Cant you see that all religions are man made. this is true, proven by the religions themselves. There is no proof to back them, they are simply man made theories. I believe there were created through fear. Religions remove fear of death by providing an afterlife, remove fear of being alone because of a god. They also have other functions, making life more interesting and generally providing an answer to questions that dont actually matter.
Ignorance is bliss, i would prefer to be believe in a religion, generally religious people are happier, but they are still ignorant (and incredibly stuborn).
Answer this, out of all the religions available, and all the devout followers, what makes your one true and the rest wrong. Definately not proof thats for sure.
Explanations are given to children to get rid of fears, the same explanation should NOT carry on to adulthood, you might as well all start believing in santa.
So im proposing, realise that the thing you belief in is based on hope, not truth. If we really are evolving into a smarter race then you need to realise that you dont know anything. Even Evolution is a religion, a theory to make us feel better. The truth is we probably wouldn't even understand the answer if we knew it. Which is why we should be asking 'what if', not 'it is'.
Nothing will ever be ableto explain it all.

Being intolerant of others beliefs??
To each their own.
Grow up!!

Is that why the people that run this world, all beleive in the paranormal and the light. What is the light?

Grow up, nice argument.

Well everyone believes in something, atheism is a religion, the belief in nothing more than you can see. The universe has a sense of organization, intelligence if you will. Things that happen in our world are not random, evolution is not random. The creation of our galaxy/universe was not a random occurance. Gravity is not random. The belief in spirit and the afterlife is not random either. People form religions to explain some of the answers in this life we have. There are still a lot of mysteries surrounding death & the afterlife such as OBE's, NDE's, certain cases of telepathy, & Ghosts.

Are you saying that Jesus had a bad message? To love your neighbor... I mean honestly religion doesn't give people false hope and those that believe are not necessarily ignorant, they just want answers to, Why?

To me being alone and without the after life doesn't bother me. I think life in itself is amazing, but I'm inclined to think there is something more, probably because it's a human trait, which to me indicates that yes there is.

One book that I think explains the controversy of Religion & Science is Dan Browns "Angels & Demons", and I quote "Physics does not oppose religion it is merely the canvas in which God used to paint his masterpiece". No one has the answer to date why these things happen and I doubt one religion is right about it all, just as science doesn't. I mean honestly we can't even travel to another star system let alone a planet yet... (as far as we know anyway).

As a person who claims no religion, I understand why it's important.

As it's been stated, some people need faith to get through their lives.
Something beyond what they are.

They, like the rest of us, are just looking for answers to existence.

I will agree with you that many of the messages have probably been lost in translation, and as a result, the taint of man-made agendas have corrupted what could have been the word of God.

Don't understand what I'm saying?

Did you every play the whisper game as a kid? Where something was said from one person to the next, until it went around in a circle?
It usually came back as something completely different than what was originally said.

It is humanity. We who tried to shape the message to meet our goals.

5th Element is right, if you show them your just a regular person, they'll see clearer.

Otherwise they'll flaunt that only a supreme super magical all knowing, all creating, all of everything God, can make rules that are perfect not man.
And thats just silly.

Show your good side.

Originally posted by asmall89

It's silly to say that Athiests don't have codes pertaining to their belief because they do. They have their own set of codes and values true to their beliefs just like anyone else.

Yes but those codes and morals don't pertain to their beliefs regarding gods, the supernatural or the afterlife. Most have morals that develop from their childhood.



[edit on 2-4-2009 by Welfhard]

You guys are right, in a sense anybody can be a "good person" in the general sense. Though the Bible says "no one is good, no not one", but anyways i get what ya mean when you say atheists can be good people.

The thing is though that non-Christians are unable to account for transcendent, immaterial, unchanging and universal moral laws. For the Christian moral laws are a reflection of God's character but for the atheist how do you account for such a thing(that is moral laws)?

Originally posted by Ezkl 16
You guys are right, in a sense anybody can be a "good person" in the general sense. Though the Bible says "no one is good, no not one", but anyways i get what ya mean when you say atheists can be good people.

>> And christians can be bad people, very bitter and apathetic people.

The thing is though that non-Christians are unable to account for transcendent, immaterial, unchanging and universal moral laws. For the Christian moral laws are a reflection of God's character but for the atheist how do you account for such a thing(that is moral laws)?

Logic. People are cowards. I be mean to you, you be mean to me; mutually assured destruction. On the flipside of that coin, however; you get that when people cooperate, you mutually benefit. Morals and codes of conduct motivate people to act with the gain of others in mind. It's a naturally evolving behaviour, which is why many many types of animals with higher brain functions act with regard to other individuals - dolphins will protect individuals it doesn't know from sharks, even individuals not it's same species like humans and seals.

[edit on 3-4-2009 by Welfhard]

In all arguments about whether religion is "true" or not, the positions taken 99% of people on both sides strike me as ludicrous.

Think of it this way: Imagine you walked into a classroom where the topic was Shakespere's famous play "Hamlet, prince of Denmark." On one side of the room, a group is howling that there never was a "real" prince named Hamlet in Danish history, that Shakespere made him up, and that therefore the play Hamlet is "worthless lies" out to decieve "childish dupes" into buying literary paperbacks and supporting the worthelss careers of do-nothing literature teachers and writers of "fiction." They reccomend that all Shakespere be burn to ashes and that anyone "writing lies" under the guise of "fiction" as an "author" should be subject to criminal prosecution.

On the other side, you have another group of lunatics, screaming that yes indeed Hamlet was a real person, that he actually existed and walked the earth. They have piles and boxes of yellowed papers and old books full of scribbling to bolster their rather dubious case.

The two sides keep screeching at each other, but in fact neither understands "Hamlet" or literature. Neither can see the greatness of Shakespere's poetry, the mastery of language, the profound understanding of deep and enduring human values, the ancient lessons and wisdoms contained in beautiful blank verse. The very essence of literature alludes everyone in that madhouse classroom.

I think something very similar is going on when people take these ridiculous reductionst "pro" or "con" stances for or against religion. Their arguments all seem to me to be quite besides the real point.