131–140 of 196 posts
There is one "error" in that discussion imho. Even if Thursday is named after Thor, it doesn't mean that Thursday was dedicated in celebration of Thor. And on the other side, Easter isn't named after Jesus. So I'm not following how Thursday and Easter are even remotely related. edit: of course this is just nit picking, and is not really relevant on the big picture.
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Saying something is "individual" is healthy only to the point that it does not stop you from actually researching it That's the point I am disagreeing with though. The problem with God is that there is no way we can consider it as a Fact or Non-Fact. There is currently no objective reality of God's existence - so there is no element of fact or non-fact in it (interesting side note: if we all unequivocally believe in…
why should religious belief have a special place in the continuum of silly thoughts? (you say they should be respected) if you can make someone believe anything (e.g. there's this god with x,y,z attributes), you can make them do anything.
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That is interesting. I've never discussed religion with my parents or other family - just assumed them to be agnostic. Maybe I'm wrong...
Am I right in thinking (from your domain) you are Danish? I'd be interested in whether you're right or not in that assumption. Because It's common thought to me that northern European countries are generally more agnostic anyway (I suspect because the Roman Empire/Holy Roman Empire never really touched it)
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There is no decision that is more life-impacting than belief/disbelief in a God. Disagreed (and I can find you multiple believers/non-believers who will agree with me). In many ways it's irrelevant - your life choice to make whichever way you choose (with in depth research or knee jerk reaction). There are lots of other diverting things to spend your time on. It's a cycle that sadly continues - 200 years ago everyone…
I'm merely pointing to the fact that many extremely intelligent individuals have given atheism a lot of thought and come out on both sides of the fence. Of all major world issues, topics of study, etc., I cannot think of another with bigger potential implications. Your statement that "religious belief should be an individual thing" is exactly the mindset that I am trying to address. The existence of a God is fact, or…
But there is no way to "research" the existence or non-existence of God. It's entirely a matter of faith, which I either have, or do not - that's why it is an individual matter.
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2,500 years ago, Jews were slaughtering goats and offering them as burnt offerings on altars in order to absolve themselves of sin. Modern Judaism is distinctly different than what was practiced two millenia ago.
To my knowledge, the religious decree about slaughtering goats is the same today in judaism as it was 2,500 years ago. The reason it's not practiced today is 'just' because the decree also states that you have to perform the sacrifice at the great temple on temple mount. That poses a technical problem, since: 1. The temple was destroyed 2k years back, and there's a pretty famous mosque standing in its place. 2. Relig…
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2,500 years ago, Jews were slaughtering goats and offering them as burnt offerings on altars in order to absolve themselves of sin. Modern Judaism is distinctly different than what was practiced two millenia ago.
To my knowledge, the religious decree about slaughtering goats is the same today in judaism as it was 2,500 years ago. The reason it's not practiced today is 'just' because the decree also states that you have to perform the sacrifice at the great temple on temple mount. That poses a technical problem, since: 1. The temple was destroyed 2k years back, and there's a pretty famous mosque standing in its place. 2. Relig…
[EDIT] I may have been confused with the Sanhedrin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanhedrin
I love that we're living in a time where it's so easy to learn. Well put, Derek. Me too.
I agree with that statement, but it does pain me that this was his big takeaway. There is no decision that is more life-impacting than belief/disbelief in a God. To see someone so quickly silenced/swayed by such simple rhetoric really illustrates how many important subjects are not getting nearly as much thought as they deserve. We will spend months stressing about a job or a start-up, which might affect our lives fo…
I don't think it is the 'trendy' thing at all, it is just that when you think this stuff over and you weigh the evidence someone that is intellectually oriented will probably come down on the atheist side of the line.
Trends have nothing to do with it, at least atheists are no longer burned at the stake. But in plenty of countries it's probably safer to have the wrong religion than no religion at all.
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Saying something is "individual" is healthy only to the point that it does not stop you from actually researching it That's the point I am disagreeing with though. The problem with God is that there is no way we can consider it as a Fact or Non-Fact. There is currently no objective reality of God's existence - so there is no element of fact or non-fact in it (interesting side note: if we all unequivocally believe in…
No, he was saying that whether or not there is a God is either a true or false statement. Now of course, whether or not we can determine the truth of that statement is another question entirely. I certainly am not aware of any way of proving it either way in this life, and indeed the evidence I am aware of (in either direction) is highly ambigious. And of course, even if you decide you personally beleive there is a G…
The logic here doesn't hold with respect to monothestic religions such as Judaism or Christianity. The Ten Commandments, which are common to these two religions, have two "tables," the first of which (commandments 1 - 5) defines the relations between God and man and the second of which defines the relations between men (6 - 10). The very first commandment is "thou shalt have no other gods before me. The next proscrip…
Seems to me you agree with the article. You say 529 gods of history don't exist, 1 does. We say the exact same thing you do, just about all gods. Look how easy it is to make your quote sound atheistic: "Every purported deity is a mere figment of man's imagination"
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I agree with that statement, but it does pain me that this was his big takeaway. There is no decision that is more life-impacting than belief/disbelief in a God. To see someone so quickly silenced/swayed by such simple rhetoric really illustrates how many important subjects are not getting nearly as much thought as they deserve. We will spend months stressing about a job or a start-up, which might affect our lives fo…
From the point of view of an atheist, there is very little to even think about. That's the problem, really. In matters of faith, faith (by its very nature) requires very little thought. You can search for 'evidence' of the existence of God, but there is none to consider really. That's why you end up with great scientific minds being reduced to things like Pascals Gambit. While Pascal did enter into an interesting pie…