Re: The existence of God
 

You got 1000 - congrats - the longest ever discussion on religion that didn't get locked by a mod. Rumour has it if you can hit 2000 you find the meaning of life!

Re: The existence of God
 

YAY!

btw - the meaning of life, the universe and everything is (apparently) 42.

Re: The existence of God
 

I read a theory once that we are all actually prisoners left to fend for ourselves. our prison keepers put us on this planet and just abandoned us.

Re: The existence of God
 

The book SafeSpace is based on that premise, and that "theory" is also part of Scientology.

Re: The existence of God
 

Is the Bible part of the same theory? I mean does it tie in to it and have any relevance to us being prisoners?

Re: The existence of God
 

How would I know, buddy - you raised the point.

I am not responsible for your viewpoints and theories.

Re: The existence of God
 

Ok buddy. just thought you might know.

anybody else know? and is responsible for my viewpoints and theories? :)

Re: The existence of God
 

You could always research it for yourself...

Re: The existence of God
 

I will do Russ. like I said I was just asking. I will do it later and let you know what I come up with.

Re: The existence of God
 

so, we're kind of like Australians then? but on a planetary scale? not heard that one before, but an interesting theory none the less - certainly a good talking poiint for work week lunchtimes!

Re: The existence of God
 

Aborigines were prisoners from another planet? ;)

Link1

Link2

And best of all (imho), Link3

Re: The existence of God
 

Erich Von Daniken has covered just about all angles in the "God was an astronaut" theory. I first read Chariots of the Gods in the early 1970s.

Interesting reading but even if we were introduced on earth by aliens, how were the those who introduced us created.;)

Re: The existence of God
 

clever people the aborigines who else could invent a stick that you cant throw away

Re: The existence of God
 

Charlie Drake might disagree ;)

http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics...pjlI6IuN7Ws%3D

Re: The existence of God
 

i like the quote at the top of the second link. lol....

"Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man, living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of 10 things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these 10 things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish where he will send *you* to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever til the end of time...but he loves you." -- George Carlin

Re: The existence of God
 

It does sound a bit scary. sounds like you have to or else bad things will happen.
but I think I've said earlier in the thread. why all the hurt and pain now but not at the end? and even that's not true anyway if the end can also be the place of fire.

Re: The existence of God
 

A perfect example of taking 30% of something and dressing it up as 100%.

Re: The existence of God
 

Buddhists, Sikhs, and many other religions may disagree with his sweeping statement..... ;)

---------- Post added at 13:26 ---------- Previous post was at 13:24 ----------

Actually, the hunting boomerang wasn't designed to come back (also known as a throwstick or a kylie).

Re: The existence of God
 

I wonder if you were to throw a boomerang in space, would it come back?

Re: The existence of God
 

Yes

Link

Re: The existence of God
 

Wouldn't the Aboriginal people (like a lot of ancient civs) likley have been tripping their heads off when they did those paintings?

The pic from link1 looks like a modern day night club more than Aliens.

What if the descriptions of "Hell" are nothing more than a metaphore for a life of crap, and that is exactly what we are living right now? Maybe we are all dead, this is Hell, and we actually just live/die reincarnate - do it all over again. Maybe God doesn't put an end to suffering cos it's no longer any of his business.

It's more 4*4 sitting at Green lights as opposed to a pitchfork up your backside.

Re: The existence of God
 

Interesting. they should have took a kangaroo and filmed it :)

Re: The existence of God
 

I don't believe you've thought that concept through fully.

Re: The existence of God
 

after participating in this and other religious debates i find myself drawn to the possibility

Religion is a Mental Illness


[ disclaimer i did not pen this i found it @ home.earthlink.net]




What could possibly be more damaging to a child than telling him over and over from the time he's an infant that there exists an invisible person who is unwilling to prove he exists watching him every second of every day and reading his thoughts and if he doesn't believe in the invisible person he will be tortured for eternity? Yet we tell that same child that monsters don't exist so it's silly to be scared of monsters.

