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Index » Radio Paradise/General » General Discussion » Ask an Atheist Page: Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 47, 48, 49 ... 55, 56, 57  Next
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chris4444

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Location: Wednesbury, West Midlands,England
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 5:48am

What's for lunch?
Proclivities

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Location: Paris of the Piedmont
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 5:47am

 HazzeSwede wrote:
..so what was the question again

 
"Is it safe?"
hippiechick

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Location: topsy turvy land
Gender: Female


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 5:47am

 HazzeSwede wrote:
..so what was the question again

 
I don't know about the question, but Jesus is the answer

(Just a joke folks)
HazzeSwede

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Location: Hammerdal
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 5:44am

..so what was the question again
NoEnzLefttoSplit

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Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 5:21am


/end of weak soapy ramble about why I think we should all love and respect each other.


sirdroseph

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Location: Not here, I tell you wat
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 5:17am

 bokey wrote:
Hey it's a new hate thread.See what you miss if you don't hang around RP much?

 

Actually I think this is a great thread with a few hateful comments in it. Not too bad though. Very informative discussion going on here.
ScottFromWyoming

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Location: Powell
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 5:16am

 bokey wrote:
Hey it's a new hate thread.See what you miss if you don't hang around RP much?

 
For the newcomers: don't assume. It's been mostly respectful.
bokey

bokey Avatar

Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 5:12am

Hey it's a new hate thread. See what you miss if you don't hang around RP much?
hippiechick

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Location: topsy turvy land
Gender: Female


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 4:47am

 edieraye wrote:


1. You are a mother.  Does it make a difference to you whether you have a relationship with your children or not?  My understanding is that God has a similar desire to have a relationship with us as we do with our children.
2. I can't speak for "a lot of people" but personally, I think Psalm 23 is pretty clear. God doesn't say we won't go through the Valley of Death - just that we won't go through it alone.
3. You would have to find someone who believes that and ask them.  

 
1) Where did you get that understanding. Did god talk to you? Who makes up what god does or doesn't do?

2) Again, who made up that psalm? Did god pick up a pen and scribble it down somewhere? No, it was written by man.

Edit: I am asking these questions respectfully
sirdroseph

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Location: Not here, I tell you wat
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 4:03am

 steeler wrote:


Yes.  For me, it is irrelevant.

  

Per usual Steeler, you and I are right there. We seem to have very similar brain configuration.
Xeric

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Location: Montana
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 3:43am

"Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sexual position."

Heard that the other day and thought, yep, that's the perfect response to "Atheism is a matter of faith, too."  No, it's not.

And Buzz—nope.  Never for even a fleeting instant. 
NoEnzLefttoSplit

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Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 3:43am

Interesting reading! Respect to one and all.


sirdroseph

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Location: Not here, I tell you wat
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 2:42am

 kurtster wrote:


Kevin Nelson, the author cited in this piece was on Coast to Coast last Thursday night and I had the opportunity to hear him speak for three hours on this very subject.

The author of your article mostly got it right about the REM stages, but Nelson was very adamant that REM can happen during fully conscious states as well as in between and asleep.  He did not discount that there is the possibilty that NDE's can be real, but did provide highly thoughtful and plausable explanations.  He did go into length about the temporal spot where we can literally turn on and off the feeling of astral projection or out of body experience.

I'm not sure that my circumstances fall into his parameters although I just asked my wife if my blood pressure was high or low during these experiences and she did say it was low during these times and that is one of his parameters, but I learned a lot listening and while I cannot conclude one way or the other that my NDE was real, it did indeed happen and in more than several instances.

Since there is no proof one way or the other, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain if I really did have contact.  I did not see any bright lights or tunnels like most others though, it was very different from all the usual references.  The forms were not sharply defined, but there was definitely some discussions going on between me and them.

 
Yea, I saw or heard that cat somewhere too. Fascinating stuff. I think if there is a God, it is the brain.
sirdroseph

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Location: Not here, I tell you wat
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 2:39am

 buzz wrote:
A question for the Atheists.
 
Do you ever leave open the possibility...the sliver of a chance...that maybe...just maybe...you could be wrong?

 
This question that I have asked myself before also help cement my place as an Agnostic. We offer that same question to believers and Atheists.


sirdroseph

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Location: Not here, I tell you wat
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 2:29am

 brandonjosborn wrote:

Michael Shermer wrote a book called "Why People Believe Weird Things" - Bill Maher is an atheist who believes in astrology; a lot of atheists believe in luck or reincarnation or karma.  The basic definition of an atheist is one who does not ascribe the workings of the universe to a supernatural being; most people believe in some kind of personalized higher power - they are considered theists. Some people, like Spinoza, Einstein, and Thomas Jefferson considered themselves deists - they contemplated god as a set of universal laws which hold everything in the universe together, but did not consider said deity to be a personal being.  Most theists believe in one particular flavor of a deity, rejecting all the others as invalid.  I've just gone one further, and dispensed with the lot.  I heard Chris Hitchens say once that "Agnostics are atheists who cannot commit."  I don't quite agree; I think agnostics accept the lack of evidence but are very hopeful that some will crop up at some point - I think this is rather optimistic; and there's nothing wrong with that.

