Richard Dawkins.

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Hoplitejoe

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Fagotto said:
Both ways? Elaborate?
You should not make scientific claims about religion.

RedEyesBlackGamer said:
Actually, he just challenges the view that questions of religion are outside of the realm of science.
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence."
 

JoJo

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I'm interested in religious beliefs but I don't know if I could actually commit to one long-term, it could happen in the future though as over the last couple of years I've become less atheistic and more libertarian in my views so at this rate it could well happen in a few years if the trend continues.

Razada said:
Whoa, 7 pages now? Is this turning into a flame war?
I think it is, somehow this thread has slipped under the radar and stayed in Off-topic rather than being sealed in R&P for the common good. I think it's time for all reasonable people such as you and I to...

 

mrblakemiller

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Belaam said:
mrblakemiller said:
If I remember correctly, he wrote in The God Delusion that it made no sense that Matthew and Luke's gospels give different genealogies for Jesus. So either he didn't understand that one goes back farther (among other things), or he didn't want to give full disclosure because that would prevent him from using this particular datum in his attack on the Bible.

In other words, he unapologetically obfuscates the truth to promote his agenda. He has forfeited his right to be listened to.
Quick question. Was Joseph's father named Heli (Luke 3:23) or Jacob (Matt 1:16)?
Heli.
 

RedEyesBlackGamer

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Joe Carver said:
Fagotto said:
Both ways? Elaborate?
You should not make scientific claims about religion.

RedEyesBlackGamer said:
Actually, he just challenges the view that questions of religion are outside of the realm of science.
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence."
He puts forth that the idea of God is a testable hypothesis. Whether you agree with that idea is another story.
 

RedEyesBlackGamer

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JoJoDeathunter said:
I'm interested in religious beliefs but I don't know if I could actually commit to one long-term, it could happen in the future though as over the last couple of years I've become less atheistic and more libertarian in my views so at this rate it could well happen in a few years if the trend continues.

Razada said:
Whoa, 7 pages now? Is this turning into a flame war?
I think it is, somehow this thread has slipped under the radar and stayed in Off-topic rather than being sealed in R&P for the common good. I think it's time for all reasonable people such as you and I to...

We should upgrade to Pro today? Of course!
 

Hoplitejoe

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RedEyesBlackGamer said:
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence."
He puts forth that the idea of God is a testable hypothesis. Whether you agree with that idea is another story.[/quote]
Firstly that was kinda my story. Secondly, it is the way he does it. while it would be enough and reasonable to say "I think god is a testable hypothesis" and then to put forward arguments for it what he says tend to speak about religion as an ignorant, pitiful view.
"Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that."

Fagotto said:
If the religion makes claims about things in the physical world you sure can. "A guy rose from the dead!" <- That is subject to scientific scrutiny.
I am more talking about the idea of god in more abstract terms, as in a god in general rather than the Christian god.
 

Agayek

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Last post here for a few hours as I have to get back to work, we're clearly never going to agree though, so whatever.

Fagotto said:
Yes, it does have a bearing on things. You'd have to stick your head in the sand to not see that some people have certain social agendas based on their religion.

Furthermore it is irrelevant whether it has any bearing on something. That does not lower the standards of evidence.

And lastly, just saying 'metaphysics' doesn't make it valid. That is not how validity works.
What someone chooses to believe has absolutely no bearing on anything aside from what they choose to believe.

How they choose to act has very significant effects on others, but belief is a fully separate thing. I'll get into that later in this post.

And you're right, throwing a word around doesn't make an argument valid, but I don't think you grasp the fundamental point I'm trying to get at. Whatever a religious person believes, it is literally "meta-physical", literally "above physics". There is no concrete, physical basis to be proven or disproven. It's fundamentally incompatible with such concepts. Because of that, both conclusions are equally valid.

