The God Helmet

[The Sauce]

Can we all please acknowledge that religion, superstition and other such nonsense is completely ridiculous now? Yes, apparently religion is a purely emotional phenomenon. Yes, the experience that everyone thinks is so life-altering can be reproduced in a laboratory by stimulating a certain area of the brain. Yes, this suggests that, after all, religious belief is an evolutionary phenomenon which developed because it imparted a survival benefit on ancient cultures. Could any intelligent, thinking, non-delusional person possibly require more proof than this?

Of course there are some who will probably start worshipping the helmet now...

http://www.clusterflock.org/2010/06/dr-michael-persingers-god-helmet.html
http://health.howstuffworks.com/brain-religion2.htm
http://www.skeptiko.com/michael-persinger-discovers-telepathic-link/

 

[totalnoob]

Not surprising..but prepare for the religious apologists to dismiss it.

 

[Atreus21]

Can we all please acknowledge that religion, superstition and other such nonsense is completely ridiculous now? Yes, apparently religion is a purely emotional phenomenon. Yes, the experience that everyone thinks is so life-altering can be reproduced in a laboratory by stimulating a certain area of the brain. Yes, this suggests that, after all, religious belief is an evolutionary phenomenon which developed because it imparted a survival benefit on ancient cultures. Could any intelligent, thinking, non-delusional person possibly require more proof than this?

Of course there are some who will probably start worshipping the helmet now...

http://www.clusterflock.org/2010/06/dr-michael-persingers-god-helmet.html
http://health.howstuffworks.com/brain-religion2.htm
http://www.skeptiko.com/michael-persinger-discovers-telepathic-link/

You mean to tell me that religion can be turned on or off by stimulating a certain part of the brain? I'm shocked.

I bet you could also turn a straight man gay, or vice versa, if you could stimulate a certain part of the brain. You could change a lot of things by stimulating a certain part of the brain. If you were to sever my brain from my body, I think I'd stop being religious.

I seriously don't understand how proving that something is a function of brain activity weighs against it.

 

[totalnoob]

You mean to tell me that religion can be turned on or off by stimulating a certain part of the brain? I'm shocked.

I bet you could also turn a straight man gay, or vice versa, if you could stimulate a certain part of the brain.

Yep..
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18524823.800
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bomb

Science...it works bitches.

 

[TechBoyJK]

religion maybe, but spirituality, no.

 

[Atreus21]

[/b]Yep..
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18524823.800
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bomb

Science...it works bitches.

Notwithstanding the fact that those links are abjectly hysterically funny, no one said science didn't work. Simply that science and religion are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Greenman]

I think the more interesting question is, why do you feel the need to discredit religion? Why is it important to prove there is no God?
Why not simply get over it and allow people with faith to be comforted by it?

 

[Atreus21]

I think the more interesting question is, why do you feel the need to discredit religion? Why is it important to prove there is no God?
Why not simply get over it and allow people with faith to be comforted by it?

Because it's not enough. You need to be a dick to everyone who doesn't think like you.

-Southpark

 

[totalnoob]

Why not simply get over it and allow people with faith to be comforted by it?

Because people of faith insist on imposing their opinions on others via authoritarian laws on social issues, by pushing creationism in schools..and of course...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...-pray-instead-of-calling-for-medical-aid.html

It just makes people stupid.

 

[Blackjack200]

See sig. It's completely irrational at this point. And from what I understand, our brains are basically an aggregation of massively complex chemical reactions. That's why so much shit can be cured, (or caused) by chemical substances.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I think the more interesting question is, why do you feel the need to discredit religion? Why is it important to prove there is no God?
Why not simply get over it and allow people with faith to be comforted by it?

Because they need someone to look down on of course. Can't do that with blacks anymore.

 

[Babbles]

Wow, the OP is being a first class douchenozzle trying to bait people . . . and for what reason? Because the intraweb needs yet another ridiculous religion debate? Furthermore while I imagine the OP thinks of themself as being clever or astute or perhaps insightful, I think the small-minded approach in not understanding why people may currently hold a religious belief is an indication of closed-mindedness and lack of intellectual comprehension on part of the OP. Ironic, perhaps?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Because people of faith insist on imposing their opinions on others via authoritarian laws on social issues, by pushing creationism in schools..and of course...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...-pray-instead-of-calling-for-medical-aid.html

It just makes people stupid.

