What's your religion ???

[KevanG]

As for tolerant Americans, it depends where you live like everywhere else. Some places really don't care if you're gay and are fine with PDA, others will burn down your house and try to kill you.

 

[Feenix]

Where I live, you need an education just to clean toilets. Many people drop out of the schools, and is on welfare.

Do you think that North Americans are unhappy because of religion, or something else?

Personally, I have always viewed you americans as tolerant people.

I'm Canadian.

And again, where are the stats for your claim?

Americans aren't very tolerant. Ask the blacks and Muslims down there how they feel. Canadians are also very intolerant of Native Americans. Everyone has their prejudices, some are just better at hiding them.

I'd say money is the biggest reason people in North America are unhappy.

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

The people of North Korea aren't actually atheist (they worship their leaders as literal deities), and it's a myth that Soviet regimes were staunchly atheistic as well. Where are you getting this information?

That one's getting old. Communism is by nature atheistic. And I'm sure you americans would worship something other than God if you got rid of him. Just look at the way western culture worships celebrities. We need something to believe in... It is in our nature. One of the things all almost all cultures have in common is a form of belief system. What would you replace it with?

 

[Feenix]

That one's getting old. Communism is by nature atheistic. And I'm sure you americans would worship something other than God if you got rid of him. Just look at the way western culture worships celebrities. We need something to believe in... It is in our nature. One of the things all almost all cultures have in common is a form of belief system. What would you replace it with?

Logic and reason.

You don't need something to believe in, you need something to worship and idolize. That's different. That's a sign of weakness, in my opinion.

And Communism is not atheistic. It's a form of state worship.

 

[Snow Queen]

And I'm sure you americans would worship something other than God if you got rid of him. Just look at the way western culture worships celebrities. We need something to believe in... It is in our nature. One of the things all almost all cultures have in common is a form of belief system. What would you replace it with?

How about trying to discover the answer to questions that people answer with God (ex. why are we here? Who made us? etc...) by gathering evidence rather than relying on texts written 2,000 years ago and translated multiple times?

 

[KevanG]

Respectfully, it is really quite unnecessary to study all of the creeds and doctrines in any particular religion or superstition to realise that you don't accept it. It is enough to disagree with the basic premise.

You might write a 2,000 page treatise on why Kermit the frog is the Messiah, and I would be at liberty to weigh up the thesis based on universal principles of empirical logic, without having to wade through the whole text.

What I mean is that they state "facts" about various things which they've heard from third or fourth hand sources which either have little actual factual basis or are completely made up and when you argue facts about it they just state they don't care and take refuge in ignorance. That's the problem I have with them. If you have an actual argument and can back it up with either information, experience or anything beyond "I heard from some guy online or my uncle Daves friend a few years back" then I have no problem. I enjoy a good discussion as long as the other person doesn't try to stick in one place and they try other avenues of explanation as opposed to "This is right because!"

Also, I'd love to read someones reasoning as to why Kermit is the Messiah.

 

[Doctor Evo]

Communism is by nature atheistic.

That's not even remotely true. What is your reasoning here?

And I'm sure you americans would worship something other than God if you got rid of him. Just look at the way western culture worships celebrities. We need something to believe in... It is in our nature. One of the things all almost all cultures have in common is a form of belief system. What would you replace it with?

This is such a non-sequitur my head might literally explode.

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

I'm Canadian.

And again, where are the stats for your claim?

Americans aren't very tolerant. Ask the blacks and Muslims down there how they feel. Canadians are also very intolerant of Native Americans. Everyone has their prejudices, some are just better at hiding them.

I'd say money is the biggest reason people in North America are unhappy.

Just take my word for it. You would understand if you lived here.

That could be true, but you can't blame religion for it. In my country, some people use darwinism as an argument for white superiority. Africans are stupid because of their genes, gypsies are bred to be thieves etc.

There was even a tv show about evolutionary psychology where it was claimed that blacks are unable to get good jobs because they are a little dumber than whites. Of course, it was very controversial... But I don't believe americans would air a show like that, would you?

But scandinavians are among the richest people in the world, yet they the are the happiest?

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

How about trying to discover the answer to questions that people answer with God (ex. why are we here? Who made us? etc...) by gathering evidence rather than relying on texts written 2,000 years ago and translated multiple times?

If you read my first post here, you would know that it wasn't the bible that made me believe in a god. The bible came later.

 

[Feenix]

Just take my word for it. You would understand if you lived here.

That could be true, but you can't blame religion for it. In my country, some people use darwinism as an argument for white superiority. Africans are stupid because of their genes, gypsies are bred to be thieves etc.

There was even a tv show about evolutionary psychology where it was claimed that blacks are unable to get good jobs because they are a little dumber than whites. Of course, it was very controversial... But I don't believe americans would air a show like that, would you?

But scandinavians are among the richest people in the world, yet they the are the happiest?

No, I won't. Living somewhere in a country doesn't mean you can make generalizations about the whole country. You go by what you see and experience, which is on a tiny scale compared to the rest of the country.

Americans would air a show like that because they hide behind "free speech." No one would do it, though, because it wouldn't be profitable. It all depends on money.

And yes, Denmark was named the happiest country in the world and Scandinavian countries all ranked high on the list. It's more than just money. Better health care, better education, higher quality of life, working at a job that can actually support yourself and a family, socialist policies, lower crime rates, etc etc. I would go as far as to say that the lower rates of religious people in those countries help as well. The most religious countries in the world are also very violent, very poor, and have lower quality of life ratings.

