93 replies to this topic

[Tamworthbay]

I do think the picture of Adam and Eve that appears on FB regularly makes a good point. So if they are the first people on Earth how come they both have belly buttons??
 
Anyway things to make you laugh if you are a FB user are Groups like Christians Against Athesim and Christians against Dinosaurs.

I think they have got Brad Pitt to play the lead in Christians v dinosaurs.

And if people think Christians are mad, I saw an ad on the telly for the church of Scientology last week...............

[minimarco]

If you work start with the hypothesis that there is no god, then his/her/its character has to reflect the imagination and personality of the believer.

..Or your parents

Though, if you're an evolutionist, you have to entertain the notion that belief offers an evolutionary advantage.

Belief did not come about till humans were fully developed. Religion is 5000 years old and human evolution began 200,000 years ago. And by the time it came along, we've been the top of the food chain for tens of thousands of years. So no, it did not have any evolutionary advantage whatsoever.

However, if you want to look at the affect of religion on society, there is plenty from the dark ages to the current IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Imagine where science would be today if we didn't have to deal with all the BS

Countries free of religion are the most socially advanced and have the lowest crime rate. (side note, only 0.07% of convicts in American prisons are Atheists)
 

indeed, and has been shown to improve survival rates in various situations of adversity

Not any more than a placebo drug would.

Faith and hope is healthy for the psyche, but believing stories made up by a bunch of misogynistic homophobic guys who didn't know where the sun went at night is not.

Edited by minimarco, 27 June 2015 - 08:30 PM.

[Fast Ivan]

indeed, and has been shown to improve survival rates in various situations of adversity

Not any more than a placebo drug would.

Faith and hope is healthy for the psyche, but believing stories made up by a bunch of misogynistic homophobic guys who didn't know where the sun went at night is not.

 

preaching to the converted here pal, (haha see what I did there)

I'll have to try find the source of the paper I read on it, interesting read, but as you suggest - its probably not divine intervention

Edited by Rob Mac, 27 June 2015 - 08:29 PM.

[minimarco]

preaching to the converted here pal, (haha see what I did there)
I'll have to try find the source of the paper I read on it, interesting read, but as you suggest - its probably not divine intervention

Haha sorry, I lived with a religious roommate for a year and a half, I'm a bit touchy on the subject.

[1984mini25]

Anther one to google/Facebook/YouTube is... Adam hills westboro baptist church...

 

http://www.dailymail...s-hospital.html

Edited by 1984mini25, 27 June 2015 - 08:56 PM.

[Ethel]

Religion could only be a placebo if there's no god, but the belief is real enough.

 

While there  may only be a few thousand years' worth of archaeological evidence for organised religion, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of belief isn't as old as we are as a species. I'd also expect it would be as difficult to identify a starting point for belief as it is for separate species, if they have evolved together. 

 

If you look on burial as possible evidence of some form of belief, then religion could be anything from 50 to 350 thousand years old. It would also be hard to dismiss cave art as an early form of Haynes Manual.

[Mini 360]

Putting blind faith in a 'greater power' like so many do is illogical to my mind.  Saying that everything happens for a reason is absurd too.  Fry gets it bang on.  Different religions all preach to love and care for everyone but religion sparks more conflicts and violence than any other organisation on earth.  Even the same religion fight with each other over differing belief technicalities (refer to Irelands Catholic vs protestant never ending fiasco)  Insanity pure and simple.

[yeti21586]

Yes the majority of wars have been started due to some one twisting a religious text to fit there ideology. But does that mean there's no God? Just because a small amount of so called believers do horrific things in Gods name doesn't mean God wanted it and doesn't mean it was his plan or intention.

Ok let me ask you a question. What do you believe?

[Tamworthbay]

To be fair it's not religion that causes the wars, it's a minority USE of religion to oppress a majority and exploit them that causes the problems. I am no expert in Jesus to say the least but my limited knowledge suggests a general message of live frugally, help your neighbours, be kind to people. If you go to St Peters square in Rome you couldn't be further from that if you tried. So is that fault of religion or the few that abuse it's message?

[Mini 360]

Ok let me ask you a question. What do you believe?

 

I believe that there is no evidence of currently having or previously having had, a god.  It's all based on a book that was written many years ago in a radically different time, before science existed/was able to explain exactly how the world works and how it has evolved over time.  It was easier and more plausible in these times to pin it all on some 'greater power' that was doing it all.  These beliefs have just continued to this day which I find incredible given our proof in the form of science.

 

I am fine with people having a faith, as it's up to them to believe what they want.  If they want to be led by something/someone up there, go right ahead.  It's the questioning of others and why they don't believe and forcing their religion on people that I despise.  

 

For example an old Uni friend of mine was a dedicated church goer and was heavily involved in 'spreading the good word of the lord' and basically said I should believe to make myself a good person.  He simply didn't take it that I didn't believe because I saw no proof so why would I believe it?  He went abroad to impoverished countries, not to do charity work and actually help people but to go round the poor saying god loved them and they would be ok, when clearly they wouldn't be.  

 

My grandmother goes to church every Sunday and admittedly doesn't mention it around my family, as she knows it would be falling on deaf ears.  I have found that some of her church are the most judgmental and bitter people I have ever met.  Surely that goes against the Christians faith of seeing good in people and not judging them?  Its not just limited to that select group either but the wider church population too.  My girlfriends grandfather is a retired minister and he is a lovely man and agrees that the church needs to come into the modern world and see it for what it really is.

 

I find it equally incredible that amount of 100% non-religious, never been to church type people that get married in a church.  I find that entirely hypocritical.  If you don't believe, I would say its insulting to Christians to use it to get married in, as its effectively treating it as a room for hire.

 

 

None of the above is aimed at anyone in particular, its just my thoughts on the subject.  I respect people stances on the subject but I have some pretty strong feelings on it.  As Fry says, I do not see how a world filled with such abject misery can be overlooked by a god that is supposed to bring good to the world and its people.

[yeti21586]

On your first point about the Bible being written in a time when we didn't understand stuff etc. are you saying that because we know more about how the earth works and how we as humans work and how Eco systems fit together, and about the solar system and Galaxy etc that that means there is no God?

[Mini 360]

Based purely on the thought that it was god who created the world and everything in and around it, yes, as it is disproved by scientific fact.

[yeti21586]

How much do people in this site know about minis, how to take them apart and how they go back together etc, so does that disprove that Alec Issigonis existed or that he designed it?

What's your opinion on how the earth/universe etc was formed

[Fast Ivan]

BANG

[Fast Ivan]

however the conservation of energy kicks in here