Really? How about people who go around murdering religious people? You have a really good track record in officially atheistic countries like China. Obviously atheists are amoral who insist on killing religious via authoritarian laws.

 

[totalnoob]

Really? How about people who go around murdering religious people? You have a really good track record in officially atheistic countries like China. Obviously atheists are amoral who insist on killing religious via authoritarian laws.

The commies didn't kill people in the name of atheism though did they? They did it in the name of communism..consolidating power and wiping out opposing interests. If you want a more fair comparison, have a look at Sweden, Norway, Holland, Switzerland..check the societal health states on those nations while you're at it. They are majority atheist and outclass the USA on nearly every issue..lower crime rates, lower abortion rates, less poverty, extensive social freedoms, etc.

P.S. Many of the most influential founders (Jefferson, Madison, Paine, Frankling, etc) were not religious..and they seem to be ok according to most folks.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

How about gays are child molesters?

http://www.nambla.org/

Of course blacks are problems too.

http://www.midwestfreepress.com/2009/09/27/cdc-report-shows-dangers-of-black-males/


The fact is that most religious, gay and black people don't go around blowing shit up, they don't rape your kids and they don't do drive-by's.

Only the ignorant would seriously push any of this, and congrats- we have lots of those here.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The commies didn't kill people in the name of atheism though did they? They did it in the name of communism..consolidating power and wiping out opposing interests. If you want a more fair comparison, have a look at Sweden, Norway, Holland, Switzerland..check the societal health states on those nations while you're at it. They are majority atheist and outclass the USA on nearly every issue..lower crime rates, lower abortion rates, less poverty, extensive social freedoms, etc.

P.S. Many of the most influential founders (Jefferson, Madison, Paine, Frankling, etc) were not religious..and they seem to be ok according to most folks.

Of course they didn't do it in the name of anything. They were atheists who didn't have any morals. That allowed them the freedom to do what they did.

Atheists are amoral murders. Well, if I'm going to use the same "logic" that you are applying from a minority and applying it to the majority.

 

[Babbles]

The commies didn't kill people in the name of atheism though did they?

Just for arguments sake, though, the Chinese government did in fact kill and/or prosecute people effectively in the name of atheism. Just ask some Tibetans . . .

 

[nageov3t]

the OP is why everyone hate atheists.

 

[totalnoob]

haybusa and loki..A "no" answer to a single question in no way acts as an IMPETUS to do anything...period, end of story. Before you get off your ass and do anything, you must make a positive decision..form a plan of action based on some other desire or principle in your mind. There is nothing indicating what sort of behavior an atheist should engage in. He could become a commie like Marx or an ultra-capitalist like Ayn Rand. He could become a tyrant like Stalin or a peace-loving hippie like John Lennon. There are no doctrines, dogmas, or holy books involved to influence one's beliefs. Not so when it comes to Christianity. If christians literally believe the creator of the universe has revealed his will in a holy book, they have justification for the course they take in life. They have a positive impetus to influence their actions.

There is no parallel for a lack of belief. If you want to pretend otherwise and claim a simple LACK of dogma is just as irrational and damaging as theism, that's your prerogative..but saying so publicly only demonstrates your ignorance.

 

[bamacre]

the OP is why everyone hate atheists.

Some people allow themselves to become what they hate.

 

[MrEgo]

I only have a problem when people bring religion to my doorstep or political policies.

Other than that, I don't care if others want to believe in a deity.

As for the original post, I don't think this discredits the fact that there still may be a supreme being(s) of the universe. I personally don't think there is, but claiming that I know that there isn't one is just as ignorant as someone saying that they know that there is one.

 

[MrEgo]

the OP is why everyone hate atheists.

Anyone trying to push their beliefs onto anyone else is very annoying. However, you generally don't get knocks on your door from atheists handing out pamphlets.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Just for arguments sake, though, the Chinese government did in fact kill and/or prosecute people effectively in the name of atheism. Just ask some Tibetans . . .

