His name in vain
You just demonstrated one reason people use it: Because they can't say various 4-letter words on forums like this. :)
World ending on wednesday?
The LHC, when activated this week, will only be operating at powers already seen in other supercolliders. The really interesting stuff - at energies not seen before since the Big Bang - likely won't start until some time next year.
How can the abrahamaic god be omnibenevolent?
slapintheface87: Yours is a view I've seen elsewhere, too. It certainly seems more reasonable, but to the best of my knowledge, it's not a view supported by the bible. In which case, what do you base your views about hell on? The bible does, however, m...
How can the abrahamaic god be omnibenevolent?
So are you saying, in essence, that the christian god _couldn't_ set up a world that has both less suffering than this one and still allows people free will? If he's omnipotent, he certainly should be able to. And if he can but doesn't, it seems that h...
Is it some women or all ?(100.00%)
The idea that feminists should support a political candidate based _solely_ on her gender is laughable - particularly when that candidate opposes the very views the feminists espouse.
And for those claiming the bible condemns abortion: Citations, pl...
Has anyone encountered a ghost or spirit?
No. (That is, nobody has encountered a ghost or spirit). As others have advised, take your friend to a psychiatrist. The answer isn't spiritual, it's psychological, and if you try and 'treat' her with religion, it'll just get worse.
Does anyone thinks that praying actually helps?
Actually, a recent study showed intercessory prayer to actually be harmful: http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2006/05/could-prayers-be-harmful.html
(No, I don't think it really is harmful - I think it's useless, at least for the person being p...
Swear to god
Wait.. Satan cast into the lake of fire? Isn't hell supposed to be eternal? Who's going to be overseeing the torment of all us godless atheists if Satan himself is done for?
Swear to god
"Hi. To start, would you mind proving you're actually omnipotent? Thanks."
How can the abrahamaic god be omnibenevolent?
slapintheface87: If god knows exactly which 'path' you will choose, in what sense do you actually have a choice? You can't take any path other than the one he knows you will choose. And because he knows exactly what will happen, and he set everything u...
Would anyone ask this question ?
The idea that people would refrain from criticising based on the gender of the politician is laughable. Since when have people opposed to a particular politician exercised any restraint in what they base their attacks on? If they saw potential fodder f...
How come so many people ask about God?
"Your probability dismissal proves MY point exactly. It seems almost impossible! How can such species survive for so long without a master plan?"
Did you read any of my rebuttal? It doesn't matter how impossible something seems - if your being here ...
Is it true the Catholic faith has 'no problem' with abortion ?
amblessed: See jimahl's latest post. You misrepresented what pelosi said.
Further, your claim that this is some sort of secular justification for being anti-abortion is completely off base. Yes, embryos are human cells - did anyone ever doubt that? ...
How come so many people ask about God?
slapintheface87: The arguments about probability don't work - you can't sensibly argue about the probability of something that has already happened. A comparable argument:
The chances of a person living long enough to have children, who themselves s...
Is god real?
If you fear going to hell, clearly you already believe at least some of the god myth, so that's hardly a reason many people would believe in god. I, for one, don't fear it, because it _doesn't_exist_.
"I've said this before. Just by looking at the a...
Can you believe in God and evolution at the same time?
Again. We didn't "come from" monkeys _or_ apes. Apes and humans have a common ancestor - a creature that is neither human nor ape.
What is it you find so difficult to believe about this? Evolution is the scientific consensus. It does an astoundingly...
How come so many people ask about God?(100.00%)
silverwings: My argument is reductionist: The theist says "look at the sunset! look at the landscape! it must be God!", to which I am responding "no, it's a set of physical laws interacting". Everything we see around us we can either explain scientific...
How come so many people ask about God?
silverwings: Gravity (thanks to general relativity), the equations that describe the weak and strong forces, etc, describe most of it (at a high level). At the cosmological level, it's all down to physics. At the local level, it's down to biology. The ...
How come so many people ask about God?
slapintheface87: That's more or less my point. Why would I believe in something that has absolutely no evidence to support its validity? I really would like to see the independent historical references to Jesus and biblical events you mention, though.
...
Is there any reference in the bible, to a prior civilization?
Asking for reference to it in the bible is odd, given that that's the very text cited to justify a 6000 year age for earth.
I'm also not sure what the point of references in other ancient texts is. What significance does what people thought hundreds...
How can fossils be found on high mountains?(66.67%)
A number of reasons. Sea-levels change over time, landmasses rise and fall according to volcanic activity, and inland lakes come and go. Not to mention, there are animals that live high up.
How come so many people ask about God?
Provide a rational, evidence-based reason for what you believe, and we atheists, agnostics and skeptics will stop asking, at least. :)
New Orleans going' down again?(50.00%)
Oh, absolutely. God hates republicans and *insert group of choice*, and chooses to show his displeasure by destroying property and causing the death of hundreds or thousands of people* without regard to innoncence or religion**.
* Actually, in Katri...
Do you believe in ghosts?
"Ghosts are simply spirits. If you discount them, then you might as well toss away the whole bible."
Done! Thanks for the advice!
