Finally mustered the courage to reject religion.

[Jeeebus]

I just spoke with my GF, who is extremely religious BTW, about this and she seems to take it better than I initially thought. I also told her that she is free to follow her faith and she complied.

How very gracious of you. Next thing you'll be regaling us with stories of how you allowed her to poop when she feels the need. You, sir, are a saint (assuming you believe in that sort of thing).

 

[WelshBloke]

Rejecting religion is like rejecting magical unicorns and fairies; it doesn't take courage, it simply takes a moment of critical thinking.

And lots of forum drama.

Never forget the forum drama.

 

[SamQuint]

You understand that when someone says "fuck you" they don't actually mean they really like you don't you?

Yes but everyone believes in a thing called fucking. Not everyone believes that there is truly a God or a Hell. I was just stating that the meaning is lost coming from a person that did not believe the place really exists. I was just trying to say in a joking way that if a priest tells you to go to hell that means a whole lot more than an athiest saying it because the athiest does not believe there is such a place. Yes I know what a metaphor is but why do athiests use religious terms when they don't believe in them. Why not tell me "go to the DMV" The DMV is pretty hellish...

I know better than to post in religious threads, ok nothing to see or reply to here moving on.....

 

[ch33zw1z]

How very gracious of you. Next thing you'll be regaling us with stories of how you allowed her to poop when she feels the need. You, sir, are a saint (assuming you believe in that sort of thing).

lol, you just likened shitting to religion. awesome

 

[WelshBloke]

Yes but everyone believes in a thing called fucking. Not everyone believes that there is truly a God or a Hell. I was just stating that the meaning is lost coming from a person that did not believe the place really exists. I was just trying to say in a joking way that if a priest tells you to go to hell that means a whole lot more than an athiest saying it because the athiest does not believe there is such a place. Yes I know what a metaphor is but why do athiests use religious terms when they don't believe in them. Why not tell me "go to the DMV" The DMV is pretty hellish...

I know better than to post in religious threads, ok nothing to see or reply to here moving on.....

When I say "fuck you" I don't mean I want to fuck you, I don't mean I want anyone to "fuck you", there is no action of copulation meant in the phrase.

When I say "go to hell" I dont mean you have to visit Dantes Inferno, there is no suggestion to travel to a fictional place.

 

[mattpegher]

Rejecting religion is like rejecting magical unicorns and fairies; it doesn't take courage, it simply takes a moment of critical thinking.

I agree but to really think about it and reject the hypothesis that a particular religious belief is true requires a deductive and logical evaluation of the metaphysical concepts. I.e - the existence of a omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient god (the definition of the judeochristian god) that would punish (a nonbenevolent act).
No scientist would reject any hypothesis without finding logical inconsistencies. Simply demeaning or ridiculing a position is like ending the harvard debate with a F.U.

 

[Kadarin]

I agree but to really think about it and reject the hypothesis that a particular religious belief is true requires a deductive and logical evaluation of the metaphysical concepts. I.e - the existence of a omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient god (the definition of the judeochristian god) that would punish (a nonbenevolent act).
No scientist would reject any hypothesis without finding logical inconsistencies. Simply demeaning or ridiculing a position is like ending the harvard debate with a F.U.

Given a hypothesis of "there is an omniscient being that created the universe", a scientist would say that since there is no observable measurable scientific evidence whatsoever to support such a hypothesis, it is extremely unlikely to be correct and thus should not be seriously considered until such time as that evidence is acquired.

 

[Kadarin]

That's not totally true depending on where that person lives. Religion is so deeply ingrained into a lot of communities that coming out as a "non-believer" can cause all sorts of problems - family, friends, school, work, etc. People are ostracized, sent to "re-education" facilities, fired, disowned, and so on.

There is a tremendous difference between "rejecting religion" and "telling everyone that you reject religion".

 

[sandorski]

I agree but to really think about it and reject the hypothesis that a particular religious belief is true requires a deductive and logical evaluation of the metaphysical concepts. I.e - the existence of a omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient god (the definition of the judeochristian god) that would punish (a nonbenevolent act).
No scientist would reject any hypothesis without finding logical inconsistencies. Simply demeaning or ridiculing a position is like ending the harvard debate with a F.U.

meh, just ask every Religion to provide Evidence of their god(s). That'll settle the whole issue right quick.

 

[WelshBloke]

meh, just ask every Religion to provide Evidence of their god(s). That'll settle the whole issue right quick.

Lock them all in a room, last one standing wins.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I've never been to church, or religious ... seems silly...waste of time/money.

I know some churches do, do good..donating money for causes and whatnot.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

No scientist would reject any hypothesis without finding logical inconsistencies.

Philosophers look for logical inconsistencies. Scientists look for inconsistencies between their hypotheses and reality.

 

[polarmystery]

There are some people that are religious whom truly want the betterment of mankind. I have no problem with them. But the people I've found to be the most kind are the one's without religion. The premise that God gave us rights can't ever be proven true or untrue, and this dissonance is the basis of who believes and who doesn't, which is why I stand on an agnostic platform. Everything else seems to be speculation.

 

[soulcougher73]

That's not totally true depending on where that person lives. Religion is so deeply ingrained into a lot of communities that coming out as a "non-believer" can cause all sorts of problems - family, friends, school, work, etc. People are ostracized, sent to "re-education" facilities, fired, disowned, and so on.

