West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Train of Thought => Topic started by: pootypooty on December 20, 2010, 03:28:48 AM
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http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/
Why don’t you believe in God? I get that question all the time. I always try to give a sensitive, reasoned answer. This is usually awkward, time consuming and pointless. People who believe in God don’t need proof of his existence, and they certainly don’t want evidence to the contrary. They are happy with their belief. They even say things like “it’s true to me” and “it’s faith”. I still give my logical answer because I feel that not being honest would be patronizing and impolite. It is ironic therefore that “I don’t believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence and from what I’ve heard the very definition is a logical impossibility in this known universe”, comes across as both patronizing and impolite.
Arrogance is another accusation. Which seems particularly unfair. Science seeks the truth. And it does not discriminate. For better or worse it finds things out. Science is humble. It knows what it knows and it knows what it doesn’t know. It bases its conclusions and beliefs on hard evidence -‐ evidence that is constantly updated and upgraded. It doesn’t get offended when new facts come along. It embraces the body of knowledge. It doesn’t hold on to medieval practices because they are tradition. If it did, you wouldn’t get a shot of penicillin, you’d pop a leach down your trousers and pray. Whatever you “believe”, this is not as effective as medicine. Again you can say, “It works for me”, but so do placebos. My point being, I’m saying God doesn’t exist. I’m not saying faith doesn’t exist. I know faith exists. I see it all the time. But believing in something doesn’t make it true. Hoping that something is true doesn’t make it true. The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn’t. It’s not a matter of opinion. You can have your own opinions. But you can’t have your own facts.
Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, “Why don’t you believe I can fly?” You’d say, “Why would I?” I’d reply, “Because it’s a matter of faith”. If I then said, “Prove I can’t fly. Prove I can’t fly see, see, you can’t prove it can you?” You’d probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, ‘’F—ing fly then you lunatic.”
This, is of course a spirituality issue, religion is a different matter. As an atheist, I see nothing “wrong” in believing in a god. I don’t think there is a god, but belief in him does no harm. If it helps you in any way, then that’s fine with me. It’s when belief starts infringing on other people’s rights when it worries me. I would never deny your right to believe in a god. I would just rather you didn’t kill people who believe in a different god, say. Or stone someone to death because your rulebook says their sexuality is immoral. It’s strange that anyone who believes that an all-‐powerful all knowing, omniscient power responsible for everything that happens, would also want to judge and punish people for what they are. From what I can gather, pretty much the worst type of person you can be is an atheist. The first four commandments hammer this point home. There is a god”, I’m him, no one else is, you’re not as good and don’t forget it. (Don’t murder anyone, doesn’t get a mention till number 6.)
When confronted with anyone who holds my lack of religious faith in such contempt, I say, “It’s the way God made me.”
But what are atheists really being accused of?
The dictionary definition of God is “a supernatural creator and overseer of the universe”. Included in this definition are all deities, goddesses and supernatural beings. Since the beginning of recorded history, which is defined by the invention of writing by the Sumerians around 6000 years ago, historians have cataloged over 3700 supernatural beings, of which 2870 can be considered deities.
So next time someone tells me they believe in God, I’ll say “Oh which one? Zeus? Hades? Jupiter? Mars? Odin? Thor? Krishna? Vishnu? Ra?…” If they say “Just God. I only believe in the one God”, I’ll point out that they are nearly as atheistic as me. I don’t believe in 2,870 gods, and they don’t believe in 2,869.
I used to believe in God. The Christian one that is.
I loved Jesus. He was my hero. More than pop stars. More than footballers. More than God. God was by definition omnipotent and perfect. Jesus was a man. He had to work at it. He had temptation but defeated sin. He had integrity and courage. But He was my hero because He was kind. And He was kind to everyone. He didn’t bow to peer pressure or tyranny or cruelty. He didn’t care who you were. He loved you. What a guy. I wanted to be just like Him.
One day when I was about 8 years old, I was drawing the crucifixion as part of my Bible-‐studies homework. I loved art too. And nature. I loved how God made all the animals. They were also perfect. Unconditionally beautiful. It was an amazing world.
