Posts by THE GLADIATOR

251

Evidence for God...

by tec in

jw
friends

life come from the living, and this is a universe of life.

his teachings are truth.

which is why i weight it against the truth of the teachings (and one other thing that i will get to).

Tammy, if you believe that Jesus communicates with you, then no further evidence is required. It is a personal subjective experience that you choose to share. Other humans cannot validate your experience, they can only relate theirs. Sharing involves telling others about your experience and makes the experience more vivid. Defending yourself against the challenges that sharing attracts, can help to strengthen your belief. Opposition helps you to define your belief.

As a Jehovah's Witnesses I spent many years of my life debating with householders and insisting I had found ‘the truth.’ It turned out I was wrong. I can never again know such certainty. Fortunately I do not wish to be certain. I enjoy the freedom of letting go and allowing my mind to come to rest where it will.

I have had many robust debates on this forum and criticized Christians for their apparent contradictions. It is a pointless exercise. I have learned that people will believe what they want to; they will only change if and when they are ready; opposition strengthens belief.

251

Evidence for God...

by tec in

jw
friends

life come from the living, and this is a universe of life.

his teachings are truth.

which is why i weight it against the truth of the teachings (and one other thing that i will get to).

THE GLADIATOR

jgnat I alway enjoy and respect your posts.

You seldom comment on my posts, so your words means a lot to me.

239

The Great Debate: "Has Science Refuted Religion?

by dark angle in

just want to share this amazing debate!

caltech cosmologist and physicist sean carroll teams up with skeptic magazine publisher and science historian michael shermer in this epic debate with noted conservative author and king's college president dinesh d'souza and mit physicist ian hutchinson as they go head-to-head over one of the most controversial issues of our age.

as science pushes deeper into territory once the province of religion, with questions such as why there is something rather than nothing?, where did the universe come from?, how did life arise?, what was the origin of morality?, and others, inevitable conflicts arise over the best approach to answer them.

THE GLADIATOR

dark angle “One should not have an open mind. people can put crap & junk on it. ”

I appreciate you could not resist making your amusing commment.

Realistically - an open mind is a mind that is not closed to new ideas or unable to alter as it grows. It is open to the advancement of science and careful examination new evidence. Being open it is able to throw out junk that it may have taken in.

A closed mind is usually full of junk that it has inherited and has no way of disposing of.

251

Evidence for God...

by tec in

jw
friends

life come from the living, and this is a universe of life.

his teachings are truth.

which is why i weight it against the truth of the teachings (and one other thing that i will get to).

THE GLADIATOR

Tammy, as an observation, from what you have said it appears that although you have faith in Christ, you are in many ways a Modern Deist with a reason-based faith. Your spiritual belief guides all aspects of your life and how you treat other people. You tolerate diversity of thought among fellow Christians, other faiths and non-believers. You accept the findings of science, philosophy, psychology, evolution, and integrate a modern approach with the ancient wisdom and the discoveries of the present.

You observe nature and your own personal experiences to arrive at a unique view of Christianity and your view of God. You are choosy about which part of the Bible you will accept as inspired, and decide for yourself whether a scripture is literal or mystical. This sometimes brings you into conflict with traditional or fundamentalist Christians. You base your conclusions on subjective evidence and personal revelation. Any gaps that exist at present are bridged with faith.

Fundamental Christians buy a Christian quilt from one of the major stores. Whereas you seem to have hand-made a colourful patchwork quilt from pieces of material you have collected over the years. To this you add your own kind and generous nature. Such a possession always has a warmer emotional appeal.

239

The Great Debate: "Has Science Refuted Religion?

by dark angle in

just want to share this amazing debate!

caltech cosmologist and physicist sean carroll teams up with skeptic magazine publisher and science historian michael shermer in this epic debate with noted conservative author and king's college president dinesh d'souza and mit physicist ian hutchinson as they go head-to-head over one of the most controversial issues of our age.

as science pushes deeper into territory once the province of religion, with questions such as why there is something rather than nothing?, where did the universe come from?, how did life arise?, what was the origin of morality?, and others, inevitable conflicts arise over the best approach to answer them.

THE GLADIATOR

OldGenerationDude Very profound and even handed.

Science has proved many things presented as gospel, to be wrong; the book of Genesis for example. But science will never absolutely disprove religion, because religion is based on a world of invisible beings with god at the top. If he/it does exist, the bible informs us that god is unapproachable, and unreachably high. How does one disprove the unproven? If people say they feel that god exists, how does one refute that, and why would one want to?

Scientists simply say that they can find no proof that a god exists. Science is not against belief in god and continues to search. The very fact that we still have to discuss whether or not a god exists is rather disappointing. Some scientists talk of god being found in undiscovered dimensions, black holes and anti-matter. Maybe a hundred years from now they will discover something about the universe and its mysterious composition that people will be able to claim is god.

