Messages

If we couldn't dig Phil Reed out to go to Mittens NY I don't think we can get him to Florda... That jerk!

Everyone has to find their own technique when it comes to bubble blowing... And that's all I'll say on that!

and I can't believe I didn't remember this before

Evenwolf: If you're eager to make a video.. Participate in the Blasphemy Challenge! I'm thinking of making an animated Hooray! to take part

http://www.blasphemychallenge.com/

Again, you're putting words in my mouth. I never said anything about people being less intelligent or me being smarter, sorry. I don't know what you think I'm saying but when someone makes a claim like:

"Putting a bag of skittles under your pillow at night will turn it into gold by morning."

This is a claim that can be tested very easily. We test it, find out that it's false [I'm sure you'll forgive me stating this claim false without actually testing it first] and then move on. "Turns out I was wrong, sorry." And we go on with our lives.

If a religious sect makes a claim like "This shroud has the image of Jesus Christ on it and it is 2000 and some years old and is covered in his blood." We can test it and find out that it is actually paint and dates to around the 1540's [if memory serves]. The claim proves to be wrong, this isn't cherry picking, this is finding a testable claim and testing it.

My superiority hasn't just boosted up but the general ultimate knowledge of the world has just gone up. Now we know something we didn't know before. Everyone wins especially religious people because they can stop worshipping a false relic. Why would you be against that?

Obviously there is a way to prove the existence of god for yourself because you believe in the christian god and not some random forest spirit from the deep amazon. If your proof is testable, why would you not want to test it to see if you're right? "I believe in god because I feel his love." ok fine, go ahead! "I believe in god because I feel his love and it says so in the bible" Getting closer to a discussion on origins of the bible, the authors, the editing, stuff like that "I believe in god because I feel his love, it says so in the bible and he cured my cancer." BING! Now we have a claim! This stuff is important!

I want to have all the knowledge of the world in my brain. I want to know as much as I can about everything, that involves debating, discussing, and testing claims made by countless people. From scientists to teachers to religious figures. I will never just say "I do not want to delve deeper into this conversation..." If it helps me grasp a little more of what I see as truth out of this universe, down the rabbit hole I go. Sorry?

Any extraordinary claim made by anyone can be tested. I'm not picking and choosing. If there are 1000 denominations of christians out there and each of them make seperate claims about how a god affects the earth, we should test every single one. Not with the express purpose of disproving it but to see if they are right. You're putting words into my mouth and also trying to insult me for no reason.

I don't need to supply the claims because I'm not the one trying to prove an extraordinary claim. Burden of proof and all that.

The Bible makes claims. We can test them. Sorry!

also: "There is no way whatsoever to disprove the existence of a God" therefore "There is no way whatsoever to prove the existence of a God" It works both ways!

To bring it around to the subject, I think conversations like these are almost subconsciously avoided in real life. Has anyone ever had a true religious debate in real life?

One last time, by testing the claims made by the religion.

The objection to france I would have would happen when I find out how much a ticket would cost to get there. Also my slowly evolving fear of flying... But I'm sure I can overcome that...

Wow Rudey McHarsh, that was quite uncalled for, I'm sure Pete was joking around.

If anything Team Hot Tub was more of a clique than people who rode in the same car together three times, jeez.

"pretty much fine with the 10 commandments" except the punishments for breaking a commandment, right? Not many people talk about those anymore.

as per your second question:

It doesn't really apply to religion or having a belief. If I drop a bowl of pudding and then a cup of milk and then stub my toe and I say out loud "Alright! Enough!" I'm not talking to anyone the same way I'd say out loud or in my head "Please just be ok, please just wake up, please I'll do anything just open your eyes and look at me, please please please... Just make him better..."

The more important part of the question for me is when the child does wake up. If the child wakes up and I say "Thank you Jesus." then I have a problem. Unless the team of doctors working around the clock to wake my child up and keep him from dying is collectively named Team Jesus, I've just taken all that is good in human kind and attributed it to a maybe-historical dude who's been dead for 2000 years.

Being in need and asking the air for help is a thing everyone does, I feel. Expecting a reply or for the laws of nature to be suspended because you asked, is what religious people do.

LimpingFish: Hooray, we solved the Case of the Religious Debate! I'll notify Scotland Yard!

And yes, I am having a hard time adjust back to being at work after the Mittens week... Hence all the posts!

I do believe we are agreeing. I said you can't prove or disprove the random belief in an extra dimensional creator of stuff but you can test the claims attributed to that belief. We agree on this?

