Just to clear things up a bit

Even I am getting tired of such silly arguments.

With respect to morality, I think it is unclear what is right and what isn't. Religion seeks to arbitrarily insert its version of morality. As far as my personal morality, I will re-iterate my belief in the golden rule which, while not scientific, is in fact completely logical.

 
I'm talking about questions such as what is the meaning of life? Why are we here, etc? For those of us who don't feel "because a bunch of atoms exploded and somehnow we ended up here and its totally meaningless and I might as well kill myself right now because it really makes no difference" is a good answer.
So adopting medieval superstitions is the answer to these questions? This religious status quo in the world, and in our social discourse, really prevents us from developing rational 21st century alternatives to our divisive conflict ridden religions. So the way i see it, you can either put your conversation and your thinking in the 21st century, or in the 7th century(if your a muslim), or even further back.

Questions about right and wrong, questions about how we should behave and act as humans, etc...there is nothing scientific about killing that makes it wrong, nor stealing, nor assaulting, nor any of the other things we consider 'civilized'. There is no science behind it, it is purely based on opinion, or belief, aka religion. Religion is not just specific 'religions', it is religious thought. It is pretty much anything that is not scientific or artistic, with some overlap.
Given the gregarious nature of human beings, i think their are obvious evolutionary explanations for why we value certain ethical ideas as much as we do. The main opposition most people have to religion is the dogmatism. Its the dogmatism that flies planes into buildings, that riots over cartoons, that blows up abortion clinics, that kills people for thought crimes or heresy. Theres also the spiritual side of religion that may in fact be very valuable to us, but you don't have to believe anything on insufficient evidence to explore that path. People don't seem to understand that you can believe in the golden rule without believing Jesus was the born of a virgin.

People have been completely fooled into believing that the only way to talk about morality, meaning, or value is in the context of the supernatural. Its clear to me that this is not the case.

 
So adopting medieval superstitions is the answer to these questions? This religious status quo in the world, and in our social discourse, really prevents us from developing rational 21st century alternatives to our divisive conflict ridden religions. So the way i see it, you can either put your conversation and your thinking in the 21st century, or in the 7th century(if your a muslim), or even further back.


Given the gregarious nature of human beings, i think their are obvious evolutionary explanations for why we value certain ethical ideas as much as we do. The main opposition most people have to religion is the dogmatism. Its the dogmatism that flies planes into buildings, that riots over cartoons, that blows up abortion clinics, that kills people for thought crimes or heresy. Theres also the spiritual side of religion that may in fact be very valuable to us, but you don't have to believe anything on insufficient evidence to explore that path. People don't seem to understand that you can believe in the golden rule without believing Jesus was the born of a virgin.

People have been completely fooled into believing that the only way to talk about morality, meaning, or value is in the context of the supernatural. Its clear to me that this is not the case.
I completely agree. Unfortunately most of this is completely lost in a society that doesn't have a strong religious bearing. The meaning of things and such turns into nothing but materialistic and selfish desires and ***. To me, that is not the way human's should live, that is the way animals should and do live. If you believe we are the same as any animal, then that is your view. However, my "ignorant" (as said by several people in here) view is that our ability to think and feel in the way we do makes us far above and different from any typical animal, who acts almost only on instinct.

 
To the christians: I also like how Jesus would have slapped 99% of Americans for their materialistic values and their greed and lack of compassion for the poor, yet still 80% of Americans consider themselves Christians, and a good chunk of those consider themselves relatively devout Christians at that. Why do you stray so far from Jesus's teachings if you strive so hard to follow him?

 
Well now I see where some of our differences are coming from.

I believe we are an advanced animal that does not need to ignore animal impulses like sexuality. How consensual sexuality could even possibly be immoral is baffling to me.

I love the pretentiousness of humans too stupid to realize their irrelevance in the universe.

 
However, my "ignorant" (as said by several people in here) view is that our ability to think and feel in the way we do makes us far above and different from any typical animal, who acts almost only on instinct.
Just for the sake of posterity, I assume you know that there are extremely few mannerisms and traits that are exclusive to humans. We are fortunate to have so many talents, but I wonder if the top of the food chain always believes it is more important than everything below it.

