Posts by serotonin

76

How do you see the world heading if all religion was eliminated?

by Guest with Questions in

many, like dawkins, think that religion is the root of all evil.

hypothetically, if all religion was eliminated and all people stopped believing how would you see the world in a few years?

with atheism on the rise do you think that society will improve or deteriorate?.

serotonin_wraith

Thanks for the reply.
You raise a number of points which I feel deserve a response.

You say that even though I have not felt a connection with God, plenty of people have felt it. Felt is the correct word. I'm not denying people believe they are in contact with God, but this doesn't prove God. This proves belief in a god.
Why do people believe? I think it because either, they want to believe. Or, they were taught to believe. People don't always want to think that this is the only life they have, so wishing for something beyond this existence is a powerful motivator to believe. Life can be hard, and there aren't always people around for us. Believing that there is a being who will always listen to us is comforting. People don't want to burn forever or die at Jesus' second coming, so fear can play a part too.

But, why is it that people believe that the god who has communicated with them, is the same god that everyone around them believes in? If you are born in America to a Christian family, you may attribute the feeling to Yahweh or Jesus. If you are born in Iran to a Muslim family, you may feel Allah is with you. Further back in time, you may have felt a spiritual connection and believed Thor was with you, or Poseidon, or Zeus, or Hercules, or Ra. There is just as much proof for those gods as the god you follow. But would you believe those gods existed and helped people?

You say that it won't go away without violence on both sides. I already showed you were wrong about this when I mentioned Europe moving away from religion.

I don't say that the people in places like Sweden and Denmark (or other European countries) are superior, just that they aren't oppressed.

You seem to think any teaching is indoctrination. It isn't. Passing on our knowledge is how humans function, and children can take that knowledge and improve upon it with new ideas. With religion, the beliefs are stuck in the past, and it becomes heresy to go against the teachings.

If I speak out against religion, it is not indoctrination. People can look at the information and do what they like with it. If I have children, I will not force them to believe there is no god. True freedom is being allowed to believe whatever you like. Unfortunately, religion has many penalties for not believing in their doctrine. 'Believe this, or burn forever' isn't freedom. It is an abusive form of control.

We don't know what we may be fighting over in the future. But the point is, we already know religion is the cause of most of the wars now, so let's think more rationally about that cause. We can worry about any other causes, if and when they happen.

I don't claim to have all the answers. What I do know is that we are the first species on this planet to reach the technological capability to destroy this planet. We need to take away the things that may cause a nuclear fallout. One thing, proven time and time again to be a cause for mass killing, is religion. It is not hateful to want to prevent this happening.

37

"But he wasn't a REAL Christian!"

by FireNBandits in

jimmy swaggert (a "swaggert" is a swaggering braggart btw), jim and tammy fakker, or any well-known christian that "blows it" big-time in a public way is sure to elicit that response from the fundagelicals around you.

"but he wasn't a real christian!

" what a convenient psychological device to keep ones fantasy image of ones religion intact!

serotonin_wraith

Also known as the No True Scotsman fallacy.

The name No True Scotsman comes from an odd example involving Scotsmen:

Suppose I assert that no Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge. You counter this by pointing out that your friend Angus likes sugar with his porridge. I then say "Ah, yes, but no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge."
Obviously the original assertion about Scotsmen has been challenged quite well, but in attempting to shore it up the speaker uses an ad hoc change combined with a shifted meaning of the words from the original.

93

How the Religious View Homosexuality

by serotonin_wraith in

for people who are still religious, what are your views on gays?.

for me (an atheist) it goes against my own morality to think of them as sinners or somehow doing wrong, and yet in the bible it teaches that it is wrong.

it's one of the main reasons i could never go along with the jws.. i'm curious how religious people address this issue.

serotonin_wraith

I understand you think humans and animals are different. The point is, you have to believe God made gay animals, and didn't have a problem with it. But for some strange reason, he decided for humans it was disgusting.

I'm glad you don't picket, protest etc. However, you do support a system that is against homosexuals.

I doubt any of us will have a change of mind from a few posts, but at least you learnt something new today about the number of gay animals in the world.

76

How do you see the world heading if all religion was eliminated?

by Guest with Questions in

many, like dawkins, think that religion is the root of all evil.

hypothetically, if all religion was eliminated and all people stopped believing how would you see the world in a few years?

with atheism on the rise do you think that society will improve or deteriorate?.

serotonin_wraith

writetoknow,

People teach children things that can be proven, things that can be tested, things that the child is welcome to go off and research. Religious teaching (indoctrination) teaches children things that cannot be proven, at an age when the child cannot think for themselves, when they must rely on their parents for knowledge. I don't have a greater right to my views than anyone else. However, my views can be proven. Religious views cannot.

