If I had $1 for every time God bailed me out...

[Felix007]

If I had $1 for every time God bailed me out..

That's generalizing a bit. It all depends on how you interpret the Bible (or whatever book you choose). What I see is that God would want us to be accepting of others regardless of race, sexuality, beliefs, etc. Religion can condradict science or it can agree with it, depending on who you ask.

A vast majority of the people in the United States disagree with the theory of evolution for no other reason than their pastor tells them to, or they want an extremely literal interpretation of the Bible. This leads to the "teach both sides" controversy (I say that word with disgust), despite the fact Creationism hasn't a shred of evidence in its favor. Then we have private universities teaching that evolution is a myth, passing it on to their children, etc. Evolution happens to be the unifying theory in biology, and has led to many advancements in the medical world, such as penicillin. When religious groups contradict science in such a way for no other reason than dogma, it can lead to massive repercussions when the next generation "takes over".

Sure, I'll give you that. But what point are you specifically trying to prove? Are you trying to say that because of these atrocities, it's wrong to believe in a god? I want to make sure you're not looking upon believers as inferior to you in any way, because we're all equals, just with different beliefs.

I don't believe his point was that you are inferior, but that religion can and has led to atrocities. The Crusades, the Inquisition, and the stoning of heretics before Newton's time are all prime examples. Contemporary actions include women's suffrage and homosexual marriage.

Yes, for all intents and purposes, if God existed and had a universal measure for morality, it would be arbitrary to us whether or not they are moral, though said god figure might have had some reasoning of his own for establishing such laws. You either broke the law or you didn't, which from a purely objective standard makes it prohibitively difficult to be moral with laws given by the likes of religion.

That sounds about right, hence my problem with the idea of moral absolutes from a deity. Some laws seem to hold no more weight than the idea that it's okay to kill people on Tuesdays, but only if they're wearing a purple hat and clown shoes. Moral relativism, or even humanism, if you can rationalize a universal standard via sentience, seems to fill the gap in a more logical fashion.

 

[Y-Disciple]

If I had $1 for every time God bailed me out..

A vast majority of the people in the United States disagree with the theory of evolution for no other reason than their pastor tells them to, or they want an extremely literal interpretation of the Bible. This leads to the "teach both sides" controversy (I say that word with disgust), despite the fact Creationism hasn't a shred of evidence in its favor.

A vast majority? I personally don't know a single person who doesn't believe in evolution. Unless you're referring to how it used to be fifty years ago.

 

[Felix007]

If I had $1 for every time God bailed me out..

A vast majority? I personally don't know a single person who doesn't believe in evolution. Unless you're referring to how it used to be fifty years ago.

I live in the deep south, so perhaps I'm incorrectly stating numbers based on my own regional statistics (close to the Bible Belt). A significant percentage would have been a better wording.

 

[Codemaster92163]

If I had $1 for every time God bailed me out..

Well on a completely technical standpoint. It is completely impossible to prove that God exists. It is, in fact, possible to prove that he does. Don't go yelling at me for saying that, because im actually an atheist. Im just stating facts. You cannot prove something is not there, but you can only prove that it IS in fact there. Its *well, not really common, more like well thought* knowledge.

For example. We cannot prove that unicorns are not real (Im using that as an example, so shut it =p.) We can, however, eventually prove they are real should they actually exist. There is no proof currently that they are 100% none existent. However, it is a 99.9% chance that they are not, so don't get your hopes up n_n .

EDIT! To add upon my beliefs, I can't stand believing in things that have (as someone mentioned, I think) caused so many hardships/atrocities in the past and teach somewhat hypocritical views. I have nothing against catholics or any other religious people, considering especially the fact that most of my family, dad and sister excluded, are catholics or jewish (odd mix, I know.) Religion has caused wars, fact. Catholicism teaches to love and treat others as equals, however its normally the catholics that spew venom towards gays and atheists, fact. The bible says God loves you, but it also says that he will condemn you to hell if you don't believe in him, or if you are born gay (In some translations,) fact. My friend whom I have known since we were in kindergarden is gay, and I can't stand it when people in my school say hes going to hell just because he is different than them. Its wrong, and I can't stand that a somewhat large percentage of catholics say things like that. I don't mean large as in a majority, but large as in a number that really shouldn't be as high as it is.

I don't mind anyone sharing or having beliefs. I just can't stand it when people are assholes because they think you are inferior to them since they believe in something, or just because you are different and not approved of in some book. Again, im not stereotyping anyone, but it is also a fact that those who are devoted to a religion generally show less tolerance to those who are different.

Damn, I went on a rant and I did not mean to. My bad =p

This just makes me giggle though lol!

 

[Gegliosch]

If I had $1 for every time God bailed me out..

Quote: Originally Posted by KoshTheKoala (Post ID: #81909)
As Manta said earlier, belief in god has caused most of the world's most evil acts (with Stalin being one of the very few exceptions). A world in which no one can say "god told me to" to defend themselves after killing dozens or hundreds or thousands of people would be a much better world. What if, after 9/11, the entire Arab world condemned Al-Qaeda for the terrorists they are and actively hunted them down? What if there was never a Biblical excuse for slavery or racism or any other hate-crime?

Sure, I'll give you that. But what point are you specifically trying to prove? Are you trying to say that because of these atrocities, it's wrong to believe in a god? I want to make sure you're not looking upon believers as inferior to you in any way, because we're all equals, just with different beliefs.

It's not a bad thing at all to believe in some kind of god or whatever else, if it helps to give your life a meaning or a direction. This implies that you realize it's only a belief and you don't try to persuade others by force.

However, this also explains why I have a problem with religious institutions. They just have much more influence on economy, politics and moral decisions than they should have, due to wealth, popularity and power (maybe even some kind of military). Religion can never be a justification for anything since it's nothing more than a belief others may disagree with. Morals taught in various "holy scriptures" are no exception. They are usually dogmatic and thousands of years old, although the conditions in this world constantly change and as somebody stated before, moral is subjective.
The fact, that some religions are popular enough to be taught in schools, officially accepted to contradict science or even abused as a justification for wars and so on, is unacceptable to me for this reason.

Don't get me wrong, I encourage everybody to create their own theories about our origin, even if they seem to be unlikely to others. I just think that everybody should have the chance to do this without being influenced from the day of his birth and I demand that religious institutions restrain from influencing politics and education or setting up their own rules, possibly contradicting laws.