apply when we talk about the origins of the universe, but rather the development of life. There are many people who believe in a God, but also believe evolution to be a fact. The thing is, most of those same people don't believe the creation stories in genesis are to be taken literally, and rightly so I'd say. As for you and your father's theory, that would make God very deceitful in my opinion. Why would God make things appear older than they are? Why would God make it appear that humans and other animals have evolved throughout time? If your hypothesis was true, I'm not sure I'd want to worship a God who would mislead us like that. | 2009-02-22 23:38:00 Author: mrsupercomputer Posts: 1335 |
| That is a very interesting concept. I guess it is possible. But like mrsupercomputer said, would god really be that misleading? A lot of religious people say that we are the only intelligent life in the universe. Isn't that a very depressing thought? That WE are the most advanced thing in the universe. Cause lets face it, humans are pretty backward. We have so many flaws such as the constant need to kill each other. What if WE are the best the universe has to offer? And it is such a large universe, it'll be getting pretty lonely once we can travel through space. | 2009-02-22 23:43:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| A lot of Evolutionists say that god can't exist because of, well evolution. First off, I take issue with the term "Evolutionist". Its a word used by Young Earth Creationists to describe every view opposed to theirs. I do not "Believe" in the theory of evolution, much like I do not "Believe" in the theory of gravity or "Believe" in the Theory of propulsion. Secondly, Evolution is not a tool used to dismantle religious doctrine. I'd say that it was, hehe, unfortunate that certain books made no effort to mention certain major scientific facts, such as the earth not being flat, but there are plenty of Christians who have no problem believing in both the bible and the widely accepted understanding of evolution. But what if Adam and Eve really were the first two humans Inbreeding? ...[what if] the earth was in FACT made FOR humans, and all this history was just placed before us by god? A theory that simply holds no merit. It answers no questions and provides neither any evidence or applicable testing. Theory of evolution provides us with advancement in DNA study, biological research, geological understandings, etc... Young earth theory is just another attempt to hold blind faith in something unprovable. | 2009-02-23 09:27:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| A lot of religious people say that we are the only intelligent life in the universe. Isn't that a very depressing thought? That WE are the most advanced thing in the universe. Cause lets face it, humans are pretty backward. We have so many flaws such as the constant need to kill each other. What if WE are the best the universe has to offer? And it is such a large universe, it'll be getting pretty lonely once we can travel through space. There'll be other intelligent life out there the universe is too big for us to be a one off. http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/2694/galaxyclusterabell1689d.jpg Thats just a few hundred galaxies each one containing the potential to have a solar system with a planet hosting inteligent life. It'll still be quite lonely in the universe for us though even if we do find evidence of other intelligent life in the universe they could easily have already gone extinct considering the time it will have taken for the evidence to reach us and if their civilisation is still around we would have to invent a propulsion system that is significantly faster then the speed of light to make the intersteller/galactic travel to meet them a realistic prospect. | 2009-02-23 10:23:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| I totally believe that there is other life in the universe. but for people who dont, it must be pretty depressing. Even with faster than light travel, it would take hundreds of years to reach other galaxies. Our galaxy alone as 200-400 billion solar systems so i assume that there will be other life within our grasps in our own galaxy. Lets just hope star trek is right | 2009-02-23 11:57:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| Grrr! I hate these people! YouTube - crazy ***** on fox Now put in spoilers cuz the title has a swear word in it! | 2009-02-26 01:30:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| Grrr! I hate these people! YouTube - crazy ***** on fox (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKDTCgqYK1Y&feature=related) Now put in spoilers cuz the title has a swear word in it! I said I would never post here again, but I had to just for this. People like this women give Christians a bad name, and if I had the chance, I would so totally punch her in the face. She's just rude, hard-headed, and wow... Someone give me a doll to punch because I am really angry right now, and I'm serious.... Omg wow... | 2009-02-26 01:48:00 Author: Whalio Cappuccino  Posts: 5250 |
| Me and my dad had this conversation last night and I think it was a pretty neat concept. A lot of Evolutionists say that god can't exist because of, well evolution. But what if Adam and Eve really were the first two humans, the earth was in FACT made FOR humans, and all this history was just placed before us by god? Think about it, if God is all powerful, this would be possible! i guess thats just saying that somehow adam and eve or their desendents rather have been around forever, and ignoring the fact of incest; and also the fact that we've found more primitive human skulls / skeletons. proving that humans themselves have been evolving....but i guess you could just use the arguement that maybe they were super primitive humans that evolved...except for more ignorant religious people who don't believe in evolution i'm not sure what their arguement would be (they wouldnt have one) but still the whole god thing setting everything up for us and being all magical imo is just an easy out for things that i believe can be explained (probably in thousands of years or hundreds of thousands ) by logic and science. example look at the greeks and how they had a god for everything because they didn't understand it. and also to reitterate my arguement earlier its a sense of comformt for people that want to believe they don't just rot in the ground. but one thing i think is pretty crazy from the bible is when ( i dont know how to spell his name so i'll sound it out) eye-zay-ick (who was pretty much the jesus before jesus...i think like 1000 years before him?) was according to the bible to have been taken up into the heavens in a charriot of fire (how else would people back then describe a UFO) and somehow he was quoted to of said he could see the curviture of the earth.... that was like 1000 years before jesus and he saw the earth was round! pretty crazy unless somehow its some huge conspiricy and that was added in or something after people already knew the earth was round. also some crazy things that kind of make me believe aliens may have visited ancient civilizations (pretty crazy theory but i think its cool) is the fact of pryamids and how every ancient civilzation built them even though they couldn't communicate almost as if they were trying to go as high as they could. also how the aztecs built those stone shapes on the ground that can only be fully observed by riding around in a helicopter/ plane. or how advanced they were and that there calender is much more accurate than ours and of course everyone knows that their calender stops at 12/25/12 i believe...which makes you wonder WHY?!!? ...why make a calender that expands for so far and stop on that exact date? | 2009-02-26 01:55:00 Author: Hamsalad  Posts: 2551 |
| Grrr! I hate these people! YouTube - crazy ***** on fox (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKDTCgqYK1Y&feature=related) Now put in spoilers cuz the title has a swear word in it! The scary thing is that the founder of that church, Fred Phelps, got 6 percent of the vote for Governor in Kansas in the 80s O_O. ... According to wikipedia, but it said that a while back and it says that vie seconds ago... but yeah o_0. >_> Yeah, uh, that church is just messed up >_>. Let's pretend that there IS a god for a second. Everyone knows God exists because god DOES exist in this hypothetical world. ... But that god is the god of that church, who wants to kill all sinners and irish and swedish peoples (I never understood why people want to kill Sinners- after all, if they actually read the bible, I seem to remember it saying to love all people and not say that they are better off dead or whatever.) So, yeah, god exists, but he is a hate mongering demon who has a "master race" and wants to kill all the "lesser races". ... Would we still worship him, even knowing he DOES exist? Would we do it out of fear, or would we do it because it was programmed into us by god to be hateful? So yeah, imagine for a second that god exists, but is THAT church's god. | 2009-02-26 02:17:00 Author: RockSauron  Posts: 10882 |
| Hamsalad: is the fact of pryamids and how every ancient civilzation built them even though they couldn't communicate almost as if they were trying to go as high as they could. Hamsalad: there calender is much more accurate than ours and of course everyone knows that their calender stops at 12/25/12 i believe...which makes you wonder WHY?!!? ...why make a calender that expands for so far and stop on that exact date? I heard on (either history or discovery channel) that the Mayans they predicted some big catastrophe was going to happen on an exact date in 2012. like what ham salad said why on that exact date? thousands of years later? also kinda like ham said that dragons exist in some form or another all over the world. not like the Chinese and middle age dragons but i heard there was some form of dragons over in the Americas. why would drastically different cultures have have the same creature? | 2009-02-26 02:22:00 Author: superBlast  Posts: 267 |