Shhh. Don't spoil the fantasy. Let's not tell people that a whole lot of disaster aid after the fact (go to Haiti and you'll see what I mean) are done by people who are religious. What do we see here? Someone who DID do harm to their kid. Tens of thousands or more helped and that's ignored. Why? Because the hate that some accuse those of faith as having is what they display.

I don't give a flying copulation if someone who is harming another is religious or not. I don't ask if the hand which helps has passed the "litmus" test of internet approval. It's the deed of the person which matters. Jefferson? Ok, his religious views are interesting I suppose, but if he went around with a flower pot on his head and did what he did just the same I'd not really care.

Now we'll see the Crusades, the Inquisition and lots of other things trotted out. Then we can look at the various purges of Communism and on and on.

It's all bullshit though. If some guy saved my kid from being run over by a bus I wouldn't care of he did it because he thought God would want him to, or if it was an automatic response. I'm going to be grateful.

That level of maturity simply does not exist for many here. Some asshole wants to feel better about himself so he decides to be the mouthpiece for his own brand of ignorance.

Having seen some wonderful things done by all kinds of people for various reasons I'm not really inclined to cut the religious haters much slack.

Oh yeah, I would be at the head of the line if someone seriously suggested teaching creationism in a science class. It isn't and it doesn't belong there. That in no way suggests that the vast majority of those who consider themselves religious want that. That argument is absurd on the face of it since the majority of people feel some religious inclination. If things were as bad as all that, then the OP wouldn't have been able to post anything anywhere.

 

[Atreus21]

haybusa and loki..A "no" answer to a single question in no way acts as an IMPETUS to do anything...period, end of story. Before you get off your ass and do anything, you must make a positive decision..form a plan of action based on some other desire or principle in your mind. There is nothing indicating what sort of behavior an atheist should engage in. He could become a commie like Marx or an ultra-capitalist like Ayn Rand. He could become a tyrant like Stalin or a peace-loving hippie like John Lennon. There are no doctrines, dogmas, or holy books involved to influence one's beliefs. Not so when it comes to Christianity. If christians literally believe the creator of the universe has revealed his will in a holy book, they have justification for the course they take in life. They have a positive impetus to influence their actions.

There is no parallel for a lack of belief. If you want to pretend otherwise and claim a simple LACK of dogma is just as irrational and damaging as theism, that's your prerogative..but saying so publicly only demonstrates your ignorance.

And that's where I think you're both right and wrong. There is no parallel for lack of belief, because there is no such thing as lack of belief. Everything we do is predicated on a belief in some sort of order to the universe, unless your a nihilist, and assuming true nihilism is even possible. Simply saying that atheism is true professes a belief that the truth is desirable.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

haybusa and loki..A "no" answer to a single question in no way acts as an IMPETUS to do anything...period, end of story. Before you get off your ass and do anything, you must make a positive decision..form a plan of action based on some other desire or principle in your mind. There is nothing indicating what sort of behavior an atheist should engage in. He could become a commie like Marx or an ultra-capitalist like Ayn Rand. He could become a tyrant like Stalin or a peace-loving hippie like John Lennon. There are no doctrines, dogmas, or holy books involved to influence one's beliefs. Not so when it comes to Christianity. If christians literally believe the creator of the universe has revealed his will in a holy book, they have justification for the course they take in life. They have a positive impetus to influence their actions.

There is no parallel for a lack of belief. If you want to pretend otherwise and claim a simple LACK of dogma is just as irrational and damaging as theism, that's your prerogative..but saying so publicly only demonstrates your ignorance.

It seems there are a lot of these types of thread. A number of people are motivated to make them in a derisive manner. There are activist atheist organizations. They have a dogma, it's just not that a god exists. In effect you excuse the same ignorance you object to then cover your eyes and say that it doesn't exist because there needs to be a positive motive. The positive motive is this. Some people need to look down on people. Some need to find a group to hate. This is their Crusade. It's this kind of hate I object to, and if someone wants to blow up a bus because they believe in Allah, or they want to hang blacks under a cross then I'm against that. If you want to pretend that there aren't haters of those who would never do that then you are delusional.

The religious beliefs (or lack thereof) aren't what I am concerned with. That is their business. It's when anyone uses another as a scapegoat then I'm against it. Here the preponderance of intolerance here isn't by the religious, but by people who pretend that their lack of faith puts them above it all.