I lived in a very poor, working-‐class estate in an urban sprawl called Reading, about 40 miles west of London. My father was a laborer and my mother was a housewife. I was never ashamed of poverty. It was almost noble. Also, everyone I knew was in the same situation, and I had everything I needed. School was free. My clothes were cheap and always clean and ironed. And mum was always cooking. She was cooking the day I was drawing on the cross.
I was sitting at the kitchen table when my brother came home. He was 11 years older than me, so he would have been 19. He was as smart as anyone I knew, but he was too cheeky. He would answer back and get into trouble. I was a good boy. I went to church and believed in God – what a relief for a working-‐class mother. You see, growing up where I did, mums didn’t hope as high as their kids growing up to be doctors; they just hoped their kids didn’t go to jail. So bring them up believing in God and they’ll be good and law abiding. It’s a perfect system. Well, nearly. 75 percent of Americans are God-‐fearing Christians; 75 percent of prisoners are God-‐fearing Christians. 10 percent of Americans are atheists; 0.2 percent of prisoners are atheists.
But anyway, there I was happily drawing my hero when my big brother Bob asked, “Why do you believe in God?” Just a simple question. But my mum panicked. “Bob” she said in a tone that I knew meant, “Shut up.” Why was that a bad thing to ask? If there was a God and my faith was strong it didn’t matter what people said.
Oh … hang on. There is no God. He knows it, and she knows it deep down. It was as simple as that. I started thinking about it and asking more questions, and within an hour, I was an atheist.
Wow. No God. If mum had lied to me about God, had she also lied to me about Santa? Yes, of course, but who cares? The gifts kept coming. And so did the gifts of my new found atheism. The gifts of truth, science, nature. The real beauty of this world. I learned of evolution – a theory so simple that only England’s greatest genius could have come up with it. Evolution of plants, animals and us – with imagination, free will, love, humor. I no longer needed a reason for my existence, just a reason to live. And imagination, free will, love, humor, fun, music, sports, beer and pizza are all good enough reasons for living.
But living an honest life – for that you need the truth. That’s the other thing I learned that day, that the truth, however shocking or uncomfortable, in the end leads to liberation and dignity.
So what does the question “Why don’t you believe in God?” really mean. I think when someone asks that; they are really questioning their own belief. In a way they are asking “what makes you so special? “How come you weren’t brainwashed with the rest of us?” “How dare you say I’m a fool and I’m not going to heaven, f— you!” Let’s be honest, if one person believed in God he would be considered pretty strange. But because it’s a very popular view it’s accepted. And why is it such a popular view? That’s obvious. It’s an attractive proposition. Believe in me and live forever. Again if it was just a case of spirituality this would be fine. “Do unto others…” is a good rule of thumb. I live by that. Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. Buts that’s exactly what it is -‐ a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. I’m good. I just don’t believe I’ll be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. It’s knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life. And that’s where spirituality really lost its way. When it became a stick to beat people with. “Do this or you’ll burn in hell.”
You won’t burn in hell. But be nice anyway.
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I don’t believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence
it hasnt been proven that he doesn't
hence the agnostic stance
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tl;dr
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I don’t believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence
The main thing that gets me about when people say that is they usually don't know how to prove or disprove anything science related. Science in depth is a very difficult thing to understand for the vast majority of people. How many people that believe in evolution can really explain how it works and what the evidence is that lead to it? Probably only evolutionary scientists. Most people that believe in evolution can explain the gist of it, but barely 0.1% could stand in and debate evolution, with any intelligence, in a room of actual evolution scientists.
Science is taught to us the same way math is; application rather than theory. Only the select few get to reach the level that understands why calculus is the way it is. They instead just learn that to get the derivative you do this and then that and presto abracadabra.
My point is that if Science found a way to read matter that proved to scientist there is an intelligent force guiding the universe; almost all atheists would agree, but almost none of them would be able to explain why.