In terms of organized religion - I feel it has done little, if any good in this world; and can cite a ton of evidence to back up this particular opinion.

So, I guess it's a mixed bag - I, personally believe in a kind of active karma; my attitude and behavior are attractors to like attitudes and behaviors but, I don't consider spirituality valid for me.  I value life itself; I see no evidence for anything beyond this existence and, if there is something, I'll meet it with energy and curiosity, like I do the existence I currently enjoy.

I hope this is helpful.
 
I have always taken offense to that quote and I generally like Hitchens. Literally agnostic means without knowledge. A true agnostic just plainly doesn't know, doesn't care and doesn't see what all the fuss is about. However, I do acknowledge Atheism as the more logical choice between the two given my life's experience and what I have learned by reading the Bible, learning Evolution and other sciences. But I also never saw the point of declaring out and out there is no supreme being or overriding force out there, I mean how do I know? I came to the conclusion long ago that living a morally correct life in all of your contacts and personal relationships in your sphere was what I would concentrate on and is what I can control. I would let everyone else argue and expend energy explaining why you should live this way. Seems a lot devote too much time telling everyone how and why to live instead of concentrating on living the correct way themselves and leading by quiet example.
Umberdog

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Location: In my body.
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 14, 2012 - 12:04am

 hippiechick wrote:

From an atheist's point of view, it is difficult to give credence to beliefs that are based on fairy tales without a lick of proof.

What do you think about people who believe in this?:

In the primordial past, thetans brought the material universe into being largely for their own pleasure. The universe has no independent reality, but derives its apparent reality from the fact that most thetans agree it exists. Thetans fell from grace when they began to identify with their creation, rather than their original state of spiritual purity. Eventually they lost their memory of their true nature, along with the associated spiritual and creative powers. As a result, thetans came to think of themselves as nothing but embodied beings.

Thetans are reborn time and time again in new bodies through a process called "assumption" which is analogous to reincarnation.

This is Scientology. Most people think this is crazy talk, but it's no different than any other belief. It's all just made up story. There are people who worship all kinds of things, and everyone is entitled to believe what they want, but there is no basis in reality.

And the name of god has been used to kill more people in history than anything else.

 
Scientology freaks me out. I hear tell L. Ron wrote Scientology as a backdrop for a science-fiction novel, but his publisher thought there would be more profit in a religion. So much for prophet. I've never checked to confirm this rumor.

Have you ever read the Urantia Book? It's a little spacey too.

Note: links do not seem to resolve correctly lately... background images don't display right.
Works better if you copy and paste into the browser.

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book/read-urantia-book-online


Umberdog

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Location: In my body.
Gender: Male


Posted: Mar 13, 2012 - 11:55pm

 buzz wrote:
A question for the Atheists.
 
Do you ever leave open the possibility...the sliver of a chance...that maybe...just maybe...you could be wrong?
 
I think that would probably make them agnostic.
edieraye

edieraye Avatar



Posted: Mar 13, 2012 - 11:39pm

 hippiechick wrote:

Here are my questions for believers:

Would it really make a difference to an all powerful god whether or not we were believers?

Do a lot of people believe in a god because they are afraid if they didn't something bad might happen to them?

Why do some believers think that a person must believe in a god to be a moral and decent human being?

 

1. You are a mother.  Does it make a difference to you whether you have a relationship with your children or not?  My understanding is that God has a similar desire to have a relationship with us as we do with our children.
2. I can't speak for "a lot of people" but personally, I think Psalm 23 is pretty clear. God doesn't say we won't go through the Valley of Death - just that we won't go through it alone.
3. You would have to find someone who believes that and ask them.  
hippiechick

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Location: topsy turvy land
Gender: Female


Posted: Mar 13, 2012 - 11:10pm

 ScottFromWyoming wrote:

Edieraye's post talked about respect and you blew right past it.
 
What did 911 say? 

 
Did I mention that he had these symptoms this morning, so it is more than 12 hrs ago? Well, I decided against it for many reasons. He lives with someone, she has a better ability to assess than I do.

Every year at Christmas I had to explain to my children why Santa didn't come to our house (we celebrated Hanukkah). I would say "Listen, there is no real Santa Claus. Those kids get their presents from their parents, just like you do. But don't tell them that, because that is their family's tradition, and it would spoil their fun."

Same with god and religion.

Here are my questions for believers:

Would it really make a difference to an all powerful god whether or not we were believers?

Do a lot of people believe in a god because they are afraid if they didn't something bad might happen to them?

Why do some believers think that a person must believe in a god to be a moral and decent human being?
edieraye

edieraye Avatar



Posted: Mar 13, 2012 - 10:48pm

 brandonjosborn wrote:

Thank you for your feedback.  I will consider it.

 

Please do.  I mean, I was way over the top (but c'mon - consider the source) however there is something important that I was trying to get at it.  Perhaps not in the best or most productive way, but I do believe that it is not enough to just say "Live and let live."  Without respect there can be acceptance but no parity.  Aack!  I feel like I'm saying it wrong again.  I should go brush my teeth.  I always get the best inspiration brushing my teeth.  (But not while flossing.  What is that about?)
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