Religious Beliefs - Fact or Fiction

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Scientists criticise religious people for having religious beliefs.

That doesnt sound very plausible really.

[SMOKE 1,426]

Oh I see I thought it was directly focused on me.

I agree, I find it ridiculous when people want to criticize religious people while supporting a theory that has more questions than answers.

sorry sir.

yes, that is the correct word.'theory' i'm still waiting for proof myself. until then i'm with the rest of the world, leaning on faith & what i was raised to believe.

[Peikko 1,575]

What gets me is how strongly some scientists stand up for something they really know very little about all the while criticizing religious people for there religious beliefs.

I am not sure what you mean by standing up for something thy know very little about. Science takes observable phenomena and seeks to find theories that explain these phenomena. These theories only become accepted as a useful working theory when they can be modeled mathematically and used predicatively. These theories are not treated as definitive facts as such, but they are not treated as fiction either, which is a good thing too because most of modern technology relies on the predictability of phenomena such as whether or not specific chemicals/materials always behave in specific and predictable ways. If theories were merely fictional we could not predict anything with any reliability and creating new technology would be impossible.

[_Simpson_ 250]

Scientists criticise religious people for having religious beliefs.

That doesnt sound very plausible really.

quit it with the games the message is clear.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

quit it with the games the message is clear.

Stop being so oversensitive. If you can't accept that people disagree with you, perhaps you need to start wearing diapers again.

[mawilson 2,133]

Now I never said I believed in the Big Bang. What I am saying is that we dont have the answers and Im not going to take a side until there is some scientific proof or I experience a divine intervention.

"Some" scientific proof?

There's plenty of scientific proof - completely different methods (observational evidence,

radiometric dating, globular clusters, etc) confirming the same thing.

[mawilson 2,133]

What gets me is how strongly some scientists stand up for something they really know very little about all the while criticizing religious people for there religious beliefs.

*You* know very little about it (or anything else for that matter, it seems.) Scientists know a whole lot about it.

[Captain Oates 910]

fixxored

I was raised Christian, was forced to go to church at a young age. My mom used to go into her closet and "speak in tongues", she used to read the bible all the time, countless devotional books, probably at least tithed $70,000 throughout her life. Entire family are Christians, my uncle owns a church about 10 minutes from where I live. Not a lot of people attend but he is a pastor. So I don't have that bias that your friend has.

You have my genuine sympathy..

I think most of the world's ills can be laid at the door of the various religions

Certainly in my own country, all the bloodshed has been catholic v protestant etc. and the crusades...

Yes the pagan vikings did some killing but it was rational - it was for gold etc

Whereas religious genocide as practiced in England and many other places was irrational and had god's sanction for both sides.

In the first world war the German soldiers had signs which said 'god with us' (gott mit uns)

The British had similar encouragement from god. They killed and prayed and killed and prayed and killed and then when it was all over and an armistice was declared, they both had a church service to thank god.

Look at Northern Ireland

Look at India and Pakistan - enormous genocide based on religion

Look at the cold war - The Christian US versus communism -(main objection is they are godless)

What misery caused by what is just a simple tithing scam

Edited August 4, 2010 by saywhat

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

My God doesn't believe in your religion.

[Captain Oates 910]

At the State Park near me, there is a brass plaque explaining that the petrified forest (It's stone, not frightened) is 20 million years old.

Someone has taken a knife and in a frenzied fashion scored it to pieces and cut the words 'wicked lies' into it

A lot of hate there and I would bet my wad it was a Christian

Christian people especially frighten me because of their frenzy and energy and hate which knows no bounds.

I have never been scared of a non-believer

In Colorado at a military training center, candidates records were changed to show they failed training if they didn't agree to join and tithe to a particular church

This is the reality of religion which I regard as the Mafia and more able to ruin anyone's life. They are more scary in this life than the hell they promise after.

Edited August 4, 2010 by saywhat

[Heracles 417]

Actually I know quite a few scientists, doctors and engineers, many with PhDs in their field, who believe in God. It's erroneous to assume that all educated intellectuals are atheist and basically stupid.

In fact, personally, my studies surrounding science and engineering is exactly what helped cement the notion of God. The world is simply too complicated and perfect for mutations, let alone chance to have magically figured it all out. Even with today's supercomputers and thousands with PhDs in various fields, we are still learning about the world around us, about the human body, about a plant. Yet somehow, all on its own, everything fell into place; in other words, statistically impossible.

