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| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by PastorAIO: 4:36pm On Jun 02, 2016 |
joseph1013: Shouldn't it? |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 9:54am On Jun 03, 2016 |
[b]WHAT CHRISTIANS CAN LEARN FROM HINDUS Forget whether or not your god exists and your religion is true. Instead think about the dedicated follower of a different religion. For example, if you are a Christian, think about a devoted Hindu. Let's call her Ajia. She knows there are an almost unlimited number of gods. Some were involved in the creation of the universe and some in the creation of mankind. Some gods will help her with relationship problems, some help with health, some with wealth and so on. Ajia knows these gods are active in her life because she has witnessed them working for her. She feels a particular closeness to the supreme god, Vishnu--this god is like a close friend who is always by her side. She loves Vishnu and talks to him daily. Of course, you think she is mistaken. You strongly doubt that these gods exist so you wonder how she can be sure she has witnessed them being active in her life. How does this work? And why is she so certain about all this? It's not hard to explain. It relies on three characteristics of humans. Firstly, our specie has evolved to assimilate culture. This means the things we learn in early life tend to stay with us throughout our lives. Gods and religions are part of this early learning and we learn about them before we have developed the intellectual ability to be critical. The second characteristic is our wonderful imaginations. We can experience images, sounds, emotions and more in our minds. In fact, any experience that can be triggered by the real world, can be recreated in our inner world. This is how Ajia feels Vishnu is with her--she knows what it is like to love someone and what it is like to talk to a close friend. Her brain re-creates this for her and it seems completely real. Thirdly, humans have a long list of cognitive biases. These are systematic thinking glitches that distort our ability to reason effectively. They affect various areas of our lives such as risk-taking, self-image and trust. The two that most affect religious beliefs are confirmation bias and attribution bias. Attribution bias is simply where we assign responsibility for good and bad things that happen in our lives to supernatural beings. If something bad happens, you can't possibly know it was caused by the god Loki but first millennium Norse folk might well have been convinced it was--just as Christians today might blame Satan or demons. Confirmation bias is our tendency to remember the events that confirm our beliefs and forget those that dis-confirm them. For example, if Ajia prays to pass her exams and she passes, she will probably credit a god for the help and this will reinforce her belief in gods. However, if she fails, she will likely forget the prayer so this experience will not reduce her level of belief. When you put all this together, it is easy to understand how Ajia can be so convinced about beliefs that are not true. All you have to do now is learn from Ajia--apply the same reasoning to yourself and you will understand why you find your religion so convincing...[/b] 1 Like 4 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by francis247(m): 3:07pm On Jun 03, 2016 |
joseph1013: |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 10:30am On Jun 04, 2016 |
[b]IT'S A SAD WEEK News filtered yesterday that a woman was beheaded yesterday in Kano by some angry Muslim youths on account of blasphemy. I'm genuinely sad and it got me thinking again, as usual. Suicide is a crime. Assisted suicide is a crime. Even euthanasia is criminal. I've always wondered why Muslims, guilty of offenses punishable by death only in sharia, don't denounce their faith to save their heads. Opting to remain faithful and die is tantamount to suicide, isn't it? ...but then even apostasy is punishable by death. At what point does a person born into a Muslim family become Muslim? Does anyone discuss the terms of that agreement with them? I mean, if you get killed for leaving, then you should have to consent, without ambiguity, to joining. Personally, I'm pro suicide, I'm pro euthanasia. I'm against the idea of forcing the serious responsibility/consequences of being Christian/Muslim on a person by mere virtue of birth. I'm against the death penalty for 'changing your mind' with experience (apostasy). If the Sharia law only applies to Muslims (in Nigeria), then execution on charges of blasphemy against Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) or Allah should only happen to PROFESSED Muslims. In short, if our society is strong on her anti suicide stance, then they should criminalize being a Muslim IF these execution aspects of Sharia law are not (cannot be) revised. It's a sad week. [/b] 6 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 10:27am On Jun 05, 2016 |
RESPECT EACH OTHER'S FAITH "Let us learn to respect each other's faith, so that we can know each other and live together in peace." [b]Society says the rational thing is to respect each others' faith. Why does the same society trample so freely on the rights of faithless people? I pay tax and people of faith appropriate it for their annual pilgrimages to La La Land somewhere in the middle east. The society wants faith respected but will not hesitate to enlist faithless people into an Islamic alliance led by an Islamic Saudi State. I ask why this is so and what do I hear? "Respect my beliefs you bigot!" I believe in the equality of men and women. Why does society disrespect my faith by refusing to grant equal rights to women? I believe in the self determination of people. Why does our religious society which demands respect, consistently refuse to acknowledge the rights of Biafra agitators to hold protests without armoured tanks and assault rifles breathing down on them? It is indeed a paradox that the oppressors pretend to be the victims of their own Machiavellian misguided actions. Cry more hot tears, dear oppressor. The tide of history will someday catch up with you.[/b] 5 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 12:26pm On Jun 06, 2016 |
