We should use our thick skulls to headbutt him into a fine paste.
No no no, thick sculls.
Oh, them too.
Aw, you broke my heart. How am I making other religious people look bad? I’ve BARELY posted enough itt to piss off anyone. All I did was pop in, say “Hey, I was a Christian -> Atheist -> Muslim, bye now!” and left. The fact that I’m me and you saying I’m a part of something automatically makes you think I make them look bad. In that case, I’m glad I’m human, because I want YOU to look bad, Soup.
Exactly! And I find nothing wrong with you Atheists.
The problem is so many people seem to be intolerant of each other these days.
I have no problem with Atheists, people from other religions, hell, I don’t have problems with gays, since it has never been stated in any reliable source that God said that they were unholy; it was some other guy whose name excapes me.
Tl/Dr: Why can’t we all get along, regardless of who we are, our skin colour, religion, ect.?
I second that, Jeff. I have more Atheist friends that God-believing friends, believe it or not. Yet, I still talk to them like they’re normal, because they are. It’s human nature to questions things, and I can’t stop it, so why drain myself from energy trying?
You told me I’d end up with twenty kids and massive debts the first time we spoke, simply because I’m in a relationship out of wedlock. This is why you’re one of the people making other religious folk look bad.
Oh yeah, that completely reflects on religion. That has everything to do with what I believe in religion. You can’t make a certain people look bad if you talk about a topic that has nothing to do with them. Say I make people with relationships look bad, I won’t disagree. I’ve already apologized and it’s been months now. If I haven’t gotten to you for me to apologize, I apologize. I also think you should apologize for saying such a crude comment, too.
[color=Black]CCCCOMBO BREAKER[/SIZE]
ITT: Everyone hates each other
Because you didn’t explain that before.
It doesn’t reflect on religion, it means you’re one of the few that give people the wrong idea of the average religious person since you said you made that comment because of your religious beliefs.
Also, no, you didn’t apologise, you said your brother did it.
By the way, a crude comment? That’s pretty darn ironic.
ok
But I don’t hate you, Winged.
<3
Oh, uh, I meant… Sassy. Yeah.
Well, this thread’s been a fun read… so I’ll add a thesis to it, just to make it more funner. 
[color=’#1f1f1f’]Yes, I know that’s terrible grammar; when one knows the rules, one can ignore them!
I am slightly baffled by the levels of intolerance that have been displayed by elements of both sides of this thread’s debate. But that’s probably because I don’t really subscribe to the debate at all these days, as I take a secular humanist stance. Just to put my oar in (a little late!)…
At a very personal level, I feel that any acknowledgement (either pro, or anti) of a higher power is an irrelevance; If there is a higher power, it is so far beyond our comprehension that there cannot be ANY interface or understanding between us (in much the same way that I have no interest or concept of what a quark’s motivations are and vice-versa). As a result, said higher power is irrelevant. Equally if there is no higher power, the net result is the same.
When I’ve had serious discussions with atheists, it seems many protest their non-belief a little too fervently (I know I did when I was in that frame of mind!). They have to prove just how much they refute the existence of God. To my eyes, they’re still ‘validating’ a belief in God, by acknowledging that such an entity might need to be ‘not believed in’ (and by extension, therefore must exist).
(Discussions with believers tend to be more relaxed affairs, after all, their position is a well established one and they have faith, which makes it all much easier…)
In the course of my 33 years, I’ve been both strongly religious and strongly atheist. These days I’ve stopped giving a damn about the whole God thing and now worry about trying to be as decent a human as possible. I do things that could be regarded as being ‘Christian’, but in fact are just altruistic. I tolerate any and all walks of life (until they become obnoxious, then I start taking offence; tolerating someone being a tit is no way to earn respect). All in all, I’m far more relaxed these days than I have ever been simply by taking control of what I can (i.e. me) and ignoring irrelevant concerns, such as whether or not a God (who may or may not exist) would or would not be upset (or not) if I do (or do not do) action “X”.
If there does happen to be a god (or God, or whatever) then I’ll take my chances regarding any ‘judgement’ about my conduct; I suspect that any Ultimate Arbiter would far sooner I behaved decently and respectfully to my peers (all of them) than whether or not I paid any attention to an entity that I can never comprehend. On the other hand, if it’s just void and blankness after death, well I won’t really care will I?!
I still find plenty of magic, wonder and awe in the world; just because I know how a rainbow works doesn’t stop me from still finding them to be thoroughly beautiful events. Equally, I find plenty of wonder and awe in science; we’re doing some things that not 5 years ago were science fiction - which is both sort of scary and very exciting too. However, I would contend that an exclusive quest for religion is no more dangerous than an exclusive quest for SCIEEEEEENCE; extremism of ANY kind always results in a loss of humanity.
I have found that it is best that I stay out of debate threads. why? well, it is not that I am stupid, but I have yet to find a ‘debate’ topic that actually changes anyone’s mind about anything. Actually the opposite occurs. Feelings get hurt, rages occur, insults are crafted and there is an overall sadness that happens.
so… I may offer my opinion, but it is very probable that I will avoid the topic afterwards. Just so that I dont feel icky after.
(just a bit tipsy, please forgive any rant/off topic/weird postings kthnxbie)
That sounds like a very sensible, calm and collected manner in which to behave Catz… enjoy your drink!!
I’ll just put this here…A question to change the topic and ease the tension.
Science tells us we evolved from single-celled organisms thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years ago. Those first cells, it is theorized, were prokaryotes which fed on nearby minerals from rocks and the like. This organism is further theorized to be roused from the primordial soup by lighting and heat energy, essentially churning the organic molecules within to create life. What I never understood is this: Where did it get the will to survive and subsist.
Call it whatever you will, but even though it had no mind, something must have given it life and the ability to want to survive and reproduce. If we follow the accepted primordial soup model, the resulting object would be a collection of molecules, nothing more. What gave it life?
If we knew we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
So what is the difference between cult and religion?
But what gave organisms the will to survive?
All life strives to reproduce and live, that much is certain. But it can’t be a brain that causes this because, as you said yourself, even fungi have a knack for being tenacious survivors. What gives organisms without minds (even bacteria and a lesser extent viruses) this will?