It's amazing..the more you talk about it, the more you show how very little you know of it. I think atheists are going to read your post and actually start believing in God. Keep up the great work!!
Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man…living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn’t want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer and burn and scream until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you and he needs money.
This thread is odd. If you don't want to hear what somebody is preaching simply don't listen or close the door on them whatever the case may be.... On a sidenote I'm on my way to church
The discussion was about the validity of science. You brought up something completely unrelated, so I did too. But I'll go ahead and play in your ballpark since the grass seems nice. I think science (psychology and other mental sciences) can provide us with moral guidance as logic sits behind a lot of the moral actions we are taught (do unto others, etc, etc). I'm pretty sure that stuff is quantified scientifically as to why we practice it, even without a religious background. Hell, that is how I learned my morals. Observation, application, review, repeat. It isn't enough to say "And yet people are still religious, so science obviously can't do what religion does". Because, as another poster showed, athiests/agnostics are the fastest growing spiritual identity sector in the US. So if I had to guess I'd say it is science that is doing something that religion cannot do, and not the other way around. People will always be religious, not because science ain't doing its job, but because certain types of people need that ethereal, pie-in-the-sky kind of stuff to hold onto. I won't go into the reasons why, because I'd certainly insult a lot of posters, and I have no desire to get into a 20 page religion flame war again, so I'll leave it at that. The one thing I will concede about the differences between science and religion is that if religion is the only thing that can give you spiritual guidance and morals, then maybe science just isn't for you. I feel sorry for those people, though. So in conclusion I guess I would say that they may provide the same thing but for different types of people... and using VERY different methods.
First, the discussion is about the validity of religion. That's what this whole thread is about. I am not disputing the validity of science in any way. You mentioned that religion has given us a ridiculously low percentage of things in this world compared to science, and that time marches on, implying that religion will die out. My point is that religion gives us spirtuality and moral guidance, and that it won't die out anytime soon. In fact, religious practice is growing in many places, including the US, and it doesn't have to contradict sceince to do so (although some people do try to deny things like evolution, I don't agree with them). Sorry, I do not buy that psychology or science can give us moral guidance. (By the way, lot of psychology is pseudo-science at best). Please explain. I don't see any university departments focusing on the scientfic study of ethics. I don't see anyone scientifically proving that murder is wrong, or that you shouldn't cheat on your spouse. And of course there are plenty of things science does that religion can't. I never disputed that. They are two separate things you can believe in.
You have just created a whole new Jeff Foxworthy spin off... If you make posts like the one above...you might be a jackass.
Only if we can outlaw whatever parents, preschools, secondary schools and world views that produced the bitterness that is you.
some NSFW language: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/55h1FO8V_3w&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/55h1FO8V_3w&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Without religion back in the day, there would be no civilization.
The problem isn't such a big deal in the United States, where secularism and religious freedom have taken hold. I think religion on the whole does more good then evil, but it IS somewhat of a problem when it comes to situations where the religion in question inflames passions rather then enlightens people and all that good stuff. And that often happens when any religious institution is put in a place of excessive power. Churches/mosques do have a disturbing trend of being complicit in some pretty shady dealings and warped ideological exercises. Best example I can think of now is the whole Tutsi/Hutu divide, which was exacerbated by by the Catholic Church that preached to them separately and reinforced the whole notion of "we-groups"...this tragically became a significant factor towards the Rwandan genocide.
The problem comes when religious entities try to compete for social power with secular entities related to government/media/and so on. If they're going to compete with dirtbags, they have to adopt dirtbag tactics themselves, and in their case it's doubly worse because they have a very clear moral base that, in order to compete, they have to compromise more-or-less constantly. Seriously ... render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and render unto God that which is God's...right?
It is not bitterness, I just don't understand why these frauds are not in prison. Do you have good explanations?
That in an interesting way to look at religion, a bit funny. Don't think religion deserves the credit. At least this guy knows it is fake and tell it to the audience.
Define Jackass, anyone who tells you your best buddy with the white beard in the sky is your imagination is a jackass? Are you a jackass telling your children Santa Claus is not real? Is your father a jackass telling you Santa is fake? Is you r MOTHER a jackass telling you Santa is fake? I guess all three of you are jackasses. Oh, don't feel bad, you are not that bad of a jackass, lots parents do that. Let me know what you think a Jackass is.
That's not what you said in your initial post, twat. Not to mention you were completely wrong about this whole "virgin birth" of Horus, the Egyptian falcon God. Horus is the son of Egyptian God Osiris and the Egyptian Goddess Isis. Please, for the love of this Egyptian falcon God that you were 100% WRONG about, just leave this thread before you get abused by more knowledge.
