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Originally posted by Lucid Lunacy
reply to post by undo
ever read any of sitchin's work?
I have yes. Two books so far. I thought you might be drawing some of your knowledge from it. I am on the fence myself. Not strongly against like many here.
Technically you can't call atheism a religion, as that would go against the whole purpose of inventing the English language.
All that you can say is that both sides can have similar dogmas.
Originally posted by Lucid Lunacy
Religion stories, namely the Abrahamic religions, transmit packages that are more immoral than moral!
The amount of death and murder encouraged based on nothing but disagreement is absurd! Stoning your wife on your wedding bed if you find out she's not a virgin!? Beating your kids if they talk back!? Beating your slave to the point of near death so long as he lives (implying also slavery is condoned). Killing someone if they work on the wrong day?? Opposing anyone that is against your religion violently! Etc etc etc.
...
Originally posted by Cogito, Ergo Sum
Originally posted by SisyphusRide
yes a very professional response... that coming from this seemingly intelligent rock-man?
it was very rude actually, his face was beet red and being he is a zoologist I am sure he grasps the concept of "preservation of the favored races" Dawkins is a racist on top f it all and you can tell by his demeanor.
poor little man...
Again, depends on your perspective. I am not always a fan of Dawkins style. I was on this particular occasion. Quite a great rebuttal to a disingenuous remark, thinly veiled in a bit of pre emptive but-kissing. deGrasse Tyson got put in his place, it seems.
I'm from America... we are the world... and I don't have to travel very far to experience the flavors and the nuances of other cultures.
Originally posted by Grimpachi
reply to post by SisyphusRide
Actually I have been all around the world and frequently visit Central and South America I can also draw a lot of parallels between Islam and Christianity especially if you line up the relative ages of each religion to each other however that is for a whole other thread otherwise we would completely derail this one even further than we already have.
every thread is a derail, I call it a discussion... otherwise not exploring all the components to any given subject and staying strictly in line with the OP's train of thought is more like a dictation. Individuals are different and they like to explain why they think differently,
I had started thread not too long ago concerning the necessity of religion in this point in history. Several people tried to derail it however I managed to keep it on track and it came to a relative conclusion which should be a begging for a new thread but I haven’t been able to bring myself to gather the research materials or will myself to do so. Frankly the end proposal seems to daunting of a task however there is always time. You may want to look it over.
huh? you lost me here... regarding what earlier post? Theism was naturally first... as explained in part by Carl Jung and evidenced via archeology. Religion arose well after the advent of theism and that is what gave rise to atheism... which religion we may never know but it can easily be speculated as Christianity being the direct cause of atheism. (it is all atheists are concerned with apparently) either that or it is all they know?
Regarding earlier post atheism would be the default belief for all humanity
actually you do not have the right to call an atheist a satanist... there you go putting words in people mouths again.
personally I call it or consider it "soft-satanism" or weak-satanism" mainly because atheism's adherents focus on a sole practice of Christianity.
I say something and you respond exactly as predicted...
you're too easy my man, dare I say weak minded?
R: You deserve to burn in hell!
A: You deserve to be ridiculed!
Originally posted by delusion
I'm a little shy of private conversations, I'm more comfortable being a bit of hit and run poster. But I think this is still relatively on-topic, as the claim that life has no meaning is often something associated with atheists, but is not neccessarily something they all would think true.
(if it turns out not to be on topic, then sure, I'll take the plunge into private messaging)
I have to backtrack a little and qualify my position (damn that always happens when I have to back up my assertions) - there is real meaning to life. That meaning is the process of life itself. I don't think we as humans are neccessary to that process (of life), but we do exist as part of it; therefore, while we exist, we have meaning.
But there's no plan we have to fulfill. Life is totally happy for us to continue existing, but if we happen to get wiped out through our own stupidity or just random circumstance, life will continue the process through other species.
Those that do say life has no meaning are (usually) just reacting against the traditional meanings given (ones of super-natural origin, man's destiny as center of creation, etc) as not sufficient, and they reject them as grounds for meaning.
Evolution does provide meaning, although the religious (but not just them) don't agree because it takes away our established myths about ourselves.
Given the huge amount of myths about ourselves out there, we obviously have huge need to create meaning for our existence, specificallly one we can relate to. Some find the impersonal processes of the universe too hard to relate to, which is why humanising the universe through religion makes things much easier to process.
I think the idea that morality only comes with knowing that there is a purpose to your life isn't really true if you think carefully about it, it's just been associated with it for a long time.
We are social beings, we have self-consciousness, and we have things we like and things we don't that we can all pretty much agree on - survival, shelter, security, eating, comfort, love, children, health, entertainment and community are all good things universally to all, and things which threaten those are bad.*
We construct our morality around protecting those things, and stories are a great way to teach and pass on our values. Religion is a story that condenses all this into a readily transmittable package, generation to generation.
It uses story logic, which is big on meaningfulness, and is easy to remember because we can relate to it.
Science, logic, and evoution do provide meaning for those who are fine with it - it is a model that has logic to it, just not the story logic of religion.
In short, morality comes from our urge to provide the best circumstances for our success as a species.
Sorry for the long-windedness, it's a handicap I struggle with. I did delete lots of even more rambly sentences.
Not sure if I answered your quesion, but at least that's where I''m coming from for now, until new information comes to light.
*It's with reference to this that I would agree life has meaning, but I disagree there is any grand-plan underway other than our own well-being while we happen to exist; and if that well-being can coincide with the well-being of every other life-form, so much the better.
Originally posted by DrGod
Yes it could.
Atheists "believe" there is no god.
Atheists have "faith" that they are right.
Since god can never be proven, then this is just another kind of religion.
Originally posted by Lucid Lunacy
reply to post by undo
Or if you could suggest a few Sitchin books, which ones would you suggest?
Originally posted by Lucid Lunacy
reply to post by vasaga
R: You deserve to burn in hell!
A: You deserve to be ridiculed!
Lets stop and appreciate those two. I feel that was a perfect extraction from your post to isolate to get a real sense of the differences
You deserve ridicule. Says the atheist.
You deserve to die forever for all of time in hellfire. Says the religious person.
Infer what you will
Originally posted by CalebRight14
Originally posted by HIWATT
HERE YOU GO
/ END THREAD
Please don't do that, you are not a moderator.