Religion

[Archem]

Oh boy oh boy it's Epicurus time.

To paraphrase the mighty Epicurus:

"Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. If God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?" ~ Epicurus

Epicurus is awesome.

The idea of God defies logic. Logic traps can't work on him.

Like asking if he can dig a trench so long that even he can't leap over it.

[Grandy]

The idea of God defies logic. Logic traps can't work on him.

Like asking if he can dig a trench so long that even he can't leap over it.

Well, can He?

[Red Giant]

The idea of God defies logic.

I would have left it there.

EDIT: But then I would remember;

"Atheists are often very grumpy and bitter and WILL lash out at children"

[fruckert]

Wow

All I have to say about that

[Drace]

I'm an atheist and I attack children all the time. Their blessed minds are always so delicious to fill with my evil thoughts.

[Archem]

I can't believe this is true.

[Drace]

I can't believe this is true.

It's true. I remember there being a website featuring this, but I don't know the link. Christians are so bad at living peacefully with people of other or no believes. Meh, guess all religions are like that. Now us atheist, we only attack people who attack us. People should leave each others belives alone.

[Archem]

It's true. I remember there being a website featuring this, but I don't know the link. Christians are so bad at living peacefully with people of other or no believes. Meh, guess all religions are like that. Now us atheist, we only attack people who attack us. People should leave each others belives alone.

Actually, there's a flip side to that comment of mine. I also meant that, while it's hard to believe that something like that could be pushed out and forced down other peoples' throats, I also suggested that some of the points are true in a number of atheists.

I've found most atheists to be abrasive, elitist, and just as willing to push their beliefs on others. This, of course, isn't universal, but I experience these types more than others.

[Razor]

It's true. I remember there being a website featuring this, but I don't know the link. Christians are so bad at living peacefully with people of other or no believes. Meh, guess all religions are like that. Now us atheist, we only attack people who attack us. People should leave each others belives alone.

Actually...
[spoiler]The whole site was a parody of those kinds of sites. Some Christian site actually thought it was legitimate and linked to it though, so that's funny.

SORRY TO RUIN IT FOR YOU.[/spoiler]

Mr Gruff will always be my idol. Bollocks to your church, I'M SLEEPING IN.

[fruckert]

Same here

Isn't Sunday technically for resting anyways?

Not really sure how you Christians think...but that's what I thought the original idea was

[WarxePB]

As humans were developing, they were beginning to understand the world around them. Rain makes crops grow. Cold makes them die.
But what makes the rain come? Why does it get cold?

Humans, as a species, are a naturally curious race. We're always probing deeper into the origin and mechanics of the universe we live in. So, our ancestors began figuring out ways to explain the world around them.

However, humans (as a race) are also pretty narcissistic. We're the top species on the planet, and for good reason: we've mastered tools. So, maybe there were other people using bigger tools to make it rain or change the season.

Eventually, this thought evolved into our modern notion of "gods". The men in the sky got bigger, and their tools got more powerful (to the point of not even being physical tools, more like 'magic'). Because humans were scattered across the world, each group of people developed different "gods" that served the same fundamental purpose.

But what happens when two groups of humans with different beliefs meet? Again, humans are a naturally narcissistic race, and we (as a species, not necessarily as individuals) tend to believe that we're greater than everything else. Thus, our gods are better than their gods.
In addition, humans are also pretty violent - this comes as a natural result of evolution. Back in the day, you had to kill or be killed. Combined with our narcissism, the result is what we've witnessed throughout history - people killing each other over their religion.


There is another aspect to this, though. In many cases, even the most bizarre myths tend to have an element of truth in them. Look at so-called "paranormal" or "supernatural" phenomena, such as ghosts, psychic powers, etc. There have been countless reports of these throughout history, and it's not a stretch to think that these kinds of phenomena may have influenced our early ancestors. In the same breath, pretty much every culture on Earth has a creation myth involving some sort of god or gods - using the above example, maybe there is some sort of higher power that created or at least guided us.



So, the question is: what to believe? There is no true right or wrong answer to this question. Just believe what you want.

[arcaine91]

who's to say that God isn't logical? A supreme being that determines the outcome of all? Does God even have a tangible physical form? Everything we do is guided by unbreakable "laws;" if you jump off a building, you are ALWAYS going to hit the ground. There is ZERO chance of spontaneously falling up. The same rule applys to "God;" if you jump off a building and God wills you to fall down, then you aren't going to fall up. Why can't all of these laws and facts we establish BE God? Not as religion sees it, but simply another form of God; an unbreakable entity or entities that govern how we live.

God and Science are the same, just two different interpretations of the same thing.

As for creation versus evolution; meh, who cares? Whether we spontaneously appeared or grew from monkeys, we'll all die and rot in the ground, and as for after that, unless someone can find a way to bring the dead back to life, that is IMPOSSBLE to know, so stop debating it! If you're so determined to find out, then just kill yourself and then you'll know.

[Rayonius]

God and Science are the same, just two different interpretations of the same thing.

Then what good is he?

edit: What I mean is, what good is praying at him if he's just science? We don't need to pray to science, it just.. is..

[Red Giant]

Actually...

Poe's Law strikes again
At least this is still real.

just kill yourself and then you'll know.

Well, not if there's no afterlife.

The view of God as being literally the laws of the universe is known as Pantheism. Which, to be honest, is just the pussy's alternative to Atheism. The Laws of the universe aren't conscious, they don't love you and they don't answer prayers; the concepts are very distinct.

[HobomasterXXX]

One of my best friends is christian. He keeps tellling us we will go to hell for not believing.

lol