Aethist or Religious?

[Mish]

I got a book "Ripleys believe it or not" today and I want to be Religious now. Things I thought impossible, exist.

[Gribble]

Hey, come to think, I should keep copies of The God Delusion to hand out to them. Turnabout is fair play, afterall.

I've actually considered committing passages of that to memory so whenever a Christian starts spouting scripture I have something in my arsenal to return fire with.

[misombra]

my bf made friends with these mormon kids that would come over. he would take them out for coffee and explain what really happened. they liked him. they came over all the time. at least once a week. he says he thinks he might have changed their minds a little, or at least made them think about it.

[ecojeanne]

I got a book "Ripleys believe it or not" today and I want to be Religious now. Things I thought impossible, exist.

haha, there are some strange things in the world.

here's a strange one:

The Bible has been translated into Klingon.

[Gribble]

The thing about Mormons that cracks me up is the fact that other Christian denominations seem to think they're ridiculous. People who believe a man fathered himself, was born to a virgin, walked on water, came back from the dead and eventually shot up into the sky. Those people think other people are absurd...

[ecojeanne]

don't mormons tend to be nicer people generally? i'm sure its like any other religion and has its bad apples...their big thing is honesty and avoiding sex until married and coffee right? i don't see any harm in that.

[shh!]

I live in what is supposedly the largest Mormon community outside of Utah. They are very conservative and pretty nerdy, but harmless overall. I just don't want my kids to date them because they are big on marrying right out of high school.

[DoesntMatter]

What do you expect from a Nation that has a 90% religious population? How pathetic that ignorance is still dominant.

You took lilwings statement to be truth that Americans are dumb and cannot produce the likes of Euler and Gauss which is complete bullshit. While the genius of Gauss is, in my opinion, unprecedented throughout the world and time up until now, we HAVE produced far more technological innovations and scientific achievements than Germany

Germany, btw, during their times of great scientific contributions, was mostly Christian, Roman Catholic and Protestant

You at least only got a pamphlet. I had a man stop at our door and I opened it. He proceeded to try to explain to me about his god and creationism and after saying twice "no thanks" I was forced to just close the door on him while he was talking. Some of the things he was saying was absolutely insane.

You and everyone else keep complaining about the propaganda you get from religious groups. I can't remember ever getting propaganda from religious groups except when the Jehovas Witnesses come around. The only kind of propaganda I got in the last week from ANYONE I got while in the library. I was sitting down reading when some guy came along handing out fliers about Bill Maher's upcoming film that makes fun of religion, mainly Christianity, and that he was going to come here to give a live speech (maybe he already has I can't remember) to make fun of it

Not really, considering I find debating religion about as much fun as debating the existence of a werewolf and boogieman with an 8 year old.

Yeah, because you like most other ardent atheists are afraid to debate things of substance because they are outside your league

[DoesntMatter]

You are still ignoring my point that they were products of their time.

Mendel was a priest. In those days, education and religion were a lot more highly coupled than it is today.

Gauss didn't need religious affiliations in the slightest for his achievements, and he didn't HAVE them either to need to do his work

Probably the smartest man to have ever lived (and been able to show it) was also extremely religious

So I'm not ignoring your point, YOU are ignoring mine. Which to put more simply, is that intelligence and religious views are separable

[doppelgaenger]

You took lilwings statement to be truth that Americans are dumb and cannot produce the likes of Euler and Gauss which is complete bullshit.

Hey, hey, who gives a damn? You're making a huge ruckus out of that, and it's not even a big deal.




By the way, Hitler was a Christian

[bluesummer]

I like the point that Pat Condell made in that video Indi posted, about how the only reason one belongs to a certain religion is just a product of their birth. If you're born into a certain religion (say, Catholicism), and raised that way, of course that's going to be your set of beliefs. However, if by chance you'd been born elsewhere in the world, you'd be raised in another set of beliefs, and therefore find Catholics absurd and blasphemous. Hypocritical, right? So it makes you wonder.....whose religion is 'right'?

I believe in the one thing - one of the only things - that is consistent among the major religions. God. That is all. The rest is just frills and gimmicks.

[Lipp]

I believe in the one thing - one of the only things - that is consistent among the major religions. God. That is all. The rest is just frills and gimmicks.

Except for Buddhism.

But yeah, I think the main reason that religion is widespread is because of indoctrination from childhood. If I'd have kids and the mother was religious I'd advocate not influencing them until they're older (like...15 or something?), and then let them choose for themselves. What adults tell kids they will assume is completely true, just like gospel to older people.

[Gribble]

If I'd have kids and the mother was religious I'd advocate not influencing them until they're older (like...15 or something?), and then let them choose for themselves.

This is why I'd never have children with a religious woman. No one, not the schools, not the government, not even my wife and the mother of my children, is going to indoctrinate my kids. I don't care if my children grow up to become theists. That's fine. But they'll become theists because they chose to. Not because someone filled their heads with bullshit before they were experienced enough to deal with it.

[misombra]

jesus is lord. praise christ.

[doppelgaenger]

Except for Buddhism.

But yeah, I think the main reason that religion is widespread is because of indoctrination from childhood. If I'd have kids and the mother was religious I'd advocate not influencing them until they're older (like...15 or something?), and then let them choose for themselves. What adults tell kids they will assume is completely true, just like gospel to older people.

There are a lot of atheistic religions. The doesn't make them non-religions.