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^it's funny that you say that about calculus, back it the day when i was good at math, and taking calculus, i killed it at the actualy problems, but what i was actually doing, who the fuck knows, i was just good at playing with numbers.
i dont fully disagree with him, despite the fact that i dislike him (as an actor/comedian), i think he is making a bigger deal at the current climate, there is a lot more athiasts now, and not believing in god isn't really that extremely frowned upon/questioned, as it was before (at least in the civilized cities of the world)
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^it's funny that you say that about calculus, back it the day when i was good at math, and taking calculus, i killed it at the actualy problems, but what i was actually doing, who the fuck knows, i was just good at playing with numbers.
i dont fully disagree with him, despite the fact that i dislike him (as an actor/comedian), i think he is making a bigger deal at the current climate, there is a lot more athiasts now, and not believing in god isn't really that extremely frowned upon/questioned, as it was before (at least in the civilized cities of the world)
And most people I know that believe in God, don't really. They were just raised to. I don't think I know anyone in my age range that would really be shocked, stunned, and angry that someone is an atheist. As a pretty devout Christian I could care less if someone tells me they don't believe in God. Meaning, no negative thoughts of any kind cross my mind. I don't think of them as evil, or that they stand any risk of going to hell, or anything like that.
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yea i think we live in a society (again, in major cities, not to stereotype but im not including farmville/hicktown usa), but a society that it is more shocking that someone goes to church devoutly than if someone is w/e or not believing in god. but some athiest are still such douches, they feel so fucking high and mighty cause they feel like they are so much stronger than religious people because they dont 'need' god.
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some athiest are still such douches, they feel so fucking high and mighty cause they feel like they are so much stronger than religious people because they dont 'need' god.
But they don't really act any more high and mighty than your average devout Christian. Like the article says, atheists only believe in one less god than Christians, out of the 3000 that exist. I don't see the way atheists act towards mainstream religions like Christianity as any different than the way most Christians treat Scientology.
Also I find it kind of funny how theists believe atheists are somehow against them or are completely close-minded to their beliefs. When in reality the moment any credible evidence of a God is found, all these atheists would immediately become theists. I'm pretty sure all atheists would love to be shown wrong.
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I believe three-assholed, winged camels exist and there is no way you can disprove that they don't.
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But they don't really act any more high and mighty than your average devout Christian. Like the article says, atheists only believe in one less god than Christians, out of the 3000 that exist. I don't see the way atheists act towards mainstream religions like Christianity as any different than the way most Christians treat Scientology.
Also I find it kind of funny how theists believe atheists are somehow against them or are completely close-minded to their beliefs. When in reality the moment any credible evidence of a God is found, all these atheists would immediately become theists. I'm pretty sure all atheists would love to be shown wrong.
There's more credible evidence that God exists than there is that carbon dioxide is going to destroy the Earth with in 50 years and plenty of atheists had no problem believing in Al Gore and Leo DiCaprio. My point is that the atheist takes the "I'm smarter than that" approach, but they're really not any smarter, they just don't want to believe in a God. Christians do. That's the only difference; desire. If you want to believe something bad enough, you'll see it.
I believe three-assholed, winged camels exist and there is no way you can disprove that they don't.
I would never even try and disprove it.
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some athiest are still such douches, they feel so fucking high and mighty cause they feel like they are so much stronger than religious people because they dont 'need' god.
But they don't really act any more high and mighty than your average devout Christian. Like the article says, atheists only believe in one less god than Christians, out of the 3000 that exist. I don't see the way atheists act towards mainstream religions like Christianity as any different than the way most Christians treat Scientology.
Also I find it kind of funny how theists believe atheists are somehow against them or are completely close-minded to their beliefs. When in reality the moment any credible evidence of a God is found, all these atheists would immediately become theists. I'm pretty sure all atheists would love to be shown wrong.
lets be real, EVERYONE thinks sceintology is a joke. thats one thing atheists & christians can agree on.
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some athiest are still such douches, they feel so fucking high and mighty cause they feel like they are so much stronger than religious people because they dont 'need' god.
But they don't really act any more high and mighty than your average devout Christian. Like the article says, atheists only believe in one less god than Christians, out of the 3000 that exist. I don't see the way atheists act towards mainstream religions like Christianity as any different than the way most Christians treat Scientology.
Also I find it kind of funny how theists believe atheists are somehow against them or are completely close-minded to their beliefs. When in reality the moment any credible evidence of a God is found, all these atheists would immediately become theists. I'm pretty sure all atheists would love to be shown wrong.
I would question it.
Always thought that if there was a god he would be just a random individual in a society which is above our universal standards.
