Is God a fairy tale?
"they say that when before george washington went into battle & stuff that he would bow down in prayer to God, and look what he did he WON!"
Clearly the most compelling evidence for the existence of god ever. Of course, when I went bowling last week...
What does the Bible say about transsexuals?(100.00%)
The reaction of conservatives to any question along these lines - anything about sex, basically - is pretty predictable. It's wrong. Always. No matter what. Especially if it's enjoyable.
I say "conservatives", because it's a view that's shared more ...
What should my religion be?
Why do you want a religion? More to the point, given that you currently believe no particular religion's claims, and given that none of them have any evidence in their favour, what makes you think that any religion you pick would be the right one?
I...
Why do people have trouble knowing there is a God?
Because there's absolutely no evidence for the existence of a god - any of them. If you try and imagine what a world with no god would look like, it's remarkably similar (indistinguishable, even) to this one!
fau: Actually, there's a pretty strong c...
Your perspective on God and religion?
blankman: No, though I'm chiefly targeting Christianity and Islam simply because they're widespread, any religion that teaches that their beliefs are mutually exclusive with others has the potential to incite violence. Even those few that don't lead to...
Boot camp on mac
Yes, it's worth it if you want to run heavy-duty windows programs on your mac. If your needs are more modest (eg, practically anything but games or heavy duty image or photo editing software), you might want to take a look at VMWare Fusion - it'll let ...
Your perspective on God and religion?
mikeh: First, I'd like to know where you got your "factor of 1000" from - I'm seriously skeptical.
More to the point, you can't add up "religious deaths" on one side and "non-religious deaths" on the other. The people in the former category were mos...
Is God a fairy tale?(0.00%)
"Even now, in the computer age, beliefs are scarce, but the church hasn't been destroyed. "
Beliefs are scarce? Say what? People believe in at least as many crazy things now as they ever have:
- Religion (Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, Wicca, Hi...
Who here trusts Tarot Cards in relationship questions?!?(100.00%)
It's called "cognitive bias". You expect them to work - or at least want them to - so you single out the 'predictions' that seem to be borne out and ignore the failures. In truth, they're no better than randomly picking things.
If god exists, why does he let people suffer?
circius: My whole worldview is based on accepting others' ideas as good ones - but only those that testable and disprovable. What I refuse to accept as a "good idea" is things that are simply based on wishful thinking.
I see all this pious "sufferin...
I think I'm an atheist
brland88: Who bears more responsibility for starving children: Someone nearby, who can save them with little personal sacrifice, yet watches and does nothing, or someone half a world away who can only help with substantially more personal sacrifice?
...
If god exists, why does he let people suffer?
briand88: So to make it clear - you believe that it's not possible for your god to decrease suffering while preserving free will? Wouldn't that make him less than omnipotent?
And for both of you, asserting that suffering "makes people stronger": Wha...
If god exists, why does he let people suffer?
"god didnt make suffering. man did.
god choose not to make us robot freaks that obey everything he wants.
he gave us a choice he wanted us to be free to follow him."
Couldn't god create a world in which there is no - or at least much less - suffer...
Cannibals!
"He wanted us to realize the supreme price that he was paying, for our sins. So that we could be delivered from them, to live for him."
Are you saying that god 'suffers'? If he's omnipotent, surely he can do anything he wants without suffering or ha...
Obama says Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven?(100.00%)
eternallyhurt: Seriously, your criteria for "possibly" being the antichrist is:
- Not being christian (though I have met many christians who believe that there may be other ways to be 'saved').
- Being nice to people.
Wow. I don't know what to say...
If god exists, why does he let people suffer?
I asked this same question recently. It does seem to me that any being that is omnipotent, and so can do anything at all with no effort on their part, must be extremely malevolent if they fail to intervene in the world as it stands. Millions of people...
Are ghosts real?
For those claiming the show "ghost hunters" is "good evidence" of the existence of ghosts - you do realise it's a television program, right? Made for ratings, not for accuracy.
There was a particularly classic clip lately (which I unfortunately can'...
I think I'm an atheist
You don't _have_ to tell her, of course. It comes down to which you're more comfortable with: Lying (implicitly or explicitly) to her about it (and possibly having to attend church etc), or her reaction when you tell her your views.
Ideally, parents...
Evolution
papajon: "My question is the mathematical probability of random mutaions in the genome of a single cell bacteria or organism occuring enough to leading to the complexity that we see today no matter how many billions of years"
What is the problem wit...