| First off, i want to say how appaled i am by that video. That made me sick to my stomach. I do not agree with the war in iraq but still, i respect those brave men and women as much as i can and anyone who is so disrespectful does not deserve to be a member of this safe, wonderful nation (even thought it has its flaws.) And people say that only muslims are radicals??? just look at this lady. to Hamsalad "almost as if they were trying to go as high as they could." This is no coincidence that they built pyramids. Every nation in the history of the world has always looked towards the sky with awe. Not knowing what lies beyond it is one of the few, major constants throughout history. We are always trying to go up. Today we build skyscrapers. We fly rocket ships into outer space inorder to attempt to satisfy our need to move up and out. I do not think for a second that the pyramids have any proof of aliens. But i do believe that they exsist. As for the mayan/aztec calenders predicting the end of the world, i believe it is false (i think we had this discussion WAAAAAY back) people said the world would end on 6/6/06. Guess what, we are still year. Guess what else? We may have misjudged the birth of jesus by four or five years. We might have already passed what would actually be 12/25/12 or whenever they predict the world would end. They have no backing as to why this could be. Of course, the aztecs were remarkably advanced for their time. But they have no proof as to when the world will end. it may happen...i which case, i guess you told me so.  | 2009-02-26 02:45:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| I don't think the Maya actually predicted the end of the world. The media has sensationalized it for ratings and profit. They predicted an astronomical event for Dec. of 2012 (the Galactic Alignment, happening every 26,000 years) and considered that event to mark the end of the current "Age" of humankind and the beginning of the next Age. This astronomical event is real enough even though there's some debate about the actual timing of it. So while it's all very interesting, I'm not too worried about the world ending, at least not by Mother Nature's hand, but then again, global catastrophes have happened in the distant past and will happen again sooner or later. | 2009-02-26 11:08:00 Author: Shalatii Posts: 103 |
| Maybe the mayans predicted the end of the world 12/21/2012 or whatever, but how old are the mayans? How far do they have to make a calender in the future? Perhaps they stopped because then the Spanish came and killed them? | 2009-02-27 06:27:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| Maybe the mayans predicted the end of the world 12/21/2012 or whatever, but how old are the mayans? How far do they have to make a calender in the future? Perhaps they stopped because then the Spanish came and killed them? I think there are theories that they died from a bad plauge or disease that the spanish brought over since it was foreign to them and their immune systems have never seen it. But idk its just very weird that they stopped making the calendar on that exact day...it just leaves a lot of questions hmm what is Galactic Alignment? also i know the polar caps are going to be shifting soon...meaning north and south arnt going going to be the same...which could really mess stuff up. I think maybe they could be perdicting some disasters or something idk...but it makes you wonder how the hell did they know the galactic alignment would happen then or polar caps shifting....really how on earth could they know that | 2009-02-27 18:14:00 Author: Hamsalad Posts: 2551 |
| The scary thing is that the founder of that church, Fred Phelps, got 6 percent of the vote for Governor in Kansas in the 80s O_O. ... According to wikipedia, but it said that a while back and it says that vie seconds ago... but yeah o_0. >_> Yeah, uh, that church is just messed up >_>. Let's pretend that there IS a god for a second. Everyone knows God exists because god DOES exist in this hypothetical world. ... But that god is the god of that church, who wants to kill all sinners and irish and swedish peoples (I never understood why people want to kill Sinners- after all, if they actually read the bible, I seem to remember it saying to love all people and not say that they are better off dead or whatever.) So, yeah, god exists, but he is a hate mongering demon who has a "master race" and wants to kill all the "lesser races". ... Would we still worship him, even knowing he DOES exist? Would we do it out of fear, or would we do it because it was programmed into us by god to be hateful? So yeah, imagine for a second that god exists, but is THAT church's god. well I'm irish so i'd have no choice but to fight him. and if he was god and had power over-everything you'd have no choice because if he is all-powerful he could control free-will. | 2009-02-27 18:20:00 Author: Don Vhalt  Posts: 2270 |
| well I'm irish so i'd have no choice but to fight him. and if he was god and had power over-everything you'd have no choice because if he is all-powerful he could control free-will. Well we all think we have free will but maybe we don't. Like in Donnie Darko! | 2009-02-27 20:12:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| Well we all think we have free will but maybe we don't. Like in Donnie Darko! I personally don't believe in there being any gods or things like that, but if there was a 'god', then why would they make people question their free-will?  | 2009-02-27 21:21:00 Author: S-A-S--G-U-N-R  Posts: 1606 |
| Doesn't the mayan calender just start again after it reaches its end? | 2009-02-27 23:00:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| but they didnt just make a 12 month calendar they made it going up to the year 2012...so you cant really go back in time. | 2009-02-27 23:21:00 Author: Hamsalad Posts: 2551 |
| I really am not too familiar with the mayan calender... They could determine galactic alignment based on patterns in the solar system. If you examine things closly, everything has a pattern. Everything moves in patterns and general cycles, making it pretty easy to predict things... Although i do not know what galactic alignment is. On a different note I would like to thank and congratulate everyone who has participated in this thread. Within a very short time we have had over 2000 views and 300 posts, all without it degenerating into mindless insults. Because i was bored, i would I decided to count how many times each person has posted. The numbers are as follows... Me: 56 posts Thee-flash: 31 posts Voltiare: 29 posts Awesomemans: 29 posts Don Vhalt: 26 posts Thanks again to everyone who has contribued... P.S. if you are interested in you personal post count, just send me a message and i can tell you. | 2009-02-28 00:10:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| well, thats still extremely impression...i'm not sure how they would see patterns or anything like that w/ their bare eyes just looking at the skies? considering all the stars would be stationary..unless some how they keept track of it all over many many years. and how they would know something would happen on that exact date by looking at the sky...anyway you look at that ...its pretty crazy to think they could | 2009-02-28 00:14:00 Author: Hamsalad Posts: 2551 |
| i would I decided to count how many times each person has posted. The numbers are as follows... Me: 56 posts Thee-flash: 31 posts Voltiare: 29 posts Awesomemans: 29 posts Don Vhalt: 26 posts Thanks again to everyone who has contribued... P.S. if you are interested in you personal post count, just send me a message and i can tell you. Seriously you actually took the time to count all the peoples posts? You can just click the number of replies to get a list. chiropractor345 56 Awesomemans 32 Thee-Flash 31 Voltiare 29 Don Vhalt 26 Whaaaaale 19 Hamsalad 19 Rabid-Coot 17 Reshin 11 Shalatii 7 Code1337 6 Morrinn3 5 Mrgenji 5 SuperYuper 4 RockSauron 4 ConfusedCartman 4 Boomy 4 Elbee23 3 Pinkcars 3 EchoEchoOneNine 3 mrsupercomputer 3 Stix489 2 muttjones 2 pembo 1 RangerZero 1 supersickie 1 Winston-Smith 1 QuozL 1 Shermzor 1 Snrm007 1 misterwonderloo 1 bunimomike 1 ryryryan 1 superBlast 1 S-A-S--G-U-N-R 1 | 2009-02-28 00:21:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| well, thats still extremely impression...i'm not sure how they would see patterns or anything like that w/ their bare eyes just looking at the skies? considering all the stars would be stationary..unless some how they keept track of it all over many many years. and how they would know something would happen on that exact date by looking at the sky...anyway you look at that ...its pretty crazy to think they could You have to remember they had no PS3's or xboxes or internet back then - they had nothing bettr to do that look at the sky  | 2009-03-03 16:52:00 Author: Unknown User  |
| OK, I decided to resurrect this thread because my school has been performing a musical called "Jesus Christ Superstar", which I'm sure many of you know about. I have a question: Am I the only one who felt that Judas was the most sympathetic character in the play? I mean, sure, it sucked to be Jesus, but I think a big theme of that movie was predestination, and that Jesus knew about Judas's betrayal and even talked to him about it, but Jesus didn't stop him. Think about it: I'm 100% positive that Jesus died for OUR sins (I still don't fully understand that, but whatever), and Judas made his death possible. In a way, didn't Judas save us? And (at least in my school's version) we saw that Judas was struggling with demons. So wasn't he sort of possessed and the real victim in this mess? And now he's in history forever known as the guy who got Jesus killed. The musical also had an eerie depiction of Jews, but that's beside the point. Almost all Christian themed entertainment is anti-semitic in a way. My friends didn't really understand where I was coming from, but Judas seemed like he was just as important as Jesus in Christianity. | 2009-04-09 02:15:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| The reason that the original Jesus Christ Superstar play and subsequent movie were heavily criticised by Christians was precisely because of the human face they put on Judas Iscariot. | 2009-04-09 02:42:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| I think it's pretty naive to think that you can discuss religion or politics with relative strangers without it devolving into a bunch of PO'd people. | 2009-04-09 04:14:00 Author: muckypops  Posts: 26 |
| Yeah, I think you are probably right, I don't think anyone is going as candid as they want to be. | 2009-04-09 04:22:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| I think it's pretty naive to think that you can discuss religion or politics with relative strangers without it devolving into a bunch of PO'd people. Then obviously you haven't been in this thread from beginning to..now. | 2009-04-09 06:09:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| I think I know what you're feeling Awesomemans. I always felt that Judas was unfairly punished, as god made him betray Jesus. It's one of the reasons I left Christianity. :/ | 2009-04-11 23:19:00 Author: Code1337 Posts: 3476 |
| Well from non-religious point of view judas was a bad guy because he got Jesus killed who was he's friend. But from a Christian point of view I get your point. | 2009-04-12 00:21:00 Author: Don Vhalt Posts: 2270 |
