Let's look at this For Deists, human beings can know God only via reason and the observation of nature, but not by revelation or supernatural manifestations (such as miracles) – phenomena which Deists regard with caution if not skepticism. Wow it goes along with moose's link that he keeps posting
I won't argue with that. It isn't necessarily fictional. You can't prove it, but you can disprove it. (Some parts I can understand, the the bible as a whole, you can't disprove a lot of it) For a long time, science and religion never got along. But over time they've formed relationships. Today, doctors are accepted by most religions (Christianity included). Gay rights are still controversial with the church, but I hope over time that changes. Religion has also given us hope and a way to see the world. Instead of seeing only the bad, look for the good (even if it is convoluted). Think of it this way, if your family was in danger, you would fight for them, right? Religion is just as intense. They're fighting for their beliefs, and what they think is right. This I won't argue with. There are some blind radicals out there. I don't want any business with them either. Faith is a way for someone to run their life. If you don't believe in some greater being or idol, then more power to you bro. It gives people a chance to live a life with explanations. Even if they seem fictional to you. There's a difference between someone who believes in a religion and a radicalist. These people to wrong things and put religion into the mix to say it's okay. Just like you, Christians are susceptible to impulse. Just because you believe in God doesn't mean you don't have free will. If the Big Bang actually happened, then according to a Christian, God did that. Maybe the bible is misinterpreted. Religions are weird bro. I'll leave it at that.
I am an atheist. I have no beef with religion other than not believing. Religion has brought peace to so many people and I respect some values they try to teach. That's the good side.
Religion, in general, has caused more problems than it has solved. Christianity is based on a work of fiction penned over 2000 years ago. It is incoherent and contradicts itself. And yet people believe that it is the literial truth. They believe in these things with no proof. This is the definition of irrationality. However, it is not just Christianity that I have issues with. All religions are problematic. Among the issues that mainstream religion (in the US as it is the most religiously conservative world power in the west.) Reproductive rights for women. False by the religion you've actually badgered the most. The teaching of education in schools. Lol what? The teaching of good science in schools (can you say Intelligent Design – a re-badging of Creationism?) What's wrong with what people choose to believe? Medical research that can save and enhance lives. Mixed opinion by all people really. The fighting between Israel and Palestine. Strictly related to land claims. The fighting between India and Pakistan. Mostly political. The fighting between the Shiites and the Sunis in Iraq. Moslem clan war, mostly political. Suicide Bombers. Based on pure idiocy. The non-alcohol-carrying taxi drivers. What, are you against people not dying? That is also a political and safety opinion given by the national religious and anti-religious people. The non-pork-scanning checkout clerk. First time I've ever heard that one. The non-birth control-dispensing pharmacist. So you ARE still against people not dying. The bus driver who doesn’t want to drive the bus with the ad for a magazine for gays on it. Personal preference and morally justified by human nature. The people who protest against gays at funerals. Dont be confused with Chiristians and just idiots. A President of this America who believes that he talks to God and God tells him what to do. (No, I am not making this up – Google it.) lol. I am not advocating that we vanish all religion instantly. But people who go out and do things (good or bad) just because their preacher, mullah, bishop, bible, etc. told them to, without weighing what they are told against what they can see with their own eyes, cause much of the conflict in this world. Not really, all things we have are founded by someone believing it could happen or that it was true. Electricity. The phone you use. The computer. Apple. ATA keeping this game running even is an example. Faith is irrational. Faith is the belief in things that you can not prove. The belief in things for which there is no evidence. Faith causes people to do irrational things. Faith is justified by the right to believe freely. The Sucide Bomber is driven by a faith that he will end up in a better world when he dies. Is this a rational belief? Nah just idiots. Catholics believe that confession absolves them of all sins. That all will be okay as long as they tell their priest the bad things they have done and they perform their absolutions. They can sin, that’s okay, as long as they do pennance. But if they don’t do the pennance, they will burn in hell for eternity. Is this a rational belief? Idk, ask the pope. The bible tells us that the earth was created in 7 days. Yet science indicates that the earth is millions of years old. So religious people take many different tacks to try and explain this: There are the people who whole-heartedly believe that the earth was created in 7 days. They also believe that the earth is only around 6000 years old and that science is a lie. Fossils were planted by God as a test of our faith. Is this a rational belief? Dude. What? There are the people who try and explain it away by saying that each day is millions of years. This is a more rational belief, but still. K. There are people who try and say that Genesis is just a creation myth story, but the rest of the bible is literial truth. As a matter of fact, many religions ‘cherry pick’ the bible for what they feel is ‘Gods Law’. Is this a rational belief? Oh you mean the people in it for money? Almost all religions believe that there is a big, invisible Sky Daddy who watches everything you do and judges you. Most also believe that he controls everything that happens on earth. You can pray to him to try and influence what he does, and he might listen, but mostly not. Is this a rational belief? Well I guess you'll see for yourself :lol: The Jews don’t eat pork. They keep Kosher (different pans for meat and dairy.) These actions are all based on religious laws. Yet non-Jews eat pork and don’t die. We eat dairy and meat together and don’t die. Are these rational beliefs? What's wrong with what they believe. What's wrong with people's right to believe and state what they believe as you have? Really contradidicting your self man.
