I agree. I'd argue, it's an opinion based on substantiating evidence. The majority of new scientific discovery is made in spite of religion. Especially when it gets in the way (stem cell research protesters for example). I'd respectfully disagree here too. I don't label myself an agnostic because I feel the need to belong to a religious group. I do so because it best describes who I am. Me individually. And again, agnostics are both anti-religion and anti-atheist. Both of those sides have formed "churches" to follow their religion. Every attempt to form a major agnostic church has failed because that is not what agnosticism is. There is no belief to follow. Only the understanding that we are pitifully small in the big picture and the acceptance that we do not posses the ability to know either way. Actually no. Agnostics, as I said before, do not believe either side can prove their case. So in our position there is no evidence to wait for. Because we know there is none to be had at this point in our evolution. We know this, and not "believe" believe this, because no one has provided any in all of human history.
If you can assume that religion is holding back science based on your opinions of substantiating evidence then I can assume there is a God based on my opinions of substantiating evidence. To assert there is no evidence to be had because no one has presented it to you is a belief and does not prove that there is none. You still are relying on your beliefs. Your own mental faculties. As good as they may be they are still limited by your human condition and environment. Yeah and btw, religious or not there are a lot of scientific projects going on that are down right fucking scary and need to be stopped Wish we had never built that damn A-bomb for starters.
yet had we not had a war crash project to develop nuclear power, the that wonderful source of energy, nuclear fission, would never be found or understood. We would most likely not be anywhere near as advanced in physics, and nuclear fusion would not be excalibur on the horizon. Not to mention that as many would have died in a land invasion. I would call the Manhattan project a gift from god, were there any god to give us this gift.
Yeah defense technology has always been a grey area for me. Simply put, it sucks that it's here and we use it against each other. But one day if we ever need to repel invaders, it sure will be nice to have. Even if, against their technology, ours is the equivalent of throwing rocks at a tank
To call something that resulted in the death of many, as well as global terror, is sacrilegious no matter what belief system you belong to (besides atheism of course). That's like saying: boy, I'm glad I showed my kids where I keep my gun. Yes, one of my kids shot the other to death, but at least he'll be able to help out if there's a burglary here...
Only the Paper cup religion is right. You're all heathens, heretics, and blasphemers unless you obey the Paper cup.
hail the paper cup but really, comparing nuclear power and guns is a bad analogy. Think of it more like this: Nuclear power is like metallurgy. One of its minor uses is to make tanks etc, but there are so many other uses that are good, that the good outweighs the bad. Unless you are a super-fundamentalist, back-to-the-farms christian? Nuclear has a bad reputation, but in fact it could change the world many times over in a good way. With great power comes great responsibility.
Same goes for nuclear weapons. Even if we did bomb the world over and over, there will be someone who lives past 24 hours.
I wasn't talking about nuclear power, I was talking about nuclear weapons. After all, that's what he was saying, that we'd be able to use it to fend off space invaders... I'm not exactly sure how we got on the subject. But, the truth is that you can choose to believe in something, or you can choose to believe in nothing. Believing in something gives greater meaning to life, and a sense of accountability. The big question is though - if you choose to believe in something or someone (a.k.a. 'God'), does this Being actually care how we choose to express our belief? As in, does it matter to God what 'religion' we practice?
do you realize that you just committed a logical fallacy? Basically like this: I choose to believe in god, but I don't know if god cares. that is a fallacy because, in saying that you choose to believe, you are admitting nonexistance. As in "I choose to believe that this pyramid in Egypt was built by napoleon"
Most Buddhist extremists wind up hurting themselves rather than others. Research on the monks that self-immolated during the Viet Nam war, for instance. Instead of creating a bomb and hurting others, they covered themselves in gasoline and lighted it...
That would depend on what sect of Buddhism you were a practitioner of... Not all Buddhists are the same. There are wide ranging beliefs in Buddhism ranging from ritual religious practice with a stress on a belief in deities and spirits to a complete rejection of deities and spirits. Here is a decent place that seems to have collected information on many of the forms. http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/index.htm
Wow, I didn't know we had a religion section in this internet marketing forum. Well, here's my belief. I believe that God exists and He created the heavens and the earth. He also created everything in it including us. But we sinned against Him and fell short of Him. Since the wages of sin is death, someone had to die for us. But God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. And whoever believes in him will live and have eternal life. And I'm waiting for that same Jesus to come back to earth to take me to heaven according to his promise written in the Bible. No matter what the world says, God loves the world and He loves "you". Otherwise, He wouldn't have sent His son to die for you. Many of you might ask, "How do you know He exists? Where's the proof?" Then let me ask you this. How do you know you're in love? Where's the proof? Guess I'm in love with God. That's how I know. Regards, Joseph
Well, it's easy to think that way but once you invite Jesus to come into your life and ask Him to become your Lord and Savior, your inner person is no longer interested in committing sins though your flesh might be. In other words, you become a new person even though you're nowhere near perfect meaning you're still tempted to sin. It's hard to explain but just like I said in the previous post, you can only know when you're in relationship with Him. Am I explaining it well? Regards, Joseph
Yes, an absolute necessity in any religion designed to control people. If you don't leave loopholes like that then the people who have sinned for example, have no motivation to follow your religion (or you which is the end goal). The creators of religion were primitive, but they weren't stupid.