"Skeptics," Science, Spirituality and Religion

It is a fact that (some) people of faith "deny science". We have at least one poster here of great faith who says the Earth is flat, is orbited by the Sun, and the Moon generates its own light. (Like the Sun.) View attachment 44549

 

You'll have to trust me on this: I know many, many people of faith, from Bishops and Archbishops to Sunday morning pew sitters; Catholic, Protestant, low Church Baptists and high Church Eastern people, and not one of them thinks the world is flat, believes that science and math are of no value, and some of us even make a good living practicing science. The person you speak of is an exception of not THE exception.

 

I absolutely trust you on this. I find his cosmology shocking, and would be surprised if that shock wasn't felt by 99.999% of people of faith.

 

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Seems like you have experienced a lot eerie coincidences and strange experiences. Looking at it from the outside these experiences seem so disconnected and random that I don't see how one draws any meaning from it. How do coincidences like meeting a girl with similarities to your old girlfriend or seeing certain types of numbers on clocks than average one day lead to this happened, therefore God, or therefore spirits exist?

 

First of all I am not an Atheist and I have told you this now many times.

Secondly in every case I a aware of like that the Religious Icon was by Judicial Order taken down.

Now as far as the Satanic mass in the Oklahoma City Civic center.....WHY would Atheists be upset about that???

It is an legally recognized religion in the United States that like any other religion can rent a Civic Center and do whatever they want within the law??

The example I used was that if we allow one religion to erect an icon on or upon a public building then we would have to allow ALL RELIGIONS including Satanism to to the same!!

AA

 

Well, I guess you either believe or you don't.
If you believe and except Jesus Christ as your "Lord and Savior" and you are wrong, you loose nothing.
If you do not believe when you die and you are wrong, it is eternity in HELL. You Have lost!
Christians worry non believers and non believers say leave me alone, I don't care.
Just my thoughts.

 

Well, you might as well be an atheist, there isn't a dimes worth of difference.

You ought to look up "slippery slope fallacy" sometime so you will know when you are committing it.

 

OK....this is why I am not worried.

First of all I would rather spend an eternity in HELL....than to be blackmailed by any supposed GOD into praying and worshiping IT....because if I didn't this THING would send me to some supposed HELL.

If any such GOD that exists actually does this....I say...."F@#K YOU!! YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF S#!#! WE HAVE INNOCENT PEOPLE AND CHILDREN SUFFERING IN AGONY AND DYING EVERY DAY AND YOU WANT US TO WORSHIP....YOU....THIS VILE WORTHLESS THING THAT IS THREATENING EVERLASTING TORMENT AND DAMNATION IF WE DON"T!!?? F@#K YOU!!

And that is pretty much what I am saying.

You see I don't worry because I KNOW....that the Universe is not that screwed up.

AA

 

Slippery Slope Fallacy?? LOL!!

I am an AGNOSTIC.....thus my mind is completely open to any possibility provided there is proof or at the least evidence to support a concept or idea.

The problem with all and every different existing religions is that there does not exist a single bit of evidence never mind and proof.

Nothing....not even the tiniest bit.

If anyone could show me even the smallest amount of viable evidence then I will definitely consider it.

But so far....NOTHING.

AA

 

sure, looks like an atheist talks like an atheist but really an agnostic. right.

This religious icon is all over the place

 

that works in the MATERIAL WORLD ONLY, how many times and how many people have to explain that to you before you comprehend it?

 

And of course from their perspective you and everyone else except the creed of which they are part are insane as well.

The people who think that there is a God who answers their prayers don't think that only about themselves; they think that about others as well. That refutes the claim that they are narcissists. A narcissist would think that only about himself, not about others.

The guys who think that God wants them to kill people either want to kill or want to die, or both. Islam gives them an excuse.

 

How many people do you know named Michelle (or Michele) who finished an Ivy League university in three years, who was a poet, and who in 1995 had had a similar kind of relationship with a man from the Communist bloc whose name included "Boris"?

Oh yeah, and she would know exactly when he is going to call and tell her that he has been talking to her in spirit.

That would be the case if there was only one clock involved, but there were four clocks set to different times.

 

You wouldn't if you had the kinds of experiences that I've had.

 

Pascal's Wager, nice to see you again.

 

Anecdotal evidence on its own isn't valid. However, some consideration is due when an accumulation of similar or otherwise same anecdotal accounts correlate to a pattern. Then from that pattern we can discern the validity of those experiences.

I find something funny in the creation of terms like "materialist fundamentalism"; it's strangely akin to the creation of terms like "white privilege".

Science is inherently materialistic as it's based on what can be proven within a material universe.

 

No, it works it the REAL world! You should go there some time!

 

How do you know their god is not right, how do you know your god even exists, why do you think god doesn't enjoy mindless killing?

 

People find comfort in spirituality and religion, and so if it brings you peace by all means be spiritual and religious

 

People find comfort in many things and most in moderation are harmless.

 

Someone who will broker no argument and puts words in others mouths to further their own very narrow agenda, someone who condemns first before seeking to understand. Someone who thinks that complicated discussions and ideas can be termed in "you are for me or against me". Someone who does not seek any middle ground. Maybe fundamentalist is not the correct word, what would you call it?

 

Given the fact that the bulk of the world believes in one kind of god or another, this claim is far from extraordinary.

 

Because I see any number of experiences whose only explanation is spiritual. That does not necessarily involve God of many people's understanding; it involves spiritual reality.

 

I have been criticized in the past for using the term "fundamentalist atheist". What they basically do is take what one person has said (or a small group of people) and try to say that all of Christianity for all time has taught it. Their favorite one is the OT dietary prohibitions the Hebrews were under, but because the OT scriptures are sometimes included with the Christian scriptures, they think we are supposed to abide by it. Some pseudo Protestant Churches (and some cults) get very OT.

It's a kind of a straw man argument. I don't even entertain it these days. I don't know what to call what you describe, but I have seen it.

 

Say's the Religious Zealot!! LOL!!

AA

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Of course.....reality does not work for those in the world of FANTASY!!

AA