The MI6 Community Religion and Faith Discussion Space (for members of all faiths - and none!)

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  • Posts: 15,125
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    It's curious how you feel that science and religion should always be in competition or at each other's throats all of the time. I don't think it's quite that simple. The picture is much more nuanced than that. Plenty of scientists are Christians too.

    Care to support the latest statement with any data to back it up? It depends of the discipline of course but I understand a majority is actually atheist.

    As for science and religion working together name one scientific progress caused by religious faith.

    Christian Scientists for a start.

    Hasn't all scientific progress been down to an urge to rail against and attempt to disprove the Bible? At least according to the Athiests in this thread. So, there's too many to count.

    Christian scientists? Who? And if you say for example Newton his faith was irrelevant to his discoveries.

    You have it wrong regarding atheists trying to disprove the Bible. Research and discoveries are made irrelevant of biblical claims and sometimes they crush said claims. But it's rarely if ever the aim.
  • Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    It's curious how you feel that science and religion should always be in competition or at each other's throats all of the time. I don't think it's quite that simple. The picture is much more nuanced than that. Plenty of scientists are Christians too.

    Care to support the latest statement with any data to back it up? It depends of the discipline of course but I understand a majority is actually atheist.

    As for science and religion working together name one scientific progress caused by religious faith.

    Christian Scientists for a start.

    Oh dear.

    The opening paragraph of the Christian Science wiki:

    'Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices belonging to the metaphysical family of new religious movements.[n 2] It was developed in 19th-century New England by Mary Baker Eddy, who argued in her book Science and Health (1875) that sickness is an illusion that can be corrected by prayer alone. The book became Christian Science's central text, along with the Bible, and by 2001 had sold over nine million copies.'


    As scientific texts go this is clearly on a par with Newton's Principia and Darwin's On The Origin Of Species.

    Yeah I've heard of them before. The thought of those people having kids (and then denying them treatment if they're ill) genuinely scares me to be honest.
  • Posts: 12,474
    I agree. It is never right to do that to children. And only should be done if consensually among adults.
  • Posts: 9,848


    The issue is where do I begin with nearly 2000 years of archogical discoveries pointing to Christ being the messiah and since the Son of God exists clearly the Father does too (this is just simple logic) also to make matters worse in reading this thread I see very little in terms of evidence but I see a lot of people here essentially saying

    “Well I don’t believe in God because a man in a white coat told me not to and yet you believe in God because a man in a white robe told you too” ok well Lud you said if anyone gives you proof you will believe if only one of those sciency guys could somehow say Heaven is real... oh wait I have one who can



    But I know that is just one person in the scientific process one would need to have repeat data of only there were a group of scientists exploring this... oh wait there is

    https://iands.org/about/about-iands27/leadership.html

    There are other groups but this is the most prominent and on this board I see a lot of doctors and nurses...

    So let’s see there is scientific research into NDE and the above story proves it isn’t a delusion or dream or anything of that sort so suddenly it appears science is actually on my side at least in terms of heaven and an afterlife (though Wizard if you want the full Quantum Theory explanation there are full 100 page research documents on NDE and they are extremely dry and a good cure for insomnia but have at it as for the purposes of this thread I am going high level for a reason)

    So let’s talk about the Bible now because I can hear you now “so there may be an afterlife but that doesn’t mean Christianity is right”

    Well Wizard I hate to pick on you but 6 months ago you claimed that Christ could of survived the crucifixtion here is the issue anyone with a basic understanding of Roman punishment would laugh at you. There is simply no way anyone could of survived the torture Christ endured but even if he could how did he get out of the tomb. We are talking a tomb with a stone the weight of an Aston Martin in front of it blocking the tomb... even in full health no one could get out of there let alone a man with the amount blood loss Christ suffered...

    Also again there is no copying from other religions the third and final video while numerous is essentially y views on the Christians stole from other religions



    But as Christ himself said “if you will not listen to Moses and the prophets you will not believe even after seeing a man rise from the dead.