Well i would hope in that situation you would up and leave since they are not very nice religious people. No reason to associate with people like that in your life.

 

[soulcougher73]

Given a hypothesis of "there is an omniscient being that created the universe", a scientist would say that since there is no observable measurable scientific evidence whatsoever to support such a hypothesis, it is extremely unlikely to be correct and thus should not be seriously considered until such time as that evidence is acquired.

This. Have to have something to work with in the first place other than heresay.

 

[mattpegher]

When I say "fuck you" I don't mean I want to fuck you, I don't mean I want anyone to "fuck you", there is no action of copulation meant in the phrase.

When I say "go to hell" I dont mean you have to visit Dantes Inferno, there is no suggestion to travel to a fictional place.

Although most people are implying no intension and are simply using an expletive, Fuck you should be translated as "go fuck yourself". However I agree most dont really use the phrase as an instruction.

 

[SamQuint]

When I say "fuck you" I don't mean I want to fuck you, I don't mean I want anyone to "fuck you", there is no action of copulation meant in the phrase.

When I say "go to hell" I dont mean you have to visit Dantes Inferno, there is no suggestion to travel to a fictional place.

That is exactly my point. If you don't want me to GO to any place real or fictional then why do you use the phrase in the first place?

To me it is the same as a Vegitarian or Jewish person saying "I'm bringing home the bacon" Meaning of course they are the money earners of the family but in fact they would never actually bring home bacon. Hence the humor.

 

[mattpegher]

Given a hypothesis of "there is an omniscient being that created the universe", a scientist would say that since there is no observable measurable scientific evidence whatsoever to support such a hypothesis, it is extremely unlikely to be correct and thus should not be seriously considered until such time as that evidence is acquired.

Not quite, the scientific approach would be to state that the hypothesis cannot be tested. The extrapolation that it is not correct based on the inability to test does not deductively follow. The next step would be is there any detectable effect of the phenomenon, such as the hypothesis that dark matter exists. In this case the arguments that have been to date rather unscientific. The deductive mind would state that since something cannot be proved or disproved (my prior example suggests that if god is omnibenevolent then hell cannot exist), that the discussion becomes moot and should move on to other discussions. The next discussion would therefore be does anything exist outside the physical/corporial universe. The argument becomes about souls. This too is undetectable and thus moot, becoming a personal perception of ones own sentience. The question becomes does sentience exist or are we all just extremely complex computers responding to millions of variables. Freewill vs determinism. To date I have yet to hear about a working model of freewill that would seperate humans from complex computers ie intelligence vs AI.

 

[mattpegher]

Philosophers look for logical inconsistencies. Scientists look for inconsistencies between their hypotheses and reality.

True the hypothesis as to be consistent with observable data. However often the observable data is more in the effect of something on something else rather than the ability to directly detect it, ie black holes. If I simply reject the concept of singularities based on the absence of the ability to see them I would not have all the data.

It is actually much harder to prove the nonexistence of something than you imply.

 

[mattpegher]

An interesting hypothesis to consider is (and lets start by saying that I am a firm believer in evolution or some similiar process to explain diversity) is the origin of life. My son mentioned that he had heard about the hypothesis that early cellular membranes developed spontaneously from free floating phospholipids in the primordial mud. This hypothesis is the current theory held by most scientist today. However it cannot be observed due to the fact that it most likely occurred so rarely that without experiments lasting millions of years it could not be replicated. I profferred that one theory is that the planet was seeded by aliens. Quickly his 10 year old mind discounted this theory due to its fansifull nature, however there is little data to suggest the former over the latter. Later we discussed chaos theory and how order cannot exist without chaos.

 

[busydude]

"How very gracious of you."

Poor choice of words on my part. She accepted the fact that I do not consider my self religious any more. I would be happy if she rejected too, but I am not going to force her.

 

[Deleted member 284126]

As I've grown up, I've seen how religion can manifest itself in the worst of ways.

Personally, I've always been an atheist. My parents were not religious and therefore I was raised as such.

I'm glad there are atheist champions like Bill Maher and Ricky Gervais to help speak up for us!

 

[moshquerade]

After 25 years.. I finally give up. Already feels like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulder. I just spoke with my GF, who is extremely religious BTW, about this and she seems to take it better than I initially thought. I also told her that she is free to follow her faith and she complied.

That said; I still don't think Hinduism is bad.. just like the constitution of India. My biggest gripe is the caste system..it is just not relevant in this day and age. I will be waiting, in hope, for that day to come.

People of no faith - UNTIE!!!

/blog

Post your break up thread in L&R

 

[Jeeebus]

"How very gracious of you."

Poor choice of words on my part. She accepted the fact that I do not consider my self religious any more. I would be happy if she rejected too, but I am not going to force her.

Seriously? After iyou acknowledge how ridiculous the original sentence was, you again chime in with "I am not going to force her."

Since you're committed to this, please explain to me how you would "force" your girlfriend to reject religion. You do realize that they have the right to vote now, right? Not sure if you missed that class in school.

 

[busydude]

Since you're committed to this, please explain to me how you would "force" your girlfriend to reject religion.

I don't know why you cannot understand what I am saying. Are you my GF's brother or some kind of feminist advocate?

I am not going to confront her and try to rub her with all the things that I believe to be true... My relationship with her is far more important than my rejection of religion.