| ...So wasn't he sort of possessed and the real victim in this mess? The musical also had an eerie depiction of Jews, but that's beside the point. Almost all Christian themed entertainment is anti-semitic in a way. First off, I don't consider Jesus to be the lone victim of the ordeal and I'm sure - given the topic to truly think on - many Christians would at the very least consider that arguement. Judas struggled with his demons before Jesus' capture and eventual crucifixion just as Peter struggled when he denied that he knew Jesus in the first place. Of course, Judas is remembered in a less sympathetic way because he essentially betrayed Jesus for nothing more than a handful of silver. Peter wound up being a prominent leader in the first century church. All of that said, I'd argue that both individuals simply had their shortcomings in the eyes of Jesus and that was that. I just quoted your last line because I thought it was a fairly interesting/general statement. A question though: what is anti-semitic by stating that a good portion of the crowd at the judgment and crucifixion of Jesus were of Jewish faith - the most popular belief structure of the region far and away? I've always been confounded by this topic... | 2009-04-16 16:13:00 Author: supersickie Posts: 1366 |
| My views my be unusual to some people. I think i'm skeptical in my way of thinking and asgnostic by nature. The word "believe" doesn't exist for me. It means nothing. I can use it as a synonymous of "trust" though. To me things either "exist" or "don't exist". Things I either "know them" or "don't know them". This is ENTIRELY black or white, there's no "in-betweens". "Believing" in the common sense we use the word (not "trust") is in between "I know" and "I don't know". Believe in in between "exist" or "don't exist". So yeah, this word makes no sense to me so I can say to you right away that I don't believe in anything. Secondo, since i'm not assuming things, I need to be able to accept I know things and don't know certain things. We also have to understand that our perception of reality is totally bound by our physical limits and our perception of time, how we understand it as of now. Therefore, since I can't assume there's a God out there or assume there is not, I will have to say that my position is "I don't know if a God exists". I feel PERFECTLY fine and in acceptance of NOT knowing about something. To me it's a principle of wisdom. Third particularity, I hate ego. Human ego. This will humans have to think they are so good, so strong, so valuable. I also understant what are our presently known physical body limits and how it makes use perceive the world. This is how I stay humble towards existance, universe. I cannot know of its shape, how it begins or ends. Heck, I can't be sure that all things "starts" and "ends". This thought of something that start and ends is perfectly logical and a limitation of our understanding. We think like this because we can only observe things that starts and then ends with the limits of our body. But this doesn't give me the power to say "everything starts and ends". I can only tell about the things I did observe either starting or ending. So yeah, I don't buy answers, I don't assume things (in the large sense of the word. Of course one can theorise and make hypothesis). Anyways, this means I cannot "believe". I transcend religions that are just a doctrine, a way of life HUMANS develloped to ease their minds and have certain control aspects on people along history. It's no different or more important than laws or any other system we put on ourselves in order to contain our "flaws". I also can't believe in "clans". Religions are a form of clan to me. It only create a possible difference between us all. It's just one more tools for discrimination if we want to use it this way. I think we are all brothers. I see every human as the same. I only understand that we are stupid animals CREATING OURSELVES DIFFERENCES. Our biased and ridiculous ego and self important is causing all this mess, all this hate and journeys for power out there. In fact, biologically, in reality, we are all brothers. And we are supposed to sail together the universe. When I talk about life and how I perceive it, I like to mention the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. This song so seriously reach me deep inside that it's almost automatic that I cry when I listen to it. Its one of those VERY RARE song to make me attain a state of euphoria like that. So yeah, I think the real world would be without religions, no countries, no heaven or hell, all people living for today and for the world. And that would inevitably be a world of peace and happyness. Some might perceive "Imagine" as a naive song but in my opinion, it just people being short-minded and/or tainted of ego. (even unwillingly because WE ARE what we've been conditioned to become after all.) As for religious people well, please don't mistaken me as someone who'd despise you. Remember I perceive us all as brothers so this means I can repect your life choices. When there's no arm, no bad, no judgment between us, we can only go in peace and harmony. (pardon my english it this text wasn't clear, I write too much maybe!) | 2009-04-16 22:38:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| I'm not nearly motivated enough to make a large reply as the person above me has. But let me say a few things. I'm personally an Atheist. But I believe that the limits of human understanding may, in the end, prevent us from ever knowing, without a doubt, whether any religion is right or wrong. I believe that science could explain everything. I also think that humans are not capable of all science, merely due to our own limitations. Still, there is much about the universe that we have yet to learn. Most religions are so unlikely to be true that I just can't find any value in them. The idea of Christianity bothers me primarily, because most Christians somehow believe in the bible, and in god, and yet at the same time refuse to believe in so many things that happen in the bible as well. Such as magic, and miracles, and the world being created in mere days, and heaven existing in our clouds, and yadda yadda. Which leads me to another question, where is the afterlife if not in the sky? Another dimension? What is a soul, why would we need one and how do you know it exists? So many unanswered questions about just one religion make me suspicious of most others. Though some beliefs I'm able to agree with, many similar to mine, yet different. Just those that blatantly refuse to change their idea of things, for any reason, I can't get over. Edit: I believe in things. I believe that intelligence of life dictates its worthiness to be alive, in comparison to us humans. And having traits that cause harm to the natural order of the universe are a negative on my scale as well. I just don't believe in any religion. I just get really angry at times because the majority of the people in the world do follow a religion, and atheists are more despised by them than others of opposing religions! It makes no sense at all, but its just something I wanted to throw out there. | 2009-04-16 22:47:00 Author: Echonian  Posts: 279 |
| "Third particularity, I hate ego. Human ego. This will humans have to think they are so good, so strong, so valuable." I've have some similar thoughts earlier on in this thread. Humans have a desire/need to be powerful. Because we can "think" we assume that we are better than other creatures. If we are better, there must be a reason. There must be an omnipotent creature existing somewhere that has imbued us with certain rights over the other creatures of this earth, making us "special" Humans (myself included) cannot fully comprehend just how insignificant we really are. SUre throughout my life i may affect, 10,000 people's lives in minor or major ways. But in the end, none of anything we do here MATTERS!!! on a cosmic scale, we are simply invisible specs of dust, with no influence on anything. By believing that we are created by a higher being, we think that we have more of an influence than we do, which can be a very comforting though at times. Sorry for the long post. | 2009-04-17 02:39:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| "Third particularity, I hate ego. Human ego. This will humans have to think they are so good, so strong, so valuable." I've have some similar thoughts earlier on in this thread. Humans have a desire/need to be powerful. Because we can "think" we assume that we are better than other creatures. If we are better, there must be a reason. There must be an omnipotent creature existing somewhere that has imbued us with certain rights over the other creatures of this earth, making us "special" Humans (myself included) cannot fully comprehend just how insignificant we really are. SUre throughout my life i may affect, 10,000 people's lives in minor or major ways. But in the end, none of anything we do here MATTERS!!! on a cosmic scale, we are simply invisible specs of dust, with no influence on anything. By believing that we are created by a higher being, we think that we have more of an influence than we do, which can be a very comforting though at times. Sorry for the long post. You're kidding me. Did you see the lenght of mine? lol . | 2009-04-17 04:27:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| We are significant, depending on what scale you weigh our actions on. Universally, we do nothing. Planetary, nearly nothing. But we can still make a difference in smaller things. The other reason why religion, I believe, is so friggin popular, is because they practically all have some sort of eternal life complex built into them, where you get to live forever (but the catch is, you won't know until you die). Edit: And the ability to think is hardly unique to humans. We just have the highest capacity for it, plain and simple. I believe that any life with intelligence above a certain point deserves rights. And certainly you can not say human intelligence is that low, because it varies so widely that even animals can best those with mental conditions in terms of thinking ability. Should we then discriminate against the mentally retarded population if they can't do, intelligently, what an animal could? | 2009-04-17 06:44:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| Humans (myself included) cannot fully comprehend just how insignificant we really are. This is the reason for many people turning towards religion for answers. Because they cannot accept that their existence was not somehow predetermined. They fixate on words like "Accidental" or "Random Chance" when they discuss topics regarding abiogenesis or how 'the universe began'. But what they fail to grasp is that even if our lives are as they say 'Just a coincidence', that does not make them Insignificant. As Echonian mentioned, if we are weighing ourselves against the grand schemes of the universe we will always fall short. But everyone has the ability to make a difference. Maybe not in the grand scale of things, but certainly in the lives of those around you. I do not need a god to make me feel like I