muso wrote on Jul 15^th, 2010 at 2:36pm:



- and by the way Sprint, I don't consider you to be a sanctimonious evangelizing  fundamentalist - at least from the Christianity viewpoint. It's your anti- Muslim stance that's  scary. Ok, it's following the flock, but it's still scary.

Quote:


My god is made of wood. I bought it in Africa. It cost me about $50. I knocked him down from about $150. He tried to get me to buy two for $100, but I didn't need two

I'd really like to see you prove that it doesn't exist, because I can touch it, feel it and smell it, and I was assured by the person who sold it to me that it was a genuine African god.  I've since seen one on Ebay that was very similar, so I'm convinced that such gods exist, and that people call them gods.

 While I don't believe that it has supernatural powers, I believe that some people believe it does, and the collective effects of the brains of the people who do believe in it result in some things happening that would not ordinarily happen. Perfectly healthy people can get sick or die as a result of this god. I don't claim that to be an effect of the lump of timber, but as a result of the beliefs. Can that be defined as supernatural? I don't know. Define supernatural, and while you're at it, define god and define religion.

It's much the same idea with the Christian god for that matter. Religions exist and gods exist as psycho-social phenomona.



I therefore claim to be a theist and an atheist. To be precise,  every second Thursday, I'm neither, because I'm a Buddhist. Prove me wrong. Remember the burden of proof is on you, but in order to prove it, you need to come up with a definition of god that works for all theistic religions, otherwise you can only claim to be an atheist of the Christian denomination. Don't go on about bible bashers, because I'm not one, and we don't have any here any more.  

Sprint - feel free to split this thread.

Bobby. wrote on Jul 24^th, 2010 at 1:10pm:


Oh go and covet your neighbours ass then. 

Bobby. wrote on Jul 24^th, 2010 at 6:28pm:


It's not about good blokes and bad blokes. It's about good arguments and bad arguments.

Although I have no belief in Christian or Muslim mythology, I still recognise religions as having a considerable influence in the world.

It's easy to dismiss religion, dismiss left/right wind politics (delete according to taste) or dismiss tea because of a personal dislike.

The fact is that human beings cling to irrational beliefs. You just have to follow the stockmarket to realise that. Can you buy the fact that the stockmarket can have anthropomorphic qualities? It can be confident or nervous, bullish or bearish. Yet if we stop believing in the intrinsic worth of things, it can lead to very real consequences. High risk shares can lose their value overnight.

Can you follow my argument that religions can be just as real as the stockmarket, even though both have elements that are ostensibly "all in the mind" They both share very human characteristics. You can ignore the stockmarket... and politics....and even religion at your peril.

If it comes to the stage where nobody has any religion, then religion will be nothing. The same goes for the stock-market, politics and the price of diamonds for that matter. They all hinge on the beliefs of humanity.

If everybody is dying of thirst or hunger, diamonds have no intrinsic value. The same goes for money. If people stop believing in all imaginary concepts, we'll be in dire straits.

Did you ever see the Viggo Mortensen movie - "The Road"?
- or the Kevin Costner movie - "The Postman"

It wasn't the question of whether the US Government existed or not. It was whether or not people believed that it did.

Ecclesiastes 12:12

Be warned, my children, against anything more than these. People never stop writing books. Too much studying will wear out your body

“Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.”

Psalm 112:5

Lisa Jones wrote on Jul 24^th, 2010 at 11:37pm:


Lisa - I didn't realise you were a religious person.
If you get married again will it have to be in a church?