spiritual life/god. - Page 8

StellaNova · 06-09-2009, 06:38 PM

treesuss, shut up. You're making atheists look bad.

If you were able to offer a rational argument, I'd hear you out. But so far, all you've done is bluster on about how all religious people are idiots who can't face reality and you're so much smarter than them. Really, your posts make you sound more ignorant than any religious person on this thread.

And I think your grammar mistakes only attracted attention because they follow the statement, "i take solice in the fact that i know i am intellectually superior to just about everybody."

joshcasto · 06-09-2009, 07:46 PM

That's needlessly wordy. Simply say, "I take solace in my intellectual superiority."

treesuss · 06-09-2009, 08:41 PM

lol a rational argument. are you srs? come the **** on. the whole point of this discussion is that you can't "rationally" disprove something that there's no evidence of existence of. it doesn't even deserve the treatment. as for everything else religion espouses...again LOL.

StellaNova · 06-09-2009, 09:01 PM

^If you're not going to offer a rational argument to support your point, what makes you better than dogmatic fundamentalists? And what's the point of even posting? Do you just like insulting people?

Either say something constructive, or get off this thread and go revel in your intellectual superiority. And maybe learn some basic grammar.

TchaikovskyPiano · 06-09-2009, 09:35 PM

Yes, good grammar will lead to spiritual enlightenment. Better get crackin' with those SAT Writing books.

AMB2005 · 06-09-2009, 11:11 PM

danyellie1913,

Many other posters on this forum are right, rationality is a big part of religion, even if religion does have a component of faith. If you show other college students that your "religious beliefs" are well reasoned, then they will respect you. However, you will have problems if your beliefs are not well reasoned. Many college students, especially at Ivys, are rightly angry at those religious people who say "I love god, I believe in every word of the Bible, and I believe I should be able to oppress others with those not well thought out beliefs, especially by using the government." That kind of religiosity is not well thought, and you will rightly be attacked for it.

treesuss · 06-10-2009, 10:52 AM

lol rationality is a big part of religion. hilarious.

jesus never lived as a real person. he's an invention of the power structure of roman times and is a throwback to many sun god's of old. look at the world through the perspective of its impossible for a virgin to give birth and its impossible for a man to make another rise from the dead and its impossible for a body to rise out of a tomb into the sky and you'll start to see the seeds of deceit and control EVERYWHERE...

and if you can't accept those 3 truths (he couldn't perform miracles because they are impossible, he couldn't have been born of a virgin because thats impossible and he couldn't have risen from the dead because that, again, is impossible) then you are too far gone and too far detached from logic to be worth anybody's time and effort. if you CAN accept these facts, then please explain to me why you think jesus ever even lived at all and why you think he was NOT simply a derivative of Horus and the other sun god's of old...and guess what, you can't appeal to authority and you certainly can't appeal to the bible. so there, now what?

StellaNova · 06-10-2009, 04:23 PM

treesuss, before I begin let me say that I am also an atheist, I'm just posting this to prove that not all atheists are as ignorant as you.

Firstly, AMB never said anything about being Christian. Other religions exist, you know.

Second, most historians agree that there was a real person named Jesus who led a religious movement before being crucified. It was quite common in those days. The matter in question is if he was actually the son of God.

Also, you said that "he couldn't perform miracles because they are impossible." If they were possible, they wouldn't be called miracles. Many Christians cite their impossibility as evidence that he must have been divine, not just some deluded nutcase.

Now that I have destroyed treesuss' arguments, I will offer my own. AMB, could you give an example of a "well reasoned" belief system? Most religious people I've encountered base their beliefs off an ancient text or some vague, unexplained emotion, and neither of those seem especially rational to me.

Smallz3141 · 06-10-2009, 07:04 PM

Quote:

1. It's mathmatically safer to believe in God. Think of it as an insurance policy.
2. Athiests have a 0% chance of a happy afterlife - no wonder they are always so cranky and arguementative.

I don't understand this argument: if you believe in Jesus and you're wrong, nothing bad. If you don't believe in jesus, and you're wrong, you will burn in hell. Therefore, you should believe in Jesus. I mean...how do you not find that insulting? People should follow christianity (or any other religion, this is simply my example) not because it is a source of morals, communal bonding, and social acts of kindness; not because it will lead you down a path to a better life, give you a purpose to help yourself and others and give you a well-rounded sense of humility judgement... but because it is statistically the more probable and safer thing to do? If I followed a major religion (and I don't, so take that with whatever bias you may feel), I would be deeply offended if people preached that they should believe in my religion because..."it couldn't hurt". You're basically giving a scientific argument to the unscientific!

And I'm not even talking about the fact that you assumed the odds of heaven vs. non-heaven ("rot", lol) are 50-50, which is a pretty outlandish claim even for hypothetical scenarios (evidence that brain shuts down after death: basically 100%. Evidence that you have a spirit that can detach from your living presence [soul]: 0. Evidence that death leads to heart stoppage, body temperature decreasing, and overall loss of all vitals: again, approx 100%. Evidence of an ever-lasting "heaven" where souls meander and talk to god: 0. I could continue), so to make an off-the-cuff assumption that the two possibilities are equal as if it's no big deal is pretty remarkable, and wrong.

Listen, I don't believe in god or the afterlife for the simple reason that there is no evidence for it. But I'm not one of these militant atheists who are against all religions and religious individuals. If you're Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc, great. Good for you! As I said before, religion can be a great source of morals, community bonding, and overall social wellness. And if you are truly faithful, if you honestly have strong beliefs in your religion or Creator, then nothing any scientist says can touch you: you believe in God, you don't need evidence! It is the people who try to distort science (Evolution is wrong, Great flood proven, etc), who try and make it so science agrees with them, that I have a problem with, because it is telling me that they don't have strong enough faith in their own beliefs: they need to warp the truth so they can convince themselves that what they 'believe' is real. But if you're a true believer you don't need science. Stop trying to use the laws that govern the natural to explain the supernatural.

And go to Cornell, it's a great school.

joshcasto · 06-10-2009, 07:51 PM

"It's mathmatically safer to believe in God. Think of it as an insurance policy."

As an Evangelical Christian, I find that appalling. You're supposed to believe in God because of faith and love, not your own selfish desires.

treesuss · 06-10-2009, 09:39 PM

"because of faith and love" lolwut?

Because of faith, you are supposed to believe in God? Do you know what the definition of faith is and what it means to have faith in something? lol. What?

Because of love, you are supposed to believe in God? First of all, we could debate what love is and whether it exists too. But we're not going to... Either way, an interpersonal emotion has nothing at all to do with believe in a higher power. You can love God if you believe in him but niether implies nor is the reason for the other.

So that leaves... you believe in God because he loves you? Orly? Care to explain how or in what ways, specifically? Oh, haha.

Smallz3141 · 06-10-2009, 10:27 PM

^ I think we all understand what context joshcasto's post is in reference to, so you're either being a wisea$$ or you're just an idiot.

treesuss · 06-10-2009, 11:23 PM

what context? I'm being 100% serious. I'd like to know how I'm an idiot......?

He says "because of faith and love" and I'm asking what how and why and you're telling me that I'm stupid because its obvious? Howso? Enlighten me.

a milli · 06-10-2009, 11:59 PM

Quote:

As an Evangelical Christian, I find that appalling. You're supposed to believe in God because of faith and love, not your own selfish desires.

Your desire to get into heaven doesn't have anything to do with it?

joshcasto · 06-11-2009, 12:28 AM

Only insofar as being with God for eternity -- which is love.