matter, I have my sister, friends, mother... and you guys As long as I have the ability to affect these things, I feel valued. | 2009-04-18 23:10:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| This is the reason for many people turning towards religion for answers. Because they cannot accept that their existence was not somehow predetermined. They fixate on words like "Accidental" or "Random Chance" when they discuss topics regarding abiogenesis or how 'the universe began'. But what they fail to grasp is that even if our lives are as they say 'Just a coincidence', that does not make them Insignificant. As Echonian mentioned, if we are weighing ourselves against the grand schemes of the universe we will always fall short. But everyone has the ability to make a difference. Maybe not in the grand scale of things, but certainly in the lives of those around you. I do not need a god to make me feel like I matter, I have my sister, friends, mother... and you guys As long as I have the ability to affect these things, I feel valued. Yup. If it wasn't for each drop of water there would be no ocean. . | 2009-04-18 23:18:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| This is the reason for many people turning towards religion for answers. Because they cannot accept that their existence was not somehow predetermined. They fixate on words like "Accidental" or "Random Chance" when they discuss topics regarding abiogenesis or how 'the universe began'. But what they fail to grasp is that even if our lives are as they say 'Just a coincidence', that does not make them Insignificant. As Echonian mentioned, if we are weighing ourselves against the grand schemes of the universe we will always fall short. But everyone has the ability to make a difference. Maybe not in the grand scale of things, but certainly in the lives of those around you. I do not need a god to make me feel like I matter, I have my sister, friends, mother... and you guys As long as I have the ability to affect these things, I feel valued. I don't tend to come on this thread since it's early beginnings, but saw it on 'NEW POSTS' and thought I'd pop by and see how it's going. And I liked your post very much and it's exactly the way I feel. My family and friends are my world. I don't believe in anything of a higher being to be honest and my value in this world is summed up by you very nicely | 2009-04-18 23:20:00 Author: dorien  Posts: 2767 |
| The other reason why religion, I believe, is so friggin popular, is because they practically all have some sort of eternal life complex built into them, where you get to live forever (but the catch is, you won't know until you die). Eternal life would suck. Especially if you went to hell. I've been going through an emo phase recently when I was thinking about the meaning of life and then I realized that there is absolutely no point to it, and it's no more meaningful than death. I like to think that if I ultimately fail at life the worst that can possibly happen to me is death, which isn't that bad. I mean, nobody wants to die, not even me, and in the future they'll develop technology so I can live for 1,000 years (I'm calling it ), but if you think about it and start to accept that after death NOTHING HAPPENS, death isn't nearly as scary. Oh, and if you also accept that life really doesn't make a difference in the universe. | 2009-04-20 21:37:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| Religion is difficult for me. I am an Agnostic, but the rest of my family and all my friends believe in a god. You can imagine how that's hard, yeah? I believe in science. Science has something that religion just doesn't have; evidence. Science can be proven, but religion can't. The difference between an Atheist and an Agnostic is simple. An Atheist says, "there is no god." An Agnostic says, "I don't know if there is a god." I'm still open to the idea of a god, so I call myself an Agnostic. So far, nothing's convinced me. Death is a very surreal subject. I want there to be something after death. It's just so difficult to comprehend there being nothing after you pass on. However, I still don't believe in heaven. It's kind of like what Ranger Zero said; there's no believe, it's there or it's not. And, at the moment, heaven just isn't there. | 2009-04-20 23:54:00 Author: StrayFelisCatus  Posts: 178 |
| I call myself an Atheist because the idea of god seems so unlikely as to be unbelievable. If there is a god, its far different from anything any human mind has ever imagined, I believe, which would not make it god, but something else. I personally take comfort in knowing there is (PROBABLY) nothing after death. If I feel nothing, and know nothing, I wouldn't care, now would I? My only fear is that my death may be painful, as who doesn't hate pain? But I've still got a long life ahead of me, no need to worry about death in the present. | 2009-04-21 00:06:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| Huh, when you put it that way it does seem somewhat comforting. Though it's still strange to think of what it is or isn't like after death. | 2009-04-21 00:12:00 Author: StrayFelisCatus Posts: 178 |
| The beauty of it is that you won't have thought after death! So once the pain is through, you won't have to worry anymore, as you won't exist as you do in life. | 2009-04-21 00:15:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| Death, sadly, has become taboo in modern culture. Since the beginning of life, there has been death. Humans have always been mystified by it. Some cultures, have welcomed death as a new beginning, while others, view it as the worst possible thing. Throughout history, many cultures have embraced death as it is, a part of life. Great warrios such as samurai and vikings have welcomed death in battle as the greatest possible honor, talking to each other and debating about how death SHOULD be. But now, many have tried to push death aside. An why? Shielding our children and youth from death may seem like protecting them, but in the end, they gain nothing. We can't simply overlook death and say "oh it will never happen to anyone my children know so it is ok." Death DOES happen, it is the only copmletly positive thing in live. So why, do we try to overlook, the one certainty in life? | 2009-04-21 04:49:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| The thing about death to me is that I don't want other people to die. I'd want to die if everyone I loved died... | 2009-04-21 04:56:00 Author: Unknown User |
| I personally don't care about death itself at all, but I do care about the pain that it can cause. | 2009-04-21 23:25:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| I am no longer agnostic. I am now a PASTAFARIAN! I am touched by his noodley appendages. YAY! ... :/ | 2009-04-21 23:27:00 Author: RockSauron Posts: 10882 |
| What the hell was that supposed to be? Lol. Everybody has their own beliefs, in any case. You can't just generalize and call one person a christian or another an agnostic, or muslim, or jew, or atheist, or whatever, because within each of those groups beliefs vary greatly. | 2009-04-21 23:29:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| pastafarianism is the belief that there is a great, flying spaghetti monster somewhere in the universe.. THis deity, created all of us only about two weeks ago and simply implanted all of the memories that we have and made us think that we have been here for a long time...its a fun religion. | 2009-04-23 01:16:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| GRR! You have all angered Xenomorph, God of the Claw! As a high priest of Xenomorph, I curse you all! Jockolocko doo! You now have a crab in your head picking away at your brain! MUAHAHAH! | 2009-04-23 01:35:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| pastafarianism is the belief that there is a great, flying spaghetti monster somewhere in the universe.. THis deity, created all of us only about two weeks ago and simply implanted all of the memories that we have and made us think that we have been here for a long time...its a fun religion. The flying spaghetti Monster is more true then you realize We were created by the flying Spaghetti monster who shaped us in the ideal form of pirates. Pirates are his emissaries, bringers of goodwill. Take a look, for instance, at this graph: http://www.venganza.org/piratesarecool4.gif As you can plainly see, as the number of pirates in the world decreased, global warming increased. Thus, the threat of global warming is caused by our hatred of his holy pirates. notice, for example, how Somalia has one of the lowest carbon emitting rates in the world. And let's not forget Midgit, our ancestor. Due to the fact that gravity is caused by his holy marinara's tentacles pulling us toward the earth, the less people there are the more strength to pull them. as such, as the population grows, the affect of his noodlyness's tasty tentacles on them weakens, so people will thus get taller when there is a higher population. As such, Midgit, the first of our kind, was a tiny man by our standards as he had no one else to share his noodly's power with, so it's full blast was felt on him. Praise be to the FSM! RAmen. ... Fine, I'm done, I unno, I just find it funny :/ | 2009-04-23 01:55:00 Author: RockSauron Posts: 10882 |
Dude, I want a Pastafarian Bible. Too bad I like comics too much.  | 2009-04-23 02:16:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| Dude, I want a Pastafarian Bible. Too bad I like comics too much. dont you mean you like pokemon too much? Sorry had to put that in:kz: | 2009-04-23 02:18:00 Author: Snrm  Posts: 6419 |
| These religions sound all too fun and great, unfortunately it's getting a bit too off-topic, so hop back on the topic train please. Thank you. | 2009-04-23 04:39:00 Author: Whalio Cappuccino Posts: 5250 |