    In my next post I will show you how Noah’s ark is the worst kept secret in archaeology we all know where it is and the Turkish government claimed it as a historical sight in 1989 I believe but o digress the above is enough for you all to chew on can’t wait to hear how all of you argue with a Neuroscientist who know there is a heaven and yet you all don’t have any sort of neurological scientific back ground and claim there is no heaven
  • Posts: 15,125
    Claiming that prayers cure diseases is fraud, plain and simple.
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,534
    Risico007 wrote: »


    The issue is where do I begin with nearly 2000 years of archogical discoveries pointing to Christ being the messiah and since the Son of God exists clearly the Father does too (this is just simple logic) also to make matters worse in reading this thread I see very little in terms of evidence but I see a lot of people here essentially saying

    “Well I don’t believe in God because a man in a white coat told me not to and yet you believe in God because a man in a white robe told you too” ok well Lud you said if anyone gives you proof you will believe if only one of those sciency guys could somehow say Heaven is real... oh wait I have one who can



    But I know that is just one person in the scientific process one would need to have repeat data of only there were a group of scientists exploring this... oh wait there is

    https://iands.org/about/about-iands27/leadership.html

    There are other groups but this is the most prominent and on this board I see a lot of doctors and nurses...

    So let’s see there is scientific research into NDE and the above story proves it isn’t a delusion or dream or anything of that sort so suddenly it appears science is actually on my side at least in terms of heaven and an afterlife (though Wizard if you want the full Quantum Theory explanation there are full 100 page research documents on NDE and they are extremely dry and a good cure for insomnia but have at it as for the purposes of this thread I am going high level for a reason)

    So let’s talk about the Bible now because I can hear you now “so there may be an afterlife but that doesn’t mean Christianity is right”

    Well Wizard I hate to pick on you but 6 months ago you claimed that Christ could of survived the crucifixtion here is the issue anyone with a basic understanding of Roman punishment would laugh at you. There is simply no way anyone could of survived the torture Christ endured but even if he could how did he get out of the tomb. We are talking a tomb with a stone the weight of an Aston Martin in front of it blocking the tomb... even in full health no one could get out of there let alone a man with the amount blood loss Christ suffered...

    Also again there is no copying from other religions the third and final video while numerous is essentially y views on the Christians stole from other religions



    But as Christ himself said “if you will not listen to Moses and the prophets you will not believe even after seeing a man rise from the dead.

    In my next post I will show you how Noah’s ark is the worst kept secret in archaeology we all know where it is and the Turkish government claimed it as a historical sight in 1989 I believe but o digress the above is enough for you all to chew on can’t wait to hear how all of you argue with a Neuroscientist who know there is a heaven and yet you all don’t have any sort of neurological scientific back ground and claim there is no heaven

    Great post.
  • edited January 2018 Posts: 15,125
    @Risico007 You'd need first to demonstrate that Jesus did die the way it was depicted in the Bible. Or that he existed at all. You know NDE experiences can be done in laboratory with no help of supernatural. As for the Ark please see what we said earlier in this thread. For the rest of your post it's one big appeal to authority.
  • edited January 2018 Posts: 4,617
    What delusion does is twist your perception of reality and grasp at fragments of fact and see them as evidence. I'm not specifically pointing at just the religious here.

    Look at stalkers who become infactuated with someone. They convince themselves that there is a relationship where there is none. They deny the reality of a situation : even when confronted by legal threats or action. Nothing will take them "off track". They have created their own version of reality that fits their own delusion.


    Many religious people are in the same situation and they grasp at the weakest, thinest, tiniest fragment that fits in with their version of reality and, as with the stalker example, totally ignore the actually facts that are starring them in the face. There is zero attempt to balance the issue as the version of reality has already been decided.

    But they only apply these rules to a specific belief. Any person of faith who was accused of a crime would be happy to avail themselves of the "burden of proof" defence and ulitise every piece of forensic evidence that science made available to them in order to support their case. The Police are forced to record formal interviews and the defence get a sealed copy of the interview. This is to protect the suspect as there have been cases where the suspects words were twisted etc. And yet, Christians are happy to quote Jesus word for word, going back 2000 years. Oh how useful a tape recorder would have been back then. It is this lack of consistency which is a classic symptom of delusion.

  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Claiming that prayers cure diseases is fraud, plain and simple.

    I know a guy whose pregnant wife was rushed into theatre for an emergency caesarean. Her baby's heart beat was rapid, he was in distress and needed to come out. It was 130 in the morning, the hospital all but deserted and this guy was alone in the corridor while the operation was carried out.

    He was a confirmed atheist, had never been to church other than for the normal births, deaths and marriages, as we all do, but in his confused state, crying like a babe he had nothing left other than to prey to a God he didn't believe in and ask for his child to come through. So he did.

