Religion is Silly.

yeh, everyone haz to have one an only one, belief sytem, what U tink iz really happinin, most got it all wrong.

 

Even if that something is supposed to know your thoughts? If you have no interest in knowing that there is a God, then it would be silly. But if you want to know God, then it's certainly reasonable to acknowledge the possibility that belief might be a prerequisite.

God is different from other 'imaginary' entities that way. There's no attribute of unicorns, for example, that would suggest that belief in them is required in order to experience them. Whereas where an omnipotent God is concerned... God obviously isn't intent on forcing us to believe in her. We can choose to attempt contact, but it makes little sense to think you can attempt to contact something you don't first believe exists.

If everyone knew that God existed, the world would be a completely different place. Perhaps the way it is is the way it ought to be.

You have faith in your capacity to reason and perceive. It's not that what you experience isn't in some way real; it's that you don't have the authority to conclusively say what it is you're experiencing.

Religion, in its loosest terminology, is about belief in God. Any time small people come into contact with something that they think will give them some authority over other people, there is conflict. But I don't think we should just forget about God any more than we should just pretend we never split the atom.

 

I think religion is silly.

How is the implication of God's existance frightening? Eternal life in heaven surrounded by loved ones and residing in mansions off streets of gold? Ohhh, scary...I'm gonna have nightmares...

Just because you don't believe in god doesn't mean you are afraid of personal accountablilty. Many of us "heathen unbelievers" are accountable to our friends, families, and communities. We abide by the law, pay our taxes, care for our children, love our partners, spoil our pets, and refrain from doing harm to one another. We are no different than the average christian.

To me heaven and a perfect afterlife is the wishful thinking.

 

It might be frightening if you have control issues. Belief in God probably does seem like a forfeiture of authority over one's life to a lot of people. For a lot of people it is, too...doesn't have to be, though.

God existence doesn't necessarily guarantee the existence of an afterlife, so belief in an afterlife being wishful thinking doesn't automatically mean that theism itself is wishful thinking.

 

This all sounds like christian explanations for why people don't believe, and those explanations are generally pure BS. They claim it's too hard for unbelievers to give authority over to god, but then claim to believers that it is easier for them for god to be in control of their lives. They talk out both sides of their mouth saying whatever is convienent for their argument. Most have no real understanding of why someone doesn't believe in their god and prefer to make it sound to their congregations that it is something wrong with those people. But of course they are gonna say what they have to to keep the flock close by. Can't blame them. A shepard doesn't want to lose any sheep, right?

 

I'm not a Christian myself (never even been to church). I'm just saying that there are other things besides judgment that might cause at least some atheists to fear God's existence. Another reason might be that they fear being seen as irrational or crazy by their peers.

I personally don't think belief in God or in a lack thereof is totally determined by fear or wishful thinking, and these things shouldn't be an issue when it comes to debating whether or not God exists, or whether or not it's okay to believe in God. Just like some theists don't really make an effort to understand the atheists' outlook on life, the atheist who thinks it all comes down to fear and wishful thinking doesn't really understand the foundation of theism, either.

Also, about religion causing wars... Religious fervor can cause people to fight, but hasn't science made war exponentially more bloody? So, I mean...if something being linked to violence is reason enough for us to disregard it, shouldn't we disregard science as well?

 

The institutions of religion, rather than beliefs of religions, cause the problems attributed to religion in general.

 

religeon is indeed more silly then good or bad.
not that there's anything wrong, or even that silly about loving what we can't see.
what is totaly mindbogglingly inane though, is expecting what we can only speculate
upon, to bear the slightest resemblence to what anyone thinks they know about it.

i'm not proposing ridicule or mockery either though.
i think it's cool that people should revere as sacred every nonharmful thing.

it's just that there ARE concerns of greater pertinence to our everyday existence
(then what people think they know about what no one is capable of knowing)
in this life, and quite possibly in whatever future lives we may also have to come.

=^^=
.../\...

 

Some of my favorite things are silly, or best enjoyed in a silly state of mind.

You know, things like . . . sex, the Marx Brothers, Baseball, Pirate talk, Prog-Rock, Monty Python, Dr. Seuss, Yodeling Cowgirls, The Big Lebowski, Corn Dogs, Cat toys, Puns, Unicyclists, Douglas Adams, They Might Be Giants, George Carlin, a good fake French accent, Cover Bands, The Circus, Tom Robbins, Elvis Impersonators, Banjos, Experimental facial hair, The Daily Show, Cheech and Chong, People who (used to) dance at Grateful Dead/Phish/String Cheese Incident shows, Babies laughing . . . oh yeah, and sex.

Peace and Love

 

God wants you to find him. Thats why we are on this earth. To find God and do what he has plans for us using the talent he gave us. Believe it or not, you, FedUpAmerican chose to come to earth when you were in heaven to see what life w/o love and life w/o heaven would be like.

Dont worry bro, you wont burn in hell for being the atheist you are, you will just regret you didnt serve the lord in ways ONLY YOU can. God is a God of love, luckily for you.


I guess people like you think the stars, millions of species of animals, humans, the earth, the planets, and all that shit was just made out of thin air.

 

what could possibly be sillier then to expect what you believe to be greater then yourself, to begin and end with what you think you know about it?

so yes, of course 'religeon' is increadibly silly.

not because anything can't or doesn't exist, but because it is based on our collective egotistical assumption the we, at least collectively, have to know and understand something, anything, in order for it to exist.