Religion is one of the most serious mental illnesses of today. It is the inablity to face the reality of life and the finality of death. It affects as high as 85% of the American Society. Approximately 75% of the American victims of this mental illness are Christians. The more pathetic and desperate a persons life, the more likely they are to believe in a god. Typically, people with otherwise empty lives, are the stongest believers. It gives them the false hope that there is a higher meaning to their sad and pathetic lives. The strongest of believers would admittedly be suicidal without religion and/or a god in their lives providing a mental safety valve.

Christians would have you believe atheists do not have as high as morals as Christians. They want you to believe they are somehow better people than atheists. Yet, the Federal Bureau of Prisons 1997 statistics show that a Christian is 50 times more likely to end up in prison than an atheist.

Many Christians have made statements like, "Doctor Smith is a good man, he is a Christian". If a doctor believed in the Easter Bunny, would you allow this doctor to operate on you? The belief in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost is no more than the adult version of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. The next time you go to a doctor, you may want to consider if you want to put your health in the hands of a delusional person.

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy disorder has been linked to extreme religious experiences. Patients who have TLE may have sudden and dramatic spiritual changes. There are many instances of these patients converting from agnostic or atheist beliefs to strongly active religious faiths. TLE causes abnormal electrical activity in their temporal regions and has been directly linked to these radical changes in religious belief and personality changes. Curiously, religious chanting and meditation reduce the activity of frontal lobe activity, which heightens Temporal Lobe activity. Further research in this area has uncovered that electrical stimulation of areas in the Temporal Lobe also produce these spiritual experiences. The electrical stimulation caused the control group to report feelings of "well being" euphoria and a feeling of a "presence".

Being a formal military pilot, it is amusing to hear people attribute seeing a light in a tunnel to a god when experiencing near death experiences. This is often accompanied by feelings of euphoria. Coincidently, military pilots experience the same feelings when taking oxygen deprivation training. When the brain is deprived of oxygen, the first thing that happens is all colors fade to gray. Soon after, experiences of euphoria and well being are felt. Finally, all light closes in to a pinpoint, like a light in a tunnel just before the loss of consciousness.

It is a statistical fact that the higher your education, income, and intelligence, the more likely you are not to believe in a god. For every college student that converts to a religious belief system, 17 college students convert to secular or atheist beliefs. "Secular Humanists" have an average intelligence of 25 I.Q. points above their Christian conterparts. Studies have shown the average atheist to have an I.Q. of 19 points higher than the typical Christian.

A religion by definition is a superstition. A religion is the belief in a supernatural being or beings. A superstition is the belief in magic or phenomena beyond or outside of nature. A religious belief then is a superstitious belief.

Religions seem to usually require a God, Prophets and Profits. God is usually very powerful. Not too powerful because that messes up convenient concepts like free will. Too much God power makes bad things hard to explain. The optimum amount of power can be vague and variable but usually permits granting of certain perks, like an after life. This provides a useful motivational tool. God supposedly talks through Prophets. Prophets are like schizophrenics but since most lived before psychiatrists diagnosed schizophrenia they were believed to be really talking to God. Nowadays they would be sent for treatment.

A common symptom of religion is delusion. Often including notions of resurrection. But face it, you are not coming back. Well, no one has yet, with any convincing evidence, and an awful lot of people have died.

Religious people are dangerous. They can not think for themselves, but instead cling to every word the bible says. Religious fanatics can somehow throw out all scientific evidence and replace it with the word of one book that has no credibility. They want to spread their illness to the rest of the world and contaminate the remaining 10% to 15% of the sane population. Atheists usually know and understand what is written in the bible better than those who claim to follow its word. Religious fanatics want to convert your children and will stop at nothing. They want the right to force you to follow their ideas and beliefs and restrain any conflicting beliefs or activities.

Recognizing religion as a class of mental illness would be a start in curing this disease. We should develop support groups, maybe along the lines of Alcoholics Anonymous - “My name’s Mike and I’m a recovering Christian ..

Be a "free thinker". Read and question what is written. Blind faith is for people who can not think for themselves.



well that's it what do you think is it a mental illness :shrug:

Re: The existence of God
 

Would you like to join me in my bunker? :rofl:

Re: The existence of God
 

No, I don't - and I think that was written by someone trying to provoke a reaction, rather than have a serious discussion.