    It's all he had at that moment in time.

    Ultimately all was well, his wife and child were never in any real danger, but at 130am, he was tired and worried, had no one to comfort him and had nothing else open to him, other than to prey for help.

    It was fraudulant because he didn't really believe, but he hedged his bets good and proper.

    And afterwards he carried on as he was and carried out none of the promises he made to this God.



  • Posts: 15,125
    @NicNac I'm not talking of someone praying out of desperation or extreme stress. I'm saying whoever claims someone sick would be better off praying than going to the hospital is committing fraud and potentially lethal one.
  • Posts: 4,617
    NicNac wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Claiming that prayers cure diseases is fraud, plain and simple.

    I know a guy whose pregnant wife was rushed into theatre for an emergency caesarean. Her baby's heart beat was rapid, he was in distress and needed to come out. It was 130 in the morning, the hospital all but deserted and this guy was alone in the corridor while the operation was carried out.

    He was a confirmed atheist, had never been to church other than for the normal births, deaths and marriages, as we all do, but in his confused state, crying like a babe he had nothing left other than to prey to a God he didn't believe in and ask for his child to come through. So he did.

    It's all he had at that moment in time.

    Ultimately all was well, his wife and child were never in any real danger, but at 130am, he was tired and worried, had no one to comfort him and had nothing else open to him, other than to prey for help.

    It was fraudulant because he didn't really believe, but he hedged his bets good and proper.

    And afterwards he carried on as he was and carried out none of the promises he made to this God.



    This is perfect evidence of how dangerous religion is. "I know a guy" etc etc,

    try that in court. If it did not deal with the life of a baby, it would be laughable.Instead of "I know a guy" look at recovery rates at religeous hospitals compared to secular ones (other factors being equal), there is no difference.

    Plus list deseases (we assume created by God) that modern innoculation has kiiled off (or almost) compared to prayer. Sending invisible brain wave messages to an invisible sky fairy ? Please, come on! This is the 21st Century

    The "I know guy" strategy is exactly what I mentioned. Just imagine using that in court:

    "Your honour, for my next piece of evidence, I know a guy who........"

    It's a joke.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    patb wrote: »
    NicNac wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Claiming that prayers cure diseases is fraud, plain and simple.

    I know a guy whose pregnant wife was rushed into theatre for an emergency caesarean. Her baby's heart beat was rapid, he was in distress and needed to come out. It was 130 in the morning, the hospital all but deserted and this guy was alone in the corridor while the operation was carried out.

    He was a confirmed atheist, had never been to church other than for the normal births, deaths and marriages, as we all do, but in his confused state, crying like a babe he had nothing left other than to prey to a God he didn't believe in and ask for his child to come through. So he did.

    It's all he had at that moment in time.

    Ultimately all was well, his wife and child were never in any real danger, but at 130am, he was tired and worried, had no one to comfort him and had nothing else open to him, other than to prey for help.

    It was fraudulant because he didn't really believe, but he hedged his bets good and proper.

    And afterwards he carried on as he was and carried out none of the promises he made to this God.



    This is perfect evidence of how dangerous religion is. "I know a guy" etc etc,

    try that in court. If it did not deal with the life of a baby, it would be laughable.Instead of "I know a guy" look at recovery rates at religeous hospitals compared to secular ones (other factors being equal), there is no difference.

    Plus list deseases (we assume created by God) that modern innoculation has kiiled off (or almost) compared to prayer. Sending invisible brain wave messages to an invisible sky fairy ? Please, come on! This is the 21st Century

    The "I know guy" strategy is exactly what I mentioned. Just imagine using that in court:

    "Your honour, for my next piece of evidence, I know a guy who........"

    It's a joke.

    OK, sorry pal.

    The guy was me, OK? I wasn't trying to suggest anyone was right or wrong, and have no idea why you are bringing court law into this. I certainly wasn't. And why this is proof of how dangerous religion is I also have no idea. I'm sure you will explain.

    This is a religious debate thread, and my point was, I have no belief in God but at a desperate time I was willing to try anything. I wasn't about to sue the hospital for negligence and no it wasn't a joke. And I sure don't like the suggestion my story was one.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    Ludovico wrote: »
    @NicNac I'm not talking of someone praying out of desperation or extreme stress. I'm saying whoever claims someone sick would be better off praying than going to the hospital is committing fraud and potentially lethal one.