Can you believe in God and evolution at the same time?
angelwaiting2: My god! You're right! You've stumbled across the achilles heel of evolution, which no evolutionary scientist has ever considered! We are defeated!
Seriously, though: We didn't evolve from monkeys. Apes and humans (apes, not monkeys!) ...
Whatr do you think ?(50.00%)
The problem with prophecies is that they're always so vague that you can fit them to just about any vaguely plausible event and claim they were fulfilled. Witness the absurd convolutions they went through to have Jesus fulfill the prophecies required t...
New Orleans going' down again?(100.00%)
...which seems more likely? Divine intervention in the form of perfectly deniable tropical storms, or perfectly natural tropical storms hitting an area that's right smack dab in the area that tends to get these things?
Seriously, doesn't it seem jus...
How is Muslim peaceful?
Both christianity and islam promote some pretty violent, xenophobic behaviour in their respective holy books. The difference is, the predominant interpretation of christianity ignores those bits, while the predominant interpretation of islam emphasises...
Did God intervene?
It belatedly occurs to me that if "god intervened", the only effect in the end was to slightly increase Richard Dawkins' royalty payments. I guess he likes the guy! ;)
Are heaven and hell considered physical places?
cthulhu: Good summary. The argument against "separation from god" seems spurious, though: If he's omnipotent, he could _make_ a place where he's not (not to mention, create an object too heavy for him to lift ;).
What do you think god wants you to do with your career
Seriously? If there was a god, and he had some specific career path in mind for me (and how ego-centric is THAT?), I think he'd be perfectly able to make it clear what I was supposed to do without me having to sit down and pretend to talk to him in my ...
Scientology(100.00%)
A good place to start is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology , which links to other articles on the subject.
Particularly this section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology#Controversies
Also of interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...
Scientology
sillygirl006: I haven't read all of 'robonthunter's screed, but everything else I have seen isn't rumor - it's fact.
Physical science
To quote wikipedia:
"Physical science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that study non-living systems, inl contrast to the biological sciences. However, the term "physical" creates an unintended, somewhat arbitrar...
Can you believe in God and evolution at the same time?
Yes. Only the crazy biblical literalists believe otherwise. Just wait, one'll turn up soon to tell us we're all wrong and we should believe genesis as literal truth, the earth is no more than 6000 years old, and dinosaurs walked the earth with man.
Scientology(100.00%)
It's a cult, based on the writings of a science fiction writer.
They're incredibly secretive about their materials, (ab)use copyright law and lawyers to enforce it and to suppress criticism, and encourage their members to cut off contact with 'the o...
arachnid's Advice page 4
cthulhu's answer is excellent. I'm mostly replying here so I can subscribe to the question.
You just demonstrated one reason people use it: Because they can't say various 4-letter words on forums like this. :)
The LHC, when activated this week, will only be operating at powers already seen in other supercolliders. The really interesting stuff - at energies not seen before since the Big Bang - likely won't start until some time next year.
slapintheface87: Yours is a view I've seen elsewhere, too. It certainly seems more reasonable, but to the best of my knowledge, it's not a view supported by the bible. In which case, what do you base your views about hell on? The bible does, however, m...
slapintheface87: Providing a 'way out' doesn't make it less evil that you torture (for all eternity!) those that don't take it.
So are you saying, in essence, that the christian god _couldn't_ set up a world that has both less suffering than this one and still allows people free will? If he's omnipotent, he certainly should be able to. And if he can but doesn't, it seems that h...
The idea that feminists should support a political candidate based _solely_ on her gender is laughable - particularly when that candidate opposes the very views the feminists espouse. And for those claiming the bible condemns abortion: Citations, pl...
No. (That is, nobody has encountered a ghost or spirit). As others have advised, take your friend to a psychiatrist. The answer isn't spiritual, it's psychological, and if you try and 'treat' her with religion, it'll just get worse.
Actually, a recent study showed intercessory prayer to actually be harmful: http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2006/05/could-prayers-be-harmful.html (No, I don't think it really is harmful - I think it's useless, at least for the person being p...
Wait.. Satan cast into the lake of fire? Isn't hell supposed to be eternal? Who's going to be overseeing the torment of all us godless atheists if Satan himself is done for?
"Hi. To start, would you mind proving you're actually omnipotent? Thanks."
Yes. It's awesome. I have the soundtrack, but I won't buy the video until they release it as un-DRMed video for download, or on a DVD.
If I cheated on my wife with 10 different women, I would be far more worried about my wife's reaction than that of any god.
No, but mine's available if anyone wants it. Make an offer!
slapintheface87: If god knows exactly which 'path' you will choose, in what sense do you actually have a choice? You can't take any path other than the one he knows you will choose. And because he knows exactly what will happen, and he set everything u...
The idea that people would refrain from criticising based on the gender of the politician is laughable. Since when have people opposed to a particular politician exercised any restraint in what they base their attacks on? If they saw potential fodder f...
"everyone has a god." I don't. Nor do 10%-15% of the rest of the world, at a minimum.
