Topic: Religion. The evolution, creation and everything in between megathread

Offline Zarathrustra

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Quote from: KiLL3r;669834
First off settle down. No need to go aggro over nothing.

Now to business.

You have conclusive proof the universe hasn't been around forever? How do you know the universe wasn't the beginning of everything which would mean it has been around "forever".

For there to have been nothing before the birth of the universe, then the "idea" of nothing would have to have existed, and for that idea to exist, there would have to be something for it to exist in.  Therefore, either way, the universe has always existed.:heheh:

Reply #4450 Posted: March 04, 2008, 08:42:10 pm

Offline spliff

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that's basically just saying that there was nothing before the universe, not that it has always existed. If the universe has always existed then time would have to have exited forever, and as Philo-sofa was saying apparently time began at a specific point..

man what a fucking stupid thing to argue about.

Yeah I am interested in science, but I'm not so interested in that I go out of my way to learn everything about it, life is short so what's the point in wasting my life learning everything about science when ultimately it would be pointless to do so? there are more important things in life. I personally find spirituality to be more important than science. :)

Reply #4451 Posted: March 04, 2008, 08:46:47 pm

Offline Black Heart

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Quote from: spliff;669797
You can't invent something that might already exist... they would have invented their own ideas and beliefs about God, I think is what you mean..



Science will never know or have all the answers either, so where does that leave you?


Without us (or life thats intelligent) to beleive, god doesn't exist...

And how do you know what sciences limits are, many have tried to guess before (hsitorically) and are now a laughing stock.

Reply #4452 Posted: March 04, 2008, 09:04:23 pm

Offline KiLL3r

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anyone seen the show stephen hawking master of the universe? Just about to watch it should be a quite interesting.

Reply #4453 Posted: March 04, 2008, 09:06:48 pm


Offline spliffs

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Quote from: Black Heart;669866
Without us (or life thats intelligent) to beleive, god doesn't exist...


Not quite sure what you mean... Yes, without any life to believe in a God there would be no need for a God. So how extraordinary it is that life exists then?

Quote from: Black Heart;669866
And how do you know what sciences limits are, many have tried to guess before (hsitorically) and are now a laughing stock.


Because no matter how much science can explain, ultimately science and all it's methods and principles had to come from somewhere, which of course cannot be explained.


Quote from: KiLL3r;669868
anyone seen the show stephen hawking master of the universe? Just about to watch it should be a quite interesting.



Should be good, haven't yet seen it myself though, just remember though as intelligent as Hawkings is he is prone to make mistakes aswell and has had made plenty of mistakes with some of his scientific theories... still, if you want to try to understand the universe he's probably the best guy to explain it

Reply #4454 Posted: March 04, 2008, 09:21:45 pm

Offline Zarkov

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Reply #4455 Posted: March 04, 2008, 09:30:36 pm

Offline detonator7

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Quote from: Zarkov;669880
Boom.

Headshot..


david and goliath?

Reply #4456 Posted: March 04, 2008, 09:40:59 pm
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Offline Tiwaking!

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The following post is the one which broke the camels back in regards to everyone(including me, although Im waay too late in the argument)
Quote from: spliff;669498
Please do. I would like to hear exactly why and how you think time first began - and I assume this is going to be 100% fact and not just a scientific theory?

Well. If you are relying on facts which are: "My flying spaghetti monster made it for me because he loves me!" then doesnt everything counter to that idea count as 'theory' then?
Quote from: Zarathrustra;669804
Sorry, I'll ignore this thread for another 6 months, again.  It makes me angry :p

"A Warrior of Light cannot always choose his battlefield."
Quote from: $lim-$hot;669809
Much of Islam is the same.  You seem to just take the tiny minority of extremists found in any religion and use them to exemplify the religion as a whole.