As the author posts on another page
"I have a website titled; "Religion is a Mental Illness". http://home.earthlink.net/~dlsurman/ It is a little risque, but has some good links and arguments about religion. If you are easily offended by religious sarcasm, this site is not for you. "

Re: The existence of God
 

In my Future of an Illusion (1927) I was concerned much less with the deepest sources of religious feeling than with what the common man understands by his religion- with the system of doctrines and promises which on the one hand explains to him the riddles of the world with enviable completeness, and, on the other, assures him that a careful Providence will watch over his life and will compensate him in a future existence for any frustrations he suffers here. The common man cannot imagine this Providence otherwise than in the figure of an enormously exalted father. Only such a being can understand the needs of the children of men and be softened by their prayers and placated by the signs of their remorse. The whole thing is so patently infantile, so foreign to reality, that to anyone with a friendly attitude to humanity it is painful to think that the great majority of mortals will never be able to rise above this view of life. It is still more humiliating to discover how large a number of people living today, who cannot but see that this religion is not tenable, nevertheless try to defend it piece by piece in a series of pitiful rearguard actions. (Sigmund Freud, Society and its Discontents 1930)

Re: The existence of God
 

I don't know who you're trying to convince. :D

But, from Wiki

"Freud was an early user and proponent of cocaine as a stimulant as well as analgesic. He wrote several articles on the antidepressant qualities of the drug and he was influenced by his friend and confidant Wilhelm Fliess, who recommended cocaine for the treatment of the "nasal reflex neurosis." Fliess operated on Freud and a number of Freud's patients whom he believed to be suffering from the disorder, including Emma Eckstein, whose surgery proved disastrous.[31].
Freud felt that cocaine would work as a panacea for many disorders and wrote a well-received paper, "On Coca," explaining its virtues. He prescribed it to his friend Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow to help him overcome a morphine addiction he had acquired while treating a disease of the nervous system.[32] Freud also recommended it to many of his close family and friends. He narrowly missed out on obtaining scientific priority for discovering cocaine's anesthetic properties (of which Freud was aware but on which he had not written extensively), after Karl Koller, a colleague of Freud's in Vienna, presented a report to a medical society in 1884 outlining the ways in which cocaine could be used for delicate eye surgery. Freud was bruised by this, especially because this would turn out to be one of the few safe uses of cocaine, as reports of addiction and overdose began to filter in from many places in the world. Freud's medical reputation became somewhat tarnished because of this early ambition. Furthermore, Freud's friend Fleischl-Marxow developed an acute case of "cocaine psychosis" as a result of Freud's prescriptions and died a few years later. Freud felt great regret over these events, which later biographers have dubbed "The Cocaine Incident."[citation needed] However, he managed to move on, and even continued to use cocaine. Jurgen von Scheidt speculated that most of Freud's psychoanalytical theory was a byproduct of his cocaine use.[33"

---------- Post added at 16:57 ---------- Previous post was at 16:01 ----------

After participating in this and other debates, I find myself drawn to the possibility

Love is a mental illness

Love is one of the most serious mental illnesses of today. It is the inablity to face the reality of life and the finality of loneliness. It affects as high as 85% of the American Society. Approximately 75% of the American victims of this mental illness are romantics. The more pathetic and desperate a persons life, the more likely they are to believe in love. Typically, people with otherwise empty lives, are the stongest believers. It gives them the false hope that there is a higher meaning to their sad and pathetic lives. The strongest of believers would admittedly be suicidal without love and/or a relationship in their lives providing a mental safety valve.

Romantics would have you believe lonely people do not have as high as morals as romantics. They want you to believe they are somehow better people than lonely people. Yet, the Federal Bureau of Prisons 1997 statistics show that a romantic is 50 times more likely to end up in prison than a lonely person.

Many romantics have made statements like, "Doctor Smith is a good man, he is in love". If a doctor believed in the Easter Bunny, would you allow this doctor to operate on you? The belief in romance, love and relationships is no more than the adult version of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. The next time you go to a doctor, you may want to consider if you want to put your health in the hands of a delusional person.

