Religion? Forced on you, You want it, You dont care

Discussion in 'Blazers OT Forum' started by Stephen Curry, Oct 22, 2013.

  1. crowTrobot

    crowTrobot die comcast

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    The OP question was a little incoherent and I think the derailment is part of answering the question.

    I was raised fundamentalist Christian, started questioning it as soon as I knew how (age 10 or so), by age 17 realized it was a mythology-based cult perpetuated by anti-intellectual emotionalism.
     
  2. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    Ouch.
     
  3. crowTrobot

    crowTrobot die comcast

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    that is only true if you intentionally leave your definition of god so vague or generic enough as to be inaccessible to observation.

    on the other hand you CAN use science to make deductions about the probability of Yahweh being mythological in the same way you can with Ra, Zeus, Thor etc.
     
  4. GriLtCheeZ

    GriLtCheeZ "Well, I'm not lookin' for trouble."

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    Boom.
     
  5. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    Hmmmm

    What was incoherent about this question? He asked if religion was force or you enjoyed it or you don't give a fuck because you don't believe. Everyone else answered without confusion but you.
     
  6. GrandpaBlaze

    GrandpaBlaze Predictions Game Master

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    To me God is not ambiguous. He is our creator.

    Using science to make deductions on the probability of God being mythological neither proves nor disproves, it merely provides intellectual fodder than be neither proven nor disproven as it is merely a probability.

    Essentially the two schools of thought are looking at Schrodinger's cat from different perspectives - rather than dead vs. alive, it is exists vs. doesn't exist. Until it can be proven either way, all science can definitively say is that it is possible that God does exist, but it is also possible that God does not exist.

    Actually, the way most science leaning people would put it is more along the lines of it is highly probable that God does not exist, but it is also possible that He does exist.

    Gramps...
     
  7. Eastoff

    Eastoff But it was a beginning.

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    You said "What if" Those are caused by men misusing technology. Are you an advocate for banning guns? They are a technology clearly designed for killing.
     
  8. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    I knew a guy from Northern Ireland in college (so this was "troubles" era) who said that when he was a kid you would routinely be approached by gangs of kids who would demand: "Catholic or Protestant?" to which he, honestly, replied "Atheist." Their response was: "yeah, sure, but Catholic or Protestant atheist?"
     
  9. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    THAT'S the religion! He remembers now. Actually, that might be all religions.
     
  10. Eastoff

    Eastoff But it was a beginning.

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    I read this book in a day when I was about 14. Could you talk about the allegory a little more?
     
  11. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    As long as there is evil in the world; guns are a necessary evil to protect yourself from the criminals that will still used "banned guns" to have an upper hand on the innocent.

    "What if" is 100% science. Are you saying that you don't put credit on the "what ifs"?
     
  12. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    Yes most scientists are agnostic. The atheists are as anti-intellectual as the theists in his definition.
     
  13. TradeNurkicNow

    TradeNurkicNow Resident OT Section Crank

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    I'm afraid you've stumbled into a clusterfuck here. I could clarify all day what I believe, but it's easier to just say yes. I think there is no creator. Science works.
     
  14. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    This debate always has the "usual suspects" that argue until they are blue in the face. They usually get nowhere. I am one that is just as guilty. ;)
     
  15. VanillaGorilla

    VanillaGorilla Well-Known Member

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    My family tried being Mormon when I was 2 years old. Didn't take cause my dad didn't wanna give them 10% of his income or whatever. Went to several different Christian churches after that until I was about 13 and decided it was bullshit. A year or so later, I realized I didn't believe there was a god, and started identifying as an atheist.

    My parents believe, but they never cared much what I believed.
     
  16. VanillaGorilla

    VanillaGorilla Well-Known Member

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    Ya think?

    This is you, right?

    [​IMG]
     
  17. crowTrobot

    crowTrobot die comcast

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    the OP sounds more like he's asking what people think about the benefits of religion as a social club. he said nothing at all about belief. he could be asking the same thing about being a member of boy scouts.

    everyone is responding with reasons for or against belief. that may be derailment, but I'm just following along.
     
  18. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    Hahahahah! Close. ASIANS cannot grow mustaches.
     
  19. magnifier661

    magnifier661 B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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    That was only your interpretation. You blatantly suggesting that everyone else (agnostic, atheist or theist) that answered like I mentioned misunderstood and you totally got it is pretty damn arrogant.
     
  20. TradeNurkicNow

    TradeNurkicNow Resident OT Section Crank

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    So much to say in this thread. I'm going to do it like this:

    Dear crowTrobot
    : You and mags have this weird love/hate relationship and it's kind of amusing. I agree with most of your points, but as I tend to do, I would hedge a little bit on a lot of things. Such as, science vs. religion. Perhaps they do represent differing approaches to knowledge, but in modern day practice I don't think this is the case. Perhaps you made this point and I missed it, but I would argue that many religious people only use the "religious" way of thinking when it comes to the (as yet) unknowable aspects of existence. The "God of the gaps" argument, so to speak. Not many people (like, nobody) use religion as their only approach to knowledge.

    Also, describing your parents religion as a "mythology-based cult perpetuated by anti-intellectual emotionalism" may be accurate, but perhaps not for all religions. Sure, whether a religion is a "mythology-based cult" or not is just a matter of semantics, but I would argue that not all religions are perpetuated by anti-intellectualism or emotionalism. There are many religions with varying degrees of beliefs.

    Dear Mags: I want to show your forum posts to my students so that they know there is at least one wealthy and successful person out there that doesn't have a clue about how to use semi-colons properly.

    I agree with your overall point that science and belief are compatible. I just don't know why you're focusing on something like "Well, if Einstein believed it, then..." I don't think that's going to convince crow of anything. Neither is trying to convince him of a "spirit" or "consciousness," because, well, science. There is just nothing within empirical scientific reasoning to suggest such a thing. And, as I think we know by now, if science can't prove it to be true, crow isn't going to believe it.

    And I know it's old news by now, but I think what crow was saying about technology is true. For 99% of our history, we lived in cold, pain and fear. It is technology (fire, agriculture, carpentry, medicine) that has made our lives as easy as they are today.

    Dear Nikolokjslsoksoshus: I love that your dad actually told you that. I honestly thought that was a Bill Hicks joke and no one could actually think that.
     

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