Atheism in a year

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: malak
Well your thesis lacks any evidence to support it. In fact, there are lots of instances of evidence supporting the belief in God, all across the world.

Heh... I'm aware that people believe in a deity or deities

In all seroiusness though, the burden of proof lies with believers, not nonbelievers.

There has been a scientific study on prayer which shows there is a part of the brain only activated through prayer.

Scientific studies generally show whatever those funding it want it to show. How do you explain all the conflicing research about butter & margarine, for example?

At any rate, we are indeed genetically predisposed to believe in a religion, much as we are to learn a language and, to a lesser extent, to fear snakes, spiders and heights - among many other things. It's my contention that since we lead longer, easier & more comfortable lives in societies, temperment traits which incline us to do well in them are an evolutionary advantage. In modern society, these are friendliness and persuasiveness - but in the not too distant past, it was belief in a religion. Further, a good deal of forced evolution occurred when the religious were even less tolerant of the nonreligious, to the point of murdering "heathens".

The biggest issue with people like yourself is you never look for the evidence so assume it doesn't exist.

The evidence simply isn't there.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: malak

Originally posted by: Ilmater
You know what's more depressing to me? Trying my entire life to convince myself that there's something more when every fiber of my body tells me that there's absolutely no proof that something else exists. Or worse yet, actually convincing myself only to come back to reality at the last moment and realize I've wasted the time I've had.

Well, I have more proof that God exists than that you exist.

No you don't

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
You're trolling way harder in this post than Stark ever did in his

how did stark troll? i read his OP and saw no trolling.

 

[SofaKing]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: malak

Originally posted by: Ilmater
You know what's more depressing to me? Trying my entire life to convince myself that there's something more when every fiber of my body tells me that there's absolutely no proof that something else exists. Or worse yet, actually convincing myself only to come back to reality at the last moment and realize I've wasted the time I've had.

Well, I have more proof that God exists than that you exist.

No you don't

:laugh:

 

[bandana163]

Originally posted by: malak

Originally posted by: Gurck
One of the biggest problems facing religion's credibility is the complete lack of evidence supporting the existence of a deity or deities. For the past ten millenia or so religion has been the central focus of most cultures, and yet we haven't a shred of evidence supporting anything supernatural (though evidence does support certain mundane things such as Jesus having existed). Interestingly, roughly ten millenia ago also marks the beginning of widespread agriculture; a far different way of life for us than our hunter-gatherer ancestors had lived previously.

The obvious question is why people would believe in the existence of their god(s) of choice, given the complete lack of supporting evidence. If we hypothesize that it's been passed down, why do those passing it down believe in it?

Like all living organisms, we compete for limited resources. Cooperating for mutual benefit requires a leap of faith; there's no guarantee that giving up something currently will lead to greater future rewards. This is the basis of society though; modern humans give up free time and direct control over many aspects of their lives in order to reap the greater benefits of living in a society. Look back to agriculture and you see a similarity; a farmer sacrifices hunting/gathering for the growing season to instead maintain his crop & help it to grow, reaping greater overall benefit, not to mention the next ~6 months off, or at least with less hunting & gathering to do, more time to ponder & place more importance on his existence, perhaps make up stories about it?

This is the tip of the iceberg, of course, I'd write more but I'd rather discuss it if it comes up and tbh I'd probably have closed the window without having posted anything within 30 seconds if I didn't somehow manage to click post :|

Thoughts? Flames from the hypocrites who hate this but are fine with christian dogma being spewed in OT?

Well your thesis lacks any evidence to support it. In fact, there are lots of instances of evidence supporting the belief in God, all across the world. There has been a scientific study on prayer which shows there is a part of the brain only activated through prayer.

The biggest issue with people like yourself is you never look for the evidence so assume it doesn't exist.

Lots of evidence?
Link?

By the way, no parts of your brain are activated through praying. You can get into a state of trance without praying, and it is possible to reach a state of deep meditation without praying.

 

[upsciLLion]

There's a reason it's called faith.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: malak
There has been a scientific study on prayer which shows there is a part of the brain only activated through prayer.

Are you sure it's not the same part of the brain activated by taking LSD? Did they test that? The CIA did, and they decided it was a bad idea.

 

[archcommus]

Just stating factual information, not trying to covince anybody, haha, right. So let me just state some random facts, too.

Cheese is food.

The sky is blue.

Dogs are furry.

Wait a min, why would anyone post those for no reason whatsoever? Oh, that's right, they wouldn't. And neither would you.

You're trying to incite an arguement or trying to "convince" people. So why can't you just let things be?

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Shut the fvck up. Athiest zealots and religious zealots are equally annoying, self-righteous assholes. No one cares which side of the fence you happened to fall on.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: malak

Originally posted by: Ilmater
You know what's more depressing to me? Trying my entire life to convince myself that there's something more when every fiber of my body tells me that there's absolutely no proof that something else exists. Or worse yet, actually convincing myself only to come back to reality at the last moment and realize I've wasted the time I've had.