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy disorder has been linked to extreme romantic experiences. Patients who have TLE may have sudden and dramatic emotional changes. There are many instances of these patients converting from loner or anti-romantic beliefs to strongly active romantic beliefs. TLE causes abnormal electrical activity in their temporal regions and has been directly linked to these radical changes in romantic belief and personality changes. Curiously, humming love songs and cuddling reduce the activity of frontal lobe activity, which heightens Temporal Lobe activity. Further research in this area has uncovered that electrical stimulation of areas in the Temporal Lobe also produce these romantic experiences. The electrical stimulation caused the control group to report feelings of "well being" euphoria and a feeling of “togetherness".

Being a formal military pilot, it is amusing to hear people attribute seeing a light around a person when experiencing romantic experiences. This is often accompanied by feelings of euphoria. Coincidently, military pilots experience the same feelings when taking oxygen deprivation training. When the brain is deprived of oxygen, the first thing that happens is all colors fade to gray. Soon after, experiences of euphoria and well being are felt. Finally, all light closes in to a pinpoint, like a light in a tunnel just before the loss of consciousness.

It is a statistical fact that the higher your education, income, and intelligence, the more likely you are not to believe in love. For every college student that enters a relationship, 17 college students convert are sad lonely geeks. "Loner Geeks" have an average intelligence of 25 I.Q. points above their romantic counterparts. Studies have shown the average loner to have an I.Q. of 19 points higher than the typical lover.

Love by definition is a superstition. A love is the belief in a superb emotion between you and another. A superstition is the belief in magic or phenomena beyond or outside of nature. A romantic belief then is a superstitious belief.

Love seem to usually require a girl, a car and house. Love is usually very powerful. Not too powerful because that messes up convenient concepts like free will. Too much love power makes bad things hard to explain. The optimum amount of power can be vague and variable but usually permits granting of certain perks, like a sex life. This provides a useful motivational tool. Love supposedly talks through friends. Friends are like schizophrenics but since most lived before psychiatrists diagnosed schizophrenia they were believed to be really talking about love. Nowadays they would be sent for treatment.

A common symptom of love is delusion. Often including notions of getting back together. But face it, you are not getting back. Well, no one has yet, with any convincing evidence, and an awful lot of people have tried.

Romantic people are dangerous. They can not think for themselves, but instead cling to every word the love poets say. Romantic fanatics can somehow throw out all scientific evidence and replace it with the word of one emotion that has no credibility. They want to spread their illness to the rest of the world and contaminate the remaining 10% to 15% of the sane population. Loners usually know and understand what is written in the love poetry better than those who claim to follow its word. Romantic fanatics want to convert your children and will stop at nothing. They want the right to force you to follow their ideas and beliefs and restrain any conflicting beliefs or activities.

Recognizing love as a class of mental illness would be a start in curing this disease. We should develop support groups, maybe along the lines of Alcoholics Anonymous - “My name’s Mike and I’m a recovering romantic ..

Be a "free thinker". Read and question what is written. Romance is for people who can not think for themselves.


Well that's it - what do you think? Is it a mental illness? :shrug:

Re: The existence of God
 

This is my final warning - please stop using common sense and reasonable debate against some of the atheist. It is totally unfair and a form of bullying.

Re: The existence of God
 

so much for adult debate - i put forth a theory and what happens no real answers just jump to default mode :rofl:
i wonder what freud would make of these replies .

Re: The existence of God
 

I think foreverwar has answered you perfectly :shrug:

Re: The existence of God
 

you stick to that story then :ghugs: ahhh all's well again

Re: The existence of God
 

Unless of course you object to your arguments being countered? I guess I can see how that's annoying...

Re: The existence of God
 

No papa, it is not a mental illness.

I think I may be going slightly mental though, checking this thread and chipping in on it at times though!!;)




It is only an offence if you take it as an offence surely, these guys are just playing with us believers!!!!!

Re: The existence of God
 

i'm sure your mental faculties are intact ;) keep chipping in :tu:

Re: The existence of God
 

"common sense and reasonable debate" :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Re: The existence of God
 

i dont object -are they going to be ?

Re: The existence of God
 

Ok, thanks will do.

Just off to find a really lovely scripture to type for you papa.

Re: The existence of God
 

You may need to re-read (or should that just be 'read'?) the last page or two...

