?s about Xtianity but were afraid to ask

02/09/2011 08:11:58 PM · #1151

Originally posted by Nullix:

Hey...one of you atheists needs to create a thread, "?s about atheism but were afraid to ask"

So.....if I believe in God, but also accept that there's no way to prove the existence of said god, and believe in evolution, what does that make me?

I don' t buy it for one second that the religions of the world have any clue as to what's out there. I think most of them have some good ideas, but that their particulars are ludicrous.

Trying to equate God to a multiverse to me seems absurd, and the idea that science doesn't have a great degree of veracity as to the methods of viewing who and what we are seems equally absurd. I feel that there's a meld, and a balance.....and that we simply do *not* have a clue about God......but that science does a very good job of looking at our situation.

But the......I'm pretty much nuts, so, WTF......8~)

02/09/2011 09:08:31 PM · #1152

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

So.....if I believe in God, but also accept that there's no way to prove the existence of said god, and believe in evolution, what does that make me?

Well, so far, the exact same as me. But our companies part ways as you keep typing...

scalvert

02/09/2011 09:22:06 PM · #1153

Originally posted by Nullix:

Hey...one of you atheists needs to create a thread, "?s about atheism but were afraid to ask"

No need. While organized religion forbids followers from questioning its tenets, reason and atheism are both grounded in such scrutiny so being afraid to ask simply isn't an issue. People aren't generally afraid to ask why someone doesn't believe in unicorns or fear the wrath of Zeus because disbelief carries no vested interest to protect.

02/09/2011 10:13:45 PM · #1154

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

So.....if I believe in God, but also accept that there's no way to prove the existence of said god, and believe in evolution, what does that make me?

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

Well, so far, the exact same as me. But our companies part ways as you keep typing...

Oh, pshaw, Jason......we all know you're nuts, too! LOL!!!

02/09/2011 10:14:48 PM · #1155

Originally posted by Nullix:

Hey...one of you atheists needs to create a thread, "?s about atheism but were afraid to ask"

Originally posted by scalvert:

Nullix

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

02/09/2011 11:37:08 PM · #1156

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

So.....if I believe in God, but also accept that there's no way to prove the existence of said god, and believe in evolution, what does that make me?

Oh good, you're a Catholic like me.

Originally posted by Site Councilscalvert:

No need. While organized religion forbids followers from questioning its tenets, reason and atheism are both grounded in such scrutiny so being afraid to ask simply isn't an issue. People aren't generally afraid to ask why someone doesn't believe in unicorns or fear the wrath of Zeus because disbelief carries no vested interest to protect.

Afraid to ask? I wouldn't want to be part of that religion. If you believe in God, you also believe he is the truth, so there's no fear in questioning the truth. Wouldn't questioning the truth bring you closer to God?

The only fear one might have is in the answer. It might be harder to accept the answer than to ask the question.

scalvert

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

02/10/2011 09:23:26 AM · #1157

Originally posted by Nullix:

Afraid to ask? I wouldn't want to be part of that religion.

Riiiiiight... the Catholic church, that epitome of critical thinking and openness, never executed anyone for heresy...

Louis

Nikon D800

02/10/2011 09:57:36 AM · #1158

Originally posted by Nullix:

Afraid to ask? I wouldn't want to be part of that religion.

Don't ask too many pointed questions, though, and make sure you don't really mean what you ask. It also helps if you know the answer beforehand. You are excommunicated for heresy if you have an "obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth, which must be believed with divine and Catholic faith", according to some Catholic Dummy.

Originally posted by Nullix:

The only fear one might have is in the answer. It might be harder to accept the answer than to ask the question.

Not if the answer is a load of crap.

scarbrd

Leica M10

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black

02/10/2011 11:13:19 AM · #1159

Originally posted by scalvert:

Originally posted by Nullix:
Afraid to ask? I wouldn't want to be part of that religion.

Riiiiiight... the Catholic church, that epitome of critical thinking and openness, never executed anyone for heresy...

well, not recently anyway. ;-)

Nullix

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

02/10/2011 11:54:42 AM · #1160

Originally posted by scalvert:

Originally posted by Nullix:
Hey...one of you atheists needs to create a thread, "?s about atheism but were afraid to ask"

No need. While organized religion forbids followers from questioning its tenets, reason and atheism are both grounded in such scrutiny so being afraid to ask simply isn't an issue. People aren't generally afraid to ask why someone doesn't believe in unicorns or fear the wrath of Zeus because disbelief carries no vested interest to protect.

Yes, but the Dr puts himself out to take on all questions. If atheism is so routed in truth, why doesn't someone here take on the atheistic questions? Without taking this thread off topic.

scalvert

02/10/2011 11:57:09 AM · #1161

Originally posted by scarbrd:

Originally posted by scalvert:
Riiiiiight... the Catholic church, that epitome of critical thinking and openness, never executed anyone for heresy...

well, not recently anyway. ;-)

Yeah, the last person officially put to death by the Roman Catholic Church was the Spanish schoolmaster Cayetano Ripoll in 1826 for allegedly teaching that belief in God should come through reason and observation, not blind faith. Of course the date does little to help the arguments of those who claim the early church was truer to Christian ideals. "Thou shalt not kill" was apparently meaningless until enforced by secular government, and nowadays the church is reduced to excommunicating those who dare question church views on condom use, human rights or gay marriage.