[b]THE LAST CHRISTIAN Christianity is a folly. A theology so bizarre and fractured it must have been created by a committee. Christianity's moral teaching, all apparently from the same unchanging God, ranges from brutal tyranny to masochism. Christianity rests upon a series of miraculous events but there is no evidence that any of these events actually happened outside of the religion's own sales manual. The sales manual betrays its primitive human origins by its superstitious references to witches and demons and by a cosmology so comprehensively wrong that it's laughable. Why do millions believe this obvious nonsense? Same reason people believe all religions—they are brought up to believe it. Those early lessons are hard to overcome. We know religions start, live for a while (maybe a few thousand years) and then die. They normally die slowly, unless a conquering nation imposes its own religion. In half the world, Christianity has begun its terminal decline. This will inevitably continue. Even in the USA, the last stronghold of Christianity in the developed world, belief in Christianity is in near free-fall among under 25 year-olds. At that rate it has no future. I am reminded that dinosaurs once dominated the planet but now none are left alive. We can imagine a day, some 65 million years ago, when the last dinosaur drew its last breath, bringing to an end their 160-million-year reign. (For perspective, our ancestors have been around for only about six million years, the modern form of humans only evolved about 200,000 years ago.) One day, the last Christian will take his last breath and Christianity will join the dinosaurs. No-one will mourn its death. By then, no-one will even notice its passing.[/b] 6 Likes 3 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 12:31pm On Jun 06, 2016 |
francis247:I decided not to respond to this on time because I couldn't make head or tail of it. Just one question: What makes you think it was God that gave us the life we are living? 2 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by ValentineMary(m): 4:14pm On Jun 06, 2016 |
Joseph1013 U too much jor. 3 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 11:13am On Jun 07, 2016 |
[b]TRUTH, LIES AND RELIGION All religions insist they have found the truth, despite the fact there are hundreds of religions and thousands of denominations preaching contradictory beliefs. This made me wonder, if religions were REALLY concerned about finding the truth, how would we expect them to behave? I wouldn't expect to see religious or inter-denominational wars, such as we have seen between Shia and Sunni Muslims, Catholics and Protestants and between Muslims and Hindus. Obviously, you don't find who has the truth by killing those who have different opinions. Instead, I would expect to see multi-faith working groups in centres of higher learning all over the world, working round the clock, sifting evidence, setting up archaeological expeditions and carrying out research. I would expect these centers of excellence to have ruled out most religions and denominations by now and be working hard to pare down the remaining short-list of religions. Finally, I would not expect religions to cling to dogma that cannot be changed; rather I would expect religions readily to change their beliefs as new evidence is uncovered. But in the real world, we do see killing, we do see rigid dogma and we do not see serious attempts to rule out false religions by mutual consent. Why not? Because, religions are NOT about truth. Truth is not in the least relevant to religions. That is why religions rely on faith and eschew evidence; that is why they rely on indoctrination of children and not on open-minded inquiry. Religions are not about finding truth--they are about defending lies.[/b] 8 Likes 4 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 5:57pm On Jun 09, 2016 |
CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION! I've noticed a new Christian apologetic emerging in recent years. Rather than attempt the hopeless project of finding evidence to support the existence of God, Jesus, heaven, hell and all the rest of it and excuses for the contradictions and embarrassing nonsense, these new kids on the block simply say we misunderstand it all--Christianity is not a religion, it's just a way of life. Really? So Christianity has no god, no prophets, no holy scripture, no dogma, no priests, no worship, no life-after-death and Christians don't pray? OK, it's not a religion then. It's just a lifestyle. A lifestyle that happens to believe in a god, prophets, holy scripture, dogma, priests, worship, life-after-death and prayer. What an amazing coincidence--it's a lifestyle that looks just like a religion! 13 Likes 8 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by Nobody: 8:15pm On Jun 09, 2016 |
you are too much bro |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 8:20pm On Jun 09, 2016 |
[b]Why must everything be ENFORCED by brute force? You may have seen the news of the man who was almost hacked to death by zealous Muslim youths in Kaduna because he did not partake in fasting. The governor of Kaduna State visited him at the hospital he is recovering this morning, and in the pictures his pains were visibly felt. I see people wondering why a Christian has to be beaten and hacked because he is not fasting and the outrage I see over it causes me to wonder. The lack of depth of people's thoughts causes me to wonder often. When people asked why a Christian should be beaten for not observing Ramadan fasting as it happened in Kaduna, my mind was asking a different question. Even if I am a Muslim, why must I be forced to fast in Ramadan? Even if I am a Muslim, why must I be punished for drinking alcohol? Even if I am a Muslim and a woman, why must I be forced to wear hijab? Even if I am a Muslim, why must I not eat any type of meat I want? Even if I am a Muslim and disobey Allah, why won't the consequences of my choice be left between me and my god? Why should some "holier than thou" idiots, a.k.a Hisbah, take it upon themselves to enforce the laws of omnipotent God? Why must everything be ENFORCED by brute force? Why must a "religious police" be established to enforce the laws of a supposedly Almighty Being? Why must a "religion of peace" turn itself into a deadly society? Why won't I be a Muslim and still be free?[/b] 10 Likes 3 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 9:03am On Jun 13, 2016 |