I can't wait another hundred years so I am hoping that if there is a god, instead of science trying to find him, he will find us. God could learn to use the internet and post a few up to date comments, perhaps on Jehovah's-Witness.net. Now that would impress me.

239

The Great Debate: "Has Science Refuted Religion?

by dark angle in

just want to share this amazing debate!

caltech cosmologist and physicist sean carroll teams up with skeptic magazine publisher and science historian michael shermer in this epic debate with noted conservative author and king's college president dinesh d'souza and mit physicist ian hutchinson as they go head-to-head over one of the most controversial issues of our age.

as science pushes deeper into territory once the province of religion, with questions such as why there is something rather than nothing?, where did the universe come from?, how did life arise?, what was the origin of morality?, and others, inevitable conflicts arise over the best approach to answer them.

THE GLADIATOR

Terry “Emotion trumps reason when our own ass is on the line. ”

So very true.The power of emotion must never be underestimated. What we consciously think, can be overridden by our subconscious if we feel we are in danger. The fear of death is a major reason religion survives.

I was in Italy last year and stayed in Apulia. This is the poor part of Italy, very flat and at the heel end of the shoe shape. The older buildings included the faded glory of the Baroque period. Most of the recent buildings were made of breeze-blocks and cement with laundry hanging from their windows.

It seems that all available money in these poor areas had been spent on the Roman Catholic churches. They are so religious that even their wine has a denomination. Anyone who opposed the power of the church was tortured to death. We were told of one unfortunate fellow who was hung by his thumbs and skinned alive. It reminded me that my tax bill was due.

One church had a stone floor and carpeted ceiling. I stood on my head in an attempt to understand their religion better. On Sunday everyone was out in their Sunday best to celebrate Easter. I listened to an Easter service in Italian just for the hell of it, and I wondered why they used unleavened bread to represent Christ’s body when ‘Christ is risen?’

Apparently if I agree to leave all my money to the church when I die, the men in black skirts can square things for me and save me from hell. It seems that cash is king in this world and the next. As parting with money IS my idea of hell, I will cut out the middle man and do my own negotiating.

267

The true, unsung hero of the Bible....

by Unlearn in

my undisputed hero of the bible is known by several names, depending on who you talk to...devil, satan, lucifer, etc.. read it, and you'll find that he was the only one who really stood up for you.. he asserted that you could make decisions for yourself...and told you the very real truth that, just because the piece of meat in your chest stops thumping, you positively do not 'die'.. he was your hero.

he stood up to a daddy-maniac and said, 'just because you made us doesnt mean you have the right to tell us what to do.

i thought we were free?'.

THE GLADIATOR

In a court room people swear on the bible to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If the bible is part myth and fantasy passed of as inspired holy writ, they might as well swear on a comic. How can we be sure that the story of Job is not just another fable that took place in an imaginary or spiritual dimension, just like the scientifically impossible tale of Adam & Eve?

If we doubt some of the bible’s content, we must doubt it all. Unless we accept the Bible as wholly truthful, we must logical question if it is truthful at all. If it is not entirely truthful then it must be considered a falsehood or lie.

The bible itself informs us that Satan is the father of the lie. So would it not be appropriate to conclude that the bible was perhaps inspired by Satan, perhaps to mislead the many millions of Christians that put faith in it?

239

The Great Debate: "Has Science Refuted Religion?

by dark angle in

just want to share this amazing debate!

caltech cosmologist and physicist sean carroll teams up with skeptic magazine publisher and science historian michael shermer in this epic debate with noted conservative author and king's college president dinesh d'souza and mit physicist ian hutchinson as they go head-to-head over one of the most controversial issues of our age.

as science pushes deeper into territory once the province of religion, with questions such as why there is something rather than nothing?, where did the universe come from?, how did life arise?, what was the origin of morality?, and others, inevitable conflicts arise over the best approach to answer them.

THE GLADIATOR

Atheists believe that Science has refuted religion; unsurprisingly religionists do not.

So everyone is happy.

14

What do atheists and agnostics typically do for their funeral services?

by tootired2care in

in contemplating my current beliefs in life right now, it occured to me that my views as an agnostic would probably make for a strange funeral service if my friends and family were to have one.

strange in that most funeral services always have some mention of god, and some religious context with afterlife explanations.

has anyone ever been to a non-religious funeral service for someone who was atheist or agnostic and what was it like?

THE GLADIATOR

Christians watch their own funeral from above.

Atheists take their own funeral lying down.

837

Atheism

by avatar in

jw
friends

.

THE GLADIATOR

james_woods “She was a very brilliant person who also had serious emotional problems. ”

I can understand you being upset that your friend has gone from the forum. There are a lot of nice people here. The problem is they missed the ‘brilliant.’ We all do the best we can.

I can’t say I will miss her; she spoilt a lot of threads in an attempt to get constant attention. A lot of other people here are also trying to work out painful issues, so there is bound to be friction at times. I hope she finds the sort of attention she really needs.