Religion: The Enemy of Reason?

[chaos]

when I've looked at this forum title I knew right away who created it =)
I also knew who would have posted here. It does surprises me though to find out most people don't believe in god around here.

 

[CitizenGeek]

when I've looked at this forum title I knew right away who created it =)
I also knew who would have posted here. It does surprises me though to find out most people don't believe in god around here.

Why did you suspect that I had made this thread?

And I'd say it's reassuring so few people believe in God. The less people that believe in God, the less people that believe in homophobic, misogynistic, actively sexist, sometimes racist churches and religions that promote the discrediting of science and the break-down of free thought. So, yes, it certainly is reassuring that so few believe in God.

 

[melonpan]

when I've looked at this forum title I knew right away who created it =)
I also knew who would have posted here. It does surprises me though to find out most people don't believe in god around here.

Why did you suspect that I had made this thread?

And I'd say it's reassuring so few people believe in God. The less people that believe in God, the less people that believe in homophobic, misogynistic, actively sexist, sometimes racist churches and religions that promote the discrediting of science and the break-down of free thought. So, yes, it certainly is reassuring that so few believe in God.

Have you actually defined what you consider "God" to mean, though?

And at the end of the day, if you don't believe in something that created the Universe, or this existence, or however we're here; then what do you believe? The Universe is pointless?

There are an infinite number of different possibilities as to why things are how they are, and I haven't read your opinion on that, just bashing all people who stick to the Biblical sense of the word "God". (Or maybe I haven't read this topic enough).

 

[Liquid Skin]

when I've looked at this forum title I knew right away who created it =)
I also knew who would have posted here. It does surprises me though to find out most people don't believe in god around here.

Why did you suspect that I had made this thread?

And I'd say it's reassuring so few people believe in God. The less people that believe in God, the less people that believe in homophobic, misogynistic, actively sexist, sometimes racist churches and religions that promote the discrediting of science and the break-down of free thought. So, yes, it certainly is reassuring that so few believe in God.

Have you actually defined what you consider "God" to mean, though?

And at the end of the day, if you don't believe in something that created the Universe, or this existence, or however we're here; then what do you believe? The Universe is pointless?

There are an infinite number of different possibilities as to why things are how they are, and I haven't read your opinion on that, just bashing all people who stick to the Biblical sense of the word "God". (Or maybe I haven't read this topic enough).

Naa you've pretty accurately summed up Citizen Geek there actually

And yes i agree with you too. Admittedly i can only approach things from a Christian viewpoint (but lets face it every single religious debate always turns into a good ol fashioned Bible bash session so you don't need me to stoke the flames) but people do seem to forget the miriad of other religions which arent Christianity/Islam/Judaism.

Theres plenty of creation theory out there which doesnt discriminate particular groups. Although i'd class it more as a branch of philosophy, Buddhism, Confucism and Tao are a prime choice. Aside from them: Spiritualism, Shamanism, Shinto (though i havent researched it that deeply) and New Age subscribe to the idea of a higher power/powers without discriminating a particular group or dispensing strict dogma.

Most people's definition of God is of someone or something which created us/the world/the universe or is in fact a part of the universe (cosmic energies/chi/auras etc). Now whether that being is intelligent, omniprescent, good, evil, male, female, canine or crocodile is up for debate but what matters is that something came from something.

Interestingly enough the further you research the more the apparently conflicting ideas of science and religion converge. Science states that matter cannot be created or destroyed and religion is the belief in something eternal. A collection of random molecules which have always been there or appeared out of nowhere which then decide to explode or a creator, take your pic....

 

[chaos]

when I've looked at this forum title I knew right away who created it =)
I also knew who would have posted here. It does surprises me though to find out most people don't believe in god around here.

Why did you suspect that I had made this thread?

And I'd say it's reassuring so few people believe in God. The less people that believe in God, the less people that believe in homophobic, misogynistic, actively sexist, sometimes racist churches and religions that promote the discrediting of science and the break-down of free thought. So, yes, it certainly is reassuring that so few believe in God.

You like to create controversial topics. ;D

About religion, ok, I agree. About God, I don't.
spiritualism and religion are not the same. Spiritualism is a private experience. Religion, IMHO, is for show.

There is homossexuality in animals, others change genres so I don't think homosexuals is unnatural or goes against god creations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_animals

and I'm too tired, too sleepy to make sense =) but if this post is too cryptic, I promise to clear things up in my next one.

edit: nice post Liquid skin. My father and I were shinto, my mother is catholic and my sisters are spiritualist. Weird setup a I know, but it clears the perception of god to actually know about more than one religion.
You realize the basic stuff is the same no matter the religion, the rest is what I've called "for show religion"

 

[CitizenGeek]

Have you actually defined what you consider "God" to mean, though?

Well, what other kind of God do you expect me to be talking about? I've mentioned the Jewish, Islamic and Christian God a number of times, so I thought it would be fairly obvious that the God concept I'm talking about is the monotheistic one worshiped by the followers of these faiths.

And at the end of the day, if you don't believe in something that created the Universe, or this existence, or however we're here; then what do you believe? The Universe is pointless?

If a God hasn't created the universe, how does that render billions of years of remarkable evolution and development "pointless"? I don't need to 'believe' in anything, we understand many things about the universe that we previously did not, and I'm sure that there are things we'll probably never know about it. But, does that make it more likely that it's a God that's behind all of this? Of course it doesn't.