True and not true. The whole media focus on 'Rise of fundamentalism' simply ignores the fundamentalist beginnings(and continuings) of Islam. The only reason that fundamentalists are a minority is:

a) Geographical - Middle East is fairly isolated
b) Population - The largest Islamic nation is Malaysia. Quite a long way away from Arabia i.e a conquered territory
c) Conquerors conquered - The national populations of the Mughal empires became too numerous for a single religious order to control absolutely and ESPECIALLY not from any central locale
Quote from: spliffs;669875
Not quite sure what you mean... Yes, without any life to believe in a God there would be no need for a God. So how extraordinary it is that life exists then?

The circularity of this poor attempt at an argument would be obvious to a small child. Actually, I lie. It would not be obvious to a small child unless they had developed beyond the age where SOLIPSISM was a problem. Here is your argument in plain and easy to understand terms:

"I cant imagine a universe without someone to imagine the universe"

Of COURSE you cant imagine a universe without someone to imagine the universe because you're attempting to imagine it to start with!

The thing is we have these wonderful things we have invented which are called MACHINES. Machines do not think for themselves and do not have bias. If the universe is a machine, then it needs no intelligence to guide it. It just continues on regardless of how many inferior minds wish it to be not so

Good riddence to you

Reply #4457 Posted: March 04, 2008, 11:28:43 pm
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Offline winfieldsaregoo

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well i beleave that i guy along time ago got a heep of people beleave in what he was cracking on about you could even call him a cult leader, who preformed magic tricks.whitch he clamed to be miricals, like what the indans do in inda. his name was jesus.


and you know what people do the same thing in modern times funny that

Reply #4458 Posted: March 04, 2008, 11:47:02 pm

Offline cobra

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Quote from: spliff;669828
Who's we? you're not a scientist, hell you weren't even aware that our universe hasn't existed forever :/


im a scientist (well BSc Physics), are you? if not then stop asking people if they are scientists

you seem confused about the whole universe thing

you seem confused about science

are you sure your not a christian?

Reply #4459 Posted: March 05, 2008, 12:41:54 am

Offline Zarkov

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Quote from: winfieldsaregoo;669964
well i beleave that i guy along time ago got a heep of people beleave in what he was cracking on about you could even call him a cult leader, who preformed magic tricks.whitch he clamed to be miricals, like what the indans do in inda. his name was jesus.


and you know what people do the same thing in modern times funny that


You're not using your spell check correctly.

You need to edit the words that are underlined.

The ones without lines are OK.

Reply #4460 Posted: March 05, 2008, 06:42:38 am

Offline Ngati_Grim

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Quote from: $lim-$hot;669809
@ Killer - God your're unintelligent.

The Christian faith has evolved dramatically over the last 100 years - away from Dogma and Canonical law and towards a more accepting faith akin to what it should have been from the start.  Much of Islam is the same.  You seem to just take the tiny minority of extremists found in any religion and use them to exemplify the religion as a whole.


Firstly Slim, when commenting on other people's intelligence, it pays to make sure you are squeaky clean. Thus: Your're is actually spelt you're.


Secondly, the christian faith in New Zealand has been moving towards conservatism. Don't mistake bells and whistles and party atmospheres for liberalism.

Reply #4461 Posted: March 05, 2008, 08:08:15 am
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Offline Black Heart

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Reply #4462 Posted: March 05, 2008, 08:18:54 am

Offline Tiwaking!

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Quote from: winfieldsaregoo;669964
well i beleave that i guy along time ago got a heep of people beleave in what he was cracking on about you could even call him a cult leader, who preformed magic tricks.whitch he clamed to be miricals, like what the indans do in inda. his name was jesus.

Actually his name was Apollonius of Tyana.

Made alot of Romans angry

Reply #4463 Posted: March 05, 2008, 08:44:43 am
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Offline ThaFleastyler

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Quote from: cobra;669972
you seem confused about the whole universe thing

you seem confused about science

are you sure your not a christian?