 
Fact, accounts shows Jesus only lived 6 months after his revelation in baptism, and looked arabic, someone you would assume to be muslim and be afraid if you heard him say something that sounded a little like 'bomb' in an airport. Fact, there is no evidence that Jesus arose from the dead, some of his disciples became convinced they had seen his spirit after he died and it went to heaven. Christians have since interpreted this as being 'resurrected from the dead' yet we believe that all souls rise from our bodies when we die and go to heaven or hell, not just Jesus.

Because it simply can't, by the same principle that you can never prove that God does not exist.

I'm talking about questions such as what is the meaning of life? Why are we here, etc? For those of us who don't feel "because a bunch of atoms exploded and somehnow we ended up here and its totally meaningless and I might as well kill myself right now because it really makes no difference" is a good answer.

Questions about right and wrong, questions about how we should behave and act as humans, etc...there is nothing scientific about killing that makes it wrong, nor stealing, nor assaulting, nor any of the other things we consider 'civilized'. There is no science behind it, it is purely based on opinion, or belief, aka religion. Religion is not just specific 'religions', it is religious thought. It is pretty much anything that is not scientific or artistic, with some overlap.
Since when do I stereotype arabs?

And his disciples saw his actual body. Not his spirit.

They give accounts of putting their fingers in the holes in his hands.

Again, I don't see why men who devoted their lives to Christ lie about such a thing. That would go against their entire cause.

 
And his disciples saw his actual body. Not his spirit.

They give accounts of putting their fingers in the holes in his hands.

Again, I don't see why men who devoted their lives to Christ lie about such a thing. That would go against their entire cause.
I don't understand why the disciples waited until 20-30 years after his death to write anything down.

 
Well now I see where some of our differences are coming from.
I believe we are an advanced animal that does not need to ignore animal impulses like sexuality. How consensual sexuality could even possibly be immoral is baffling to me.

I love the pretentiousness of humans too stupid to realize their irrelevance in the universe.
So if someone angers you do you act on instinct and attack them like an animal?

Or say you've tried cocaine and liked the way it made you feel. Does that mean you should do it?

Laws are put in place for reasons beyond some of our understanding.

These laws happen to have been put into place by the very being that designed and created the universe. Some things we just won't understand. That doesn't mean we should defy them.

Look at a 3 year old child. He doesn't know why we set rules. He just knows he needs to obey them.

How much more advanced is God over us than we are over our children?

 
I completely agree. Unfortunately most of this is completely lost in a society that doesn't have a strong religious bearing. The meaning of things and such turns into nothing but materialistic and selfish desires and ***. To me, that is not the way human's should live, that is the way animals should and do live.

I don't think we have gotten much of a chance to see what does happen in a society without religion. The closest on earth would be Scandinavian countries where something like 85-90% of the populations claim to not believe in any god and by many standards they are some of the best places on the planet to live.

If you believe we are the same as any animal, then that is your view. However, my "ignorant" (as said by several people in here) view is that our ability to think and feel in the way we do makes us far above and different from any typical animal, who acts almost only on instinct.
We certainly are animals in the sense that we are related to them, and are all doomed to die like an animal, but that doesn't necessarily make us equal to all animals in moral terms. I would actually continue your line of reasoning here and say that the fact that we are capable of such a complex experience is why we are the most valuable life forms. This is the same reason we are all more concerned about the treatment of a dog vs a fly. Perhaps this is one of many moral intuitions we all share. As i said, there are clear evolutionary explanations for why we have developed such strong moral intuitions. So I dont think that lacking an omnipresent dictator makes it likely that these values will disappear.

 
Sometimes it's hard to tell if we're really an "advanced" form of animal. Animals fight over territory. Never have they had a desire for genocide or gathered WMD's. They don't pollute their environment for greedy gains. They're certainly not of a self-destructive mentality.

As far as the sacred scrolls of any religion, we really take them on face value. The Bible has been translated so many times it really makes you wonder how much may be true to the original scriptures and whether there may have been some embellishment along the way via corrupt church manipulation.

Whether Christian or Muslim or other, I don't believe the purpose of the belief to be the engagement of senseless pointless invited altercations. Wisdom teaches there is better more productive use of time and talent.

 
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