The reason of our existence would be nothing mind blowing like people hope but simply something that would translate to "The Condom Broke"
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some athiest are still such douches, they feel so fucking high and mighty cause they feel like they are so much stronger than religious people because they dont 'need' god.
But they don't really act any more high and mighty than your average devout Christian. Like the article says, atheists only believe in one less god than Christians, out of the 3000 that exist. I don't see the way atheists act towards mainstream religions like Christianity as any different than the way most Christians treat Scientology.
Also I find it kind of funny how theists believe atheists are somehow against them or are completely close-minded to their beliefs. When in reality the moment any credible evidence of a God is found, all these atheists would immediately become theists. I'm pretty sure all atheists would love to be shown wrong.
lets be real, EVERYONE thinks sceintology is a joke. thats one thing atheists & christians can agree on.
What you fail to realize is that atheists feel the same way about your religion as you feel about Scientology.
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There's more credible evidence that God exists than there is that carbon dioxide is going to destroy the Earth with in 50 years
Such as?
Science is like math. Something that has been researched and developed over hundreds of years. The everyday person can't possibly explain it thoroughly unless they spent many years learning about it. That's why scientists exist, people who make careers out of it because the ordinary person has way to much shit to do. Science also doesn't pretend to know all the answers, or that the theories it develops are the end all be all.
Religion today (specifically Christianity) exists as something for the individual. Its simple to understand. Its not based on hundreds of years spent studying the world and seeking to explain it. Its based on one book. And it doesn't need to make sense. It knows its right, no matter what happens. But those who believe don't know any more than those who don't. Hence all the questioning.
My point is that the atheist takes the "I'm smarter than that" approach, but they're really not any smarter, they just don't want to believe in a God. Christians do. That's the only difference; desire.
Don't want to or have no reason to? Who wouldn't want to believe in an all-powerful being that will give you eternal life? Atheists really aren't any more close-minded than you, since you only want to believe in one God.
If you want to believe something bad enough, you'll see it.
That's true. People can force themselves to believe in anything. I guess the question is why?
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There's more credible evidence that God exists than there is that carbon dioxide is going to destroy the Earth with in 50 years
Such as?
Science is like math. Something that has been researched and developed over hundreds of years. The everyday person can't possibly explain it thoroughly unless they spent many years learning about it. That's why scientists exist, people who make careers out of it because the ordinary person has way to much shit to do. Science also doesn't pretend to know all the answers, or that the theories it develops are the end all be all.
Religion today (specifically Christianity) exists as something for the individual. Its simple to understand. Its not based on hundreds of years spent studying the world and seeking to explain it. Its based on one book. And it doesn't need to make sense. It knows its right, no matter what happens. But those who believe don't know any more than those who don't. Hence all the questioning.
My point is that the atheist takes the "I'm smarter than that" approach, but they're really not any smarter, they just don't want to believe in a God. Christians do. That's the only difference; desire.
Don't want to or have no reason to? Who wouldn't want to believe in an all-powerful being that will give you eternal life? Atheists really aren't any more close-minded than you, since you only want to believe in one God.
If you want to believe something bad enough, you'll see it.
That's true. People can force themselves to believe in anything. I guess the question is why?
There are historical accounts from people that claim they saw Jesus and heard him say and do Godly things. I am not using this to prove anything with regards to God, so don't bother refuting it, I'm not trying to convince you of any scientific proof. No one has ever seen carbon destroy the earth. There is no science behind it, just environmentalists pushing agendas. There are at least 4 guys that saw God and wrote about it. There are zero that saw carbon destroy the earth.
I already stated I only believe in the good I do because that's the one I want to believe in. You can't use what I said about me and make it seem like you came up with it.
I don't know why people don't want a God or will believe what they want. Freud might be better at figuring that out than me. I'm just telling you how I see it.
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No one has ever seen carbon destroy the earth. There is no science behind it, just environmentalists pushing agendas.
Do you know what you are talking about? Carbon can't destroy the earth. If you're going to deflect the topic away from God and to global warming at least explain it properly. I'll ignore what you said about Jesus, per your request.
I already stated I only believe in the good I do because that's the one I want to believe in. You can't use what I said about me and make it seem like you came up with it.
That's not a real answer.