    You know what @Ludovico , as I started to write I realised I had misinterpreted your comments, so I altered the reply as little to hope it came across more as curios reaction to something rather than a direct reply to your post.

    And I agree 100% with your post btw.
  • Posts: 15,125
    I'd add to @patb said that a guy who credits God over a team of doctors working in a modern hospital for the safe delivery of his baby has pretty low standards to determine divine intervention. I've been through similar circumstances and my son was born via emergency C section. I didn't pray at any moment to any deity. C section went fine as they usually do.

    I have a friend, a believer, had a fertility issue. When his first child was born he said it was proof of miracle. He had forgotten to mention that he had an operation that increased his chances of fertilizing by 25%.

    So in sum @NicNac thank the doctors for working hard. I'm afraid your prayer did nothing, except calming you down.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    Ludovico wrote: »
    I'd add to @patb said that a guy who credits God over a team of doctors working in a modern hospital for the safe delivery of his baby has pretty low standards to determine divine intervention. I've been through similar circumstances and my son was born via emergency C section. I didn't pray at any moment to any deity. C section went fine as they usually do.

    I have a friend, a believer, had a fertility issue. When his first child was born he said it was proof of miracle. He had forgotten to mention that he had an operation that increased his chances of fertilizing by 25%.

    So in sum @NicNac thank the doctors for working hard. I'm afraid your prayer did nothing, except calming you down.

    Indeed, and this was my point.

    In fact I have no idea why I did pray. It made no sense, other than I could do nothing else. But even then it made no sense to me as a person.

    My son, ironically has autism, and I do think that the stress he went through and the 13 hours he was left in the womb may have had a part to play in that, but it's only guess work on my part, and we certainly would never have pursued the hospital over that.

    Anyway, going back to the judge who made the decision about the life support machine - he should have chosen his words more carefully. Had he said 'let nature take its coarse' (which may have been what he meant) then would it have come across better?

    Again, I'm only throwing it out there, it isn't necessarily my opinion.
  • edited January 2018 Posts: 4,617
    It's dangerous because:

    1. It brings false hope: for every one sick kid who may have "been saved by prayer", there are thousands who die despite hours of heartfelt prayer.

    2. It shifts the focus from global issues to the indidual. According to UNISEF figures, 21 kids under 5 die every minute. Just take that in. Who prays for these kids? And why has nobody answered? You have one example of "I know a guy" and I match that with 5 deaths per minute.

    3. It shifts responsibility. Do we pray more (perhaps we pray to the wrong God or use the wrong words) or do we work together on providing better health care, clean water etc etc to the third World.

    4. It undermines science. Why invest billions in health care when you can just pray instead.

    5. It's selective. If you want to play the "I know a guy" card, then we can talk about one of my wife's best friends who worked on Malaysia teaching English. She is a devout Christian. One day, a baby was abandoned on her doorstep. She seemed very ill. After paying from scans and , ironically, bringing her to the UK to get better expert advice, she was diagnosed with severe brain damage at birth. All of the docters said that she was "life limited". Being a devout Christian, she organised prayer groups, sent cards to all friends asking to pray, e-mails asking to prayer etc, she put every effort to maximise prayer, convinced that prayer would save the girl's life. The girl died, as predicted by the finest brain experts the NHS had to offer. The reation of the adopted mum? Gods will.

    6. (this is why I introduced the court scenario) it undermines what we see as genuine evidence. Just by introducing such hearsay, it ignores the common standards of evidence that centuries of cultural developement have brought us.

    7. It's one sided. Imagine the reaction from the religious community if Darwin had gone down the "I know a man " route in insisting the evoluition was true rather then spend decades collecting hard evidence. Religion wants to have it's cake and eat it.

    8. It ignores the cause. If God can cure the sick, why create the illness in the first place?

    9. It ignores the factor of causal evidence:
    Child is sick,
    pray for child,
    child not sick anymore,
    QED it was the prayer that did the trick....
    with zero causal evidence. Linking two events with no evidence is classic tactic used by the religious.

    I drank coffee 20 mins ago, I now have headache, QED coffee gives you headaches. Humans are very open to this way of thinking.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    @patb I simply told you a story about one incident when a non believer prayed for the survival of his son because he had nothing else left to him at that moment in time.

    It wasn't a post about the power of prayer, it wasn't a post arguing in favour of religion or the power of religion. I don't believe in God, really I don't.