Astral traveling
"There's no way to deny something you've done... Even if you didn't enjoy it. I can't deny something that's tangible because of personal experience, wouldn't that be ignorance?"
How do you know it is what you claim it is? The mind is very good at pl...
Cannibals!
For all those calling it symbolism: For Catholics, it's not symbolic. They believe that the wine and wafer are actually, really transmuted into the blood and body of christ 'in essence'. That is, they still look like wine and bread, but they believe th...
do you belive in heaven and/or hell?
No. I strive* to only believe in things there are actual solid evidence for. And given that, even the term "believe" is a bit of a misnomer.
* I think I've achieved it, but it's always possible I have unexamined, irrational beliefs. We humans tend t...
I'm Agnostic..
Put it this way: If there really is no god (which seems highly likely), how can it be "wrong" to not believe in it?
If there is a god, what are the chances it's the particular one you're considering worshipping?
Astral traveling
valiantpoison: I'm not being condescending. There's absolutely no reason to suppose "astral travelling" exists, since there's absolutely no evidence for it. It may seem harsh, but I'm just trying to point out reality.
"How would you like it if you a...
Obama says Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven?(100.00%)
I agree that it's depressing that a US presidential candidate's religion seems to matter so much to people. Surely a candidate who kept his religious beliefs to himself and believed in everyone else's right to do the same would be better all around? Gi...
What does dna stands for?
Seriously, you could've looked this up in less time than it took to post the question.
How was god made?
What I find particularly amusing is when religious people (usually christians) criticize the Big Bang because of the "what caused it" issue, then blissfully assert that yes, God really has been around for all eternity, and doesn't need a cause.
How do I teach my children when I don't believe myself?
I think feeling 'unfulfilled' has more to do with certainty than belief. You're feeling that way because you're not sure what's true, not because of any lack of belief.
I'd suggest reading books like "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins and "The De...
An afterlife
Scientists don't, since there's no way to provide empirical evidence of any sort of life after death. In the absence of any evidence, there's no reason to suppose it even exists, either.
I can't speak for what philosophers say about it, though. Rath...
Are you a psychic?
I knew you were going to ask this question. That's how psychic I am.
Seriously, though - I have a challenge for anyone who claims to be psychic in response to this. I'm thinking of a shape and a number. Tell me what I'm thinking of!
And just so y...
Oil and plastic
No - read it again - "the 16% not used for energy production is converted into these other materials". Only 16% is used for pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides and plastics combined - the other 86% is used for energy production.
"Merry christmas" in america
Honestly, I think very few people _do_ get offended by the term - it's mostly just the PC police. I don't believe in either the religion it's currently about or the pagan festival it used to be, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the holiday.
Astral traveling
It's not working because it doesn't exist. Sorry.
20% of atheists believe in god, is that true?
There was a recent survey to that effect, yeah. Clearly either the wording was poor, or at least 20% of people don't understand what 'atheist' means.
Do athiests ever have thoughts about this?
I personally think about religion a lot; mostly as a social phenomena. I occasionally ponder that it'd be nice if there were some sort of afterlife or higher being - though not one described by any mainstream religion - but it's a fantasy, nothing more.
Compact fluorescent bulbs
They do have mercury, but only very small quantities. If properly disposed of, it's fine. Even if not properly disposed of, the impact is actually less than powering traditional lightbulbs if your power is supplied by coal energy, since coal plants emi...
Oil and plastic
Nope. From Wikipedia's article on Petroleum: "Due to its high energy density, easy transportability and relative abundance, it has become the world's most important source of energy since the mid-1950s. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemi...
Compact fluorescent bulbs
They consume a lot less electricty and last longer. On the down side, the color spectrum of many of them isn't brilliant (but the newer ones are better), and you can't use them with dimmers.
Atheists know a lot more about christianity than christians?
rainbow_bloodhxc: If a friend of yours was convinced that magic leprechauns followed him everywhere, and he had to leave 10% of his earnings to them under a tree or they would do nasty things, would you try to convince him he's wrong? Even though you d...
Evolution
Here's a fascinating example of evolution observed in the lab recently, where a bacteria evolved an entirely new capability: http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2008/06/02/a_new_step_in_evolution.php
Dragons who were they and did they really exist?
No, it's not. The evidence is sound - geological ages separate us from the dinosaurs. It's really hard to get that wrong, unless you ignore all the evidence you don't like.
Jupiter And Saturn are they really planets?
The problem here is not the objects themselves, but the defintion of planet. My astrophysics is fuzzy, but my understanding is that anything that orbits a star and is over a certain size (and is not itself a star) qualifies as a planet. So yes, they ar...