Well, I have more proof that God exists than that you exist.

No you don't

Red, you have to understand, by "proof," he means a bunch of stories that was written 1,000s of years ago that they're pretty sure is "based on a true story," kind of like "Alexander" was "based on a true story."

And malak, don't confuse the "proof" that Jesus existed with "proof" that God exists. Even if there was a man named Jesus and people thought he was working miracles, that doesn't mean he WAS working miracles. Imagine what kind of fits David Blaine would have caused back then.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: archcommus
Just stating factual information, not trying to covince anybody, haha, right. So let me just state some random facts, too.

Cheese is food.

The sky is blue.

Dogs are furry.

Wait a min, why would anyone post those for no reason whatsoever? Oh, that's right, they wouldn't. And neither would you.

You're trying to incite an arguement or trying to "convince" people. So why can't you just let things be?

I think you're right, but to be fair there are others who start threads with the intention of starting these arguments from the other side too, so to speak. I say banish all the religion talk to P&N, it does no good here.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: archcommus
Just stating factual information, not trying to covince anybody, haha, right. So let me just state some random facts, too.

Cheese is food.

The sky is blue.

Dogs are furry.

Wait a min, why would anyone post those for no reason whatsoever? Oh, that's right, they wouldn't. And neither would you.

You're trying to incite an arguement or trying to "convince" people. So why can't you just let things be?

:laugh:

Keep at it, these replies are great Hypocrisy in action is an amazing thing to see.

 

[meltdown75]

This place seems like such a battleground sometimes.

Lighten up guys. Live your lives the way you see fit and try not to attack your fellow man - or groups of fellow Earthlings for that matter (entire denominations are denounced here on a daily basis). I see way too many threads beginning with "___ sucks" (not that this is one). Ever hear of a concept called respect? If I don't sh!t on your lawn, you don't sh!t on mine and we peacefully co-exist, the end. To each his own - a pretty stagnate and cliche concept in this day & age, especially with globalization and the apparent shrinking of our world in so many ways. But it rings true.

For those of you that think you are actually going to get something figured out through intelligent and well-spoken posts which still boil down to "___ sucks", good luck. After you convince the ATOT community that your viewpoint is the proper one, the right one, the only one - you can continue with the remainder of the human race which does not share your views. At the ripe old age of 962, when your task is completed, let me know if it was worth it - or if you should have just "lived your life to the fullest" and minded YOB.

 

[Malak]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: malak
Well your thesis lacks any evidence to support it. In fact, there are lots of instances of evidence supporting the belief in God, all across the world.

Heh... I'm aware that people believe in a deity or deities

In all seroiusness though, the burden of proof lies with believers, not nonbelievers.

There is no burden of proof at all. Nobody came here trying to convince you, and if you want to convince yourself then it's up to you to look for the proof.

The biggest issue with people like yourself is you never look for the evidence so assume it doesn't exist.

The evidence simply isn't there.

95% of the world disagrees with you.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

Originally posted by: archcommus
Just stating factual information, not trying to covince anybody, haha, right. So let me just state some random facts, too.

Cheese is food.

The sky is blue.

Dogs are furry.

Wait a min, why would anyone post those for no reason whatsoever? Oh, that's right, they wouldn't. And neither would you.

You're trying to incite an arguement or trying to "convince" people. So why can't you just let things be?

I think you're right, but to be fair there are others who start threads with the intention of starting these arguments from the other side too, so to speak. I say banish all the religion talk to P&N, it does no good here.

Yeah OT is for YAGT and Neffing, not any serious discussion. Hell it might give the kiddies and the snot gobblers a headache:roll:

 

[Malak]

Originally posted by: Ilmater

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: malak

Originally posted by: Ilmater
You know what's more depressing to me? Trying my entire life to convince myself that there's something more when every fiber of my body tells me that there's absolutely no proof that something else exists. Or worse yet, actually convincing myself only to come back to reality at the last moment and realize I've wasted the time I've had.

Well, I have more proof that God exists than that you exist.

No you don't

Red, you have to understand, by "proof," he means a bunch of stories that was written 1,000s of years ago that they're pretty sure is "based on a true story," kind of like "Alexander" was "based on a true story."

And malak, don't confuse the "proof" that Jesus existed with "proof" that God exists. Even if there was a man named Jesus and people thought he was working miracles, that doesn't mean he WAS working miracles. Imagine what kind of fits David Blaine would have caused back then.

No, that's not what I mean by proof at all. The bible is no proof of anything, by itself. Neither is any history book.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

Originally posted by: archcommus
Just stating factual information, not trying to covince anybody, haha, right. So let me just state some random facts, too.

Cheese is food.

The sky is blue.

Dogs are furry.

Wait a min, why would anyone post those for no reason whatsoever? Oh, that's right, they wouldn't. And neither would you.

You're trying to incite an arguement or trying to "convince" people. So why can't you just let things be?