---------- Post added at 17:43 ---------- Previous post was at 17:42 ----------

Yes, from someone who takes the time to research his points before posting instead of those who just post things they scan-read from websites without realising they contain glaring errors.

Re: The existence of God
 

First Peter Chapter 4, verses 8 and 9.

Re: The existence of God
 

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

Re: The existence of God
 

Erm..........

So who will give me IT lessons then?

;):)

Re: The existence of God
 

Well I teach IT on a Monday night, but I suspect Leeds to Bedfordshire would be a bit of a trek ;)

Re: The existence of God
 

I T lessons ?

Re: The existence of God
 

I T, IT, what ever, just need lessons on how to snip stuff and the like, wheres a thread for that.

I AM SO OFF TOPIC NOW!!!

Re: The existence of God
 

But you posted ......

Apart from it all being rubbish, this stood out.

I challenge you to find one glaring error in any of the sites I've linked to.

Re: The existence of God
 

It's possible in some cases. Mental illness is more prevalent than most people would think. However, does the Mental Illness excuse cover the fact that a lot of countries 90% of the poplulation believe in some sort of God? Also, over half the population of the planet believe in some sort of God. I am fairly certain that we, as a race, would have died out due to natural selection if over half our population were than ill.

I also find it odd that a person who asks people to be be free thinkers and to read, and question what is written, is apparently ready to dismiss those who believe in a God as mentally ill. Despite the fact that they may have read various articles (both pro and anti religon) and decided that religion is for them.

Re: The existence of God
 

Indeed that could be said, however that does not make us immortal nor give us any kind of immortal life so I would question the quality of the answer. The Bible would have us believe that those who believe in God will have eternal life, science suggests that consciousness exists due to the biochemical and bioelectrical processes within the brain, those which cease when our bodies die.

Excuse the morbidity: no real electrical activity within the brain, neurons and other cells losing their form and dying, neural pathways that form memories depolarising breaking down, the cessation of processing. Of course the matter and energy doesn't just disappear, that's impossible, but that's as far as the science goes. The electrical charge and residual heat dissipate into the surroundings, cells break down into biproducts and residual proteins, etc, etc, etc.

To say that science and religion are in any way compatible in this regard is a strong misrepresentation of the science. Science suggests very strongly the opposite:

I'm unsure how a corpse fulfills all of these though would welcome correction, either way to suggest that science in some way supports the concept of eternal life seems bizarre. We are certainly eternal in one form or another but to describe us as being alive seems a bit of a stretch!

Then those forms of energy are no longer configured as required to be sustaining life. Science asserts that we are alive due the configurations of the cells within our bodies and the biochemical and bioelectrical processes that are the results of the configurations and operations of our cells.

If someone is cremated they have certainly moved on to a different form though you could hardly consider the ashes to be alive. To say otherwise is to redefine death. Though then you end up redefining life and the universe and everything in it become alive as that's the only way that it could be said science describes us an undying.

I'll still stick with that the root of most of these religions is the 'human condition' - I like this paragraph:

Re: The existence of God
 

Can you pop round and read it to me. if not a link to where I can read it will have to do :)

---------- Post added at 18:50 ---------- Previous post was at 18:44 ----------

Probably not, but it would be a youtube hit if they did it.

---------- Post added at 18:53 ---------- Previous post was at 18:50 ----------

Most americans are mental anyway. so you could say that anything is a mental illness where the americans are involved :)

Re: The existence of God
 

It's not the physical body that moves to eternal life though (is it?) it is the Soul. The container becomes the Stardust, the essence, who knows.

Re: The existence of God
 

Where does science suggest the existence of a soul though, and one that persists after biological death, that was my point. Misusing the persistence of matter and energy to in some way suggest internal life is imho inaccurate as it requires that leap of faith beyond that which is empirically observable to that we have some kind of soul, and that soul is our 'life'.

Re: The existence of God
 

It doesn't, hence I don't believe, just trying to be as objective as I can.

I get what you mean (I think) for Science to say that we don't physically ever cease to exist, that our "Building Blocks" move onto another stage, shouldn't be used as proof of an after life.

I just thought his answer was honest enough. I wasn't looking to pick holes in it.

