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WOOOOAAAAHHH :shocking: :crazyeyes
That's an argument from ignorance - and I mean that in the logical fallacy sense, not an insult! You're postulating based on your (our perhaps our) lack of understanding of a subject. Why not stop at saying "I don't know"?
Welcome to the new way, my friend :cool:
P.S. GO_AWAY! .
it isnt going to change the way I behave. It makes absolutely no difference, so i dont really spend much time pondering it
It's a very iffy subject because there's a lot of theories out there and it's very hard to disprove even one of them. Revelation, therefore, does not necessarily have to be predictions of the future. There are a few things I know for certain such as there will be no "anti-christ".
No genuine god would ever have allowed himself to be eradicated. He must have been pretty weak and powerless.
I grew up Christian, dabbled in investigating other religions (such as Islam, Hinduism etc), slowly developed into an agnostic .... and now, as I have become more and more interested and convinced in natural sciences (such as the formation of the universe and evolution), I am pretty much atheist. Although, how the initial touch paper for the (more than one?) Big Bang was lit, keeps me from being totally atheist. However, I do not believe that there is a caring god that is involved in our day-to-day lives or listens to our prayers.
awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wV_REEdvxo
Who do? You do?
:hyper:
However, I don't view Buddhism as a religion, but a system of ethics, or a way of life. I believe that the existence of higher beings or the supernatural is improbable, but Buddhism does not require the belief of a deity, or the lack thereof.
I spent so much time with the church, probably because it was what made me feel close to my father, who I otherwise hardly saw. Some things did not feel comfortable to me though...
I have tried Christianity and have real problems with the way in which some churches operate. I don't have an issue with whether or not people believe in God, but I do believe that it has been abused as a religion, as much as it has been a force for compassion.
I also like how Buddhism does not require blind faith, it is all about experience, seeing how stuff works out...
Could write a lot on what I like about Buddhism. It has likely been abused, like anything else gets abused... But right now, I enjoy reading and practicing it (when I can lol)
Except that your argument is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what modern physics claims. Firstly, the big bang explains how the universe came to exist in its current form. And secondly, it claims nothing before the big bang, because unlike religion, science makes no claims for things unless the data is there. Before the big bang comes the statement "we don't know."
As for stuff working too well in this world, I'd certainly question that. Certainly if you take the perspective of a lot of religions that this whole experiment was created for our benefit, which would suggest a terribly wasteful and careless god. Putting us on a collision course with another galaxy was particularly negligent, as was giving our sun a shelf life after which it will incinerate us all. On a more personal level, the pain in my wisdom teeth today hardly points to a well-designed mouth. This of course, all assumes that the god is as perfect as his followers claim, when in fact, he might just not be as good at his job as they like to claim. In that case, I'd give him a bit of slack for trying his best, because he did a better job than I could do.
But of course, the main thing I find funny about all of this is that even if the natural evidence did point to a designed universe and a god, for many people, it all too often happens to also point to the claims of the religion they are culturally surrounded by being correct too. It's all well and good having a belief in god (or the possibility of god) based on theoretical physics and the beginning of the universe, but it takes a lot more than that to be religious. Being religious is thinking that your god wants something from you. He expects certain behaviours from you. He wants you to follow certain (presumably god-given) instincts, and ignore others. And even if I could accept the idea that a universe was designed, the idea that any human could know the mind of a god in such detail is ludicrous to me. And that's just religion in the broadest possible sense, before we even mention the large numbers of religious people who claim to know what their god wants you to wear, or eat, or any number of other things.
And while you might not believe in your god because you don't like the alternative, that has been a position put forward several times on this thread. There are undoubtedly people in the world who believe in belief more than they actually believe in god or the particular religion they practice. It's very rare (i.e. I've never seen a single example) to find someone believing in a god who wishes they didn't. Belief in a god and belief in the benefit of belief pretty much always go hand-in-hand.
I love you. :thumb:
Yes they do, but there isn't - those that can't handle that ignore the ovious scams that pass as religion and follow, calling this abdication of reason "faith"
As for me, today I shall describe myself as "lapsed humanist"
Why does there have to be a 'point' just because the way it is, doesn't suit your agenda? You are merely the humble product of millions of years of miraculous evolution, including the unique evolutionary trait of 'self-awareness' and 'empathy', that has developed our species into becoming the most successful sociable animal on Earth. It's just evolution and natural selection which took us to a place no other animal had reached before.
So why am I not nihilistic? Because every day, I look at the incredible random 'creation' around me and wonder in awe at how we came to be here. In fact, losing my faith has been liberating and exhilarating beyond belief - surely the most important decision I have ever made. It's like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and it has given me the freedom to really love this life.
I agree. I would also like to think there is more to life than "eating, breathing and shagging" but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
(Do what?)
Remind me of the babe,
Love that movie
Quickest way to annoy the hell out of me is to bring this up. I don't care if it's a joke and not serious but it's usually used in terms to disrespect any and all religions and to call those who follow them simple minded, stupid, and/or delusional for their beliefs.
I'm nonreligious atm. There are a few that do stick out to me because of what little I know about their beliefs, for example Buddhism and Wicca, but for the time being I'm not really interested in finding anything.
I believe I have posted why in my post, perhaps you should reread it?
It's obvious now that you need things pointed out for you to see them.