I think you're right, but to be fair there are others who start threads with the intention of starting these arguments from the other side too, so to speak. I say banish all the religion talk to P&N, it does no good here.

Yeah OT is for YAGT and Neffing, not any serious discussion. Hell it might give the kiddies and the snot gobblers a headache:roll:

I was just trying to say that religious topics never really end up as "serious discussion" here. I realize that they wouldn't be in P&N either, but they've gotta go somewhere.

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: archcommus
Just stating factual information, not trying to covince anybody, haha, right. So let me just state some random facts, too.

Cheese is food.

The sky is blue.

Dogs are furry.

Wait a min, why would anyone post those for no reason whatsoever? Oh, that's right, they wouldn't. And neither would you.

You're trying to incite an arguement or trying to "convince" people. So why can't you just let things be?

:laugh:

Keep at it, these replies are great Hypocrisy in action is an amazing thing to see.

There is no hypocrisy. Of course people start threads with the intent of expressing their opinion and getting others to agree. But this is a topic that has been BEATEN INTO THE HARD SOIL OF ATOT and only ends in flame wars every time. Not only that, but you go and tell OTHERS in threads to not post "crap" from the Bible, and then come here and post your sh!t? That sounds pretty hypocritical to me!

It needs to be an official rule along with all the rest. No religion talk, no fuss.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: upsciLLion
There's a reason it's called faith.

It's called faith because you can't prove it. I could write in a book about my many exploits in life, proclaim myself to be a lot of things, throw it in a big vase and seal it in a cave for 1,000 years, but that wouldn't make any of the stuff written in it true.

I don't understand how is "faith" any different from "lying to yourself to make yourself feel better?" I could tell myself that this whole world was made for me and when I die I'm going to get to do whatever I want to do and become omniscient, but I have no proof of this and am very certain that I'll never be able to prove it until I'm dead. Wouldn't that be ridiculous? How is religion different other than the fact that there are more than one of you, and your belief allows MANY to be happy instead of just one?

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: malak
There is no burden of proof at all. Nobody came here trying to convince you, and if you want to convince yourself then it's up to you to look for the proof.

I assumed you were making the common argument that existence was the default, and that the burden of proof was on nonbelievers. If you're saying it's on me for being the OP rather than for being a nonbeliever, that's understandable, my apologies for my assumption

The biggest issue with people like yourself is you never look for the evidence so assume it doesn't exist.

The evidence simply isn't there.

95% of the world disagrees with you. And uses AOL.

Fixed that for you Numbers are a weak argument. "Might makes right" is so passe~

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: archcommus
Not only that, but you go and tell OTHERS in threads to not post "crap" from the Bible, and then come here and post your sh!t? That sounds pretty hypocritical to me!

He's gotta get that post count up somehow.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
This place seems like such a battleground sometimes.

Lighten up guys. Live your lives the way you see fit and try not to attack your fellow man - or groups of fellow Earthlings for that matter (entire denominations are denounced here on a daily basis).

It's debate. I'm pasisonate about it and it's heated, and I'm even secretly wishing someone realizes I'm right , but I don't really think anyone's going to change their views.

 

[bandana163]

Originally posted by: malak

Originally posted by: Ilmater

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: malak

Originally posted by: Ilmater
You know what's more depressing to me? Trying my entire life to convince myself that there's something more when every fiber of my body tells me that there's absolutely no proof that something else exists. Or worse yet, actually convincing myself only to come back to reality at the last moment and realize I've wasted the time I've had.

Well, I have more proof that God exists than that you exist.

No you don't

Red, you have to understand, by "proof," he means a bunch of stories that was written 1,000s of years ago that they're pretty sure is "based on a true story," kind of like "Alexander" was "based on a true story."

And malak, don't confuse the "proof" that Jesus existed with "proof" that God exists. Even if there was a man named Jesus and people thought he was working miracles, that doesn't mean he WAS working miracles. Imagine what kind of fits David Blaine would have caused back then.

No, that's not what I mean by proof at all. The bible is no proof of anything, by itself. Neither is any history book.

Please define proof, then.
I have no idea what you might mean by it.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: malak

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: malak
The biggest issue with people like yourself is you never look for the evidence so assume it doesn't exist.

The evidence simply isn't there.

95% of the world disagrees with you.

No they don't. As soon as you tell them there are no facts, they plop out the word "faith" and stop talking. NOBODY actually claims there are facts to back up religion, but they follow it anyway. The reason why Gurck and myself are so bothered by this is that that makes absolutely no sense.

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: Ilmater

Originally posted by: malak

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: malak
The biggest issue with people like yourself is you never look for the evidence so assume it doesn't exist.

The evidence simply isn't there.

95% of the world disagrees with you.

No they don't. As soon as you tell them there are no facts, they plop out the word "faith" and stop talking. NOBODY actually claims there are facts to back up religion, but they follow it anyway. The reason why Gurck and myself are so bothered by this is that that makes absolutely no sense.

If you're that concerned with others believing something that makes no sense to YOU then it's time to start looking at your own life.