| We're talking about religion, that's hardly off-topic I think. This is something I feel strongly about, so I feel like keeping this topic active. I say believe what you want to believe, as long as you don't take any actions based on your beliefs. Such as voting for a candidate because of sharing their religion, for example. And very few with belief actually can do this. I have some friends that can, and they are a few of the only religious people I can have interesting conversations with that don't end in arguments. Edit: I think somebody should write a pastafarian bible, just for fun. Wouldn't have to be long, 100 pages would be fine, with illustrations and stuff. Awesome. I should look into it. If I ever follow a religion, it will be one that I create myself and deep down I'll know its something that I made for tricking myself into having additional motivation or meaning in my life. People are good at fooling themselves. XD | 2009-04-27 18:04:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| Edit: I think somebody should write a pastafarian bible, just for fun. Wouldn't have to be long, 100 pages would be fine, with illustrations and stuff. Awesome. I should look into it. You can get the 'Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti monster' on Amazon Also, check out the CFSM website (http://www.venganza.org/). | 2009-04-27 20:30:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| You can get the 'Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti monster' on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Flying-Spaghetti-Monster/dp/0812976568?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180375352&sr=8-1) Also, check out the CFSM website (http://www.venganza.org/). I wanna get that so bad! | 2009-04-27 20:33:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| You can get the 'Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti monster' on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Flying-Spaghetti-Monster/dp/0812976568?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180375352&sr=8-1) Also, check out the CFSM website (http://www.venganza.org/). Yes, the pastafarians have become a well thought out movement .they even have their own holiday! titled "Holiday", it is celebrated during the holidays. | 2009-04-27 20:59:00 Author: RockSauron Posts: 10882 |
| XD That sounds interesting, to say the least. | 2009-04-27 21:46:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| I believe that there is some form of god, one way or another, but I think thats because I'm very optomistic sometimes, such as my belief in god steming from me meeting my girlfreind. I usually go with being atheist since I rather trust the guys in the science lab coats and Degrees in super smartness, then some guy saying a big magic man in the sky loves me :/ I can be very black/white sometimes. | 2009-04-27 22:32:00 Author: Jack Posts: 999 |
| I can't disprove god, but the concept of a god existing like that every religion in existence worships is...just unlikely to me. The trick of religion is that you have to have faith, and not question your beliefs. This means you need no evidence except the words of others, or a book or two. This means you could have any beliefs, if you weren't open-minded, just from the way you were brought up. I don't consider myself any religion. Atheist means there's no god; I can't prove there isn't. Agnostic I believe means there is a god, just not sure which. I don't believe god exists in the form that people worship him as existing in. But he/she/it may exist somehow, somewhere. Anybody have any other thoughts? | 2009-04-27 23:40:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| I can't disprove god, but the concept of a god existing like that every religion in existence worships is...just unlikely to me. The trick of religion is that you have to have faith, and not question your beliefs. This means you need no evidence except the words of others, or a book or two. This means you could have any beliefs, if you weren't open-minded, just from the way you were brought up. I don't consider myself any religion. Atheist means there's no god; I can't prove there isn't. Agnostic I believe means there is a god, just not sure which. I don't believe god exists in the form that people worship him as existing in. But he/she/it may exist somehow, somewhere. Anybody have any other thoughts? Actually you ARE agnostic. You just got the definition of agnostic wrong. Being agnostic means that you believe that god may exist, but also that god is just as likely if not more likely non-existent. | 2009-04-27 23:49:00 Author: hilightnotes  Posts: 1230 |
| I thinks that is funny/interesting that something that was started off as a joke has actually grabbed hold of a wide fan base. People spending time to write a pastafarianistic bible etc...it is interesting. And who knows, maybe one day this could become a large religious movement... Maybe this is how other religions were formed...a few people just sorta joking around but the idea took hold and manifested. we never know. EDIT: being agnostic really is just the undecided party. You have no strong opinions for or against god. As apposed to a theist, who believes in god(s) or an atheist who does not believe in any god. | 2009-04-27 23:52:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| Gotta change my myspace profile then to "agnostic." XD I think half of the religions in existence were created deliberately by people who knew them to be their own creation. The other half were by people hallucinating or seeing unexplainable things for their time. That's just me, though. | 2009-04-28 00:13:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| Contains a swear: http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/2557/fdc3818d7691d66dc7cc731.gif | 2009-04-28 00:28:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| Haha Rabid-Coot that was amazing I'm agnostic myself. For many reasons I don't think there is a god, but there's no disproving god so I feel I shouldn't abandon all religion. | 2009-04-28 00:35:00 Author: hilightnotes Posts: 1230 |
| That was great. XD | 2009-04-28 00:35:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| that is an amazingly great little chart... I laughed...very hard. It raises a good point, a lot of unexplained things and flaws in creation theories. personally I am atheistic. I could start listing off lots reasons why, but i'd rather not, might take a while. | 2009-04-28 02:31:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| Hah, that was great, RC. Thanks. | 2009-04-28 02:44:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| A question for all you agnostics out there... what is the extent of your agnosticism? Are you agnostic to the fact that I'm a mudkip? Are you agnostic to unicorns? Are you agnostic to the flying spaghetti monster? Are agnostic to teapots on Mars? Are you agnostic to evolution? Agnosticism by definition is "Without Knowledge" with it's roots in the word Gnostic, or "With Knowledge." What say you? | 2009-04-29 12:56:00 Author: Code1337 Posts: 3476 |
| A question for all you agnostics out there... what is the extent of your agnosticism? Are you agnostic to the fact that I'm a mudkip? Are you agnostic to unicorns? Are you agnostic to the flying spaghetti monster? Are agnostic to teapots on Mars? Are you agnostic to evolution? I thought the same thing while reading all the replies about agnosticism. You don't encounter many people who are agnostic about Zeus or Poseidon or leprechauns. I fully believe that you can be an atheist and still have uncertainty about whether there is a God. I am an atheist and I'll admit that I don't know with 100% certainty that a God doesn't exist, but just like unicorns, I find the probability of one existing rather low. I make my judgements based on evidence and until there is evidence for God, or unicorns, or leprechauns, etc, my stance will be that they probably do not exist. | 2009-04-29 15:19:00 Author: mrsupercomputer Posts: 1335 |
| A question for all you agnostics out there... what is the extent of your agnosticism? Are you agnostic to the fact that I'm a mudkip? Are you agnostic to unicorns? Are you agnostic to the flying spaghetti monster? Are agnostic to teapots on Mars? Are you agnostic to evolution? Agnosticism by definition is "Without Knowledge" with it's roots in the word Gnostic, or "With Knowledge." What say you? Being agnostic like what we're talking about here means that we are not taking a side until we have decent info/evidence to support one side or the other. Read my long post in the previous page if you wish to see my way of thinking in good details. Now i'm wondering why you're balancing stupid things on the table. Flying spagetti monster... who doesn't know it's a creation of our imagination? Agnostic doesn't equal stupid like you arrogant post there could try to portrait. Should I describe myself more as skeptical? Classifying yourself as Atheist implies you think there's no God, no greater than you. This means I could be an Atheist only if I was 100% sure there wasn't a God. Also, the word "God" is open to interpretation quite alot. I mean, do we really want to play scemantics here? Let's read between the lines and understand our different "manners of speaking". Perfect classification of our styles of thoughts in this thread is unimportant. . | 2009-04-29 16:08:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| Classifying yourself as Atheist implies you think there's no God, no greater than you. This means I could be an Atheist only if I was 100% sure there wasn't a God. That is incorrect. To get specific, a gnostic atheist is someone who believes with 100% certainty a God doesn't exist. An agnostic atheist (which I believe most atheist fall under) don't believe their to be a God, but they don't claim to have evidence of this claim. Rather, they believe there is no evidence to support God, thus they don't believe until it is presented. | 2009-04-29 16:32:00 Author: mrsupercomputer Posts: 1335 |
| I'm an atheist, hands down. I'm not open to anything, so there's NO way I could be converted. However, I am not one of those atheists who simply laughs at everyone and says that their religion is irrational e.t.c. I consider myself to respect other beliefs. The thing that has me though, is one of my friends is purely Christian to celebrate Christmas: but as I recall, us atheists can still celebrate the hols', right? | 2009-04-29 16:56:00 Author: Bear Posts: 2079 |
| All beliefs vary greatly in any case. I don't believe there to be a god in any way that we know it, but if I found out there was beyond a doubt I would not deny it. Atheist means "no religion." Agnostic means "don't know." Interpret them as you wish. | 2009-04-29 16:56:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| All beliefs vary greatly in any case. I don't believe there to be a god in any way that we know it, but if I found out there was beyond a doubt I would not deny it. Atheist means "no religion." Agnostic means "don't know." Interpret them as you wish. Actually, agnostic is pretty much no religion too; even though you're deciding. So, therefore I would rewrite this: Atheist: "No religion". Agnostic: "No religion". | 2009-04-29 16:59:00 Author: Bear Posts: 2079 |