Religion sucks as much as science. Go spirituality. Hug a tree. Get some action. Live life. Dont hate on the decisions others make. Since when was atheism something everyone has to believe? I want to be open to the possibilities of anything. To shut the door on something bigger than our lives merely because we cant prove it exists, is to close ourselves into only one way of thinking about the world. The type of biggotry the OP is ranting against. I support the anti religeon movement, but I support the quest for deeper meaning in life, however it may be achieved is up to the individual to decide for themselves, even if it is through a religeon. I won't hate.
Self-idolatry is a sin. One cannot serve two masters. The narrow way leads to life. Broad is the path to destruction. Many travel the broad path searching for life and never find it.
Snoopy I used to think the same way about the bible contradicting it's self but in actuality it doesn't The different books in the bible relate to different people during the same time period They are what "God" said to so and so or how Jesus interacted with those people It's not that it contradicts it's self it's more that the chapters are intertwined with each other Yes in the beginning it does say God created the earth in 6 days and on the 7th rested but do you not realize time is only RELATIVE to where you are at So with that being said in Gods world or eyes 1 day could be 24 hr , 365 days ,1000 years , or 1000000 years because time is relative Also carbon dating was ruled not a good way to see how old something was and is easily manipulated
Retread, I just copied everything the OP said and responded. I don't think it contradicts itself at all.
There's a lot of misinformation and unsupported claims in op's post. "Christianity is based on a work of fiction penned over 2,000 years ago." This is far to simplistic. It just doesn't represent what the bible is, true or false. It was written over the course of several centuries, in several different countries and records events in several different cultures. Additionally, some of it is certainly a work of fiction, such as the story of job while others list details that make it a historical narrative. "It it incoherent and contradicts itself" Where exactly? I can grab my bible and point to anachronisms but I would like you to demonstrate you have more than an ax to grind. "Among the that mainstream religion (in the U.S. as it is the most religiously conservative world power in the west) is against are: How many Western world powers are there, now? The U.S. and the E.U.? That's really not saying much considering its a two horse race. "Reproductive rights for women" Once again, you represent an issue to simplistically. This is a moral and ethical issue as well. Religion doesn't have to be involved at all to ask whether what has been fertilized ought to be considered a human life or not. I don't deny the religious element in this issue, but abortion is to complicated for you to write it off in such a way. "Civil rights for homosexuals and lezbians" Agreed. This is primarily a religious issue. However, it is one that is gradually being defeated. Presbyterian USA, United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America are all large denominations that agree with homosexual and lesbian rights. This was non existent 80 years ago. Civil rights is an issue that simply takes time to work through. Not saying that is fair or right, it just is. "Teaching of education/good science in school." Op made an issue of both education and science being taught in school but that seems redundant. Just as homosexual rights, evolution is becoming more and more excepted. I myself am a theistic evolutionist. The Catholic Church..you know, the largest institution of Christianity in the entire world..has become friendly to evolution. It has established the elite schools of science such as the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Vatican Observatory. There were some dark spots in the history of the Church and science but that time is over. Galileo is no longer on trial. I can go on and on about the history of the Church and science, but instead I will work on a thread about this subject as a break off from this one. Op goes on talking about all the death religion has inspired. Yet now war and death is done in the name of freedom and democracy to cover the true intent. It's obvious that humans are a predatory species that justifies its activities with whatever is fashionable for the day. Take religion out of the equation and there will simply be another smoke screen. Op's understanding of Catholic doctrine is dreadful since he has decided to make arguments concerning it. Catholics have purgatory where they are purified of their sins as through fire. They are absolved from hell which is an eternal punishment. Confession is not a prevention of punishment. (I am Protestant and not Catholic, by the way) You accuse people like me, theistic evolutionists, of cherry picking, as though the bible is one lump of literature, but this simply demonstrates your naivety of what you want to criticized. There are hundreds, even a thousand years that divide one book from another, written in many different genre's. Some books are poetry Psalms, Ecclesiastes; Job is ancient fiction, intended to be fiction by the author to communicate moral/ethical truths. Chronicles, Kings, Samuel are historical narratives. It is simply ridiculous to attempt one method of understanding a book with so many years, cultures and genre's involved. This is already far to long..and I have some research to do for the upcoming History of Science and the Church thread. =}
The EU is not one nation, and of course there are those states not in the EU. Not to mention Canada, Australia, New Zealand and so on. That's more than two. It's a backward place by such standards.
What about aliens. Do you believe in those? Not the mexican ones. The intergalactic ones. Are they real? What do you think?
It's a mathematical impossibility for aliens not to exist. So I'm guessing the OP believes they exist.