Religion – your views

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Does God exist?

Yeah
51
31%
Nope
70
43%
Maybe
42
26%
 
Total votes: 163

Joshua822
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Joshua822 »

As for the "typical atheist" thing, I find it strange that this should be subject to such strong universal disapproval when only a few posts earlier some of these same people were talking about how priests are more likely to be pedophiles and how religion should be banned from schools,
You're right here. Parties should stop flaming each other in this discussion, and even more start flaming the other side when they're for doing what they've done exactly the same.
I disagree about there being no way to prove God,
You disagree because... ?

I agree with Hunchman801 partly. There is no way we can prove God. The only one who could prove God is God him-/herself. For example, he/she could appear before all humans.
I've outlined all possible ways the Universe could have come about by classifying them into three main groups. I doubt anyone could think of some way it could have come about that doesn't come under one of these catagories- although if someone thinks they can they're more than welcome to. If no one can, we can only presume that these are the only possibilities, and one must proceed to follow this reasoning logically through. So let's see: *are* you going to follow this reasoning through, or move on to something else?
Who are you to say what the future may hold. After all, before Charles Darwin came up with the theory of Evolution nobody thought there was an alternate solution for the question of what the origin of the universe is.

I would be neutral on this assumption though, since we're getting quite close to proving one of our theory's on the origin of the universe.
Something "popping into existence" is absurd. All effects must have logical causes- that's how science works. Random phenomena do not "pop into existence" and then disappear again. It's one of the most basic laws of science that no atom is ever newly created (and generally not destroyed, either). that means that ten thousand years from now there will *still* be the same amount of matter existing in the universe.
It's not absurd. There is nothing as " the laws of science ". There is the laws of a scientific direction. And this is perfectly right, as we see that all the laws of quantum physics do not conflict with other sciences. So the one that an atom can pop into existence randomly also is valid. It has even been proven with experiments.

You should really take your time to read the article from Paul Davies about what happened before the big bang. It is enjoyable to read and explains everything at a good to follow speed.

You have to know : in the world as we know it, the law of cause effect is valid, there's nothing in this universe that we can see as a random event. So you're reasoning is understandable. But mind you, we can't see what happens at quantum level. And we can also not notice it, because an atom is really tiny.
Atheists (again, no offence to anyone) will often say that God is merely used to explain something we don't know. But from this it's revealed quite clearly that you don't actually have *anything* to explain "what we don't know",
You're reasoning is faulty here. The problem is that you would be filling gaps of knowledge with God, however, you can't come up with arguments why it is indeed God. So atheists have a good point, don't just randomly pick a solution. Research the gap of knowledge, think about it, who knows, we might discover amazingly interesting information.
yet you still accuse the idea of First Cause, something that agrees with the principles of Cause and Effect seen EVERY DAY, as "stupid" and "sickening" as you so eloquently put it before.
Again, you reason faulty, what caused God then ? And, no, God couldn't have existed forever, since he must have had an cause too, and what caused that cause...
But I digress. I'm sure the Christian God is the true God because of prayers answered, miracles done, witnesses testifying to these facts with no hint of unstable minds or deceit in their words, and then also because much of what the Bible says has come true today or been proven true before the people in Biblical times could have possibly had such scientific knowledge as to have known them.
First, why are you saying " Christian God ". Both Christians, Moslims and Jews pray to the same god. The only difference is the name. And to be honest with you, God is just a translation, a more nice name is " Jahwe " or " Allah " if you think about the meaning of these words.

Secondly, why does it have to mean that because of those ancient predictions God is true. True, some predictions we're really clever, but the men who came up with them we're also, in biblical times and now, great thinkers.
And many *have* been found, which boggled the minds of evolutionists time and time again. How could this be, when "evolution must be true"!?
They might be from classes we never knew about. Does that disapprove the theory of evolution, no, it would only prove that there are/have been many species or even maybe classes we don't know about.
In my experience, most atheists have a prejudice against the religious; before any arguments or logical points have even been raised, the religious must automatically be irrational, illogical, turning a blind eye to so-called evidence, having no beliefs other than those based on a blind faith, and so on. (Also priests are of course evil pedophiles, despite the fact pedophilia is condemned by God and adult/child sex doesn't fit within the scheme of our intelligent design). So, when you said "I have no problem with you believing in religion SO LONG as you can admit that your beliefs are based on [blind] faith not logic" and spoke about a "god of the gaps", I basically replied by saying "take a look at the log in your own eye". That's what "evolution of the gaps" means. Then there's also the fact that it's true. Moving on.
Negativity comes from both sides. Creationists don't consider Evolution logical to.

