Religion

[casimir]

3 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

Yep.

I take nothing from my Christian friends... they have their own perspectives on life.

Funny thing is, in New Jersey, I am surrounded by Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and many other beliefs or non-beliefs. It would be insane (or lonely) to just lash out and denigrate everyone based on their beliefs, or anything else, so... 

When it comes to religion, I am not a bigot. I believe there ARE religious bigots ("if you don't believe what I believe then I HATE you"...), which I tend to avoid. I don't care what anyone does or does not believe in, I only care that a person is a good dude, or gal. At some point, if I want to hold onto a friendship, and we're at a point of contention...

It has to get to agree to disagree when it comes to that...

See, you're able to express your difference of opinion without being snide about it.  Several others disagreed as well, but the tone was civil, and that's why they don't get attacked.  That's the way it should be.

[Jim Cowan]

A Catholic priest said something funny a few years ago:  "You can fill up a bowl with salt water, throw in a couple of rocks, leave it out in the sun and stare at it for 10,000 years and, I guarantee you, nothing is going to crawl out of there".

[MIguy]

Religious people spew so much hate and vitriol and try to use their beliefs to control others and almost exclusively, people who hold the same beliefs keep quiet.  Along comes an Atheist who calls religion a fairy tale or refers to their god as a sky wizard and suddenly they're the worst thing ever.

It's not the people standing in front of an abortion clinic screaming hate, it's not the people going to school board meetings spewing hate, it's not the person standing on the corner with a bullhorn, it's not the politicians invoking religion to justify taking away rights, and it's certainly not the groups currently fighting in the Middle East, the real and only problem here is those hateful atheists.

The world will be a much better place when religion is dead and forgotten. 

 

[MIguy]

5 minutes ago, Jim Cowan said:

A Catholic priest said something funny a few years ago:  "You can fill up a bowl with salt water, throw in a couple of rocks, leave it out in the sun and stare at it for 10,000 years and, I guarantee you, nothing is going to crawl out of there".

Well considering the water would evaporate within days, that's probably true wouldn't you say?  Also, if you were to look at the leftover salt under a microscope, you would certainly see bacteria or other organisms, whether they be living or dead. 

But I get it, only an idiot would believe in evolution, the smartest among us know that a mystical dude was sweeping up his kitchen, took the dust to create Adam and then gave him CPR.  Then being such a good dude, he saw that Adam was lonely so he ripped one of his ribs from his body and made Eve.  Not sure why he didn't just use the dust and CPR method again but hey, god works in mysterious ways.  

[1984Echoes]

13 minutes ago, Jim Cowan said:

A Catholic priest said something funny a few years ago:  "You can fill up a bowl with salt water, throw in a couple of rocks, leave it out in the sun and stare at it for 10,000 years and, I guarantee you, nothing is going to crawl out of there".

Stupid.

Are people really this asinine?

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, 1984Echoes said:

There's some hypocrasy in here...

Replace "Big Bang" with "God" or whatever else is the "something" that a person could believe in (a lot of people have turned away from the belief in a "god" but still believe in "something")... and what do you have? Nothing created something. 

50,000 years ago when we were hunters and gatherers and (modern homo sapiens is 250,000 years old, so it took 200K years to...) came up with the concept of the "Happy Hunting Grounds", and all the itinerant spirits, gods, origin stories that came along with that, etc., etc.. I can understand it. We didn't know anything so we created these stories.

Bu that's what "God" is. A man-made creation/ created story. I mean, religious believers understand that this is true, right? That ALL creation stories/ religions are MAN-MADE.  That YOU created "God" (or your ancesters 2,000, 3,000, 50,000 years ago... whenever applies) out of NOTHING. That we KNOW that God = Nothing.

So in effect, YOU are creating Something (Universe) out of NOTHING (God).

Just so you understand that perspective.

No disrespect, believe in whatever you want to... But I give absolutely zero credence to anything "God" related. Maybe there's some good things out of religion, but there are also TERRIBLE things out of religion (murderous pogroms, murderous crusades, murderous genocide, papal decrees to enslave Native Americans, Christian complicity in the Jewish Holocaust, Inquisitions, and modern-day Christian youth gangs that beat to death homosexuals or other "undesirables" that they don't like...

 

Point.

 

Let me offer an alternative:

Your life has whatever meaning you assign to it.

IE: If you wish to become a "pillar" of your community, and do all sorts of volunteering and service, then you've just added meaning to your life. Self-defined.

If you decided to become an Astro-Physicist and work for Space-X because you believe it is important to colonize Mars... then you've just added this meaning to your life. Self-defined.

If you decide that it's most important to be a good father and you do so, and raise a family accordingly... then you've just added this meaning to your life. Self-defined.

You DON'T need someone else to define your life. Or the meaning of your life. Real or imagined. YOU get to define the meaning of your own life.

Personally, I don't see what's so hard about that.

 

 

 

One could also decide to be an asshole.  

[MIguy]

7 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

Stupid.

Are people really this asinine?

Those are typically the same people that believe the earth is only 6,000 years old and that dinosaur fossils are a trick from satan.  

