There comes a point

When respecting others' opinions becomes obsolete. I've always tried to abide by the age-old rule of respecting someone's opinion, even if it does not align with what I believe. However, as of now, I honestly think that rule is retarded.

This thread is ripe with material for all duh haturs in duh croud.

Look at the United State's track record for devoutly religious presidents. Presidents that believed the fire and brimstone spooky apocalypse stories. Now imagine that these presidents have had their finger on the "Nuke the fuck out of everything" button.

Does that not FREAK EVERYONE THE FUCK OUT? Seriously, can the world afford another hardcore religious president? Isn't there a point where we need to say: "Sorry, but you believe inane things, you're not allowed to run this country." Why are we still running on superstition about omnipotent beings in the sky watching our every move and silently judging us? It's the fucking 21st century. We've been to the moon and we've discovered life on other planets.

When will people who have the idea of "God loves me and created me in his image" get a fucking dose of THERE IS NO GOD. There are forces beyond us, but they don't give a shit about us (I'm talking about things like Time and Entropy).

This entire post is ripe with hypocritical material, especially the stuff about me thinking I'm right.

It's only hypocritical if you believe that reason and science are equal to fairy-tales you ignorant fucks.

I have no problem with people believing in God or whatever else gets you through your day. Just stay the fuck away from the White House, PLEASE.

 

Raging Darwinist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiVOwxsa4OM

 

Was it a good movie? I've seen De Niro do some good movies and I've seen him do some terrible movies.

Couldn't see him being a good boxer though.

 

I don't think a "hardcore" religious person will ever become president... But, I guess that depends on what you mean by "hardcore".

And, NO. One should always respect other people's opinions... Even if you believe they are retarded. IMHO... Who cares what other's believe. It's fine till it gets to a point where they are forcing thier beliefs on you...

 

Opinions, like people, have different values.
Only a fool respects the opinion of a fool, or disrespects the opinion of a more knowledgable person.

“Of the products of the human intellect, the scientific method is unique. This is not because it ought to be considered the only path to Truth; it isn’t. In fact, it firmly admits it isn’t. It doesn’t even pretend to define what Truth (with a capital “T”) is, or whether the word has meaning. In this it parts company with the self-assured thinkers of various religious, philosophical, and mystical persuasions who have drowned the world in sorrow and blood through the conviction that they and they alone own Truth.”
-- Asimov

 

I've gone over why I believe this countless times and I always come back to the same thing.

We believe that believing in Batman is dumb

Yet we believe that believing in God is somehow normal?

I'm at a point in my life where I understand my ideals to be more rational and evolved than an archaic belief in a spaceman who knows our every move and silently judges us?

Religion does nothing but say "We can talk to God, you have to come to us to do it" instead of me taking a couple grams of mushrooms and talking to God myself and brainwash people into believing that they KNOW what's going to happen after we die.

Nobody knows, stop trying to explain it, live out your short-life here and find out for yourself!

Most of the standard religions feel so archaic and obsolete to me now yet we continue to cling to it. Why?

 

Fear and arrogance.

But seeking answers is never a waste of time.

 

Grist for the sacrificial fires of metabolism. A man will tear off your hide to preserve his suffering.
At one point in life I came home to find that all the sick fucks I had been concerned about were gathered round a television set absorbed with contentment watching "Wheel of Fortune".
The why of things turns out to be because we would have it thus.

 

... resistance to people telling us what to do. Hey, that might still be pushing a rock up a hill. "They shoot horses don't they?" That was about dancers in a METAPHOR, ... a haah.:cheers2:

 

Why can't people say "fuck you Pope Douchebag XXI, I'm going to find my own answers, regardless of what you think!" We're so god damn malleable that it fucking sickens me and we have no idea that we are. Yet the same people telling us that there is a spooky god that wants to send us to hell are the same people running the government (Not literally, but we have a tendency to elect strongly religious people). I'm happy that people have the choice to be religious or not, but please, if you are, stay the fuck away from any form of leadership.

While evolution is incorporated in my rant, the topic is not evolution. Please stay on topic.