"Your probability dismissal proves MY point exactly. It seems almost impossible! How can such species survive for so long without a master plan?" Did you read any of my rebuttal? It doesn't matter how impossible something seems - if your being here ...
amblessed: See jimahl's latest post. You misrepresented what pelosi said. Further, your claim that this is some sort of secular justification for being anti-abortion is completely off base. Yes, embryos are human cells - did anyone ever doubt that? ...
slapintheface87: The arguments about probability don't work - you can't sensibly argue about the probability of something that has already happened. A comparable argument: The chances of a person living long enough to have children, who themselves s...
If you fear going to hell, clearly you already believe at least some of the god myth, so that's hardly a reason many people would believe in god. I, for one, don't fear it, because it _doesn't_exist_. "I've said this before. Just by looking at the a...
Again. We didn't "come from" monkeys _or_ apes. Apes and humans have a common ancestor - a creature that is neither human nor ape. What is it you find so difficult to believe about this? Evolution is the scientific consensus. It does an astoundingly...
silverwings: My argument is reductionist: The theist says "look at the sunset! look at the landscape! it must be God!", to which I am responding "no, it's a set of physical laws interacting". Everything we see around us we can either explain scientific...
silverwings: Gravity (thanks to general relativity), the equations that describe the weak and strong forces, etc, describe most of it (at a high level). At the cosmological level, it's all down to physics. At the local level, it's down to biology. The ...
slapintheface87: "Under god" wasn't added to the US pledge of allegiance until the 1950s.
slapintheface87: That's more or less my point. Why would I believe in something that has absolutely no evidence to support its validity? I really would like to see the independent historical references to Jesus and biblical events you mention, though. ...
Asking for reference to it in the bible is odd, given that that's the very text cited to justify a 6000 year age for earth. I'm also not sure what the point of references in other ancient texts is. What significance does what people thought hundreds...
A number of reasons. Sea-levels change over time, landmasses rise and fall according to volcanic activity, and inland lakes come and go. Not to mention, there are animals that live high up.
Provide a rational, evidence-based reason for what you believe, and we atheists, agnostics and skeptics will stop asking, at least. :)
Mikeh isn't the only person who finds your egregious misuse of the ellipsis irritating.
Oh, absolutely. God hates republicans and *insert group of choice*, and chooses to show his displeasure by destroying property and causing the death of hundreds or thousands of people* without regard to innoncence or religion**. * Actually, in Katri...
"Ghosts are simply spirits. If you discount them, then you might as well toss away the whole bible." Done! Thanks for the advice!
angelwaiting2: My god! You're right! You've stumbled across the achilles heel of evolution, which no evolutionary scientist has ever considered! We are defeated! Seriously, though: We didn't evolve from monkeys. Apes and humans (apes, not monkeys!) ...
No.
There isn't one - or at least, there's absolutely no reason to suppose one exists.
The problem with prophecies is that they're always so vague that you can fit them to just about any vaguely plausible event and claim they were fulfilled. Witness the absurd convolutions they went through to have Jesus fulfill the prophecies required t...
...which seems more likely? Divine intervention in the form of perfectly deniable tropical storms, or perfectly natural tropical storms hitting an area that's right smack dab in the area that tends to get these things? Seriously, doesn't it seem jus...
The end: After everything else. The begging: Mostly on the streets.
Both christianity and islam promote some pretty violent, xenophobic behaviour in their respective holy books. The difference is, the predominant interpretation of christianity ignores those bits, while the predominant interpretation of islam emphasises...
"You have won the jackpot of life! To collect your winnings, just mail a $49.95 remittance fee to..."
No. Yes. 4th July, 2012, 9:43PM. A zebra. Seriously, how do you expect us to answer this? We're not psychic.
Still not an answer. What do _you_ think happens to all those people?
It belatedly occurs to me that if "god intervened", the only effect in the end was to slightly increase Richard Dawkins' royalty payments. I guess he likes the guy! ;)
cthulhu: Good summary. The argument against "separation from god" seems spurious, though: If he's omnipotent, he could _make_ a place where he's not (not to mention, create an object too heavy for him to lift ;).
Seriously? If there was a god, and he had some specific career path in mind for me (and how ego-centric is THAT?), I think he'd be perfectly able to make it clear what I was supposed to do without me having to sit down and pretend to talk to him in my ...
A good place to start is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology , which links to other articles on the subject. Particularly this section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology#Controversies Also of interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...
sillygirl006: I haven't read all of 'robonthunter's screed, but everything else I have seen isn't rumor - it's fact.
To quote wikipedia: "Physical science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that study non-living systems, inl contrast to the biological sciences. However, the term "physical" creates an unintended, somewhat arbitrar...
Yes. Only the crazy biblical literalists believe otherwise. Just wait, one'll turn up soon to tell us we're all wrong and we should believe genesis as literal truth, the earth is no more than 6000 years old, and dinosaurs walked the earth with man.
It's a cult, based on the writings of a science fiction writer. They're incredibly secretive about their materials, (ab)use copyright law and lawyers to enforce it and to suppress criticism, and encourage their members to cut off contact with 'the o...