Edited December 1, 2023 by MIguy

[MIguy]

[gehringer_2]

7 minutes ago, MIguy said:

very weird

Edited December 1, 2023 by gehringer_2

[Tigeraholic1]

My Guy is frothing on his keyboard. Been awhile since we had such an angry elf grace us with his presence on this board.

[ewsieg]

I don't think this is a legitimate depiction, Jesus was around about 2000 years ago, dinosaurs were like 6000-8000 years ago.  Math doesn't add up.

[gehringer_2]

9 minutes ago, ewsieg said:

I don't think this is a legitimate depiction, Jesus was around about 2000 years ago, dinosaurs were like 6000-8000 years ago.  Math doesn't add up.

Single face bar helmet is definitely 50-60s though.

[MIguy]

20 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

very weird

Bing image creator is just that.  

[MIguy]

18 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

My Guy is frothing on his keyboard. Been awhile since we had such an angry elf grace us with his presence on this board.

I am about the furthest from mad right now that I could possibly be.  I do sense a bit of anger from you though.  You gonna be okay?  Here, watch a video and take your mind off things for a while.  

 

 

[Tigeraholic1]

1 minute ago, MIguy said:

I am about the furthest from mad right now that I could possibly be.  I do sense a bit of anger from you though.  You gonna be okay?  Here, watch a video and take your mind off things for a while.  

 

 

I am really good man, thanks for asking. In fact I am getting ready to head over to Chicago to watch my daughter perform Christmas hymns at Concordia Lutheran College Chicago with her A Cappella choir. We then plan to hit up a fantastic sushi joint and maybe even overindulge on some Saki. But please don't worry about me driving as we take the L.

[1984Echoes]

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

One could also decide to be an asshole.  

There are those who do exactly that.

I guess that's what they've decided is the meaning of life: Be an asshole.

Trump is the current leader of that movement...

[Jim Cowan]

2 hours ago, MIguy said:

Well considering the water would evaporate within days, that's probably true wouldn't you say?  Also, if you were to look at the leftover salt under a microscope, you would certainly see bacteria or other organisms, whether they be living or dead. 

But I get it, only an idiot would believe in evolution, the smartest among us know that a mystical dude was sweeping up his kitchen, took the dust to create Adam and then gave him CPR.  Then being such a good dude, he saw that Adam was lonely so he ripped one of his ribs from his body and made Eve.  Not sure why he didn't just use the dust and CPR method again but hey, god works in mysterious ways.  

The priest was making a joke.  Good grief.

[MIguy]

4 minutes ago, Jim Cowan said:

The priest was making a joke.  Good grief.

No he wasn't, he was clearly mocking evolution.  Then after finishing his poor attempt at a joke, he returned to telling everyone it was time to eat the body and drink the blood of a zombie.  

[Jim Cowan]

Just now, MIguy said:

No he wasn't, he was clearly mocking evolution.  Then after finishing his poor attempt at a joke, he returned to telling everyone it was time to eat the body and drink the blood of a zombie.  

You weren't there, so you don't know what you're talking about.  Carry on with your mocking though.

[MIguy]

31 minutes ago, Jim Cowan said:

You weren't there, so you don't know what you're talking about.  Carry on with your mocking though.

Obviously he was mocking evolution as what he says without evolution as the context isn't the least bit funny.  Had he simply been trying to be funny, he would have gone with something like..........

Q.  What's the difference between Jesus and a picture of Jesus?

A.  Only takes one nail to hang the picture.

See, funny!

[ewsieg]

For reference, Catholicism supports theistic evolution

Quote

Theistic evolution (also known as theistic evolutionism or God-guided evolution) is a view that God acts and creates through laws of nature. It posits that the concept of God is compatible with the findings of modern science, including evolution. Theistic evolution is not in itself a scientific theory, but includes a range of views about how science relates to religious beliefs and the extent to which God intervenes. It rejects the strict creationist doctrines of special creation, but can include beliefs such as creation of the human soul. Modern theistic evolution accepts the general scientific consensus on the age of the Earth, the age of the universe, the Big Bang, the origin of the Solar System, the origin of life, and evolution.^[1]

 In short, the belief of the Catholic church is that God is the originator and the more we learn about science, it will only teach us about how God did it.

[oblong]

Catholics don’t have a beef with evolution though. 
 

 

[Jim Cowan]

7 minutes ago, oblong said:

Catholics don’t have a beef with evolution though. 
 

 

Clearly they don't.  Anyone who thinks they do is ignorant. 

[MIguy]

There are plenty of Catholics who reject evolution. 

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/10/30/5-facts-about-evolution-and-religion/

 

[1984Echoes]

1 hour ago, ewsieg said:

For reference, Catholicism supports theistic evolution

In short, the belief of the Catholic church is that God is the originator and the more we learn about science, it will only teach us about how God did it.

If God is omnipotent and omniscient, then why are there billions of dead species?

Obviously, he's a brainless jagoff who has absolutely no clue what he's doing. Whatsoever.