There are an infinite number of different possibilities as to why things are how they are, and I haven't read your opinion on that, just bashing all people who stick to the Biblical sense of the word "God". (Or maybe I haven't read this topic enough).

What's wrong with criticising the Bible and the people that stick to it? Most people may place religion on a sacred pedestal and decree that it's 'too important' to be lampooned by mere logical thought, but that's certainly not how I think.

 

[Tachi]

not really read this thread in a while...

if people beleive in "god" due to being brought up in a strong religious upbringing and still continue their beleif then well done :thumb: i respect thou in a sense. but im not hiding the fact i see it as brainwashing.

in honest opinion, who cares if there is a "god" or if we evolved over time?
the end of the matter is.....were all here. lets make the most of our lives and pointless wars in the name of religion are B.S
not saying that we should all become hippies *shivers at the thought* but we don't need to fight these stupid wars in the name of something we don't actually have proof of.

if people say "god wrote the bible" well as close to fact can get. it was most probably a scholar or monk.

so your so called "god" is actually a dead human who wrote a book that you have come to know as "the word of god"

everyones entitled to their own opinion.

as for my "religion" im very laid back. yeah sure there's a afterlife...i've seen spirits, so can't deny the afterlifes existence.
as for a ruler of the afterlife.....i don't think such a being really exists. but in my opinion...if there really is such a ruler...they hold no presidence in the living world. otherwise we'd all be living the life of riley or be living in a chaos stricken world.

Natural Disasters aren't the punishment of "god" ...if that was the case, then what did the chinese do to deserve the earthquake? its all scientifically proven that nature is a force of its own.

 

[Rui]

And at the end of the day, if you don't believe in something that created the Universe, or this existence, or however we're here; then what do you believe? The Universe is pointless?

Is it any less pointless if some person/force created it to watch over? Flowering blooming in desolate areas or those living things born without capacity to reproduce can be called pointless in some perspectives, but both can be beautiful too. That's good enough for me.

I think people being spiritual or coming up with ideas about what they believe in is fine, I'm just not that way myself and don't like it when they strike out at groups with different opinions (not that you are!).

R

 

[melonpan]

Dispatches on Channel 4 right now fits into this thread perfectly.

 

[Outlawstar]

As I said before I dont believe in the God of the Bible as he is depicted, and am in no way religious.
But its hard to deny the apparent intelligent design of the universe.
Its kind of scary really.
I keep asking myself question like these, I cant help it.

Actually I remember reading something intersting recently about the mounting evidence of an all pervasive, possibly concious particle that has a hand in all things existence and design.

But dont take me up on that till I find the link.

 

[CitizenGeek]

Dispatches on Channel 4 right now fits into this thread perfectly.

Indeed it does! How can anyone watch that and think "religion is a positive force in today's society". Those self-rightous loons were handing out homophobic leaflets at gay pride events (foretunately, it seemed like most of the average people on the street were offended by it). They forced the closure of a drama (Jerry Springer: The Opera, to be specific) thus restricting the freedom of speech. They preached the same kind of intolerance against Muslims (at a protest against the construction of a Mosque) they say they face every day. They are attacking science - by trying to ruin the research of scientists using human/animal embryos for important research. And to top it all off, they are crippling free thought in children by dressing that 'Creation' nonsense up as actual 'science'. Outrageous. It scares me that fundamentalist Christianity is getting more popular.

But its hard to deny the apparent intelligent design of the universe.

You said this before, and even though you're not using God to back up your thinking (admirable, really!) I'm still totally perplexed. Could you give some examples of this apparent "intelligent design" of the universe?

Actually I remember reading something intersting recently about the mounting evidence of an all pervasive, possibly concious particle that has a hand in all things existence and design.

But dont take me up on that till I find the link.

That would be quite an interesting read!

 

[Outlawstar]

Dispatches on Channel 4 right now fits into this thread perfectly.

Indeed it does! How can anyone watch that and think "religion is a positive force in today's society". Those self-rightous loons were handing out homophobic leaflets at gay pride events (foretunately, it seemed like most of the average people on the street were offended by it). They forced the closure of a drama (Jerry Springer: The Opera, to be specific) thus restricting the freedom of speech. They preached the same kind of intolerance against Muslims (at a protest against the construction of a Mosque) they say they face every day. They are attacking science - by trying to ruin the research of scientists using human/animal embryos for important research. And to top it all off, they are crippling free thought in children by dressing that 'Creation' nonsense up as actual 'science'. Outrageous. It scares me that fundamentalist Christianity is getting more popular.

But its hard to deny the apparent intelligent design of the universe.

You said this before, and even though you're not using God to back up your thinking (admirable, really!) I'm still totally perplexed. Could you give some examples of this apparent "intelligent design" of the universe?

Actually I remember reading something intersting recently about the mounting evidence of an all pervasive, possibly concious particle that has a hand in all things existence and design.

But dont take me up on that till I find the link.

That would be quite an interesting read!

Yeah about the intelligent design thing, Im still looking for the exact article, though I did come across a rreally interesting piece on my travels that hints at this possibility, and for anyone even remotely interested in an emrging new vision of science, Id highly advise you take a look at this(long rerad), very intersting.

http://www.soulsofdistortion.nl/SODA_chapter2.html


But yeah I thought the very fact that the universe has laws to it and "works" would have been enough to consider intelligent design, though as I said before this could simply be the coclusion I ust come to being a human whos reality contains such things on a daily basis.