| That is incorrect. To get specific, a gnostic atheist is someone who believes with 100% certainty a God doesn't exist. An agnostic atheist (which I believe most atheist fall under) don't believe their to be a God, but they don't claim to have evidence of this claim. Rather, they believe there is no evidence to support God, thus they don't believe until it is presented. I've been gone reading definitions again just to be sure and here's my conclusions: Atheist means "someone who denies the existence of god". An Atheist could basically follow a God-less religion. Agnostic means "a person who doubts truth of religion". It only means he won't claim with certainty that God 100% exist. He can believe in God and still be classified "agnostic" and he can also be neutral. Agnostical Atheists don't really make sense because the fact he's atheist cancels the possibility to be Agnostic. This would also means that Agnostic and Skeptic are basically sinonymous. Agnostic might be used only in religious contexts or something. . | 2009-04-29 18:02:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| I've been gone reading definitions again just to be sure and here's my conclusions: Atheist means "someone who denies the existence of god". An Atheist could basically follow a God-less religion. Agnostic means "a person who doubts truth of religion". It only means he won't claim with certainty that God 100% exist. He can believe in God and still be classified "agnostic" and he can also be neutral. Agnostical Atheists don't really make sense because the fact he's atheist cancels the possibility to be Agnostic. This would also means that Agnostic and Skeptic are basically sinonymous. Agnostic might be used only in religious contexts or something. . But, you see, both of those definitions describe me. That is why I said that I fall under agnostic atheism. I deny the truth of religion and I don't believe that God exists, but I don't claim to have epistemological certainty about the existence of God. I freely admit that God could exist, but I don't think God does. An atheist who believes he is epistemological certain can not be agnostic and is thus labeled a gnostic atheist. I think most atheist do not fall under gnostic atheism, but agnostic atheism rather. We are getting into semantics here, but I just wanted to clarify that just because someone qualifies as atheist, doesn't mean that they claim to be 100% certain that God does not exist (although someone who does make such claims would fall under the banner of atheism as well). EDIT: I just wanted to add that someone could be an agnostic theist as well. This would be someone who says that they believe God does exist, but that they aren't 100% certain either. Just the opposite of the the agnostic atheist. Then you also have a Gnostic theist who claims to be 100% certain of God's existence, which would be the opposite of gnostic atheism. | 2009-04-29 18:22:00 Author: mrsupercomputer Posts: 1335 |
| This is a bit pointless, in any case. Definitions vary by time and place, and by person. Call yourself what you want to call yourself...or call yourself nothing at all, as I usually do. | 2009-04-29 19:01:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| This is a bit pointless, in any case. Definitions vary by time and place, and by person. Call yourself what you want to call yourself...or call yourself nothing at all, as I usually do. Indeed. I'm "me". That's the best classification I can give myself.  . | 2009-04-29 20:01:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| This is a bit pointless, in any case. Definitions vary by time and place, and by person. Call yourself what you want to call yourself...or call yourself nothing at all, as I usually do. It's not entirely pointless. It's helpful because it prevents one from jumping to conclusions about what a person believes. I do think any argument that boils down to semantics is crappy, but it's important to realize that while there are large groups labeled Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Atheists, etc that there are divisions within those groups as well and we can't always assume to know what a certain group believes or does not believe. That's all I was saying, but I'll stop blabbing about the definitions, I do understand how annoying it can get! | 2009-04-29 20:58:00 Author: mrsupercomputer Posts: 1335 |
| Now i'm wondering why you're balancing stupid things on the table. Flying spagetti monster... who doesn't know it's a creation of our imagination? Agnostic doesn't equal stupid like you arrogant post there could try to portrait. . I would not say that using the flying spagetti monster is stupid. It is clearly made up, but it brings up some very good points. if you search "pastafarianism" on wikipedia you can see why i think it is so great. it is clever and raises some good issues. And i think that the definiton of atheism being without religion is false. I am atheist. not 100% sure, but atheist. I AM religious though. I go to a unitarian universalist church. There i am free to explore my own religious beliefs in a safe, structured enviornment. I follow christan holidays, meaning i celebrate christmas. i do not observe its religous meaning, but i respect it. Another question, should creation theory be taught in school??? | 2009-04-29 22:00:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| Another question, should creation theory be taught in school??? I don't think it would be intellectually honest to teach Creationism in schools. There is no evidence to support it. The whole idea of teaching it also raises the question of what kind of creationism will be taught. There are, after all, many different creation myths told throughout varies cultures and religions. If we are going to allow one into our classrooms, why not allow them all? And what would be taught in a creation class room anyway? | 2009-04-29 22:09:00 Author: mrsupercomputer Posts: 1335 |
| I And what would be taught in a creation class room anyway? i like the simpsons episode about this. lisa-"today we took a test on creationism in school today and every answer was God did it" | 2009-04-29 22:11:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| I think school should be as down to earth and as factual as possible. At least in the first years. You start by giving yougnsters a basis of what this world is and you DON'T chose for him the outcome of what he thinks/believe in. It would be perfectly fine to have a class on religion but not a class to teach you a religion in particular. A class to give the yougnster knowledge about the phenomenon that is religions. What I wish would be improved in school though is teaching psychology and philosophy. Around here you touch that only at college. I think it's ridiculously late and I feel those teaching are way more of fundamental importance than most people think.... buuuut this is another thread . | 2009-04-29 23:17:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| What I wish would be improved in school though is teaching psychology and philosophy. Around here you touch that only at college. I think it's ridiculously late and I feel those teaching are way more of fundamental importance than most people think.... buuuut this is another thread I completely agree with you. I only learned about philosophy because I was in Advanced Placement European History, and the teacher made us read a book on philosophy, and write summaries of many philosophies. Democritus, Epicurus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine (Catholic Philosophy), Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Kant, Freud, Social Darwinism, and Extensionalism were included in that study. I went on to study Nietzsche, Hobbes, Confucius, Buddha, etc after Marino de-converted me from Christianity. I think some people in American government are scared of what their children might learn from Philosophy, to be honest. And philosophy relates to religion, it's thought premises is to give people a purpose in life, somewhat like religion, but without gods. And for the record, I embrace nihilism as my current mode of thought. | 2009-04-30 00:18:00 Author: Code1337 Posts: 3476 |
| No, creationism should not be taught in a science class. It is however perfectly fine to teach creationism in a reigious education class. When you're teaching science you're also teaching methodoligy and how theories are created, tested and eventually proven. Creationism doesn't stand up to that kind of scrutiny. It requires a very serious suspension of logic and rationale to work. What annoys me most about those calling for creationism to be taught in schools though is that what they mean my creationism is Christian creationism. If religion should be taught in school then Islamism, Budhhism and the whole host of other major religions should also be being taught. There's alot we can learn from religion but it's much more about culture, sociology and anthropology than it is science. | 2009-04-30 00:53:00 Author: Sosaku Posts: 146 |
| I think there should be classes that touch on religion, but on all religions, rather than on one. Sosaku hit the nail on the head there. It could be called "Religion 101," and introduce people to multiple viewpoints about religion. This could be a very, very positive thing. | 2009-04-30 07:07:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| I think there should be classes that touch on religion, but on all religions, rather than on one. Sosaku hit the nail on the head there. It could be called "Religion 101," and introduce people to multiple viewpoints about religion. This could be a very, very positive thing. It's called Religious Studies or Religious Educataion (often shorteded to RS and RE) and ends up being an hour of talking about anything that isn't religion and doing very little actual work. | 2009-04-30 08:53:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| Is was wondering in the U.S. highschool curriculum is RE (Religious Education.) actually taught? In the UK it's compulsary up untill the 3rd year of high school. If it's something that isn't taught in the U.S. then I think it's something that would help please a religious nuts calling for more religious education in schools and also help stop ignnorance and misconceptions about other religions. I'm atheist but went to a Christian highschool school and actually found it to be one of my favourite classes. Partly because it was pretty easy but also because it was quite interesting. What other subject could you quote Monty Python in during a highschool exam? "What's the difference between Protestant and Catholic beliefs on the use of contraception?" Well to quote Monty Python... YouTube - Every Sperm is Sacred {Monty Python's Meaning of Life} | 2009-04-30 12:04:00 Author: Sosaku Posts: 146 |