[b]HOW RELIGION HARMS THE RELIGIOUS That religions cause harm is uncontroversial. A casual scan through the newspapers will find examples of killings and human rights abuses in the name of gods; you'll find children being tortured to release demons and people being accused of witchcraft and being harmed or killed. You will find these things and much more. But, apart from this harm, there is the harm being religious does to religious people themselves. If you are praying to a god that doesn't exist, your prayers will not be answered. If you are spending your time and money on a god that does not exist, you are investing in a project with no pay-back. If you are worrying about your prospects for an afterlife that does not exist, you are worrying for nothing. If you are anxious that your children are not devout followers of an invented religion, you are stressing for no reason. If a non-existent god gives you hope, you are really giving yourself hope. So why not cut out the middle man? If you protest that YOUR god IS real (it's all the other gods that are fake), come and tell us how you know. You could become famous--the first person ever to prove a god exists. So you could try that, or you could just grow up[/b] 4 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by urahara(m): 5:34pm On Jun 13, 2016 |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by Rilwayne001: 6:55pm On Jun 13, 2016 |
joseph1013: |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 4:43pm On Jun 14, 2016 |
GOD OR MASTURBATION? When a woman talks to her husband, she knows if he listens to her. He may reply by agreeing, disagreeing or by expanding on her point. At the very least he will acknowledge her point with a nod of his head or a mutually understood facial expression. If he doesn't listen, she will become frustrated, upset or angry. She may feel worthless and unloved. Eventually, she will grow tired of talking to him and she may look for someone else to talk to. We've probably all seen couples go through this. It's common and understandable. But there is one situation I don't understand. When people think they talk to God and he doesn't answer, they make excuses for him. They don't get frustrated, upset or angry. I wonder why? Is it because, deep down, they know he can't answer because, deep down, they know he is not real? Is talking to God an elaborate charade? Is it like masturbation--you do it because you enjoy it, but you know you are not really having sex? 9 Likes 5 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 6:29pm On Jun 15, 2016 |
[b]DEATH OF A GENE The genes that are dominant in any population, are those that are most successfully passed from one generation to the next. Eventually, the most successful genes will be found in almost every member of a population. The same is true of religions. Changing environmental pressures can disadvantage previously successful genes, reducing their transmission to the next generation thus causing them to become less prevalent and eventually to exit the population. The same is true of religions. Religions are suffering from adverse environmental pressures in many populations today. These pressures reduce their ability to infect young people and so diminish transmission between generations. The most important adverse pressure is readily accessible global information. It is now easy for young people to discover that: 1. It is OK to have no religion. 2. There are many religions but none can be shown to be true. 3. Religions cause deadly conflicts and human rights abuses. 4. Science shows some religious beliefs are false. 5. Science actually delivers benefits whilst religions only deliver promises. These pressures will affect some populations and some religions more quickly than others but, in the long run, they will be fatal for most religions in the world today. Religions will persist longest in populations that suffer deprivation and poor access to essential services, and in populations that restrict access to information or make leaving religion dangerous. But these populations too will eventually change. I suspect the only hope for long term survival is for religions to morph into something different. Something that satisfies human needs without confronting the zeitgeist of the information age. My guess is we will see religions distancing themselves from the supernatural and embracing the natural; we'll see retreat from outer space towards inner space--our minds, our emotions and our relationships. The survivors won't be the most powerful but the most adaptable. And gods will be conspicuous, only by their absence.[/b] 5 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 12:06pm On Jun 17, 2016 |
[b]GOD vs SURGEONS Here's a test for those pastors who claim they can work miracles through God; take them to a hospital to pray for 30 patients. Ten patients have aortic valve failure and need replacement heart valves. Ten are almost blind, suffering from advanced cataracts--their eyes need replacement lenses. Ten have chronic osteoarthritis in their knees and need artificial knee joints. In a modern hospital, surgeons will achieve a 100%, or near 100%, success rate healing these 30 patients. God will not be able to heal ANY of them. Any pastor can feel free to prove me wrong but we have never, ever seen God do what surgeons do every day. Believers make extraordinary claims for God. They claim he created an entire universe from nothing and he designed and assembled living things from atoms. But they can't show he can replace a knee joint, an eye lens or a heart valve. The truth is, believers cannot even show that God exists, far less that he did anything at all--all they have is faith and empty claims.[/b] 13 Likes 5 Shares |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 11:22am On Jun 19, 2016 |