I thought I was [because of your apparent frustration in your posts?] misunderstanding you but I'm not. You can test claims made by people as to the nature of religious beliefs but not the various thoughts one has in their head that have no earthly connection. Do we agree to agree? You can test my magical dragon if I say "Every wednesday at 3pm it sneezes visible legos." but if I make no claims then I'm Proof Proofâ,,¢

My point is "Why even bother?."

Understanding of the universe, understanding of human thought processes, understanding of the evolution of belief, finding a set of rules that the world can agree on. Because people do amazing and dreadful things in the name of faith, because people kill each other and themselves because god told them, because because because... There are thousands of reason why we should discuss this. It's not a matter of "HAHA I'm right!" as it is "Ok, so I'm right, interesting, what's next?"In my opinion

Stephen Jay Gould?

The black and the white: "God does exist" vs "God does not exist."

Both arguments indicate knowledge of an ultimate answer. Both arguments are therefore null. The question itself is flawed, since no finite resolution can possibly be reached from our existential vantage point.

People say this quite a bit and it's never made much sense to me. You can't also prove that there isn't a race of sentient rocks living in the center of Jupiter who are undetectable. You can't prove that a magical, invisible dragon doesn't live in my garage.

What you can do is test claims made by believers/the bible/the koran/the whatever and this is what people do and what science inadvertantly does. The earth is not the center of the universe, man is the product of a loooong chain of small changes through natural selection. These are 2 scientifically accepted truths that destroy arguements made by various religious figures throughout time. Does it disprove the idea of a magical being in another dimension that created the universe? No. Does it mark against Christian/Jewish/whatever teachings? Yes. If one can shed light on the authors, the creation, the inaccuracies, the inconsitancies, the ideological borrowing and the editing of various religious texts on earth, one can start to disprove THOSE gods. But if you just want to start creating new gods to speak about that are not related to these teachings, sure I can't disprove them. But as soon as you make a claim based on that belief, we can test it.

THAT... Is what I love about being an atheist. In fact, the eyeopening that I receive on a pretty much daily basis from being an atheist has made me the happiest I've been in my life. Evenwolf, are you happier now? I used to look back in anger [not that I was particularly religious but URGH! Stupid little kid eric!] but thinking about my life in the now and how I feel is so good.

I find it awkward that someone is asking for proof that god DOESN'T exist but this isn't the thread for another series of posts about existance/nonexistance of God. Let's try and keep it to personal views and feelings on being an atheist.

HUGE logical fallacy, Progz, your argument is even thinner. Do you have statistics on deathbed confessions? Eyewitness evidence is also some of the worst evidence there is. Not to mention decades later eyewitness evidence.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2334857802602777622&q=physics+for+future+presidents+roswellotal=3&start=0&num=10&so=0ype=search&plindex=0

All the explanation you'd need on Roswell, in my opinion. It's all so simple really.

This community is full of atheists.  I mean, percentage wise...

I also am quite surprised at the number of atheists/non-believers on these forums. It was rather refreshing to be able to speak to people in real life at Mittens who are either atheists or non-believers about subjects usually stuck on the internet.

I tire very easily of people and their religions. When I hear someone talking about giving something up for lent I just want to fall asleep. When I hear about someone praying to a saint to help them find a lost watch I fall into a coma. When I hear someone thanking the lord for a quick birth for their wife I want to first ask them about all the people who have very painful and long births or where someone dies in the process or the baby is suffocated by the umbilical chord, if we have the lord to thank for that... And then going to bed straight after. Somethings make me sleepy and some things make me angry and then sleepy.

Does anybody have trouble bringin it up in public or among friends?

I am mostly silent because True Believers will never be able to talk or discuss something without falling into various logical holes full of phalluses that make me even more tired.

I hate when people say Richard Dawkins is rude or whatever... How can one be rude when the majority of the world believes that you will go to another dimension and burn in a lake of fire FOR ETERNITY? What can I possibly say to someone that is more rude or condescending than that? When entering a debate with someone and you feel that this person is mistaken and carries awkward beliefs brought about by history, fear of the unknown and ignorance towards natural science and they believe that you deserve to be punished in FLAMES for an eternity...

This is why I don't feel too bad about my dismissive/sleepy/angry reaction to people of the popular faiths, Evenwolf.

I was impressed when Jess wrote a little biography for herself to be published in the back of a comic collection she was in [that or a newspaper article, I don't remember!] and she wrote "I am an atheist" among the things about herself. I never would have done that because I'm maybe overly sensitive to statistics and polls about atheists being the last socially acceptable group to openly hate...

Woodz uses LASSIE. He was using it to remake 6DA. We talked about it and he was sad that more people haven't used it to make adventure games. I'm sure he'll pop by and tell you all about it.

aw, I was just starting the opening titles to The Clumsy Fop... TOO FAST FRANCISCO! That is your new name!