171–180 of 196 posts
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But it seems an awful way to dismiss the discussion on a date. Comparing the belief in Christ with the belief in Zeus!? I know it may be logical for an atheist, but for a Christian it may actually be insulting.
..as is your belief to a hindu
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Interestingly, Bulgarian (and by extension probably all Slavic languages) don't follow this model. (translations based on word roots) Monday - ponedelnik - "after no work" Tuesday - vtornik - "second" Wednesday - sryada - "middle" Thursday - chetvurtuk - "fourth" Friday - petuk - "fifth" Saturday - subota - from Sabath Sunday - Nedelia - "no work"
Russian is very very similar save for Sunday, which is "voskresenya", which roughly translates to (i think) "the resurrection." "Nedelia" translates to "week," but I've never thought about it as meaning "no work" which it almost also does in Russian.
I always thought of "niedziela" as coming from "nie dzielić" / "не делить" / "no dividing/separating", though it doesn't really make sense as name for the day.
Interesting. Knowing a little bit of English/Spanish you can guess the origin of most of the days of the week. * Sunday/Domingo - Sun/? * Monday/Lunes - Moon/Luna * Tuesday/Martes - ?/Mars * Wednesday/Miercoles - ?/Mercurio * Thursday/Jueves - Thor/Jupiter * Friday/Viernes - ?/Venus * Saturday/Sabado - Saturn/?
* Domenica (From Latin: dies dominicus -> Lord's day)
* Lunedì (Luna -> Moon)
* Martedì (Marte -> Mars)
* Mercoledì (Mercurio -> Mercury)
* Giovedì (Giove -> Jupiter)
* Venerdì (Venere -> Venus)
* Sabato (Sabbath)
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It pains you? really? Not to be simplistic, but if you don't actually believe in god in the first place, than the decision to believe in god or not is just about as relevant as the decision to believe in santa claus... re: pastors, barber called, time for a hair cut...
"if you don't actually believe in god in the first place, than the decision to believe in god or not is just about as relevant as the decision to believe in santa claus" That's not really an a accurate statement. What a person believes doesn't determine what is relevant in this case. What does determine what is relevant is what the truth about God actually is. If God does exist, and if the Bible accurately describes…
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This is a very typical religious argument. It puts religion, in this case Christianity, on a piedestal where it doesn't belong if you don't happen to be Christian. The original statement in it's logic form is this: You believe in 530 gods, I believe in 529 gods. 530 minus 529 is 1, so we agree on not believing in most of the gods. That's it. Nothing more to it. And assuming the date didn't secretly worship Zeus it's…
But it seems an awful way to dismiss the discussion on a date. Comparing the belief in Christ with the belief in Zeus!? I know it may be logical for an atheist, but for a Christian it may actually be insulting.
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…
If the religious perspective if based on faith, how or why would one dig for evidence?
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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…
The existence of God is both fact and not fact, until you look in the box.
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…
I think the argument is fairly sound and is great at concisely explaining why religion is a product of humanity's imagination and current culture. (With all due respect, don't take this as an affront on your beliefs.) I like the argument for a number of reasons: - It beg's the question "Why do I reject those other 529 gods?" Generally there is no good answer for this other than being indoctrinated at a young age. You…
-If God is not real, how can we explain the existence of so many counterfeits?
-Most of the 529 gods that theists or Christians reject, for historical, scientific, and philosophical reasons, do not have a sound or rational basis for belief, such as Zeus or Thor.
-Many Christians are familiar with the competing claims of other religions, even as espoused by those faiths' most well-reasoned and ardent adherents, and yet still reject them.
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…
I think the argument is fairly sound and is great at concisely explaining why religion is a product of humanity's imagination and current culture. (With all due respect, don't take this as an affront on your beliefs.) I like the argument for a number of reasons: - It beg's the question "Why do I reject those other 529 gods?" Generally there is no good answer for this other than being indoctrinated at a young age. You…
No, it's a fallacy. There is an absolutely enormous number of possible humans that could exist, but don't. A presumably finite, but enormous number. Neither of us believe they exist. I also don't believe in your existence (for the sake of argument), but you do. The difference is, you don't believe in 10^1000-1 humans, but I don't believe in 10^1000 humans.
No amount of stacking up non-existent things proves anything about any given thing, up to and including whether or not that thing exists.
Incidentally, this doesn't address any of your other arguments, which aren't really "in support of 'the (n-1) gods' argument" so much as their own independent, free-standing points. I just want to point out the (n-1) argument is a rhetorical device, not an actual argument of any merit. Perhaps "good rhetorical device" is all you meant by "sound", that would fit with the rest of your message, but I do prefer to reserve the word for its actual logical meaning; if we give that up we don't really have a replacement.