 

[Snow Queen]

If you read my first post here, you would know that it wasn't the bible that made me believe in a god. The bible came later.

Well, great. I wasn't speaking about how you came to believe though. I was speaking about your question, what would we replace believing in a god with, to which I say that finding evidence that can be tested and proven rather than relying on something so old. If it proves a God, great. If it doesn't, great. But either way, I'd say evidence is better than just taking things on blind faith.

 

[charl_huntress]

If you have "faith" it does indeed mean that your mind is not entirely open, because having a "faith" is making a statement that your mind won't be changed. That is closed-mindedness by definition.

Your point about original thought is a separate one. I suppose you are talking about creative thought? If so, I don't agree, with the caveat that atheists (who I presume are the people you refer to as "believing in nothing") should be less gullible and more questioning of the fanciful.

Are we about to have a pedantry war over the words "faith", "original" and "nothing"?

Really?

This was interesting a while ago...but it is no longer. Thank you though!

 

[Snow Queen]

Just take my word for it. You would understand if you lived here.

That could be true, but you can't blame religion for it. In my country, some people use darwinism as an argument for white superiority. Africans are stupid because of their genes, gypsies are bred to be thieves etc.

There was even a tv show about evolutionary psychology where it was claimed that blacks are unable to get good jobs because they are a little dumber than whites. Of course, it was very controversial... But I don't believe americans would air a show like that, would you?

Fox News actually went to court to defend their right to make up the news and won as well as regularly have hosts and guests making offensive remarks towards minorities, so I wouldn't be surprised if they would air something like that.

 

[KevanG]

Ugh. Fox news, I'm not even going to start on them.

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

But either way, evidence is better than just taking things on blind faith.

So you're agnostic, then? There could be a god, or maybe there isn't a god. It can't be proven either way?

 

[Doctor Evo]

Just take my word for it. You would understand if you lived here.

That could be true, but you can't blame religion for it. In my country, some people use darwinism as an argument for white superiority. Africans are stupid because of their genes, gypsies are bred to be thieves etc.

There was even a tv show about evolutionary psychology where it was claimed that blacks are unable to get good jobs because they are a little dumber than whites. Of course, it was very controversial... But I don't believe americans would air a show like that, would you?

But scandinavians are among the richest people in the world, yet they the are the happiest?

I love that term, "Darwinism." You can usually tell a lot about a person's attitude towards evolutionary biology by their use of that term.

 

[Doctor Evo]

So you're agnostic, then? There could be a god, or maybe there isn't a god. It can't be proven either way?

Are you agnostic with regard to the existence of the Greek and Roman gods?

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

That's not even remotely true. What is your reasoning here?

Ah, the old "atheists can never do anything bad"-argument. If they do anything wrong, it's not because of their pilosophy, it's because they are really religious. Am I right?

 

[Feenix]

Ah, the old "atheists can never do anything bad"-argument. If they do anything wrong, it's not because of their pilosophy, it's because they are really religious. Am I right?

Atheists don't worship anything. Communism is a form of state worship. It's replacing a god with the state. There's still an idol there. That makes it un-atheist.

Your arguments don't hold up well, they're rehashed arguments of the religious and they've been debunked many times over.

 

[Snow Queen]

So you're agnostic, then? There could be a god, or maybe there isn't a god. It can't be proven either way?

I don't believe there is a god, but there is always that slim possibility. I consider it as likely as finding out unicorns are real but it's not 100% impossible, I suppose. It can't be disproven but the gap for one closes with most scientific advancements about the world and the universe.

 

[regwec]

Are we about to have a pedantry war over the words "faith", "original" and "nothing"?

Really?

This was interesting a while ago...but it is no longer. Thank you though!

It isn't really pedantry when the definitions of the disputed terms are integral to the debate.

I don't believe there is a god, but there is always that slim possibility. I consider it as likely as finding out unicorns are real but it's not 100% impossible, I suppose. It can't be disproven but the gap for one closes with most scientific advancements about the world and the universe.

That's exactly right. We all get through our daily lives making certain presumptions about the cosmos. I tend to think it's better to cross the road when the traffic has stopped. But you should never say, "that's it, nothing will change my mind" on any matter, because that represents a closure of the mind.

 

[charl_huntress]

It isn't really pedantry when the definitions of the disputed terms are integral to the debate.

hehehe....

 

[-Arya-]

Love, mind, self and soul, right, wrong. Justice. I've heard all of the materialistic explanations... Not convinced.

Any explanation that has physical evidence supporting it is materialistic. You might as well say that you are not convinced by any scientific discovery because it is materialistic (this includes the germ theory, atomic theory, gravitation etc...). In addition, the items you listed do not lie beyond our understanding. There are well documented explanations for the mind, our perception of the self, and morality.

 

[-Arya-]

Double post

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

There are well documented explanations for the mind, our perception of the self, and morality.

Yeah, atheism kinda defeats itself that way... Morality is relative, yet they get a angry when islamists opress people. We don't have any free will, and they credit themselves for thinking rationally. If they are, as they believe, flesh puppets with no free will, no real value... Why care about discrimination, opression and murder? I guess they can't help themselves, being flesh puppets governed by the laws of physics

Maybe I should stop listening to fundamentalist atheists. Their ideas and thoughts are no more than chemical reactions in their brains.