Earthquakes on mars
Yes. And a geological* disturbance on the moon is called a "moonquake".
* Actually, you can't even call it 'geological', as the 'geo' implies it happens on earth. lunarlogical?
Magic And Science
Given the history of witch-hunting, it seems likely they weren't really practicing anything significant at all. Back then, all it took was an accusation.
If you're interested in science being viewed as magic, though, I'd highly recommend the book "t...
arachnid's Advice page 9
"they say that when before george washington went into battle & stuff that he would bow down in prayer to God, and look what he did he WON!" Clearly the most compelling evidence for the existence of god ever. Of course, when I went bowling last week...
The reaction of conservatives to any question along these lines - anything about sex, basically - is pretty predictable. It's wrong. Always. No matter what. Especially if it's enjoyable. I say "conservatives", because it's a view that's shared more ...
Why do you want a religion? More to the point, given that you currently believe no particular religion's claims, and given that none of them have any evidence in their favour, what makes you think that any religion you pick would be the right one? I...
Because there's absolutely no evidence for the existence of a god - any of them. If you try and imagine what a world with no god would look like, it's remarkably similar (indistinguishable, even) to this one! fau: Actually, there's a pretty strong c...
blankman: No, though I'm chiefly targeting Christianity and Islam simply because they're widespread, any religion that teaches that their beliefs are mutually exclusive with others has the potential to incite violence. Even those few that don't lead to...
Yes, it's worth it if you want to run heavy-duty windows programs on your mac. If your needs are more modest (eg, practically anything but games or heavy duty image or photo editing software), you might want to take a look at VMWare Fusion - it'll let ...
mikeh: First, I'd like to know where you got your "factor of 1000" from - I'm seriously skeptical. More to the point, you can't add up "religious deaths" on one side and "non-religious deaths" on the other. The people in the former category were mos...
"Even now, in the computer age, beliefs are scarce, but the church hasn't been destroyed. " Beliefs are scarce? Say what? People believe in at least as many crazy things now as they ever have: - Religion (Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, Wicca, Hi...
It's called "cognitive bias". You expect them to work - or at least want them to - so you single out the 'predictions' that seem to be borne out and ignore the failures. In truth, they're no better than randomly picking things.
circius: My whole worldview is based on accepting others' ideas as good ones - but only those that testable and disprovable. What I refuse to accept as a "good idea" is things that are simply based on wishful thinking. I see all this pious "sufferin...
brland88: Who bears more responsibility for starving children: Someone nearby, who can save them with little personal sacrifice, yet watches and does nothing, or someone half a world away who can only help with substantially more personal sacrifice? ...
briand88: So to make it clear - you believe that it's not possible for your god to decrease suffering while preserving free will? Wouldn't that make him less than omnipotent? And for both of you, asserting that suffering "makes people stronger": Wha...
"god didnt make suffering. man did. god choose not to make us robot freaks that obey everything he wants. he gave us a choice he wanted us to be free to follow him." Couldn't god create a world in which there is no - or at least much less - suffer...
"He wanted us to realize the supreme price that he was paying, for our sins. So that we could be delivered from them, to live for him." Are you saying that god 'suffers'? If he's omnipotent, surely he can do anything he wants without suffering or ha...
eternallyhurt: Seriously, your criteria for "possibly" being the antichrist is: - Not being christian (though I have met many christians who believe that there may be other ways to be 'saved'). - Being nice to people. Wow. I don't know what to say...
I asked this same question recently. It does seem to me that any being that is omnipotent, and so can do anything at all with no effort on their part, must be extremely malevolent if they fail to intervene in the world as it stands. Millions of people...
For those claiming the show "ghost hunters" is "good evidence" of the existence of ghosts - you do realise it's a television program, right? Made for ratings, not for accuracy. There was a particularly classic clip lately (which I unfortunately can'...
You don't _have_ to tell her, of course. It comes down to which you're more comfortable with: Lying (implicitly or explicitly) to her about it (and possibly having to attend church etc), or her reaction when you tell her your views. Ideally, parents...
papajon: "My question is the mathematical probability of random mutaions in the genome of a single cell bacteria or organism occuring enough to leading to the complexity that we see today no matter how many billions of years" What is the problem wit...
"There's no way to deny something you've done... Even if you didn't enjoy it. I can't deny something that's tangible because of personal experience, wouldn't that be ignorance?" How do you know it is what you claim it is? The mind is very good at pl...
When Zeus starts raining down thunderbolts on all the unfaithful, would you be safe? Have you pledged yourself to Zeus lately?