See, those are the kind of pathetic, bullshit comments I was talking about before :disappoin

Reply #4464 Posted: March 05, 2008, 09:09:29 am

Offline Ngati_Grim

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Quote
Pew study confirms non-religious are significant bloc

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Survey shows Non-Religious Outnumber Those of Every Single Faith (But One)

Americans' Faiths in Flux as More Reject Their Given Religions

Amherst, New York (March 3, 2008)‹The most detailed estimates to date of Americans' religious affiliations reports that a significant portion of U.S. citizens claim "none of the above," placing the unaffiliated second only to Roman Catholics in number. Monday's release of the 35,000-respondent U.S. Religious Landscape Survey from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows that 16.1 percent of Americans have no particular religion at all, while 23.9 percent identify themselves as Catholic. The next largest "belief group" is Evangelical Baptist at 10.8 percent. All other denominational groupings show in the single digits or less.

The study also shows the number of Americans who identify as atheist or agnostic has risen from 3.2 percent to 4 percent, while a "remarkably high" 44 percent have rejected the religion placed on them in childhood.

"People are finding out that what they've been handed in youth doesn't work, or isn't important enough to defend when confronted with marriage or some other life situation that forces them to examine it," said Paul Kurtz, founder of the Council for Secular Humanism. "But when the shuffling is done, this study shows that three people are dropping religion altogether for each one gaining a faith."

The study also confirms the previous 2004 Pew Forum-University of Akron study findings that those who identify as strictly secular comprise more than 10 percent of the population, only on a much larger scale.

"The breakdown is interesting, in that it distinguishes between the vaguely religious and those who fall squarely in the secular camp," Kurtz said. "But I would venture to say that there is a significant number of Americans who sympathize with secularism, but who may still be nominal members of religious organizations. It's apparent that a significant percentage of the population identifies with secularism, and I trust politicians will bear this in mind."

The Council for Secular Humanism is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization promoting rational inquiry, secular values and positive human development through the advancement of secular humanism. The Council, publisher of the bimonthly journal Free Inquiry, has a Web site at http://www.secularhumanism.org.



Interesting.

Also: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23321832-23109,00.html

Reply #4465 Posted: March 05, 2008, 10:56:37 am
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Offline krasher

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The Americans. Now there is a society that I want to follow.

Reply #4466 Posted: March 05, 2008, 11:14:04 am
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Offline cobra

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Quote from: ThaFleastyler;670058
See, those are the kind of pathetic, bullshit comments I was talking about before :disappoin

wow another joyless christian, its a joke - just commentary about how he is as ignorant about science as most of the christians in this thread

also his 'arguments' didn't sound agnostic, the did sound like they were coming from a theist point of view

is your new roll going to be a self righteous commentator that passes judgement on other peoples posts with out adding anything of you own?

Reply #4467 Posted: March 05, 2008, 12:33:12 pm

Offline Metal-Fingerz

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Quote from: $lim-$hot;669809
@ Killer - God your're unintelligent.

The Christian faith has evolved dramatically over the last 100 years - away from Dogma and Canonical law and towards a more accepting faith akin to what it should have been from the start.  Much of Islam is the same.  You seem to just take the tiny minority of extremists found in any religion and use them to exemplify the religion as a whole.


i have to agree with with slim on this idea, religion has evolved with time i am not religious and am not pro or anti religion but religion has changed quite a bit since its earlier days. As with all religion there will be extremists and traditionalists who interpret passages and readings and practices in the utmost literal sense and to me that is incorrect as they often clash with Natural law as this has evolved in society and these practices and preachings do not seem to fit with the mold of society.

My brothers wife is quite catholic, church every sunday, and always has been she interprets Catholiscism in a way that makes her a better person (she is one of the nicest people i know) but also believes in Science and understands there are parts of the bible which can be only interpreted metaphorically (she is a forensic scientist so obviously she strongly believes in science too) so the two can co-exist

religion if exercised in the right manner has some very good ideals in it but if exercised in the wrong fashion can create horrible things and social ineptness.

those who so strongly preach Religion and interepret its excerpts in such a literal sense are generally blind to everyone elses idea's and beliefs and will state that any other religion is wrong, yet links in the bible and the koran are so noticable having the same people and characters in it.

i am rambling but yea the other day some goon was talking to me he was christian.... i am buddhist tis not a religion per se but to an extent has lots of comparibles to a religion obviously ( im a half ass buddhist btw) and he was trying to tell me that all my morals and idea's that i have taken from it are wrong and ill founded without even understanding any concepts of buddhism.
now that is retarded and thats how you make a religion look retarded by being so bling an naieve that only what you know has to be correct.