    It was just me doing something against type in an extreme situation and mentioning it because it was so not me.

    I don't need a lecture, because I'm already on your side, and totally agree with your points. I always have.

    Somehow I feel like I didn't explain myself properly here...

  • edited January 2018 Posts: 12,837
    @Risico007 Assuming for a second he was real and that's how it all went down, the best explanation for the resurrection I've heard from an atheist standpoint is that he was basically the leader of a cult. One guy probably couldn't move a massive stone but I'm sure it wouldn't be too much trouble for a group of his followers and fans to do it and nick the body.
  • Posts: 15,125
    Given the time between the alleged story and the writing of the gospels and the time in history when it happened, where all sorts of superstitions abounded, no stone needed to be moved: the disciples only needed to believe they saw Jesus resurrected. Nowadays people think they see aliens, Bigfoot in far less stressful circumstances.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Risico007 wrote: »

    Yeah we all laughed uproariously last time you posted that too. But there's nothing like classic comedy. And that was... etc you can work the rest out for yourself.
    Risico007 wrote: »
    The issue is where do I begin with nearly 2000 years of archogical discoveries pointing to Christ being the messiah and since the Son of God exists clearly the Father does too (this is just simple logic) also to make matters worse in reading this thread I see very little in terms of evidence but I see a lot of people here essentially saying

    “Well I don’t believe in God because a man in a white coat told me not to and yet you believe in God because a man in a white robe told you too” ok well Lud you said if anyone gives you proof you will believe if only one of those sciency guys could somehow say Heaven is real... oh wait I have one who can



    What is this supposed to proving exactly? One guy's anecdotal evidence when he was in a coma? This is somehow proof of an afterlife because he was a neurologist? I don't have any reason to doubt that this guy 'believes' what he experienced is enough to him to prove the existence of God but to suggest it constitutes unassailable evidence is thinner than Posh Spice after a month lost in the desert.
    Risico007 wrote: »
    But I know that is just one person in the scientific process one would need to have repeat data of only there were a group of scientists exploring this... oh wait there is

    https://iands.org/about/about-iands27/leadership.html

    There are other groups but this is the most prominent and on this board I see a lot of doctors and nurses...

    These are the people I see on the board:

    Bob Frank (President) - http://bobfranksite.com/index.html (hypnoterapist and author of books on past life regressions)
    Sandra Martin (Vice President) - http://www.sandramartinwrites.com/ (author of a book on making the best choices on approaching death - which I suppose is fair enough)
    Beverly Byers - https://www.facebook.com/beverly.k.byers (graduated from a 'Christian' university and currently runs a massage and nail bar)
    Delaine Deal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/delaine-deal-8403636b (works in a coffee shop)
    Rebecca Valla - http://www.rebeccasvallamd.com/
    Susan Amsden - http://fellowshipoftheinnerlight.com/events/sunday-speaker-susan-amsden/

    Not to mention board member Linda Truax, the first speaker in this video:


    I'm sure there are exceptions but as a general rule of thumb when determining the scientific credibility of a speaker, if you can answer 'yes' to the question 'Do they turn up to a symposium dressed in a stetson and a stars and stripes t-shirt?' they probably aren't a Nobel prize winner.

    Despite your assertions to the contrary I would hardly say this collection of cranks, alternative therapists and people with books to flog can be said to be conducting research on a par with CERN.
    Risico007 wrote: »
    So let’s see there is scientific research into NDE and the above story proves it isn’t a delusion or dream or anything of that sort so suddenly it appears science is actually on my side at least in terms of heaven and an afterlife

    Despite the questionable credentials of the IANDS board I'm not about to ridicule NDEs as this is a well documented phenomenon (even had an out of body floating experience once myself under anaesthetic) but as usual with the religious mind you've assumed a hole in science's knowledge means your crackpot theories must therefore be true. To say on the strength of one bloke's anecdote (but Wizard he's a neurologist so he must know what he's talking about right?) and the 'scientific' research by IANDS constitutes science being 'actually on your side in terms of heaven and an afterlife' is a statement of presumptuous chutzpah that only the truly desperate would attempt to hang their argument on.
    Risico007 wrote: »
    So let’s talk about the Bible now because I can hear you now “so there may be an afterlife but that doesn’t mean Christianity is right”
    You didnt hear me say that, but at least there is a rare semblance of critical thinking about the above statement.
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Well Wizard I hate to pick on you but 6 months ago you claimed that Christ could of survived the crucifixtion here is the issue anyone with a basic understanding of Roman punishment would laugh at you. There is simply no way anyone could of survived the torture Christ endured but even if he could how did he get out of the tomb. We are talking a tomb with a stone the weight of an Aston Martin in front of it blocking the tomb... even in full health no one could get out of there let alone a man with the amount blood loss Christ suffered...
    I think @thelivingroyale and @Ludovico addressed this above.
    Risico007 wrote: »
    In my next post I will show you how Noah’s ark is the worst kept secret in archaeology we all know where it is and the Turkish government claimed it as a historical sight in 1989
    I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say we await said post with baited breath.