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black

02/10/2011 12:04:31 PM · #1162

Why don't you just start the thread yourself Nullix and see where it goes? You don't have to answer the questions.

I'll do it for you... :)

Message edited by author 2011-02-10 12:05:07.

scarbrd

Leica M10

02/10/2011 12:07:49 PM · #1163

Originally posted by scalvert:

Originally posted by scarbrd:

Originally posted by scalvert:
Riiiiiight... the Catholic church, that epitome of critical thinking and openness, never executed anyone for heresy...

well, not recently anyway. ;-)

Yeah, the last person officially put to death by the Roman Catholic Church was the Spanish schoolmaster Cayetano Ripoll in 1826 for allegedly teaching that belief in God should come through reason and observation, not blind faith. Of course the date does little to help the arguments of those who claim the early church was truer to Christian ideals. "Thou shalt not kill" was apparently meaningless until enforced by secular government, and nowadays the church is reduced to excommunicating those who dare question church views on condom use, human rights or gay marriage.

No argument here that religions in general are abominations. Once someone chooses a particular religion a certain amount of self-righteousness always follows. It can't be avoided. Christianity as a concept or an ideal is fine, but once you wrap a religion around it, it's pretty much done. By that I mean, that if everyone who claimed to a Christian actually tried to live their life according to Christ's teachings (regardless of the veracity of the God concept), the world would be a much better place.

Louis

Nikon D800

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

02/10/2011 12:45:44 PM · #1164

Originally posted by Nullix:

Originally posted by scalvert:

Originally posted by Nullix:
Hey...one of you atheists needs to create a thread, "?s about atheism but were afraid to ask"

No need. While organized religion forbids followers from questioning its tenets, reason and atheism are both grounded in such scrutiny so being afraid to ask simply isn't an issue. People aren't generally afraid to ask why someone doesn't believe in unicorns or fear the wrath of Zeus because disbelief carries no vested interest to protect.

Yes, but the Dr puts himself out to take on all questions. If atheism is so routed in truth, why doesn't someone here take on the atheistic questions? Without taking this thread off topic.

Inviting participation by posting something in a public forum will result in public participation, including views you may find uncomfortable. Until you start enforcing the equivalent of a "whites only" sign in your little discussions, expect that not everyone is going to play by your arbitrary rules. (Maybe there's a lesson there for you somewhere.)

02/10/2011 12:58:31 PM · #1165

Hey! Interestingly we were just talking about that subject over on the other post! I posted you over there.

02/10/2011 01:14:18 PM · #1166

Originally posted by Nullix:

Yes, but the Dr puts himself out to take on all questions. If atheism is so routed in truth, why doesn't someone here take on the atheistic questions? Without taking this thread off topic.

Atheism is routed in the lack of truth or veracity.....one iota, to be specific. Somehow the idea that anyone would be afraid to ask any questions about atheism is pretty laughable.

Like it or not, the introduction of atheistic conversation is inevitable when the topic is of the God fantsay. Kind of a natural outgrowth of the speculative nature of the subject.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

02/10/2011 02:38:15 PM · #1167

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

Atheism is routed in the lack of truth or veracity.....

Hey! We can all drink to that! :D

BeefnCheez

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

02/14/2011 10:22:45 AM · #1168

So who saw The Sunset Limited last night on HBO? I thought it was an interesting conversation to listen to, much like this thread. Especially considering it was between Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L Jackson.

I wonder if anyone here relates to the idea that increased knowledge is a burden.

Message edited by author 2011-02-14 10:23:10.

Canon FD 70-210mm f/4.0 MF

02/14/2011 11:56:50 AM · #1169

Originally posted by BeefnCheez:

I wish I had. I wonder if I can find it On Demand even though I don't get HBO. I mentioned this on the other ?s thread.

shutterpuppy

Sony Alpha a7

02/14/2011 02:06:11 PM · #1170

Originally posted by BeefnCheez:

I wonder if anyone here relates to the idea that increased knowledge is a burden.

Not sure how you mean "burden", but increased knowledge does tend to lead to an inability to see the world in the starkly black and white terms favored by most religious persuasions.

I have heard believers take the line of argument that losing one's belief in "god" must necessitate a loss of grandeur in one's view of life, the universe and everything. Speaking only for myself, however, I found it was quite the opposite. The supposedly grand religious myths that I grew up with, and the others that I have since grown to know, now seem like such small, shabby and often petty views of the world and humanity. My sense of awe and grandeur for the universe increased exponentially as did my compassion, love and empathy for my amazing, frustrating, contradictory and fragile family of barely enlightened apes known as homo sapiens.

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

02/14/2011 02:22:44 PM · #1171

Why are religious people moral/altruistic?