Re: The existence of God
 

See? There you go yet again, twisting what we say to suit your own argument.

I linked to that site in order to answer the question of whether or not dinosaurs are mentioned in the Bible. I could have used any site, that's the first one that came up on google. I could have linked directly to the Bible but I figured you'd have had difficulty in understanding it. It's getting frustrating trying to discuss this with you when your only intention is to mock and criticise.

I wasn't misusing it, I offered it as a tenuous link between religion and science.

Re: The existence of God
 

Just watching BBC2 ... Private Life of an Easter Masterpiece.... lovely stuff.


By the way, going back to a post from ages ago, there were actually 13 Apostles in total.
When Judas died as an unfaithful one, another Apostle was chosen, not by Christ, but by the remaining 11 Apostles, lots were cast, and Mathias was chosen.
So 12, then 11, then 12 again, but to be totally correct there were 13.

Oh and Paul (Saul was appointed later as well)

Re: The existence of God
 

Some of the posters / posts in here just go to show why I don't bother to ask any of my own questions. I could do without being asscociated with people like that. Peope who are only interested in mocking and trying to get a rise out of others.

Re: The existence of God
 

You can always ignore them! You don't have to get involved in every part of the thread. If someone mocks a question you ask, ignore it. Move on. Plenty people will give (or will try to give) and honest opinion.

Re: The existence of God
 

Gosh, I so agree, just been saying that!

Re: The existence of God
 

No, I can't.

No-one has mocked a question I've asked. But the poeple who do show their complete lack of respect for others.

Re: The existence of God
 

Why not? It's not your personal quest to set everyone straight ;)

Re: The existence of God
 

You misunderstand. I can't ignore ANY post really. I have to read them all if I'm in a thread. I don't have any intention of 'setting anyone straight' As long as people stay within the rules they can say what they like. I've never said any different.

Re: The existence of God
 

Do you mean "Cable Forum Team" that's why? I took what you said to mean you feel the need to reply to everything, and so you don't get involved. My word I am lost :D

Re: The existence of God
 

This thread has been going on since the 18th of March and a few of you, especially Russ B will have put in a 100 plus hours answering questions / monitoring posts.

As it's a sensitive topic, all these hours won't have been happy ones, I've personally spent 4 days on it on and off.

No one will change their mind due to a post on the internet, we're just sitting on either sides of the fence 'mud slinging'. We've had our fun but I personally think it's time to agree to disagree, we're never going to see eye to eye on Religion, but spending hour after hour on the internet argueing about it is getting us nowhere, and never will.

Can we lock this thread and give everyone their lives back so we can all sit back an relax for a change and chat about modems.:D

Re: The existence of God
 

Yes, I agree on that!

Lock down?

Lets all do it all again children in a couple of months or so?!

Been nice and all that, but time for another controversal thread surely?

:);):)

Re: The existence of God
 

No "we're" not, YOU are. I have answered each question you've put to me and in return you've twisted things, mocked, ridiculed, dodged questions and finally you decide to call a truce and request it gets closed.

The forum doesn't work that way. It gets closed for 1 of two reasons, either if the OP requests it or the team decides it gets out of hand and the only way to calm things down is to lock it.

Neither have happened at this time.

Re: The existence of God
 

Most interesting God discussion I have been involved in......and.......

................educational.

Re: The existence of God
 

Bender, please ask for a lock down.
Enough is enough surely folks?

Re: The existence of God
 

Get in, 2000 is still on the cards.

Re: The existence of God
 

Read back, already stated King!

Re: The existence of God
 

I know, I was quoting YOU, you educationist you :D

Oooooooo and 600 posts to boot.

Re: The existence of God
 

Stop it!!!

Bad man!

:);)

Goodnight and God bless all x;)

Re: The existence of God
 

Hey Russ, The time and effort you've put into it I thought you'd be glad to see the back of it. :(

I can come and go, but like you and the CF team said, you HAVE to read every post, It's just going to go round and round in circles. Lucy and I are both sick of it and no doubt many others.

I hope Bender does the right this for the sake of everyones sanity and requests it closed.

I certainly won't be contributing apart from pointing out the futility of it all.

