₦airaland Forum

winner01:
Societal marginalization in a world where even homosexuality is getting legal. Just shut up.

legalization does not imply social acceptance, not in the least. that's wishful thinking.

slavery was illegal in america after 1865 yet blacks were still treated like second class citizens well into the next century (and many would argue they still are today in some areas). i predict it'll be at least another 50 years or so until homosexuals are actually accepted and face very little to no discrimination, even in american society. in nigeria, probably 100+ years.

as for atheists, even in america we are not fully accepted, although this is improving as the older, more religious generations die off and education increases. this graph shows percentage of people who said they would vote for an atheist, woman, catholic, etc. even today it is less than any other category.
https://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/atheist.png

UyiIredia:
Buddha allows for ancestral worship and a belief in God. Same with Shintoism which is a a religion indigenous to Japan. Many Japs believe in God, you make it seem like most don't which is silly. I also know people from Japan who believe in God.

Buddhism doesn't preach atheism so it isn't atheistic. Buddhism is theistic but is tacit about it hence the reason it is said to be atheistic. Many Buddhist concepts eg nirvana involve the beleief in the spiritual realm.

In the midst of the violence some people live in peace and still prosper.

You are too materialistic. Are personalities material in nature or immaterial?

it's interesting that you say "God" as if the gods in shintoism are anything like the God of abrahamic religions like christianity & islam. whether or not a person believes in shinto gods and goddesses says nothing about the validity of any of those gods, and especially not the christian monotheistic god. and less than 40% of japanese are involved in any organized religion. the majority that are practice buddhism which again has no "god" in the sense that christians do. they are completely different ideologies.

no religion "preaches" atheism, a religion is either centered around the worship of a god or it isn't. buddhism is not centered around the worship of a god - there is no diety responsible for salvation. even if it historically has ancient gods tied to it (which are more of a reflection of culture if anything), it can very well be correctly practiced without belief in any of those gods.

"90 people are sick because a virus is going around. but there are 10 who are not sick so the virus doesn't need to be eliminated"

neurons and electrical signals in the brain make up thoughts, beliefs, tendencies, and behaviors. when a person suffers damage to their frontal lobe, they become irrational and insensitive. the personality traits of self-control and consideration are seated in the frontal lobe of the brain, which is physical. so yes, the personality is seated in the material brain.

Mozambique:
Does that not defeat atheism?

atheism means lack of believe in dieties or gods. it does not say anything about one's moral ideologies.
as for karma, i don't believe in it. however i do know that behaving out of anger and disrespect for others has natural negative consequences, and that showing kindness and compassion is both rewarding to yourself and those around you.

"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good"

open a history book, man. humans have been doing that stuff since humanity began.

don't you think it's pretty ridiculous that two human animals who did not know any better, were responsible for all the woes of mankind for simply eating an apple?

science has absolutely made religion irrelevant as far as a means of explaining our origins, fate, and how nature works.

science tells us that there is no way human beings were created from sand (the variety of nutrients our bodies are comprised of are absent in sand), that the earth came into being in 7 days (it took almost 800 million years actually), or that diseases like leprosy are a result of "curses" (we now know that diseases, including leprosy are the result of various species of bacteria or viruses).

science has done far more for humanity than religion ever has or will, which is why most developed societies are progressing more and more towards atheism and exchanging religion for philosophical or spiritual practices that do not contradict science (like secular buddhist meditation for example, which research has proven to be extremely effective for psychological well-being).

religion only still survives due to ignorance.

davien:
Are you talking about evolution in science or the straw man term called evolutionist invented by creationists?

good thing you mentioned this, because there is a huge difference.

evolution will clearly show you how different lineages of species diverged from common ancestors. creationist attempts at "evolution" will tell you that evolution means bananas turning into fish

here is a good, simplified introductory video on actual evolution, and not the BS touted by ignorant creationists:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOfRN0KihOU

KingEbukasBlog:
Asians are not atheistic . NK is not the whole of Asia . Apparently , mongoloids come to your mind when you talk of Asians tho . The Chinese though ruled by a communist atheistic party are still very much religious . There's Japan and Buddhism , Indonesia and Islam , Christianity and Buddhism in Taiwan , then the Islamic countries - Syria , Afghanistan , Iran , Iraq etc . There's India and Hinduism and the rest are Christianity .

I visit foreign forums and there are stupendously knowledgeable Christians there . You can ask UyiIredia for his exploits tho .