I don't know why people don't want a God or will believe what they want. Freud might be better at figuring that out than me. I'm just telling you how I see it.
But you know why YOU do presumably. That's what I'm asking.
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I don't know why people don't want a God
History has proven plenty of times people don't like it when 1 person has too much power.
Especially one as powerful and bitter as the God which is described in the old testament.
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No one has ever seen carbon destroy the earth. There is no science behind it, just environmentalists pushing agendas.
Do you know what you are talking about? Carbon can't destroy the earth. If you're going to deflect the topic away from God and to global warming at least explain it properly. I'll ignore what you said about Jesus, per your request.
I already stated I only believe in the good I do because that's the one I want to believe in. You can't use what I said about me and make it seem like you came up with it.
That's not a real answer.
I don't know why people don't want a God or will believe what they want. Freud might be better at figuring that out than me. I'm just telling you how I see it.
But you know why YOU do presumably. That's what I'm asking.
I don't care about Global warming. The point is there is nothing scientific about saying we are doing it by not going green fast enough. The whole carbon will destroy the earth is a play on words implying the agenda the nuts are pushing. Ever wonder why you don't see any actual scientists at the forefront of this? Every major scientific claim has at least one scientist that becomes a major celebrity because of it. Global Warming has none, because they no better than to look foolish.
Yes it is a real answer, because it was my original claim that you tried to use against me as a question. I said that the reason I am a Christian is the same reason atheists are atheist, and polytheists are polytheists; because it suits each of us to think the way we think. I didn't call anyone closed minded. I said atheists used the I'm smarter than that card, I never said they were less smart. I said we were equal.
I don't know why I want to believe in God, what made me this way. That's why I brought up Freud. You have to really study a person to figure out something like that. Nature, nurture, whatever. Why do I like Nutella in the morning on untoasted sliced bread, and peanut butter at night on toasted bread, and if I have either at the other time it feels weird?
Bad example meant to highlight how trivial it is to attempt at figuring out a person's desire to believe in God. The truth is I feel it is a very deep subconscious matter that would take a team of therapists a few years to figure out.
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Snow just caved in the Metrodome, and California has too much rain... global warming my ass.
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yea nutella just ended this argument.
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Snow just caved in the Metrodome, and California has too much rain... global warming my ass.
For the record, I'm not doubting Global Warming. The core of the earth has warmed so many tenths of a degrees, like it did in the first 30 years of the 1900s. I'm saying the "science" behind the claim that it is man made from carbon emissions does not exist. If it did you'd see scientists, not politicians and actors, explaining how carbon is doing it. You don't see them. There's also no evidence to support catastrophe if the Earth warms another few tenths of a degrees.
Where there is scientific evidence is from solar physicists who claim there will be a sun cooling cycle that will start at around 2019 and thus cool the earth at that point. So I expect another Ice Age scare from Leo and co. at about 2025. He'll need it then to revitalize his then dead career.
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well, at least you are consistent. Can't see God, doesn't exist, can't see gas, they are not causing global warming, can't see radio waves, radio sucks, can't see cell phone signals, cell phones must cause cancer, can't see Wi-Fi, own a desktop and only use that because Wi-Fi doesn't exist.
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yea nutella just ended this argument.
yum
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No one has ever seen carbon destroy the earth. There is no science behind it, just environmentalists pushing agendas.
Do you know what you are talking about? Carbon can't destroy the earth. If you're going to deflect the topic away from God and to global warming at least explain it properly. I'll ignore what you said about Jesus, per your request.
I already stated I only believe in the good I do because that's the one I want to believe in. You can't use what I said about me and make it seem like you came up with it.
That's not a real answer.
I don't know why people don't want a God or will believe what they want. Freud might be better at figuring that out than me. I'm just telling you how I see it.
But you know why YOU do presumably. That's what I'm asking.
Actually, Shallow is correct in that there are some environmentalists that have said that too much carbon dioxide has caused a rise in global warming. It's called the Greenhouse Effect, and G.S. Callendar made this argument waaaay back in 1938. The Carnegie Institution for Science made basically the same allegation as recently as this year. Not all scientists agree with it, and if you're saying it's a bad argument I would agree with you. Considering carbon dioxide is a by-product of breathing, it's not as though you can do away with it. But it is a real argument.
