Atheists Outscore Believers

[Bar Sinister]

I'd have been disappointed if you'd resisted. It's an incredibly difficult question only for those who insist on the existence of a deity with certain characteristics that imply this must be the best of all possible worlds. Give up that idea and the question becomes trivially easy: evil and suffering are direct consequences of undirected natural forces. And it seems worth pointing out that evil exists only because there are sentient beings around capable of suffering.

What a unique thought. Are you claiming that lightning strikes, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other forces of nature are not directed by a god intent on punishing humanity for its multiplicity of sins?

 

[Dexter Sinister]

What a unique thought. Are you claiming that lightning strikes, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other forces of nature are not directed by a god intent on punishing humanity for its multiplicity of sins?

Yes Brother Bar, that's exactly what I'm claiming, and a whole lot more too, e.g. evil is defined, invented, and promulgated by humans. There was no evil on the planet before humans arrived.

 

[Goober]

:roll: The Canadian Government is responsible.




:roll: It's unbelievable the amount of ignorance that is still out there.

That I agree with - But as we are the Govt - ah shxt that does not even hold true in this country.

Yes Brother Bar, that's exactly what I'm claiming, and a whole lot more too, e.g. evil is defined, invented, and promulgated by humans. There was no evil on the planet before humans arrived.

Dex that is right out there.

True enough we invented all the above but pretty hard to have evil when you cannot think like the dinosaurs that went extinct - as animals act upon instinct.

Why look at all the lives that would have been saved if we- humans - had never evolved from the sea. Millions I say, No tens of millions, No I bet we would hit at least a billion or 8

 

[Spade]

Instinct?
YouTube - Smart crow

 

[Goober]

Instinct?
YouTube - Smart crow

And birds drop crustaceans on the beach so they shatter and down they come for a meal opened before their very eyes.

 

[GreenFish66]

"Atheists Outscore Believers"

Who's keeping score?

I believe in the end .When all is said and done...Everyone believes/wants to believe....There is something greater..

 

[Bar Sinister]

Yes Brother Bar, that's exactly what I'm claiming, and a whole lot more too, e.g. evil is defined, invented, and promulgated by humans. There was no evil on the planet before humans arrived.

Sorry DEx - I should have put up a smiley. I was agreeing with you.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Sorry DEx - I should have put up a smiley. I was agreeing with you.

Yes, I knew that, no apology necessary, it was obvious from the way you phrased it and what I know of you, but sometimes I feel compelled to respond to rhetorical questions, and I wanted an opportunity to call you Brother Bar, since we have the same last name here.

"Atheists Outscore Believers"

Who's keeping score?

Whoever put that questionnaire together.

I believe in the end .When all is said and done...Everyone believes/wants to believe....There is something greater..

I don't. I used to want to believe, because I did once believe and it was comforting. But reality intruded. Comfort is a bad reason to believe something.

 

[ironsides]

The piont being, that we constantly point fingers at others for doing what we have done and continue to do as a country. Anybody who thinks the aboriginal people have preferential treatment have no knowledge of what is going on reservations, the aftermath of residential schools is still very much alive and the suffering is still very real. Just because some were able to overcome such torture and deprivation and move on does not mean that all can. Go to a council fire and listen to the torment of the elders, listen to how they were unable or incapable of even hugging their children which has resulted in the highest rates of suicide up until this day. We are not talking just about the past.

Why is it that an (using your terms) aboriginal young person cannot just go to a college after graduating high school and move on with their lives. They must have the same aspirations and goals other children have. Why are they held to the reservation. No one forces them to sit around doing little or nothing. If the tribes/nations are anything like those in the U.S., most have the funding to educated their own.

 

[Spade]

Try the NY Times Religious Knowledge Quiz!

Quiz

 

[YukonJack]

Here is quick reference:

The Bible on One page

 

[Spade]

YouTube - O Brother Where Art Thou: Down in the River to Pray