I wonder why God's lifestyle bothers you . If the streets are made of gold , so what ? You might call it wishful thinking , put its only an assumption because you have no proof it isn't . Would you question my intelligence if we should have a discussion about a planet of diamonds say in 60 AD ? (You get my point here , I suppose)

Arabs drive the most expensive cars and have astounding architectural buildings , yet they have their own beliefs about the afterlife . You shouldn't deride someone's beliefs based on your own way of life , or thinking ... die first and see who laughs best - its that simple

Japan is not primarily a Buddhist country (and even if it was, Buddha isn't a god). Most of Japan practices Shintoism, but even that is simply a cultural tradition and not an actual religion these days. If you ask an average Japanese person if they believe gods are actively intervening in their lives they will laugh at you and shake their heads no way. I have several Japanese friends who confirm this.

I have a Chinese friend who is also a very outspoken atheist and none of her family believes in any gods. And since Buddhism is actually an atheistic religion anyway (Buddha was not a god, just a regular man who discovered how to end his own suffering through meditation, and provided a pathway for other men to do the same), that point was null too.

Hindu's thankfully seem to be able to detach their religious beliefs from science, something Christians repeatedly fail to do. There actually seems to be a major difference in how societies of Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) and Eastern religions (Buddhism, Shintoism, Jainism, etc) treat science. The latter isn't afraid to acknowledge reality while keeping their beliefs within a philosophical/cultural sense.

The majority of the Islamic countries you mentioned are currently having more than their fair share of needless violence and conflict over religion. Places like Dubai are an anomaly.

And it's crazy to me that you think the burden of proof lies on the other person. Your outrageous claim that there are streets of gold waiting for you is the one that requires proof - none of which you have. Tell me, where would these streets of gold be located? On mars? In another dimension? How will you see those streets & walk on them when you get there, if you only have a "soul" and no physical body? Or will god give you a new body and implant your soul in there when you get there? What proof do you have that such a thing is possible, especially when all aspects of our personhood reside in our brains? Once our brains have decomposed, what proof do you have that our personalities will be preserved?

analice107:
@Cloudgodess.

your Moniker suggests that you believe in goddesses, am I correct?

Are goddesses material (celestial or terrestrial) beings?

Anyways. The last time I checked, the medical Science has

not been able to explain NDE (Near Death Experiences).

Almost all the Recoded NDE's occurs in Hospitals. I don't

think they are dismissed as Hallucinations.

1. the difference between you and i is that i clearly can see & acknowledge that goddesses and gods are works of fiction. enjoying mythical characters & stories =/= believing that mythical characters are actually real. can't believe you thought you were onto something

2. near death experiences have been recorded from people of every religion and culture, and even those who are irreligious. there have been NDE's experienced by people of hindu belief who saw krishna, and those of japanese citizenship who saw shinto gods and youkai spirits. the fact that NDE's happen does not prove the validity of any religious diety, otherwise one could assume that all gods that have ever been seen in NDE's are valid.

3. without valid supporting evidence (word of mouth does not count), there's no reason for any thinking person to believe that those weren't hallucinations, false attributions, or just entirely made up stories.

oyeludef:
medical profession can give names to just anything but do not av solution 4 all. Wen d word syndrome is used in medicine, it simply mean dat thing hasnt been fully understood. Wat does a patient need? Is it d name of d sickness or solution

Well for one thing hallucinations of the spiritual variety are typically the placebo affect at work. The individual believes that spirits/ghosts/etc are possible (and this could be due to many reasons - watching too many horror movies, or growing up in an environment where superstition is rampant) - so ambiguous experiences are interpreted to be spirits/ghosts/etc automatically. What we believe is what we "see".

The cure to that sort of hallucination is cognitive therapy. For more severe forms, medication is an option.

In the medical world these things are called hallucinations.

For every bigoted, angry, or "crazy" atheist, there are at least 100 religious people in the same vein. But they have their religion to hide behind. A pissed off and psychologically unwell Christian is a "warrior for God", atheists aren't awarded the same pardon.

They are both rather equally violent, barbaric, and have no place anywhere in modern society except perhaps as historical artifacts.

menesheh:
Where is the link and the study?

Most scientists professes to be religious people because of societal marginalization and conventional practice and believes within the society, the sort of posture one displays coming out fully as a non believer and bunch of other reasons.

Pretty much this.

Coming out as irreligious in a society that's staunchly religious is social suicide for practically any professional. Says nothing about the validity of the religion.