What all religion are really saying is..

[Pure760]

Its funnier that if an atheist dies there really is an after life than if a christian died and there was no afterlife.

 

[Wicked Willow]

My age has nothing to do with it, in fact I could ask you the same thing, what are you doing still believing the stories you were told as a child? and if you were not told the stories what are you doing believing them now? you are grown up now and should know better.

What are you even talking about? What stories?

From this comment, combined with your earlier post about me supposedly "liking my thous and thees", I can only deduce that you operate under at LEAST two gross misconceptions:

a) That "Religion" equals Christianity, and nothing but Christianity, and
b) that every person you're talking to is a literalist Christian using the King James-Bible.

Both assumptions are wrong. Utterly, unmistakeably, unerringly wrong. You cultivate a deliberate ignorance that is every inch as appalling as that found in religious extremists - sitting on the other side of the fence doesn't redeem you one bit.

Please tell me where the wisdom is in old myths about supernatural beings, I don't deny the Bible and the other religious books contain some solid ideas about life and living but the idea that there is another life after this one is nothing more than wishful thinking.

Oh, that question is easily answered: myths are valuable as myths -stories that communicate by means of archetypal symbols, and convey a kind of meaning that does not aim at communicating plain facts. Read some Joseph Campbell, if you wish. Or Carl Gustav Jung.

As I said, not everyone around here is a Christian, let alone a literalist. I, for one, distinguish between myth and factual history.

 

[Ambrosius]

The point I am trying to make is that there is nothing there so religious people believe in nothing,
please feel free to prove me wrong at any time.

Color blind people aren't aware of color, blind people wouldn't know they were blind if no one told them. Don't think just because you do not personally know of something everyone else is delusional.

And if you really want to be scientific about it, you can't say there is nothing since you cannot prove there is nothing. The only purely scientific stance, if you have no personally experienced something "other" than the material world we see*, is to be agnostic.


*And remember, there's tons of things right in front of us that we cannot see... we cannot see most spectrum of radiation for example. A very few people have an extra photoreceptor and can see more colors than people with "normal" vision, too...

 

[Ambrosius]

Most of your posts are kinda incoherent and you just seem to vaguely dislike all religious beliefs.

Have you ever been religious? Philosophical, even? Have you ever attempted to make an unbiased study of any religion?

 

[Ambrosius]

I truly believe that religions do more harm than good.

Can you substantiate that belief or do you just believe it?

 

[Ambrosius]

I do not need to make a case the people who say there is a God are the ones who need to make a case.

Please tell me if the religious countries are the poor countries, if they are religion has either caused it or is stopping them from getting out of their poverty, either way they are poor and will remain poor because of religion, it's a bit like creationists not wanting to accept science, they would rather remain ignorant than live with the reality of the Bible not being a history book.

You want to know the reality? The most nonreligious countries on earth are Norway, Sweden, Denmark. They have the highest standard of living, the best educations, the best healthcare. You know what else? They're so openminded most of them cannot comprehend the problem in the fact that they have let millions of immigrants into their countries that do not share their tolerant values at all. There are parts of cities ambulances, firetrucks and police will not go into because people call them so they can attack them when they arrive. Whereas rape used to be something that almost never happened it is an epidemic now because some of those immigrants think they have every right to rape anyone any time they want. In some of them 50% of the population is unemployed (by choice) and they will attack centres that house local schools, libraries and medical facilities. Lots of them have been there for a decade and speak absolutely none of the country's language. They are being conquered from within...

So, yeah, is Sweden enlightened? Is Denmark? They're very nice places, the best on earth, the most open-minded, non-religious people on earth, but they also are destroying themselves by failing to assert their identity or social norms in any way. Of course, you can't necessarily correlate non-religiousness with totally loosing your brain but that is the state of affairs there per some of my Scandinavian friends and the news.

 

[dingdong]

What are you even talking about? What stories?

Religions are stories past down from generation to generation, nothing more.

From this comment, combined with your earlier post about me supposedly "liking my thous and thees", I can only deduce that you operate under at LEAST two gross misconceptions:

a) That "Religion" equals Christianity, and nothing but Christianity, and
b) that every person you're talking to is a literalist Christian using the King James-Bible.

The majority of religious people here are Christians because it's an American forum,
perhaps I should have used a 'broader brush' and included all deluded people.