Many who don't believe in God assume a higher being does not exist because they have not seen it and/or because of evolution. Who says a higher being has nothing to do with evolution? Is it because of Genesis? Contrary to popular atheist belief, the bible is not a thesis on creation, it's a spiritual document. Then again, you need to actually have studied the bible to understand.

[Ban Hammer 12,857]

At the State Park near me, there is a brass plaque explaining that the petrified forest (It's stone, not frightened) is 20 million years old.

Someone has taken a knife and in a frenzied fashion scored it to pieces and cut the words 'wicked lies' into it

A lot of hate there and I would bet my wad it was a Christian

Christian people especially frighten me because of their frenzy and energy and hate which knows no bounds.

I have never been scared of a non-believer

In Colorado at a military training center, candidates records were changed to show they failed training if they didn't agree to join and tithe to a particular church

This is the reality of religion which I regard as the Mafia and more able to ruin anyone's life. They are more scary in this life than the hell they promise after.

on the first part, i'd be more inclined to think it's some goth nut.

the colorado bit, wasn't that the air force academy?

[Heracles 417]

Yes the pagan vikings did some killing but it was rational - it was for gold etc

In the first world war the German soldiers had signs which said 'god with us' (gott mit uns)

Look at the cold war - The Christian US versus communism -(main objection is they are godless)

Two of the largest wars in human history - WWI and WWII - were not about religion.

The German soldiers argument is weak and similar to me slapping a sticker labeled liberal and then proceeding to chop all of the forests down. Though my armband might say liberal, my actions would actually contradict the liberal ideology.

Cold war about God, now that is a new one. War is about greed, power or simply disagreeing with one another - nothing else to it. The British did not colonize Australia because they wanted to convert the Aborigines.

Edited August 5, 2010 by Heracles

[Captain Oates 910]

Actually I know quite a few scientists, doctors and engineers, many with PhDs in their field, who believe in God. It's erroneous to assume that all educated intellectuals are atheist and basically stupid.

In fact, personally, my studies surrounding science and engineering is exactly what helped cement the notion of God. The world is simply too complicated and perfect for mutations, let alone chance to have magically figured it all out. Even with today's supercomputers and thousands with PhDs in various fields, we are still learning about the world around us, about the human body, about a plant. Yet somehow, all on its own, everything fell into place; in other words, statistically impossible.

Many who don't believe in God assume a higher being does not exist because they have not seen it and/or because of evolution. Who says a higher being has nothing to do with evolution? Is it because of Genesis? Contrary to popular atheist belief, the bible is not a thesis on creation, it's a spiritual document. Then again, you need to actually have studied the bible to understand.

The world and the animals in it are not perfect

How do you explain god creating in-growing toe nails ?

Animals and plants are far from perfect and it's that that proves they were not created

You are working on a false premise and it's all brought down by a toe nail.....

[Peikko 1,575]

Actually I know quite a few scientists, doctors and engineers, many with PhDs in their field, who believe in God. It's erroneous to assume that all educated intellectuals are atheist and basically stupid.

In fact, personally, my studies surrounding science and engineering is exactly what helped cement the notion of God. The world is simply too complicated and perfect for mutations, let alone chance to have magically figured it all out. Even with today's supercomputers and thousands with PhDs in various fields, we are still learning about the world around us, about the human body, about a plant. Yet somehow, all on its own, everything fell into place; in other words, statistically impossible.

Many who don't believe in God assume a higher being does not exist because they have not seen it and/or because of evolution. Who says a higher being has nothing to do with evolution? Is it because of Genesis? Contrary to popular atheist belief, the bible is not a thesis on creation, it's a spiritual document. Then again, you need to actually have studied the bible to understand.

You look at the problem backwards - a common mistake. The Universe did not start out as something complicated, in fact it is its simplicity that creates the symmetry and pattern that you look at from this point in time and marvel at. While it is true that statistically, trying to get from nothing to where we are is an enourmous improbability; your mistake is in thinking that this represents intelligent design when the truth is that given the particular and predictable properties of each atom, the limited permeation of atomic combinations that form the elements that make up the entire universe and the properties that the combinations of these elements that form the stars and planets produce in interelating influence means that what we experience now is the only possibly outcome of all the actions that have aready occurred in order for us to arrive at this particular point in time and space and indeed that will continue to happen until and unless the universe reaches ultimate expansion and re-contracts to consume all that has until now existed. At which time, for all we know it all begins again.

Edited August 5, 2010 by Madame Cleo