Re: The existence of God
 

Bender has just been sectioned. he is not in sound mind to request a lockdown :)

Re: The existence of God
 

There you go again. It's not for you to decide what is and is not futile in people's lives.

Re: The existence of God
 

As I have said before I am an atheist and do not believe in god and feel that if others want to believe then its up to them.

As long as they treat me with the same respect that I treat them and do not feel the need to try and convert me or preach the bible to me then a thread like this can go on and on.

I do check this thread out of interest to see both sides of the coin and their various and sometimes meandering arguments trying to prove a point.

Re: The existence of God
 

That's exactly how I see it when atheists feel the need to tell me that my beliefs are, in their eyes, futile.

The levels of hypocrasy on this forum staggers me sometimes.

Re: The existence of God
 

If you continue to sit there, day after day, week after week, monitoring one post, you're going to make yourself ill.

Everyone's a keyboard warrior on the net, I, you, everyone on here wouldn't dream about saying some of the things posted on here to each others faces.

Arguing on the net it futile, not anyones beliefs.

Re: The existence of God
 

Russ does not just post here try clicking on his name and you will see the posts he has made today on this and other threads, you can do that with any member by the way.

If someone feels strongly enough about their belief in god as Russ obviously does then I would expect him to debate his beliefs in a similar vein face to face with most people.

Re: The existence of God
 

I would be more than happy to say everything I have said to Russ or anyones face.

The only futility is when you "Attempt" to convert, stay off that, and you are fine. A discussion on God shouldn't be one side trying to change the other view, you just discuss it and try to see it from the other viewpoint.

And if you can't do that, then don't bother.

Re: The existence of God
 

I've been using and co-running this forum for 6 years so please don't even begin to try to tell me how to use it. I agree you wouldn't dare be as rude, condascending and insulting to people face-to-face as you have been in this thread. I on the other hand have said the things I've said here to people directly, on forums, over the phone, on the radio many many times and will continue to do so.

In all my time on here, in all the religion-based threads we've had I have never encountered anyone as insulting, patronising, cynical and rude towards people's beliefs as you. You've clearly got some deep-rooted issue regarding religion but whatever it is I suggest you take it up with the person or people that caused it, as I assure you they do not frequent Cable Forum. You have persistantly tried to tell me and others that my beliefs are wrong, sometimes using underhand tactics such as misquoting me, twisting things I've said and putting words in my mouth. I have done nothing but answer your questions and point out the flaws in your arguments, not in your beliefs.

Re: The existence of God
 

Lets not bother then..........................till next time!;)


Mold, as much as I love you ;)
I am sure Russ can type for himself, and I am sure he will! (oh he did)

So whats the next long thread gonna be then ?:)

Re: The existence of God
 

I am not answering for him just commenting on how he comes across in his posts Lucy;).

Re: The existence of God
 

Sex would be a good one. that could go on for ever :)

Re: The existence of God
 

well 3 mins :D

Re: The existence of God
 

My smart witty reply would be deleted, so I will not type it! (get back to your dream thread!!)

OK, I know....off topic!

Re: The existence of God
 

You're just bragging again :)

Re: The existence of God
 

Ok, I agree, he is passionate, but also comes over as a tad aggressive to me, and I am a Christian, who has learned to turn the other cheek, and not take offence at all remarks made to me when I go out on the preaching work, which by the way is written down in the Bible that all believers should do, spread the good news and all that.

I just hope all this thread has not scared some off, who were questioning themselves about a belief in God.

Re: The existence of God
 

I am atheist so belief or faith does not come into it.

If anyone was scared off by this thread then I wonder what strength of character they have and hopefully sooner or later their true self will emerge and can then decide for themselves which way to turn and not need to read what other people think their thoughts should be.

Re: The existence of God
 

It would seem you enjoy arguing, insulting people, and getting very animated about religion. You haven't won, only made yourself look very silly indeed and you're continuing to do so.

Your hatred is on par with the ranting and raving Jihadist lot you see on telly. Drop us a PM when you're on the radio next. :)

Thanks.

Re: The existence of God
 

Excellent response!

---------- Post added at 23:08 ---------- Previous post was at 23:06 ----------



Now then Drz, that was surely not called for!!!!!