=^^=
.../\...

 

Ok, I'm just going to point out two problems I see with the above statements:
1. If we don't like the idea of dying and being around anymore, then why are there major religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism that are dedicated to exactly that purpose?

2. Do you believe in atoms? or molecules?
Have they shown themselves conspicuously to you lately?

 

Ok, I'm just going to point out two problems I see with the above statements:
1. Don't at least two of the three religions mentioned have a trancendence of some sort? I know Hinduism has reincarnation.

2. There is conclusive scientific evidence for atoms and molecules. Bacteria can only be seen with a microscope. Just because we can't magnify enought to visually confirm the exact formation of a molecule or atom doesn't have any bearing on whether they exist or not, BECAUSE we have other evidence of their existence.

smokindude:
No, not out of thin air. The stars and planets were made out of the universal beginnings, the nature of which is still being researched, and the air and humans and all that came from the stars.

You're a star!

 

1. all three do believe in reincarnation, but the goal of the religions is a state of non-incarnation. Anyone with a fear of dying and disappearing forever would not believe in these religions because that is their goal.
2. Yes, there is conclusive scientific evidence for atoms and molecules, but if you notice something, none of that evidence allows you to see, smell, taste or touch an atom or molecule.
and as you put it

though there is evidence for an atom or molecule a theist could argue that there is evidence for a god.

 

i would say that it's quite interesting really



although i am also agnostic i find most religion to be quite fascinating in what it does to and for humanity

 

Nirvana? That sounds like a pretty good final point if you ask me, must more inspiring than rotting in the ground.

A theist could indeed argue that there is evidence for a god. However, that evidence is not objective, and it requires interpretation in a very specific, and often unlikely manner. So far, anyways. And even if it can be shown that there is a divine being, that is no more confirmation of christianity than hinduism, taoism, or any religion you could come up with that includes a divine being.

 

if I may be so bold as to ask, what do you believe happens when we die?
secondly the "objective proof" the immediate results of which have only been seen by a few people, and the rest of us have learned of it by reading books that they wrote, or other second-hand sources, (gee, how religious that sounds). Now the logical counter-argument to that is that experiments have to be repeatable, but in almost every tradition there is a strong emphasis on "If you do this, then you can know God too."
Its like this, if you want to work on some huge science project, you go to college, get a degree and use what you have gained to work on this huge science project. If you want to know God, then you read scriptures, meditate, and live a moral life, then you use what you have gained to understand God.
But I have digressed horribly from my original refutation of your argument. The current atomic "theory" is based on the extrapolated results of several experiments, that were then extrapolated farther. to wit


That was the proof of subatomic particles existing.


The gold foil experiment
Top: Expected results: alpha particles passing through the plum pudding model of the atom undisturbed.
Bottom: Observed results: a small portion of the particles were deflected, indicating a small, concentrated positive charge.

Those were some of the really important experiments for the current atomic theory, notice however, that none of these experiments provide definitive, conclusive proof, rather they all lead you to extrapolate from them.

 

There's more to religion than merely finding salve for death, there's also having a code for living life, and a system for knowing divinity right now. Also means for making health in mind and body in Eastern systems especially.

 

I would love for there to be a heaven, but I think that realistically, we probably just rot in the ground. Or ocean floor or bear stomach, whatever the case may be.

Here's a thought on the matter. For there to be an afterlife, we must have a soul, right? Where does it come from? What makes you think it's there, besides religious teachings? What about Terry Schiavo? Was her soul trapped until she died? It's a very dubious concept, just like god, and all you can do is guess.

That's different entirely. When you repeat an experiment, you expect to see the same result. If a decent amount of repetitions show different results, the original experiment can't be called definitive.

If you don't want to go to that trouble, you can get someone else to repeat the experiment and observe the results. It's not a matter of "If you submit to a life of scientific study, you'll get to see these results for yourself." Many people with different equipment and ideas and motives do the same experiments and get the same results. You are quite free to observe those results and come up with your own conclusions, but with each repetition achieving the same results, you can have that much more confidence in those results.

Experiments provide results, and the scientists provide conclusions. Often there will be a team to discuss the results and figure out what they could logically mean, and which is most likely. No, there is no definitive, conclusive proof of atomic theory, but by saying that, I think you're missing the entire point of science, which is to strive to understand the natural world and the universe we live in. We do the best with what we have, and we do pretty well. Rarely will you find things which violate the law of gravity or natural selection or whatever else. As we get more information, our ideas on the nature of things can change.

Ok. But health in mind and body can be achieved, learned, and practiced without religion. And part of the reason I say it is silly is that it is all about knowing divinity, but nobody knows divinity. Epileptics frequently have religious feelings or visions, but that doesn't mean they know anything about god. People are guessing that there is god, and then they guess everything about god. Christians (the hardliners) think god will only let you into heaven if you accept jesus into your heart. Say those words, believe those beliefs. That's a pretty specific rule for a god they're just guessing about. Muslims believe god wants you to pray a certain number of times, face a certain direction, etc. Based not on their knowledge of god, but on rules laid down by people who said they had that knowledge.

 

It is true that I may be guessing and everything that I think about the soul and God may be completely wrong. However, my experiences dealing with people, seeing them grow and change, and reading some very good examples of reincarnation have lead me to believe that there is a soul. None of this came from religious teachings.