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I have an aunt who claimed to see Jesus, the devil and angels in her life. She would cry and get emotional every time she mentioned her encounters with the super natural.
She is a diagnosed schizophrenic.
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I have an aunt who claimed to see Jesus, the devil and angels in her life. She would cry and get emotional every time she mentioned her encounters with the super natural.
She is a diagnosed schizophrenic.
500 years ago if you said you knew for sure God didn't exist they called you crazy and locked you. Now if you say you know for sure God does exist they call you crazy and lock you away. Maybe she is nuts and she just sees things in her own mind. Maybe she really does see these things, like Galileo and Copernicus saw the planets moving around the sun, and it's going to take a while for the rest of the world to accept that.
Because you see, in Ancient Greece, 2000+ years ago it was okay to see the planets moving around the sun and to see and talk to Gods at the same time.
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I don't know why people don't want a God
History has proven plenty of times people don't like it when 1 person has too much power.
Especially one as powerful and bitter as the God which is described in the old testament.
we're talking about a god, we're not talking bout an alien society that created and is overlooking us, than they would just be aliens, with sufficient technology to create life. we're talking bout A GOD, something that creates matter, gravity, planets, conscious thoughts, dreams.
and to your earlier post also, a random individual in an advanced society? lol wow, come to reality kid, if it were an individual over looking humanity whats stopping others to interfere? and if they werent able to interfere are we mere ants in an ant farm? how would time process? are our lives comparable to a common house fly to them? as our life time is a mere minute? or couple seconds to them? and would the whole concept of good and evil apply to them? given that (considering Christianity) that the creater is divine and all good?
funny how you would say "universal" on this topic, really bad term to use when we basically are talking bout the universe. its more like humanities standards.
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I have an aunt who claimed to see Jesus, the devil and angels in her life. She would cry and get emotional every time she mentioned her encounters with the super natural.
She is a diagnosed schizophrenic.
500 years ago if you said you knew for sure God didn't exist they called you crazy and locked you. Now if you say you know for sure God does exist they call you crazy and lock you away. Maybe she is nuts and she just sees things in her own mind. Maybe she really does see these things, like Galileo and Copernicus saw the planets moving around the sun, and it's going to take a while for the rest of the world to accept that.
Because you see, in Ancient Greece, 2000+ years ago it was okay to see the planets moving around the sun and to see and talk to Gods at the same time.
well that was than and this is now, imo, religions been there for nations to keep control of the general population and use it for propaganda etc etc. because nonetheless rather if people did believe it or not it did keep in conrtrol of the population and propaganda in the history of mankind.
the fact that its less accepted in society today (as in seeing god, etc, etc ) is that we dont need it anymore, people are more educated, they know whats morally right and wrong without the need of religion, thus the case where it makes religious fanataics and zealots unacceptable,
if they truly believe in a religion, (takking christianity as an example because its the easiest as i grew up in a protestant family) and u interpet a verse in the bible or someone like a priest told you it was the word of god to kill and rid of heretics and heathens, than thats pertty dangerous, kinda like the jihad 500 virgin bs, because if u do gods willing youll go to heaven, which can makes you homicidal/ suicidal, or sway a large group or mob to go on a modern day crusade (which wont happen but just making a point)
although i also have doubts about global warming, theres no doubt we're harming our environment, and we have limited natural resources that we greatly depend on, overpopulation is a huge problem, and with limited natural resources, and the total amount of energy we put into agriculture, theres going to be famine and war.
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I don't know why people don't want a God
History has proven plenty of times people don't like it when 1 person has too much power.
Especially one as powerful and bitter as the God which is described in the old testament.
we're talking about a god, we're not talking bout an alien society that created and is overlooking us, than they would just be aliens, with sufficient technology to create life. we're talking bout A GOD, something that creates matter, gravity, planets, conscious thoughts, dreams.
and to your earlier post also, a random individual in an advanced society? lol wow, come to reality kid, if it were an individual over looking humanity whats stopping others to interfere? and if they werent able to interfere are we mere ants in an ant farm? how would time process? are our lives comparable to a common house fly to them? as our life time is a mere minute? or couple seconds to them? and would the whole concept of good and evil apply to them? given that (considering Christianity) that the creater is divine and all good?
funny how you would say "universal" on this topic, really bad term to use when we basically are talking bout the universe. its more like humanities standards.