I don't have self-righteous hatred. If it comes across that way in my posts I apologize. The written word cannot always give off the right connotation. I would call it a passionate attitude.
My views do justify doing away with religion. However, I do not act in any militant way (nor would I) and my thoughts cannot be held under scrutiny, they are only thoughts. Thought crime doesn't exist (yet).

Am I willing to destroy or imprison religious people? Absolutely not. Within Europe, discussion, science and reason have been enough to lower the number of people calling themselves religious. In the UK, a recent survey by BBC Radio placed the number of churchgoers at 10%, with that number falling each year. George Bush spoke about how he talked to God before invading Iraq. When asked whether he ever prayed with Bush, our Prime Minister Tony Blair laughed and said he had not. The question posed to him would have resulted in mockery if he had stated the opposite. Religion is on the decline in my area of the world, and all without the act of murdering religious people.

I haven't called you a retard. I understand why people believe in religion. It gives hope, comfort, a feeling of safety. But then again, an alcoholic could make the same case for why he/she should be allowed to continue drinking.

You mention my childhood and how I was indoctinated. Yes, of course I want to stop other children going through that. It's mental child abuse. Is it the only reason I say what I do? Not at all, but it certainly gives me drive. You act like it's a bad thing to want to prevent it.

You give examples of nations without religion, because the Government forces it. How about a better solution- nations where the population have decided as individuals not to believe in a god, but still being allowed every opportunity to? You may notice countries like Sweden and Denmark haven't been oppressing their people, and they have the most atheists.

You ramble on a bit then about how God will always be around no matter what. Of course, you don't back it up. So until you can offer more proof for this God than there is for a magical invisible pixie, it's really just preaching.

And I hope I cleared up your misconceptions about wanting to outlaw religion. I don't want it outlawed. Things will change if people just think.

93

How the Religious View Homosexuality

by serotonin_wraith in

for people who are still religious, what are your views on gays?.

for me (an atheist) it goes against my own morality to think of them as sinners or somehow doing wrong, and yet in the bible it teaches that it is wrong.

it's one of the main reasons i could never go along with the jws.. i'm curious how religious people address this issue.

serotonin_wraith

onlycurious,

I applaud your skill at witty sarcasm. If you put the same amount of energy for your sarcasm skills into researching the topic at hand, you would go far. However, to save you time, I have done the research for you.

Click here to see many more examples- http://www.livescience.com/bestimg/index.php?url=gay_bottlenose_dolphin_03.jpg&cat=gayanimals

Homosexuality has been documented in almost 500 species of animals, signaling that sexual preference is predetermined. Considered the closest living relative to humans, bonobos are not shy about seeking sexual pleasure. Nearly all of these peace-loving apes are bisexual and often resolve conflict by the "make love, not war" principle. They copulate frequently, scream out in delight while doing so, and often engage in homosexual activities. About two thirds of the homosexual activities are amongst females.

Guianan-Cock-of-the-Rock- Males of this stunning perching bird delight in homosexuality. Almost 40 percent of the male population engages in a form of homosexual activity and a small percentage don't ever copulate with females.

Japanese macaques- Female macaques form intense bonds with each other and are serially monogamous, meaning they only have one sexual partner at a time. However, they have several of these relationships during each breeding season. Female macaques engage in sexual activities such as genital stimulation and vocalize their delight in forms of cackling sounds. Males also take to homosexual play but tend to leave their partner soon after, making it what we call in the human world a one night stand.

American Bison- Homosexual mounting between males tends to be more common than heterosexual female-male copulation among American bison, especially because females only mate with the bulls about once a year. During mating season, males engage in same-sex activities several times a day. More than 55 percent of mounting in young males is with the same gender.

Bottlenose Dolphins- Homosexual activity occurs with about the same frequency as heterosexual play amongst these marine mammals. Male bottlenose dolphins are generally bisexual, but they go through periods of being exclusively homosexual. The homosexual activities of these mammals include oral sex during which time one dolphin stimulates the other with its snout. Males also rub their erect penises against the body of their partner.

I'm somewhat perplexed. This doesn't seem to be a FEW confused animals. I have only two options now. Accept that all the scientific research on the subject is false, or that your Bible based principles leave you (an otherwise intelligent person) ignorant of the facts at hand.

93

How the Religious View Homosexuality

by serotonin_wraith in

for people who are still religious, what are your views on gays?.

for me (an atheist) it goes against my own morality to think of them as sinners or somehow doing wrong, and yet in the bible it teaches that it is wrong.

it's one of the main reasons i could never go along with the jws.. i'm curious how religious people address this issue.

serotonin_wraith

It makes me wonder how someone can accept there are mistakes in the Bible, but still believe in Jesus or in heaven. How do they know those parts were not mistakes too?

onlycurious, if sin isn't an issue for animals, then animals being gay is not sinning, which means that God made them to be gay and didn't have a problem with it.