Both assumptions are wrong. Utterly, unmistakeably, unerringly wrong. You cultivate a deliberate ignorance that is every inch as appalling as that found in religious extremists - sitting on the other side of the fence doesn't redeem you one bit.

So I am the ignorant one? I don't talk to the air, I don't tell people I believe in something that has no form and can not be seen and still expect people who do not believe to understand.

Oh, that question is easily answered: myths are valuable as myths -stories that communicate by means of archetypal symbols, and convey a kind of meaning that does not aim at communicating plain facts. Read some Joseph Campbell, if you wish. Or Carl Gustav Jung.

As I said, not everyone around here is a Christian, let alone a literalist. I, for one, distinguish between myth and factual history.

Call them what you like a myth is still a myth no matter who writes about them or how much knowledge they have,
does a myth ever stop being a myth and become something else? if it did it would not be a myth for long would it?

There is no God because if there were we would not need to believe in him because he would be a fact of life,
you can wrap religions up in all the knowledge and brains this world has to give and you will still end up with a myth,
it's all very sad for believers I know, but that's life.

 

[Ambrosius]

The majority of religious people here are Christians because it's an American forum,
perhaps I should have used a 'broader brush' and included all deluded people.

And here is a passion like I was talking about in another thread. This is the passion of inflating your ego by thinking of yourself as enlightened while thinking of others are "deluded."

 

[dingdong]

Most of your posts are kinda incoherent and you just seem to vaguely dislike all religious beliefs.

I think the world would be a better place if religion had never been invented.

Have you ever been religious? Philosophical, even? Have you ever attempted to make an unbiased study of any religion?

No I have been very lucky, I have never been religious.

No but I did once make a study of Sherlock Holmes, that's also a series of stories does that count?
I was not trying to be factitious because for me the Bible and a novel are both the same things, books with stories in them.

 

[dingdong]

And here is a passion like I was talking about in another thread. This is the passion of inflating your ego by thinking of yourself as enlightened while thinking of others are "deluded."

Main Entry: de·lu·sion
Pronunciation: \di-ˈlü-zhən, dē-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin delusion-, delusio, from deludere
Date: 15th century
1 : the act of deluding : the state of being deluded
2 a : something that is falsely or delusively believed or propagated b : a persistent false psychotic belief regarding the self or persons or objects outside the self that is maintained despite indisputable evidence to the contrary; also : the abnormal state marked by such beliefs
— de·lu·sion·al \-ˈlüzh-nəl, -ˈlü-zhə-nəl\ adjective
— de·lu·sion·ary \-zhə-ˌner-ē\ adjective
synonyms delusion, illusion, hallucination, mirage mean something that is believed to be true or real but that is actually false or unreal. delusion implies an inability to distinguish between what is real and what only seems to be real, often as the result of a disordered state of mind <delusions of persecution>. illusion implies a false ascribing of reality based on what one sees or imagines <an illusion of safety>. hallucination implies impressions that are the product of disordered senses, as because of mental illness or drugs <suffered from terrifying hallucinations>. mirage in its extended sense applies to an illusory vision, dream, hope, or aim <claimed a balanced budget is a mirage>.

 

[Ambrosius]

I think the world would be a better place if religion had never been invented.

No I have been very lucky, I have never been religious.

No but I did once make a study of Sherlock Holmes, that's also a series of stories does that count?
I was not trying to be factitious because for me the Bible and a novel are both the same things, books with stories in them.

If you've never actually studied the subject you are completely unqualified to even have an opinion about it. What you say then has about as much value as a dog's fart. That's the objective reality of this matter.

 

[dingdong]

If you've never actually studied the subject you are completely unqualified to even have an opinion about it. What you say then has about as much value as a dog's fart. That's the objective reality of this matter.

You could well be right but deep down you know you're not.

 

[Ambrosius]

Main Entry: de·lu·sion

The fact is however, religious beliefs cannot and have not been categorically shown to be false ie. delusional. This is what scientists say. So you can think that all you want but you will just continue to be part of the uneducated atheist world that thinks science makes cut and dry ontological statements while every reputable scientist says doing so is unscientific.

 

[leferowe]

This is called trolling, and the worst thing a person can do in such situations is fuel a troll. This person is posting inflammatory comments specifically to rile up the responders. I would personally advise people to just ignore it if it's bothersome - trolls are only encouraged to continue trolling if they get responses. It is, of course, sad that somebody has so little respect for the personal choices of others that they're taking to attacking them through the communicative medium of an Internet forum, but that's just how trolls are, unfortunately.