 

Keep on raging



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCEtI_bNEIM

 

Which ones do you have in mind? Reagan and G.W. come to mind, and come to think of it, that was scary. The problem is, they got re-elected. About thirty percent of the voting population in the United States is (or purports to be) hardcore religious, and the question is not whether you tolerate them, but whether they'll tolerate you(which is unlikely). Republicans regard them as their base, and Democrats pander to them, in futile hopes of not incurring their further wrath. It wasn't always that way. We've had nominally religious Presidents since forever, and even one openly "born again" liberal one (Jimmy Carter, who was scary but not so much because of his religion). But the influence of these zealots is a result of the Fallwell-Reagan alliance. To deal with it, you're gonna need to be creative, unless you just want to vent. This is just my own humble opinion as a Born Again Christian.

The life on other planets discovery must have slipped by me. Where and when were those again?

The notion of a creative intelligence is a plausible explanation for a variety of phenomena, such as consciousness, life, and the Anthropic Principle. Whether or not S(he)it gives a shit about us is another matter. The important thing to me is that S(he)it could.

Fairy-tales can come true, they can happen to you, if you view them metaphorically.

 

Skism,

I go through that same thought process and it reoccurs for me. But in my experience, hate has a way of doubling and even tripling. I know many people that have used that anger in a destructive way. But if we use that anger and direct it towards something more productive, then we can have the power needed to deal with all the stupidity that we see daily.

I believe in leading by following. I hope to act in accordance to my own philosophy so that my philosophy can become real and picked up by others. Basically, if we live by leading by example then we can hope to bring a better world even if it's just a small corner of it. Otherwise, if we let our hate get the best of us, then we can truly become the very thing that we hate!

I've seen it countless times in others and in my self. It's a constant game of checking yourself. Some people stop checking themselves and it gets out of hand. I refuse to live my life being hate filled. Be careful!

Nothing wrong with anger. Let it out, but let it out through a positive outlet. That's the most that we can hope for.

 

I think the religious right is vulnerable, but atheists and agnostics might not be in the best position to exploit them. Jesus could do a better job. You might start with the obvious point that Pat Robertson, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, & company are Pharisees. I think it's also arguable that they're Sodomites, since the real point sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was mean spiritedness. They are hypocrites in preaching the gospel of Jesus while rolling in bed with fat cat tycoons and Republicans (sounds like "Publicans"). Progressive Christians are already active in reclaiming our faith through such organizations as The Center for Progressive Christianity, CrossLeft, Social Redemption, etc.

 

Agreed. The religious right really is an embarrassment and really are wolves in sheep's clothing...

 

Anger is never justified. Anger is a form of fear. Fear does not represent reality but only an imagined evil. There is no positive outlet for anger and hope is not the same as will. However, fear and its' handmaiden anger, flee in the light of truth.

 

Anger is a natural human emotion that evolved for a reason. It needs to be managed and controlled, but not denied completely. Some anger is healthy. Even Jesus displayed it. I'm generally suspicious of efforts toward futile perfectionism. People I know who deny anger seem to be passive aggressive and/or depressed. It's like sex. Denying it leads to sickness. Finding healthy outlets for it is a better idea.

 

Bacteria on mars

That's true and I don't disagree with it.

I say there is no god in the sense that there is no mystical white male in the sky judging everything we do. I'm sure there is a greater consciousness but that consciousness does not give a shit what happens to us. We're just bacteria living in its gut.

Metaphorically, sure. Realistically, no.

 

If you're referring to the alleged Martian bacteria found in the meteorite ALH84001 by NASA investigator David McKay in the 1990s, the last I heard that was still in dispute by Ralph Harvey of Case Western Reserve and Harry McSween of the University of Tennessee, among others. Several chemical and physical analyses weigh against the claim that the meteorite contains traces of life, and NASA has been accused of hyping the story for political purposes. But some scientists remain open to the possibility. The recent finding that methane on the Red Planet isn't delivered to it by meteors might lend additional support to Martian life. At this point, we must give the Scottish verdict "Not proven". If, as many scientists believe, life is the result of a highly improbable accident, the chances of it occurring in two neighboring planets of the same star system would be infinitesimal, unless of course one colonized the other. If that's the case, we may all be Martians.

 

Anger is the culmination of the unresolved fight or flight response. I am saying that in the absence of imminent mortal danger it is wholly unjustified. We are not "only human" but "superbly human".