| As soon as it becomes optional for GCSE nearly everyone drops the subject, when I was at school only 2 out of 330+ people in my year opted to take the subject. | 2009-04-30 12:48:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| Which is unfortunate. People should be required to know various views on everything. Too bad that most parents fear this, since they think it can convert their children from the religion they've been taught. Which is rediculous, and its their choice in any case. | 2009-04-30 20:42:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| creation theory definatley should not be taught along side scientific reasons for all the reasons we have said. I do enjoy learning about other religions, and i think it is a good thing. but being taught as a science is wrong. I know we were talking about philosophy and how some would like that to be taught. Luckily, my Dad actually has a P.H.D in philosohpy and teaches it. so i have been brought with a great go-to source for philosophical knowledge and i find it great. it is really cool and i wish it was a field of study available before college. | 2009-04-30 22:19:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| Heh, my Dad is a retired Episcopal priest. Out of the kids: One is agnostic One is agnostic-ish (he flips back and forth) One is Christian One might be... One is a deist/Buddhist (that's me) I have known folks who were true believers and those who said they believed even though in their hearts they did not. I personally have nothing against Religion - I think it can be a rallying force (aka MLK and the civil rights movement in the 60's) to help us understand and accept our fellow man. I have never thought religion, per se, was ever problematic - what is of concern to me is people who will use religion as a bully pulpit to strike fear in peoples hearts and turn them against each other. Unfortunately, it is these few that have had the loudest voice. | 2009-04-30 22:41:00 Author: feloneouscat  Posts: 89 |
| I think all religion should be taught, because a lot of it actually can have meaning in your life, whether you believe it or not. Also, others do believe it, so it affects you through them. Just teach the ideas of the major religions to students, but don't tell them that its the truth...just tell them its impact on many others in the world. | 2009-04-30 23:11:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| Just teach the ideas of the major religions to students, but don't tell them that its the truth...just tell them its impact on many others in the world. YES. That's the point of it all. DO NOT chose for the child. INFORM him. God I wish schools truly would be like that.... but no, they mostly are the there to form our children into the next person that will vote for this next rich guy that needs to be in power. . | 2009-05-01 00:16:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| I suggest watching the movie Inherit the Wind if nobody has seen it. Quite a good movie on the scopes monkey trial, not completely accurate and the names were changed, but it has good acting and brings up some interesting points. Any books you guys recommend for the topic of religion? For personal viewing of course. | 2009-05-01 00:46:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| I recommend Hitchens' "God is not Great, How religion poisons everything". Its kind of a heavy weight title, but the content is good. Not recommended for people who don't enjoy being challenged to defend their beliefs. "The God Delusions" is another good one, but its a bit drawn out. Then there is also a pretty decent book by Lewis Black called 'Me of little faith'. | 2009-05-01 01:14:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| it's being made illegal to blasphemy and you will be fined up to 100,000 for blasphemy. this is ridiculous and a total violation of freedom of speech. | 2009-05-01 18:56:00 Author: Don Vhalt Posts: 2270 |
| Um, mkay. Thanks for the other suggestions in reading/movies. A friend of mine is reading the god delusion right now, I might pick that up sometime. | 2009-05-01 19:16:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| it's being made illegal to blasphemy and you will be fined up to 100,000 for blasphemy. this is ridiculous and a total violation of freedom of speech. First I've heard about that what country is it happening in? | 2009-05-01 19:25:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| Its funny as hell, and horrible, if its true. | 2009-05-01 19:46:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| Still could be worse. YouTube - Life of Brian - Stoning (Immaculate Edition) | 2009-05-01 20:14:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| I feel great to live in the united states. We really have a great system here, its far from perfect, but considering how barbaric humanity has been in the past thousands of years...its great to have almost-free speech and luxuries like we can have. Not that other countries aren't just as good, if not better, than ours in terms of their law/freedoms. But from what I know, we are far better off than in many places, take China or Russia 50 years ago as examples. Edit: Anyways, back on the topic of religion, I believe that people should not base their decisions on something they have read. Because people pick and choose whatever they want, and it comes to a point where they are just doing what they picked from a book rather than following what is right or what their religion says is right (since they only follow parts). What do you guys think of this? | 2009-05-01 20:17:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| they are just doing what they picked from a book rather than following what is right or what their religion says is right (since they only follow parts). What do you guys think of this? I just think it portrays reality: A handful of people think and other simply are following. Always been this way and always will be... . | 2009-05-01 21:43:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| it's being made illegal to blasphemy and you will be fined up to 100,000 for blasphemy. this is ridiculous and a total violation of freedom of speech. What countries? I couldnt see this happening in the U.S. that would be the most blatant disregard of freedom of speech i have ever seen. I would fight that. i would definatley keep on sayin what i darn well please. i really dont see anything like that happening...lets hope not. | 2009-05-01 21:50:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| It doesn't "have to" always be the way it is now. A day might come where humans all can think for themselves, if we don't kill ourselves off first. | 2009-05-01 21:52:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| we will probably kill ourselves in a war so to think for ourselves. | 2009-05-01 22:06:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| Try to be optimistic. Being a pessimist changes nothing in a positive way. | 2009-05-02 00:54:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| Try to be optimistic. Being a pessimist changes nothing in a positive way. Being an optimist tends to cloud your mind to reality | 2009-05-02 01:02:00 Author: RockSauron Posts: 10882 |
| I feel great to live in the united states. We really have a great system here, its far from perfect, but considering how barbaric humanity has been in the past thousands of years...its great to have almost-free speech and luxuries like we can have. One of the criticisms I would make of the U.S. and don't take this personally is the lack of seperation between religion and state. In the UK any Prime Minister who started talking about religion, blessing this or that, telling him he was carrying out gods will or whatever would instantly be fired. The UK has zero tolerance for that kind of stuff. You can thank centuries of vicious religious wars and massacres for that. The very concept that the head of state has a religious advisor wouldn't fly in the UK. You'd be treated as a psychopath and you wouldn't have any political career left. So for us in the UK when your head of state, whomever it may be starts talking about god and you hear news about his religious advisor it sends a small chill up our spines. In what sort of dark age does the head of state need a religious advisor? Again I mean no offence by that. It's just one of those cultural differences. | 2009-05-02 01:45:00 Author: Sosaku Posts: 146 |
| One of the criticisms I would make of the U.S. and don't take this personally is the lack of seperation between religion and state. In the UK any Prime Minister who started talking about religion, blessing this or that, telling him he was carrying out gods will or whatever would instantly be fired. The UK has zero tolerance for that kind of stuff. You can thank centuries of vicious religious wars and massacres for that. The very concept that the head of state has a religious advisor wouldn't fly in the UK. You'd be treated as a psychopath and you wouldn't have any political career left. So for us in the UK when your head of state, whomever it may be starts talking about god and you hear news about his religious advisor it sends a small chill up our spines. In what sort of dark age does the head of state need a religious advisor? Again I mean no offence by that. It's just one of those cultural differences. Agreed, 100% We even have separation of Church and State written into our Constitution. It's madness. But our politics are heavily influence by the Bible Belt, and you can't get into office without it. | 2009-05-02 01:50:00 Author: Code1337 Posts: 3476 |
| dude. i take absolutley NO offence to that....that is one of my largest complaints with my nation. We claim to have seperation of church and state but people here are often to close minded or ignorant to prevent their religious views from enetering matters that are purley political. Perfect example, two men or women should not be able to be together under a legal standard. The only possible reasons against it come from religion. It really angers me. our politicians allow religion to interfear with our lives too much. For example, it is widley though that there could be a homosexual president before there would be an atheist president in the U.S. that sorta says something doesn't it. | 2009-05-02 03:17:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| It doesn't "have to" always be the way it is now. A day might come where humans all can think for themselves, if we don't kill ourselves off first. This day is far away. For this utopia to happen we would need to be created equal and we are not. Everybody is unique, everybody is having different habilities and mental capacities. As a whole we are similar already but in parts we are all unique. This will ensure that will ALWAYS be "thinkers" and "followers". . | 2009-05-02 03:51:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| I feel great to live in the united states. We really have a great system here, its far from perfect, but considering how barbaric humanity has been in the past thousands of years...its great to have almost-free speech and luxuries like we can have. My old lady once summed up the United States perfectly; "The US has the best of things and the absolute worst as well. Its a country of extremes." Being an optimist tends to cloud your mind to reality Take the middle road. Just call them as you see them. | 2009-05-02 04:12:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| dude. i take absolutley NO offence to that....that is one of my largest complaints with my nation. We claim to have seperation of church and state but people here are often to close minded or ignorant to prevent their religious views from enetering matters that are purley political. Perfect example, two men or women should not be able to be together under a legal standard. The only possible reasons against it come from religion. It really angers me. our politicians allow religion to interfear with our lives too much. For example, it is widley though that there could be a homosexual president before there would be an atheist president in the U.S. that sorta says something doesn't it. Yeah, I just didn't want to come off as being anti-American or anything like that. Some people take criticism of their country way too personally. Another good example was Bush's ban on stem cell research. Banning research that could potentially cure cancer and countless other diseases and save thousands of lives on the basis of religion. Absolute madness. | 2009-05-02 08:15:00 Author: Sosaku Posts: 146 |