Science is Fact.
Religion is Faith.

Reply #4468 Posted: March 05, 2008, 01:46:05 pm

Offline ThaFleastyler

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Quote from: cobra;670134
wow another joyless christian, its a joke - just commentary about how he is as ignorant about science as most of the christians in this thread

also his 'arguments' didn't sound agnostic, the did sound like they were coming from a theist point of view

is your new roll going to be a self righteous commentator that passes judgement on other peoples posts with out adding anything of you own?

Firstly, I'm not joyless - I'm just sick of your shit.
Secondly, I'm going to call a spade a spade, so if your post is bullshit, I'll call it bullshit.

Reply #4469 Posted: March 05, 2008, 02:05:46 pm

Offline nick247

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nice post metal fingerz

Im with you on that one, religion certainly has some good aspects to it unfortunatly it is also has a tonne of bad shit attached to it

For most people the bad shit does not effect their lives enough to outweigh the good so they see religion as being beneficial

Personally i like to look at the wider scope of things. I will not support religion on the basis of the negative effects, even if none of them really effect me.

I think alot of people need to look at the reasons for thier participation in organised religion. Alot of people will probably find that the reasons behind their involvement are things such as a feeling of belonging or being able to talk to people about spirituality without feeling like an outcast (spirituality is a kinda taboo subject in the wider public, more likely you are surrounded by mates who would look at you funny if you ever brought up the subject)

"clubs" where people get together and discuss their views on spirituality without all the dogma, tradition and bible shit, would prove to be a real church killer. Imagine if you could spend your sunday with a group of people, in comfortable surroundings, where you actually got a say for once, and you sit around in this group talking for a couple of hours.

Me personally i would still prefer to sleep in, but i argue that there are alot of "christians" that would prefer this to being lectured by someone with dubious qualifications

Reply #4470 Posted: March 05, 2008, 02:16:44 pm

Offline krasher

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FYI - You are close....that is the way that many churches have headed....to an emphasis on small groups where people can hang out and chew the fat. A very useful emphasis IMO. When I say close, I mean that it won't kill the church, more that it is the church.

Traditional church (probably what many of you consider to be church) or a church service (10-12am sunday for eg) is what I (and the leadership team of my church) consider to only about 5% of what it's all about. The other 95% being about just hanging out with other believers, helping out people in the community, learning about stuff, enjoying ones relationship with God.

I go to an evening church service, but I consider church to also be at a poker night that I go to once a month with some Christians, and at beer church which is what we have called a night we have once a month and just hang out and talk about stuff and eat pizza and some enjoy a cold beer or two.

Somehow I don't think that is what you imagine when I say that I go to 'church'. Not that anybody would care to ask...but now that a half sensible discussion appears to being had about the 'evolution' of the church...there you go :P

And yeah, and I agree with Flea...but not going to bother going there. Thanks to those who maintain a reasonable attitude amongst this discussion. Apologies for when I don't...

Reply #4471 Posted: March 05, 2008, 02:49:55 pm
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Offline Metal-Fingerz

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quality post Nick + Krasher

if i was not at work i would be able to put a little more thought and time into my posts instead of flying thru a post and rambling far too much maybe sometime i will post up something a little more well thought out when im not at work!

Reply #4472 Posted: March 05, 2008, 03:11:23 pm

Offline SteddieEddie

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Reply #4473 Posted: March 05, 2008, 03:39:04 pm

Offline nick247

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yeah thats sounds pretty good krasher

Is it true from peoples experiences that the hard thing about churches is that for people that want the 95% that krasher is talking about they often get sucked in and end up with people trying to convert them to the 5% side of things or the church misrepresents the amount of "new age" activities/meetings?

Reply #4474 Posted: March 05, 2008, 03:40:31 pm