And, personally, i think that anyone who had a free choice to become a priest aren't pedophiles, because if you would choose to become a priest, you should have gotten over the fact that you will never have sexual contact. And, yes, there might be a couple of exceptions, but why look at the exceptions ? Look at he majority of priests to make a conclusion.
Oh, I don't doubt fossils support anscestry "after their own kind" as the Bible itself said before evolution was ever dreamed up. I'm simply saying that a creature becoming something contradictory to its own kind throughout generations cannot be proven, (on the contrary it's been downright disproven) and is ridiculous.
We can prove it. We already have a very good collection of fossils to back up the theory of evolution. And where does it have been disapproved that the assumption of a creature becoming something contradictory to it's own kind throughout millions of generations is false ? Source, please.
Here we have yet another example of evolutionary nonsense. Humans have minds capable of distinguishing between right and wrong, a thing which sets them apart from mere animals, who, although they can demonstrate degrees of intelligence according to their nature and design, do not have the knowledge of right and wrong, or good and evil. Can evolution demonstrate that an animal species, any animal species, is capable of developing a brain of such a nature as to learn the important difference between good and evil?
We don't determine what species we belong to according to what we know. I don't know how it is been determined ( i think the skeleton, mainly the skull of the organism ) though.

Secondly, if an creature can evaluate it's skeleton, i don't think developing a conscious would be a problem either.
The science of biology is far older than evolution, and it has always been a solid proof of an intelligent design. Yet, as I said, throughout all schools and universities that teach evolution, there is nothing that handles the subject directly, instead, evolution is an idea that plagues the sciences. “Do you see the wonders of the human body? It is the work of random mutations and *evolution*.”.
Firstly, we are talking about modern biology. And then again, biology has always been an universal science, it was researched in many different societies with many different religions.

Secondly, that is because evolution is a part of biology. And mutation is not random, organisms change to fit their habitats.
This video is typical of all the other “evidence” posited for evolution. They make assumptions that “evolution is the cause of this fossil” based on nothing but a similarity to another fossil. For an example: If a Designer created some creatures to live on land, and some to live in the sea, it’s only natural that, as coastlands are essentially a type of ecosystem, He would create creatures that can mingle in a little of both, due to the coastlands being their habitat. Examples of this are crabs, crocodiles and so forth. Yet the platapus, something perfectly designed for its natural habitat, is taken as evidence for evolution because it has similarities in its design to other species.
You also try to prove that God created the world from the view that God created the world.

Although, you have made a valid comparison.
And why is that? Because you simply can’t face the truth; that your philosophy is grounded in things popping into existence out of nothing, on the vague hope that perhaps there are other ways the Universe could have come about that *don’t* point towards God
All right, but did God also pop out of nowhere ? So you're argument doesn't count.

Well, i hope we can continue with this interesting discussion tomorrow. But for now, i'm hittin' the hay :)
Rsandee
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Rsandee »

We don't even know if the big bang theory is real.... but scientists are testing some stuff.
BUT, if the theory is real.... the explosion would have come out of nowhere, just like god.
Tobbe
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Tobbe »

No. Read the previous pages of discussion. The Big Bang was not what "created" the Universe and no scientist claims that either. The Big Bang wasn't an explosion, and it certainly didn't come out of nowhere.

Very good post, Joshua. It's relieving to see that you, as a theist (?), doesn't buy into MD's nonsense.
I just want to correct you on something, though: Mutations are indeed random. They are very common and most of them don't result in any significant changes to the organism they happen in. However, some mutations are detrimental and some are beneficial. Those individuals with a beneficial mutation are more likely to survive and reproduce than those without that mutation, so the frequency of the allele with the mutation increases in the population over time. Evolution happens. Mutations are random, but the mechanism by which they are selected isn't.

And another thing. Neither Charles Darwin nor his Theory of Evolution has anything to do with the origin of the Universe. Evolution is strictly biology and has nothing to do with the origin of the universe, the formations of stars or anything else related to cosmology.
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Holy Crap »

Tobbe wrote:
Mister Dark wrote:I'd be grateful if Hunch, spiral, HC, Xenon, or any of the other rationalists here would give me a hand in debating this
I would but you're doing so well. :P
spiraldoor
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by spiraldoor »

OMFG. Apparently they've passed a law in Ireland that makes blasphemy a crime, and this site has been created in opposition to it. Interesting stuff.

Watch this space.
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Holy Crap »

Seriously? What's the punishment?