  • Did anybody ever watch The Second Coming? It was a TV miniseries on a while ago with Christopher Eccleston and I always thought it had an interesting message to it.

    Basically a normal guy in Manchester gets lost after a night out and thinks he's the second coming of Jesus. But it turns out he actually is, he turns night into day over Maine Road to prove it. And he has to find out what the third testament of the bible is before judgement day. He refuses to use his powers for anything drastic because all he knows is humanity have to sort things for themselves this time, and he tells the Christians that it doesn't matter that they were right. Judgement day comes and it turns out the testament is about the end of all religion, because of all the violence and suffering that arguing about it has caused. It's judgement day but for God not for humanity, that's what it's been leading up to. He has to die and then let himself cease to exist instead of going to heaven, to kill God and the Devil and destroy the afterlife, so that humanity can get on with things without religion dictating what they should and shouldn't do and causing more wars and violence.
  • SeveSeve The island of Lemoy
    Posts: 425
    Sounds like it was written by an Atheist?

    Someone sent me some collected (non-scientific) thoughts of Albert Einstein this morning, he starts out by saying this...

    "What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether? To answer
    this question at all implies a religion. Is there any sense then, you ask, in
    putting it? I answer, the man who regards his own life and that of his
    fellow-creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost
    disqualified for life."
  • Seve wrote: »
    Sounds like it was written by an Atheist?

    Someone sent me some collected (non-scientific) thoughts of Albert Einstein this morning, he starts out by saying this...

    "What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether? To answer
    this question at all implies a religion. Is there any sense then, you ask, in
    putting it? I answer, the man who regards his own life and that of his
    fellow-creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost
    disqualified for life."

    Disagree with this completely. Life's what you make of it, and I'd rather give it meaning by living it the best I can, achieving as many of my personal hopes, dreams and wants as possible with friends and family, rather than let a book from thousands of years ago dictate what I can and can't do, who I should like and who I should shun, in the hope that I get into heaven.

    I don't think life is meaningless. In fact I think genuinely believing that we've only got one go round gives us a higher regard for life than the average religious person right? Because if you believe in an afterlife you don't really have to worry, it'll be alright in the end. But if you're an atheist life suddenly becomes a whole lot special, because it's your lot, and you don't want to squander it.
  • Posts: 12,474
    In my darkest hours I questioned why live and what’s the purpose of life. Unfortunately neither religion nor science really helped me all that much in my worst moments. You only get one life. Getting through the bad stuff has been extremely hard for me. I think most people religious or not though could agree that life is special though. It is fascinating for sure, whatever else it is. Everyone’s life experience is different.
  • Posts: 4,617
    Life has no purpose IMHO. We just exist. There is no reason or evidence to assume there is a purpose. If we choose to invent a purpose within ourselves (based on reality), then that would seem sensible. It helps to pass the time and make life fun.

    Science does not exist in order to give our lives purpose so I dont think it will ever help in that way. Religion, although not true, does give a purpose if you buy into it so, from that perspective, I can see it can help those who struggle with the big issues of life.

    But, lets face it, if we all died tomorrow, would the rest of the universe blink or care in anyway. No.
  • Posts: 12,474
    Not having purpose is a sad thing to me.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,177
    My purpose is to care for others improve there lives and my own life, I have faith in myself and improve myself mentally and physically.
  • Posts: 12,474
    I suppose we all kind of create our purposes as we go along. If I said I had one, it would be to bring in some income and aid my family however I’m able.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,177
    I have always been glass half full, even in terrible moments I have experienced I never give up as I believe in my own resilience to overcome anything.
  • Posts: 12,474
    That’s fortunate.
This discussion has been closed.