1. Why would I interfere with your shitty science project?
2. The Same reason I'm not posting with your account, I could probably do it but it's too much work for an outcome not worth it.
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I always get into it with a friend at work that pushes her Christian beliefs on me. I think organized religion is a crock of shit. She told me I would burn in hell for not believing in god. And when I told her I do not believe in heaven or hell, she said "heaven is much better than here (real life), this is just temporary. I'm gonna live in paradise for eternity." Then I asked her why doesn't she just go kill herself. She replied "you can't go to heaven if you kill yourself." None of this shit makes sense to me. I'll admit that I am conflicted in where I stand as far as how we came about. Did we evolve from a fish?? Adam and eve? We'll never know. But I lean more toward science on this one.
Shallow I read your first couple of posts, how an atheist wouldn't know how to explain evolution. But the same can be said for a lot of people and their religion. A lot of people don't know why they do the things they do. Give something up for 40 days? (Or however many days it is.) What is that going to do for you? These people only believe it because it's all they've known since they were a child. They just repeat what their parents say and don't really follow the word of the bible. A lot of these people feel like you are attacking them when you question them. When in actuality I question them to gain a better understanding of their beliefs.
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Shallow I read your first couple of posts, how an atheist wouldn't know how to explain evolution. But the same can be said for a lot of people and their religion. A lot of people don't know why they do the things they do. Give something up for 40 days? (Or however many days it is.) What is that going to do for you? These people only believe it because it's all they've known since they were a child. They just repeat what their parents say and don't really follow the word of the bible. A lot of these people feel like you are attacking them when you question them. When in actuality I question them to gain a better understanding of their beliefs.
My whole point is atheists and theists are very similar with their beliefs and how they cannot explain them. I never said otherwise. And I never said Christians in general can better explain their beliefs. They can't. The difference is that atheists play the "I'm smarter than you" card but can't back it up. Christians play the moral card usually, and they usually don't back it up either.
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Shallow I read your first couple of posts, how an atheist wouldn't know how to explain evolution. But the same can be said for a lot of people and their religion. A lot of people don't know why they do the things they do. Give something up for 40 days? (Or however many days it is.) What is that going to do for you? These people only believe it because it's all they've known since they were a child. They just repeat what their parents say and don't really follow the word of the bible. A lot of these people feel like you are attacking them when you question them. When in actuality I question them to gain a better understanding of their beliefs.
My whole point is atheists and theists are very similar with their beliefs and how they cannot explain them. I never said otherwise. And I never said Christians in general can better explain their beliefs. They can't. The difference is that atheists play the "I'm smarter than you" card but can't back it up. Christians play the moral card usually, and they usually don't back it up either.
Not really. Evolution is fairly easy to explain considering we all learned about it in grade school.
I'd also like to point out that the two people you've mentioned so far, Al Gore and Leonardo Dicaprio are both theists.
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Shallow I read your first couple of posts, how an atheist wouldn't know how to explain evolution. But the same can be said for a lot of people and their religion. A lot of people don't know why they do the things they do. Give something up for 40 days? (Or however many days it is.) What is that going to do for you? These people only believe it because it's all they've known since they were a child. They just repeat what their parents say and don't really follow the word of the bible. A lot of these people feel like you are attacking them when you question them. When in actuality I question them to gain a better understanding of their beliefs.
My whole point is atheists and theists are very similar with their beliefs and how they cannot explain them. I never said otherwise. And I never said Christians in general can better explain their beliefs. They can't. The difference is that atheists play the "I'm smarter than you" card but can't back it up. Christians play the moral card usually, and they usually don't back it up either.
Not really. Evolution is fairly easy to explain considering we all learned about it in grade school.
I'd also like to point out that the two people you've mentioned so far, Al Gore and Leonardo Dicaprio are both theists.
So then break it down, cell by cell and explain it to me. Tell me what causes what in the process, and how science came to each conclusion. What you learned in grade school was the result of what science found. You never learned the science. And to even think it could be taught in grade school, to children, shows how little you understand about evolution and science.