THE JEWISH GOD CHOSE THE JEWISH PEOPLE It's quite a coincidence that when God selected the Jews as his Chosen People, he also chose them to tell the world that He exists and how he created the universe and everything else about Himself. In fact, God didn't tell gentiles anything. Nothing, nada, niente, awan-ilocano. Without the Jews we would know NOTHING about this particular God. It would be just like He didn't exist. Lucky eh? 4 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 3:17pm On Jun 20, 2016 |
THOSE OPPOSED TO ISLAM ARE RACIST! Are people who are opposed to Islam racist? Let's delve into some logic. Can you convert to Islam? Yes. Can you convert to a race? No. Can you become an ex-Muslim? Yes. Can you become an ex-Caucasian? No. Are Muslims people of different races? Yes. Well, that's pretty clear then. Islam  Race.You do not have to be racist to oppose Islam. You might just feel a religion that, for example, institutionalises gender discrimination, or prescribes penalties, up to and including execution, for changing your faith is a religion that should be opposed. 4 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by Domislaz(m): 3:36pm On Jun 20, 2016 |
You are the only genuine Atheist I have seen on this forum. Yet you don't make noise. The rest are just moving up and down disturbing people with useless threads. I will try going through the entire thread in the weekend when I am free so I can concentrate. 2 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 1:53pm On Jun 21, 2016 |
Domislaz: I can assure you that there are very many brilliant minds on this forum who do not subject themselves to any religion. Occasionally when I take a peep at the topics in the Religion section, I see many more threads by theists than by those who oppose them. I welcome you to go through the thread at your leisure time. 3 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 8:41pm On Jun 21, 2016 |
MARK TWAIN ON CHRISTIANITY... "There is one notable thing about our Christianity: bad, bloody, merciless, money-grabbing, and predatory as it is – in our country particularly and in all other Christian countries in a somewhat modified degree – it is still a hundred times better than the Christianity of the Bible, with its prodigious crime – the invention of Hell. Measured by our Christianity of to-day, bad as it is, hypocritical as it is, empty and hollow as it is, neither the Deity nor his Son is a Christian, nor qualified for that moderately high place. Ours is a terrible religion. The fleets of the world could swim in spacious comfort in the innocent blood it has spilled." 2 Likes |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 4:26pm On Jun 22, 2016 |
[b]IS GOD THE SOURCE OF ALL MORALITY? Christians say God is the source of all morality. Let's explore that contention. Does God command things because they are good or are things good because they are commanded by God? If it is the former, God simply KNOWS what is good. So goodness is knowledge that we could acquire too, whether or not God exists. That would mean God is not the SOURCE of all morality--the source must lie outside of God. So, perhaps Christians mean the latter, that things are good BECAUSE they are commanded by God. But how does God know the things he commands are good? Of all the possible things God could command, if some are good, some must be not good. So God MUST have to choose what to command. God's choice cannot be arbitrary because that would lead to contradictions. For example, he cannot say killing people for fun is both good and not good. Ultimately, God can only choose because he KNOWS what is good. We cannot avoid the conclusion that God does not need to exist for us to have morality. And that is exactly as it should be since there is no reason whatsoever to believe that God does exist. PS This is my version of an argument first raised by Plato in his dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro, known as the Euthyphro dilemma. PPS: If this post is over your head, read it again. If after the third time, you still can't grasp it, I understand for "...everyone who lives on milk ...is an infant. Solid food is for the mature...." Hebrews 5:13-14  [/b]2 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by Richirich713: 6:04pm On Jun 22, 2016 |
joseph1013: Maybe God wills something becuz he is Good, which is the common respond to the Euthyphro Dilemma. |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 7:05pm On Jun 22, 2016 |
Richirich713: Then there is a problem. We may paraphrase what you just said to this (please correct me if I am wrong): "Things are not good because He approves of them, they are good because they are like him." If yes, then it seems to me that you just shuffled the problem around. If the character of God is somehow like seizing the little ones and dashing their heads against the rocks (cf., Psalm 137:9), what then? 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by urahara(m): 7:33pm On Jun 22, 2016 |
joseph1013: My signature  |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 7:37pm On Jun 22, 2016 |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by urahara(m): 8:43pm On Jun 22, 2016 |
joseph1013: I just want to express how kind, loving and merciful, the Lord is.  Joseph, no homo, u are so cool, your way is just so cool. 1 Like |
| Re: My Thoughts And Questions About Religion by joseph1013: 7:45am On Jun 23, 2016 |
urahara: Love you too, bro. No homo (I have often wondered why we need such caveat)  |
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