 

[dingdong]

This is called trolling, and the worst thing a person can do in such situations is fuel a troll. This person is posting inflammatory comments specifically to rile up the responders. I would personally advise people to just ignore it if it's bothersome - trolls are only encouraged to continue trolling if they get responses. It is, of course, sad that somebody has so little respect for the personal choices of others that they're taking to attacking them through the communicative medium of an Internet forum, but that's just how trolls are, unfortunately.

A troll is anyone who disagrees with you or writes something you would rather not read.
For a religious person anyone writing 'there is no God' is a troll.

Religions are at their best when kept inside places of worship bring them into the light and the flaws are there for all to see.

 

[dingdong]

The fact is however, religious beliefs cannot and have not been categorically shown to be false ie. delusional. This is what scientists say. So you can think that all you want but you will just continue to be part of the uneducated atheist world that thinks science makes cut and dry ontological statements while every reputable scientist says doing so is unscientific.

Here we go again, we're back to 'I believe because you can't prove there is no God',
'I'm not delusional, just because you can't see my invisible friend is not my problem it's yours'.

I thank God I'm an uneducated atheist.

 

[Supreme]

I do not need to make a case the people who say there is a God are the ones who need to make a case.

Please tell me if the religious countries are the poor countries, if they are religion has either caused it or is stopping them from getting out of their poverty, either way they are poor and will remain poor because of religion, it's a bit like creationists not wanting to accept science, they would rather remain ignorant than live with the reality of the Bible not being a history book.

What/How can you or anyone teach me about something that does not exist?
what do you know about Unicorns? because you seem to be ignorant about Unicorns.

Religious countries are poor countries? Where have you been hiding for the past few years?

America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, and yet religion is an integral part of life for the overwhelming majority of Americans. That's the obvious example, and like all my posts, I shan't just post one example to ridicule your argument, I'll post lots!

Saudi Arabia is incredibly wealthy, although it perhaps the most religious country in the world.
Russia is rich, and the Eastern Orthodox Church one of its most famous identities.
Italy and Spain and Greece are rich, and yet Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism are just as popular in these countries as they always were.
All that, and I haven't even mentioned Turkey, Israel, Egypt (which is one of the richest countries in Africa), Iran, etc. Silly me...

 

[Supreme]

I like this post.
.
I cant tell if dingdong is simply unimaginative, or is deliberately swinging atheism around like a blunt object, hoping it will shatter bone... stong or brittle bone.
.
I have to admit, sometimes I like the dumb violent approach as an alternative to endless reasoning about what is essentially un-reasonable.
.
(Nice to see you got a hat that doesnt hover like a halo, btw)
.

Haha, I thought people might like the new me! I'm even a transvetite now with a blue beard!

 

[Wicked Willow]

Religions are stories past [sic] down from generation to generation, nothing more.

So?

The majority of religious people here are Christians because it's an American forum,
perhaps I should have used a 'broader brush' and included all deluded people.

Or perhaps you should use your eyes and look at people's icons before talking down condescendingly to them as if they were Biblical literalists? Just a suggestion.

So I am the ignorant one?

Judging by the content of your posts, including this one? Aye, pretty much so. And deliberately ignorant as well.

I don't talk to the air,

Who does?

I don't tell people I believe in something that has no form and can not be seen and still expect people who do not believe to understand.

Again,who does? Not the people you address here, for the most part.

Call them what you like a myth is still a myth no matter who writes about them or how much knowledge they have,
does a myth ever stop being a myth and become something else? if it did it would not be a myth for long would it?

Did you even read my post? A myth needn't be anything other than a myth.

 

[sidhe]

My lack of concrete research and evidenced support .....forgive me... please tell me about the concrete research and evidenced support that has been done on proving the existence of Gods.

Theology is the realm of philosophy, in which concrete research cannot be done. You're making socio-economic claims which can be supported via empirical means, both quantitative and qualitative, and not supporting them.

That you make no distinction between the two is your issue, but as a scientist it makes me rather annoyed.

So someone saying they do not believe in your God just reinforces the truth of your belief system, I can see that,
that makes perfect sense, I'm surprised I didn't realise that sooner.

No, someone behaving as they want without regard to mass morality? That reinforces my belief structure. That it brings them into conflict with me personally, and are demonstrating total ignorance of the subject which they have such a vocal opinion? Well, that just shows me that I'm following my Thelema well.