I'm never going to Ireland now... and you should be careful Spiral. :P
Tobbe
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Tobbe »

I think some Muslims have been whining for the Norwegian Storting to pass a similar law here. :tssk:

This is basically a restriction of free speech, one of the fundamental pillars of Western democracy! :pascontent:
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Xenon »

So if someone says "oh my God!", is that considered blaspheming? Is that a chargable offence?
Cairnie
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Cairnie »

OH MY GOD JESUS H CHRIST ON A STICK

OK where are my handcuffs?
spiraldoor
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by spiraldoor »

StaceyW wrote:OH MY GOD JESUS H CHRIST ON A STICK

OK where are my handcuffs?
Wrong country.
Joshua822
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Joshua822 »

Spiraldoor, can you give more information ? What is considered blasphemy and what are the penalties ?

By the way, freedom of speech is something completly different then bashing.. If, by blasphemy, they mean really heavily bashing God, like " God is a pervert pile of shit that rapes your dogs turds and sucks up your cat's diarree ". I can actually come in to place of the believers. But if they're going to whine about "Oh my God " they're taking it way to far.
Xenon
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Xenon »

I don't see how a line can be drawn dividing the "heavy bashing" and the "light bashing" - this is speech we're talking about.
Tobbe
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Tobbe »

wiki wrote:In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, such as on "hate speech".
These limitations should be the same for all topics of discussion, be it race, sexual orientation, religion or anything else. Why should freedom of speech be more restricted when it comes to religion than any other topic? Anyway, the passing of a blasphemy law in Ireland is a matter of principle, as it is a step away from secularisation.
iHeckler9
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by iHeckler9 »

What does the 'H' in 'Jesus H Christ' stand for?
Cairnie
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Cairnie »

Nothing meaningful unless you go on albinoblacksheep.
Joshua822
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Joshua822 »

I don't see how a line can be drawn dividing the "heavy bashing" and the "light bashing" - this is speech we're talking about.
True. There is no borders to bashing. It's just bashing. And when one screamingly bashes a religion in public, i can think why the religious community feels attacked at.
These limitations should be the same for all topics of discussion, be it race, sexual orientation, religion or anything else.
Indeed they should. Blasphemy is as bad as hate speeches towards other races.

But again, what is understoot under blasphemy ? Else, it's hard to judge the situation.
Why should freedom of speech be more restricted when it comes to religion than any other topic?
It shouldn't. And i don't even think a seperate law is needed. What is declared under freedom of speech is very clear and anyone who abuses it to bash someone / something may receive a penalty for all i care.
Xenon
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Xenon »

I think a generic rule would be far more appropriate here. I mean if someone runs down the high street shouting "God sucks, I hate him, I hate religion, churches should be destroyed" then he should, of course, be fined and/or prosecuted. But this charge shouldn't circulate entirely around the idea of religion. A better rule would be to banish insulting and offensive use of language in public, like Tobbe said, whether it's targeted at gays, blacks or any other group prone to this sort of thing.
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by spiraldoor »

Joshua822 wrote:Spiraldoor, can you give more information ? What is considered blasphemy and what are the penalties ?
This thing:

This week, Ireland's parliament, the Oireachtas, passed the Defamation Act 2009 to replace the Defamation Act 1961. Section 36 of the new law imposes a fine of up to 25,000 Euros on anyone who publishes or utters blasphemous matter. In defining the offense, the new law provides:

(2) For the purposes of this section, a person publishes or utters blasphemous matter if—
(a) he or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial
number of the adherents of that religion, and
(b) he or she intends, by the publication or utterance of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage.

(3) It shall be a defence to proceedings for an offence under this section for the defendant to prove that a reasonable person would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value in the matter to which the offence relates.

(4) In this section "religion" does not include an organisation or cult—
(a) the principal object of which is the making of profit, or
(b) that employs oppressive psychological manipulation— (i) of its followers, or
(ii) for the purpose of gaining new followers.

Ireland's Constitution (Art. 40) requires that the country have a law banning blasphemy. the new law substantially reduces the penalty for the offence from that in the 1961 Defamation Act (Sec. 13) that provides a fine and up to 7 years in prison for blasphemy. Reuters reported yesterday that atheists say they will quickly test the new law. They claim it is discriminatory by protecting only religious beliefs.
Joshua822
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Joshua822 »

That's a ridiculous law. The articles on Freedom of speech say exactly the same. This is discrimination if this law only protects religion.
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Re: Religion - your views

Post by Xenon »

(3) It shall be a defence to proceedings for an offence under this section for the defendant to prove that a reasonable person would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value in the matter to which the offence relates.
I'm pretty sure this rule states that biblebashing is acceptable as long as it's justified with 'intelligent' backup...? Course it's obvious to me these rules were devised by an Irishman. :P
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