Re: The existence of God
 

You hold out an olive branch and he takes it as a sign of weakness and launches a full on personal attack. :(

Re: The existence of God
 

Atheists catch on faster :p:

Re: The existence of God
 

No, no... I'm still here, reading quietly. I'm fond of this thread and believe, as with any thread, that when people are bored of it, it will fade away. I'm not going to ask for it to be locked.

No one is breaking T&Cs and the thread topic itself certainly isn't, so where is the need to close it? (and if anyone here now tries to get it closed by violating those T&Cs, then it will not close the thread, merely get you suspended for a while, so don't bother).

I personally think this has been a very interesting thread, and continues to be so. It's a very interesting insight into the personalities and mindsets of those involved. it's almost turning into a social psychological experiment!

anyway, no, I for one do not wish to have the thread closed and would rather see it die out of it's own accord. I'm reading this everyday to watch it's progression and it continous to pull in a large number of posts but always gets back on topic when it drifts for one or two posts.

it's something that is obviously close to peoples' hearts, be them believers or non-believers and is giving people the opportunity say freely state those beliefs. If people don't like the thread, or what is being said or ideas that have been raised, well no one is making them come here and post...

and as said, roll on 2000!!!!!!

Re: The existence of God
 

Fair enough bender!
A well typed response.

I just wish it was not so addictive to keep checking the thread, so consuming of ones time!

2000, who wil have the privilege of that post?!




Is this all a psychological thingy then?
What have you learnt? !!

Re: The existence of God
 

ME!

Re: The existence of God
 

no, it certainly was not designed as such. and as I say, it's almost a social psychological experiment. without a hypothesis in place, no conclusion can really be drawn, so perhaps I should have said it simply gives us an interesting insight into peoples' psyche and ego-related stances.

religion has been seen by some psychologists as a hinderance to the developement of a man (or woman), alienating them from themselves in a dysfunctional and neurotic institutional 'illusion'.

others have said that religion is an unconscious form of art, whereby empirical memories manifest themselves into the conscious mind and 'labelled' as religious experiences (for example, when Russ B told of how he felt God had shown him the name for his daughter).

religion has been the debate of people and psychologists for many many years and will continue to be so. it will never tire to fascinate and draw in views and concepts from all angles. in this thread alone, we have seen examples whereby people postulate God, Gods, no God, aliens, prisoners abandoned on a planet... it's great to see so many people so emotive about a subject that they really can lose themselves in conversation.

I love this thread! It truly is what forums are for (imo)!!

Re: The existence of God
 

You truly are delusional and apparently have zero idea of how you're coming across despite your fellow atheists pointing it out seceral times.

You see unlike yourself I've never tried to win anything. I'm not trying to score any points again unlike you. I keep answering questions but because they're not the answers you want you persist in changing the rules to enable you to mock. Read the rest of this thread and you'll see I'm not the only one. You've admitted you were wrong once because you read what you wanted to read (not before you got in a few digs) and you are still incapable of explaining to us why you feel the need to ridicule.

Re: The existence of God
 

I think you will find, reading through the thread, you are the one who has been arguing and insulting people.

To accuse Russ of "hatred" is insulting, as it is your language and approach that have been full of negative feelings and comments.

And now you are trying to be the "victim".

Peace be with you.

Re: The existence of God
 

Sadly, it seems the hatred and insults only seem to have come from one side. And that side is (although I am ashamed to admit it) the atheist side.

Re: The existence of God
 

No, it just looks that way because there's more of them :)

I see this thread as this. some men sitting in a pub around a table discussing the existence of God and all the rest that goes with it. they are all atheists.

a non atheist walks past and overhears their conversation, so gets himself a chair and joins in the conversation. he has opposing views to theirs. and now he has joined in the conversation it's only natural that the conversation has now changed it's original mood :angel: :)

have to say also that it doesn't help when this man gets a load of books out of his bag and reads bits out of each in answer to all questions flying around the table.

Re: The existence of God
 

I think a better anaology would be if an atheist stood up in a pub and asked of any believers could answer his question. More and more joined in on either side including a few atheist who perhaps have had a bit too much to drink as they'd clearly left their manners at the door.