| First I've heard about that what country is it happening in? ireland... | 2009-05-02 10:30:00 Author: Don Vhalt Posts: 2270 |
| ireland... Yeah, but hasn't Ireland always been a really religious country? All the wars between Britain and Ireland because Britain was afraid of Catholics having power? | 2009-05-02 13:57:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| Being an optimist tends to cloud your mind to reality Being a pessimist will could your mind just as much if not more. Being generally positive though will help you more in life than any negativity. | 2009-05-02 17:34:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| Being a pessimist will could your mind just as much if not more. Being generally positive though will help you more in life than any negativity. Maybe so, but... hm... Well, why don't we get rid of all the smart people? then humanity would be happy! :O | 2009-05-02 18:00:00 Author: RockSauron Posts: 10882 |
| True, but if we got rid of all of the dumb people humanity would be happy as well. If all humans were exact clones of one-another, I'm sure they would be perfectly happy. But it wouldn't be interesting at all. | 2009-05-03 23:35:00 Author: Echonian Posts: 279 |
| Today my mom got me the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster! RAmen. | 2009-05-04 00:23:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| Maybe so, but... hm... Well, why don't we get rid of all the smart people? then humanity would be happy! :O I guess that's pretty much how things work right now and especially in America. lol | 2009-05-04 00:26:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| That song's intense. o.O | 2009-05-04 02:48:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| YouTube - Avenged Sevenfold - Dear God I have no reason to post this i guess it's related to god in an obscure way though, so i win =] | 2009-05-04 13:06:00 Author: Unknown User |
| http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3787/godmademe.jpg | 2009-05-08 20:21:00 Author: Rabid-Coot Posts: 6728 |
| I found an interesting picture after Google searching transitional fossils to see if the good old no transitional fossils argument held up, and low and behold, I found this. http://www.theistic-evolution.com/hominids2_big.jpg | 2009-05-11 04:21:00 Author: Code1337 Posts: 3476 |
| People who attempt to dispute the mountains evidence supporting the theory of evolution sometimes like to try and take a crack at the Fossil Records. They claim that we have missing links in the records and that we do not observe evolution taking place. Look at the picture Code just posted. Creationists will demand to see the link between Skull number A and Skull number B. If you actually happen to unearth once and call it something like, Skull A.5 or whatever, the Creationist will demand to see the link between Skull A and Skull A.5, and so on ad nauseum. While it would be wonderful to posses such a detailed string of records, you need to understand how ridiculous that is... | 2009-05-11 07:28:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
| Exactly...Based on that reasoning, to prove it to that type of creationist, you would need to see every single human skull ever placed in chronological order. Only then could you see what happened between each time period exactly as it happened (very very slowly.) And you can even see things like the cranium (part where the brain is) getting larger over time, corresponding to humans learning, thinking and becoming more intelligent. | 2009-05-12 00:27:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| guys recently the pope when refering to islamic extremists said something along the lines of "religion shouldn't be used for political purposes". I hope this means that the catholic church wouldn't try and change laws because of what the bible says anymore. | 2009-05-12 15:51:00 Author: Don Vhalt Posts: 2270 |
| Honestly i think 2012 is just a buzz year/date. People are all scared cuz the Mayans didn't continue their calender. Nobody flips out when we end our calenders on dec 31st every year. Ever consider the Mayan Calender maker just didn't wanna continue after that point? Perhaps he thought to himself "man i just made a calender that will work for 2000 some years... somebody else can pick up my slack when this ones no good anymore..." LOL my optomist view on 2012... my cars paid of Jan of 2013 and I want to see my son grow up ****it! On religious debate, im atheist, forced to it by my hardcore Pentacostal Gma. Many times in my youth (youngest in my family), my grandma would come screaming at me with a bible. First time I smoked a cigarette I was told to read Revalations and was told I will be on earth during this apocolypse if i didnt not change my ways. Called my sister the B-word and was slapped with the same speech. Religion in my eyes just causes hate. Every religion has its bad apples, and unfortunatly those bad apples stand out alot more than the ones who use religion for inspiration and a way to better their lifes. | 2009-05-12 17:53:00 Author: HalfaSack  Posts: 214 |
| So I was watching some T.V today and learned a little more about the year 2012, which has come up a few different times on this thread. Many different cultures have recognized 2012 as an important year. Not only the Mayans, but many other people have talked about 2012. In 2012, it was predicted that there would be a galactic allignement, where the sun will rise (from our view on earth) from the very center of the galaxy. Im not really sure why this is important, but it shows that something interesting might actually be happening. I really wish some astronomy scholars read this thread and could help us out. | 2009-05-20 03:08:00 Author: chiropractor345 Posts: 161 |
| So I was watching some T.V today and learned a little more about the year 2012, which has come up a few different times on this thread. Many different cultures have recognized 2012 as an important year. Not only the Mayans, but many other people have talked about 2012. In 2012, it was predicted that there would be a galactic allignement, where the sun will rise (from our view on earth) from the very center of the galaxy. Im not really sure why this is important, but it shows that something interesting might actually be happening. I really wish some astronomy scholars read this thread and could help us out. It's true that all planets will be aligned and this happens extremely rarely. Each mass in the universe is influencing each other depending their own mass and position. We see effects from the moon on water and such things, we don't know what "all aligned planets" can do. I suppose it won't do much as planets move gradually. Another interesting thing is the possible return of the planet Mardul in the solar system. Nobody really know if it's true but this planet supposedly is following an ellipse that should cross our solar system every x number of years. Last time it suposedly hit a planet that was right after Mars, creating the asteroid field we know today. What those "legends" are saying is that according to some ancient people calculations, the next Marduk comes in the solar system, it might hit directly with planet Earth. Again, as most anything 2012, nothing is verified and can be assured as "the truth". . | 2009-05-20 16:40:00 Author: RangerZero Posts: 3901 |
| Honestly i think 2012 is just a buzz year/date. People are all scared cuz the Mayans didn't continue their calender. Nobody flips out when we end our calenders on dec 31st every year. Ever consider the Mayan Calender maker just didn't wanna continue after that point? Perhaps he thought to himself "man i just made a calender that will work for 2000 some years... somebody else can pick up my slack when this ones no good anymore..." LOL my optomist view on 2012... my cars paid of Jan of 2013 and I want to see my son grow up ****it! On religious debate, im atheist, forced to it by my hardcore Pentacostal Gma. Many times in my youth (youngest in my family), my grandma would come screaming at me with a bible. First time I smoked a cigarette I was told to read Revalations and was told I will be on earth during this apocolypse if i didnt not change my ways. Called my sister the B-word and was slapped with the same speech. Religion in my eyes just causes hate. Every religion has its bad apples, and unfortunatly those bad apples stand out alot more than the ones who use religion for inspiration and a way to better their lifes. Here's my theory: well, the theory that the Mayans were aliens, I won't completely dismiss it. They could return that date. The world COULD end, OR maybe they made/added on to the calender in like, winter solstice intervals or whatever. There will always be things we have no fricking clue about, though. How are pyramids separated by tons of miles and oceans built in a similar fashion? WHY do both Egyptians and Mayans build Pyramids for their gods around the same time period? They were separated by an ocean! Yeah. Aliens. 'n Stuff. ZOMG ALIENZ! | 2009-05-21 03:04:00 Author: qrtda235566 Posts: 3664 |
| "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - Carl Sagan That's all I have to say about the matter of 2012. I haven't seen any evidence against it, nor have I seen any evidence for it besides the Mayan Calendar. I'm much more concerned with learning all we can about the universe, so if there is any evidence for such an event we can find it, and possibly counter it. But we shouldn't go on a wild goose chase. | 2009-05-21 03:26:00 Author: Code1337 Posts: 3476 |
| People have always been throwing fits about the next upcoming doomsday scenario... African Killer Bee's, Y2K, LHC blowing up the planet, and even Grey Goo. In the list of things that could prove truly scary, Oil depletion, Global Economic disasters, CNB Terrorism, Global Warming and Pandemics all rate much higher on my boogie-list than any concerns over the 'New Age' of winter solstice in 2012. Just my 2 cents. | 2009-05-21 19:42:00 Author: Morrinn3 Posts: 493 |
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