Fagotto said:
In other words you're going to persist in your lack of integrity. You should quit it because it shows you lack integrity to keep repeating points that have nothing to do with what I said. I never said they had no right to it. It's as if I started repeating "Women have a right not to be raped" to everything you said.
How does my statement have any bearing on my integrity? You're the one who brought it up in the first place. You attacked the fact that others hold a different opinion from yours. There's really nothing else to it. They drew a different conclusion than you did, you then proceeded to start raving about how wrong they are for doing so. My point was that if they wanted to believe in an invisible ball of flying noodles that creates gravity by pushing down on us with His Noodly Apendages, that is their right. It has no bearing on you. As long as they have examined their beliefs and found sufficient reason to believe it, you have no grounds to criticize them for it.

Fagotto said:
Objectively false since people act on it.
I'll get into more detail on this later.

Fagotto said:
OMG. Can you fucking stop for a second and read what I actually write? Because it seems that you have the absurd delusion that I am telling someone they cannot believe in it. OMFG you're annoying.
Because, and this might seem like a shock, YOU FUCKING ARE.

"Oh god, you're so incredibly wrong!" is exactly the same as saying "Oh god, you can't believe this shit!". You are quite literally saying that your viewpoint is the only valid one, and it's an utterly ludicrous stance to take.

Fagotto said:
Utter nonsense. If you want me to support the statement feel free to provide your own first.

That is nonsense. Behavior should be based on beliefs.
Belief in a religion is a personal choice involving examining the available evidence and coming to a conclusion you can live with.

Behavior is an external choice wherein one makes a decision and performs an act.

Your behavior is not defined by your religion, just like your beliefs are not defined by your behavior. Some of the most heinous and/or vicious killers in the last several decades were devout holy men, while several millions of atheists live good, productive, meaningful lives. The opposite is equally true.

It all comes down to the person and the choices they make. Religion can factor into it, just like logic, emotion and the time of the fucking month can factor into it. Holding up religion as a scapegoat for behavior devalues everything about humanity. The fact of the matter is, people make choices and act upon them. That person's religious beliefs are no more responsible than that person's upbringing, social status, or breakfast.

There are plenty of people, especially in the US, who think their religion is the only possible option, and because of that, they try to enforce their beliefs on everyone.

This is exactly as wrong as trying to force everyone to not believe.

People have the right and obligation to make their own decisions on such topics. Trying to force either one is one of the most heinous things a person can do.

Edit: For the sake of increased clarity, I shall try to make a short summary of the gist of my arguments:

People are allowed to believe illogical things. If you don't agree, too fucking bad. No one is any more right because no one can be proven to be right. It's a personal choice of theirs, and it affects no one but themselves. Get the fuck off their nuts.
 

Agayek

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Razada said:
Oh, and Agayek, you reading Sociology at Uni by any chance?
Nah, I got my Computer Science degree and got out of there. School's way too dull.

I happen to enjoy debating religion though. I'm just weird in that I enjoy challenging my held beliefs and seeing where they fall short. Because of that, I've heard just about every religious theory out there, which has influenced my stance on the whole thing quite a bit.
 

Agayek

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Blablahb said:
When someone is attacked as a person without any argumentation being presented, it's ussually a sign that the person writing the personal attack can not refute the views of the one he's attacking.


I also doubt that you ever read some of his work or listened to him if you claim he doesn't make valid points and says everybody who disagrees with him is wrong. Dawkins stays cool and polite in the face of sometimes very abusive Christian extremists who yell the most insane things at him, and come up with the sillyiest claims that would leave many responding with just "Dude, get an education!".
Two things. First, I am most certainly not a Christian. I find the whole notion to be utterly ludicrous, and I actually agree with Dawkins' ideals. Second, I have in fact read The God Delusion and seen a handful of interviews with the guy. As I said previously, I fully agree with his ideals.

What I have a problem with is his presentation. He comes across as utterly devoted to his viewpoint and refuses to acknowledge even the possibility that he's incorrect. I don't have my copy of his book at hand, as I am at work, but I distinctly remember that he dismisses religion out of hand in a number of places there. He takes a hard-line stance on the matter, and it's fairly clear that he firmly believes his stance is the only correct one.

That kind of thinking is just as damaging as any religious nut's insistence on the same. It promotes dogmatic adherence to a fundamental belief.

Like I said, I actually do agree with his ideals. He just comes across as a complete twat. If he'd adjust his stance to be less "This is the way it is" and more "Here's my take on it, and here's my evidence to support it", I'd be far more supportive of him.