For all those calling it symbolism: For Catholics, it's not symbolic. They believe that the wine and wafer are actually, really transmuted into the blood and body of christ 'in essence'. That is, they still look like wine and bread, but they believe th...
No. I strive* to only believe in things there are actual solid evidence for. And given that, even the term "believe" is a bit of a misnomer. * I think I've achieved it, but it's always possible I have unexamined, irrational beliefs. We humans tend t...
Put it this way: If there really is no god (which seems highly likely), how can it be "wrong" to not believe in it? If there is a god, what are the chances it's the particular one you're considering worshipping?
valiantpoison: I'm not being condescending. There's absolutely no reason to suppose "astral travelling" exists, since there's absolutely no evidence for it. It may seem harsh, but I'm just trying to point out reality. "How would you like it if you a...
I agree that it's depressing that a US presidential candidate's religion seems to matter so much to people. Surely a candidate who kept his religious beliefs to himself and believed in everyone else's right to do the same would be better all around? Gi...
Seriously, you could've looked this up in less time than it took to post the question.
What I find particularly amusing is when religious people (usually christians) criticize the Big Bang because of the "what caused it" issue, then blissfully assert that yes, God really has been around for all eternity, and doesn't need a cause.
Baptisms for the dead? Isn't that kind of... creepy?
I think feeling 'unfulfilled' has more to do with certainty than belief. You're feeling that way because you're not sure what's true, not because of any lack of belief. I'd suggest reading books like "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins and "The De...
Yes, but not in the 'mystical' way you're probably trying to imply.
Scientists don't, since there's no way to provide empirical evidence of any sort of life after death. In the absence of any evidence, there's no reason to suppose it even exists, either. I can't speak for what philosophers say about it, though. Rath...
I knew you were going to ask this question. That's how psychic I am. Seriously, though - I have a challenge for anyone who claims to be psychic in response to this. I'm thinking of a shape and a number. Tell me what I'm thinking of! And just so y...
While you're thinking about this, consider: Why does the bible forbid something (practicing magic) that it also claims doesn't exist?
No - read it again - "the 16% not used for energy production is converted into these other materials". Only 16% is used for pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides and plastics combined - the other 86% is used for energy production.
amblessed: How is that in any way relevant to the question at hand?
Honestly, I think very few people _do_ get offended by the term - it's mostly just the PC police. I don't believe in either the religion it's currently about or the pagan festival it used to be, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the holiday.
It's not working because it doesn't exist. Sorry.
There was a recent survey to that effect, yeah. Clearly either the wording was poor, or at least 20% of people don't understand what 'atheist' means.
I personally think about religion a lot; mostly as a social phenomena. I occasionally ponder that it'd be nice if there were some sort of afterlife or higher being - though not one described by any mainstream religion - but it's a fantasy, nothing more.
They do have mercury, but only very small quantities. If properly disposed of, it's fine. Even if not properly disposed of, the impact is actually less than powering traditional lightbulbs if your power is supplied by coal energy, since coal plants emi...
Nope. From Wikipedia's article on Petroleum: "Due to its high energy density, easy transportability and relative abundance, it has become the world's most important source of energy since the mid-1950s. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemi...
They consume a lot less electricty and last longer. On the down side, the color spectrum of many of them isn't brilliant (but the newer ones are better), and you can't use them with dimmers.
rainbow_bloodhxc: If a friend of yours was convinced that magic leprechauns followed him everywhere, and he had to leave 10% of his earnings to them under a tree or they would do nasty things, would you try to convince him he's wrong? Even though you d...
Here's a fascinating example of evolution observed in the lab recently, where a bacteria evolved an entirely new capability: http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2008/06/02/a_new_step_in_evolution.php
No, it's not. The evidence is sound - geological ages separate us from the dinosaurs. It's really hard to get that wrong, unless you ignore all the evidence you don't like.
The problem here is not the objects themselves, but the defintion of planet. My astrophysics is fuzzy, but my understanding is that anything that orbits a star and is over a certain size (and is not itself a star) qualifies as a planet. So yes, they ar...
Yes. And a geological* disturbance on the moon is called a "moonquake". * Actually, you can't even call it 'geological', as the 'geo' implies it happens on earth. lunarlogical?
Nope. Dinosaurs and humans were not contemporary - millions of years separate them.
Given the history of witch-hunting, it seems likely they weren't really practicing anything significant at all. Back then, all it took was an accusation. If you're interested in science being viewed as magic, though, I'd highly recommend the book "t...