pouët.net

That's the core of what religious people know as pray! But they pretend to be speaking with demons, totems or some kind of supernatural powers that could help them.

And, remember, if the Totem don't deliver the wishes... the Indian burns it!

ham: That's actually different. Prayer is asking for something, putting it out there. "The Secret" tells you that you should just SAY that something will happen and then it will. There is a huge difference in humility.

gloom: The difference is not so great to me. :D

Carl Rogers was a very clever man. he wrote in very pragmatic terms about improving the lives of people with far more dignity and sensitivity than clamouring Dawkins & co.

he recognised that every objective scientific endeavour came first from an inner, subjective conviction

the best scientists do have the courage to change the course of their life's work in order to track developments and shifts in the literature - but:
- this does not mean that they are driven by objectivity and first principles
- this is probably a tiny percentage of all scientists

science isn't a sacred process of pure reason, its just like emptying dustbins or putting the post through peoples' letterboxes

Rogerian psychologists...




Take it with fun! :D

Some basic questions I'd like to state my opinion on:

-Do one or many Deities exist? I don't know.

-Is there a way to prove that? Only if you die meet Him/Them and come back to tell the tale. Even descending to earth performing miracles isn't a proof. Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

-Is religion the root of wars and suffering? No, human nature is. Religion can justify that of course but that is also true for any ideology that makes humans believe that they hold the absolute truth and are thus superior.

-Do we take our morality from religion? Do we need someone watching over us to do the right thing? We take some morality from religion but most of it comes from the necessity to live in a society with other humans. However I do believe that the morality of an atheist is much more sincere than the one of the religious person. There is after all no hope for a reward. We are capable to do the right thing without it being imposed to us. That whole notion is based on the religious assumption that humans are fundamentally flawed. We went through an evolutionary process that will eventually lead to a more complicated and more fitted for survival form. That evolution of humanity will probably be both in terms of biology and technology, natural selection and human engineering. We are not fundamentally flawed, we are evolving and this is what we are. We didn't devolve from perfection. At least that's what science tells us (and so do many religions).

-Is science an answer to everything? Not now, not in a million years, but maybe sometime. But who knows? If there is divinity then that might still be a mystery. The death of the universe is in a very long time from now.

-If Dawkins didn't exist he exists now. (Basic quantum mechanics extrapolation ;D)

Well.. religion (as a force of mass-manipulation) is definitively the root of some wars and suffering.


I'd say that one of the major differences between science and religion is that science does indeed provide answers, but most people aren't looking for cold, hard facts, rather just comfort and confirmation that their actions are justified.. which they seem to find in vague phrases of scripture. The thing about litterature (which is what the bible really is) is that it is open for interpretation, though I find the premise of someone going "I think what Jesus _ment to say_ was..." is horrible (see your local MEGAchurch for examples :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89jt7zJzkNQ


@chaos: Is roll your own God really that bad? At least it means one have bothered to think things through a bit and come up with an idea. Following organized religion is probably good for a lot of people, but it does not work for me, and I am certainly no atheist either... Nor do I have any interest in dictating what other people should believe in.

Oh and btw my image postings dont neccesarily reflect my own opinions, just trying to learn something from it all.

Even the afterlife would not be a valid proof. An afterlife only can prove that your dead (and perhaps your previous life) was simulated.

Think about that.

Your dead -> your death. Stupid typos. :D

"
March 11, 2008 · In an effort to appeal to the modern Catholic, the Vatican has announced a list of seven new mortal sins.

The New Mortal Sins
1.) genetic modification
2.) carrying out experiments on humans
3.) polluting the environment
4.) causing social injustice
5.) causing poverty
6.) becoming obscenely wealthy
7.) taking drugs
"

"Jesus, the founder of Christianity, was the poorest of the poor. Roman Catholicism, which claims to be His church, is the richest of the rich, the wealthiest institution on earth. "

isnt judging religious people by the roman catholic church kinda the same as judging gamedevelopers by EA?

Surely they could find room for "buttfucking the choir boys" somewhere. ;)

The world is... the natural setting of, and field for, all my thoughts and all my explicit perceptions. Truth does not inhabit only the inner man, or more accurately, there is no inner man, man is in the world, and only in the world does he know himself. - Maurice Merleau-Ponty

1.) genetic modification
2.) carrying out experiments on humans
3.) polluting the environment
4.) causing social injustice
5.) causing poverty
6.) becoming obscenely wealthy
7.) taking drugs

Shit! The pope is sending me to hell!

or better yet. you're sending yourself to hell. because, that is the type of world you like to live in. but, i am also guilty of some of those things.

@nerve: Don't worry. Use the force!

gargaj: yes it is.

4. Holy See itself is doing this by opposing homosexuality, anyone that doesn't love jesus and such.

6. again one of the most obscenely wealthiest bodies is Holy See itself...

*sigh*

Oh great. I have to take responsibility for my own actions now?

Thanks a lot for ruining my day...I was intending to get obscenely drunk tonight, but now I'm not so sure anymore.