93

How the Religious View Homosexuality

by serotonin_wraith in

for people who are still religious, what are your views on gays?.

for me (an atheist) it goes against my own morality to think of them as sinners or somehow doing wrong, and yet in the bible it teaches that it is wrong.

it's one of the main reasons i could never go along with the jws.. i'm curious how religious people address this issue.

serotonin_wraith

jgnat, you say that your own thoughts on the commands of the Bible are just as valid as the Bible itself. It almost seems like you don't believe the Bible is the perfect word of God. You even speak of inconsistencies and cruelty within it.

I think it comes down to one of two choices- either the Bible does have mistakes and you cannot find it within you to agree with all of it, in which case why do you need the Bible if you know the difference between right and wrong, and furthermore how can it be the perfect word of God?

The second choice is to accept that God wishes you to live by everything in His inspired word, and the question becomes, why are you deviating from it when you find something you don't agree with?

As an outsider, that is what it looks like to me, and you shouldn't take it as a personal attack on you. I'm just asking questions.

31

is atheism better than believing in a god who doesnt care?

by theinfamousone in

so here's a sincere question... and instead of pressing my frustrations and blaming god and bla bla bla... i decided that instead of writing letters to an inactive god, i would ask your opinion!!!!!.

here's the question, looking at the world around you, seeing all the pain and frustration, the death and disease, the war and hypocricy, the starvation and disgust; generally seeing that our world is falling apart... if someone were able to irrevocably prove that there was a god, an intelligent creator is you will, would you want to worship him?

if he was there and created all of this just to watch it all implode, would you be able to respect that?

serotonin_wraith

Marcel:

and lets face it: if he has created us and hes the most powerful being of all time... he has the right to do whatever he wants. he created everything, even the laws which define what we're thinking. he has the right to dump us into the sun. like you've the right to burn the picture you painted.

So, if you have a child, you are allowed to do whatever you want to it, because it is your own creation?

93

How the Religious View Homosexuality

by serotonin_wraith in

for people who are still religious, what are your views on gays?.

for me (an atheist) it goes against my own morality to think of them as sinners or somehow doing wrong, and yet in the bible it teaches that it is wrong.

it's one of the main reasons i could never go along with the jws.. i'm curious how religious people address this issue.

serotonin_wraith

Sirona, I don't follow the Bible either, but I'm saying that for those who do, there needs to be consistency.

If someone doesn't want to think homosexuality is a sin, then they shouldn't be saying we should follow the ten commandments. You're right, not working on the Sabbath, slavery, etc isn't carried out now. It's ridiculous to think they should be! Therefore, if people are picking and choosing which parts to follow, why do they need the Bible?

bernadette, by your reasoning, if moving away from scripture (the word of God apparently) is a good thing, then atheists are the most worthy in God's eyes!

76

How do you see the world heading if all religion was eliminated?

by Guest with Questions in

many, like dawkins, think that religion is the root of all evil.

hypothetically, if all religion was eliminated and all people stopped believing how would you see the world in a few years?

with atheism on the rise do you think that society will improve or deteriorate?.

serotonin_wraith

writetoknow:

Strange to me that people that want open minded world with no religion are so willing to use closed minded beliefs to destroy religion.

Hasn't religion had long enough to prove to everyone it is the correct worldview to take? All that's happened is religion has had to change to fit in with the times. That's why we don't believe in the Sun God or Thor or Zeus now. Yahweh is just at the end of a very long list of outdated beliefs. Now that there is a threat to the survival of humans based on these beliefs, more people need to speak up about it.

The beliefs most people hold in this country, that is, people of faith died protecting those that hate religion.

...in wars over religion.

It also seems strange that people would be label retarded if they believe in God. Or for that matter to hold a view that religious people are stupid because they believe in God. I must wonder what the person view of human being are. I would suggest not very good and isn't that the point this is the type of material one builds a new world on?

If someone believed a magical invisible pixie was blowing invisible magic pixie dust on their head to ease their problems in life, you'd wanna help them not think that way, even if the delusion brought them comfort.
You would definitely wanna help them if they thought that if they stopped talking to the magical invisible pixie they would end up in super hot pixie fire for a million zillion years, and they had to live with that fear.

Then of course, if you knew they were going to brainwash their own children to believe in the magical invisible pixie, you'd try hard to get them to see sense.

How about if the President said the magical invisible pixie told him to go to war? How about if science couldn't progress because the magical invisible pixie said all the answers to life were in the book 'Pixie Guide To Life'? What if it was okay to discriminate against gays cos the 'Pixie Guide To Life' told you to? What if people didn't care about global warming because they believed the magical invisible pixie was going to blow invisible magic dust all over the world, sometime in the next 50 years, and solve everything?

Obviously, people would have to speak up.

Now, if anyone can show me there is more proof for a god than there is for a magical invisible pixie, I would certainly take a good hard look at what I'm doing. I don't think people are just deliberately stupid, but I do think they need help.

serotonin_wraith

Posts by serotonin_wraith