Anything goes secular spirituality thread
Never settle.
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Under immense pressure
Posts: 1,505
I've read the teapot thing before. I love it. And I keep meaning to read the others mentioned, but... durn chemistry homework. Maybe over the summer or something. Of course, I've been saying that for a few years.
Maybe it's just a cop out. Like my agnosticism
(no really, I can see why it looks like a cop out. And I even agree that there's a greater probability that there are no gods. I just don't see the evidence.)
Maybe it's just a cop out. Like my agnosticism
(no really, I can see why it looks like a cop out. And I even agree that there's a greater probability that there are no gods. I just don't see the evidence.)
I've read The God Delusion in the last couple of weeks and I wasn't impressed. One can find the same (or better) arguments/info for free while cruising the web. I would like to sell the book back but it’s too late. Dawkins makes many valid points, but he is an a$$ crack at times.
I don't think agnosticism is a cop out or a weak position. I think it's an honest position.
I've mentioned many a time that if I have to go by a label, technically I’m an "agnostic atheist".
In practice, I suppose you could simply call me an “atheist”.
I don't think agnosticism is a cop out or a weak position. I think it's an honest position.
I've mentioned many a time that if I have to go by a label, technically I’m an "agnostic atheist".
In practice, I suppose you could simply call me an “atheist”.
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: France
Posts: 783
Spark I agree, "mind-boggling", I like that, i didn't know how to express my reasons for being an atheist. It's just that I need to understand a little bit. I don't get all of quantum physics, nor all of relativity, but I can fathom just enough to believe. What I don't get at all is god on a cloud listening to my prayers. I have no proof that god doesn't exist, but I sure can't understand how it could be.
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: France
Posts: 783
I think I'd need a really good definition of god too, because i just figure people invented god to answer the questions they couldn't understand. I'm going in circles here, I can't understand how a god could exist, so would I invent a god to answer the question I can't understand. No. Mind-boggling , that's what it is, excuse my rambling, that's another thread isn't it?
Member
Originally Posted by californiapoppy 
Spark I agree, "mind-boggling", I like that, i didn't know how to express my reasons for being an atheist. It's just that I need to understand a little bit. I don't get all of quantum physics, nor all of relativity, but I can fathom just enough to believe. What I don't get at all is god on a cloud listening to my prayers. I have no proof that god doesn't exist, but I sure can't understand how it could be.
BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thats exactly it.....maybe i'm the dunce of the class...but just because i don't understand something doesn't mean it isn't true!!!
I don't believe in god, but I find the same arragance in non-believers as believers...that somehow i I don't understand something then it cant be true...was the world flat before someone sailed around it or pinpointed stars or all that stuff? (see i get concepts but cant remember details lol)
Of course being rational isn't my forte (grin)
anyhow...I'm off to spend my day walking a spiritual path...It seems to work in my life as long as I don't include some guy on a cloud in my plans
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Htown, baby!
Posts: 384
Originally Posted by ananda
I don't believe in god, but I find the same arragance in non-believers as believers...that somehow i I don't understand something then it cant be true...was the world flat before someone sailed around it or pinpointed stars or all that stuff? (see i get concepts but cant remember details lol)
"Around 330 BC, Aristotle provided observational evidence for the spherical Earth,[16] noting that travelers going south see southern constellations rise higher above the horizon. He argued that this was only possible if their horizon was at an angle to northerners' horizon and that the Earth's surface therefore could not be flat.[17]"
"The Earth's circumference was first determined around 240 BC by Eratosthenes. Eratosthenes knew that in Syene, in Egypt, the Sun was directly overhead at the summer solstice, while he estimated that angle formed by a shadow cast by the Sun at Alexandria was 1/50th of a circle. He estimated the distance from Syene to Alexandria as 5,000 stades, and estimated the Earth's circumference was 250,000 stades and a degree was 700 stades (implying a circumference of 252,000 stades).[21]
sentient puddle
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Essex, UK
Posts: 180
Originally Posted by gneiss
I've read the teapot thing before. I love it. And I keep meaning to read the others mentioned, but... durn chemistry homework. Maybe over the summer or something. Of course, I've been saying that for a few years.
Maybe it's just a cop out. Like my agnosticism (no really, I can see why it looks like a cop out. And I even agree that there's a greater probability that there are no gods. I just don't see the evidence.)
Maybe it's just a cop out. Like my agnosticism
(no really, I can see why it looks like a cop out. And I even agree that there's a greater probability that there are no gods. I just don't see the evidence.)However just because there is no evidence for or against something, that does not mean it's equally likely to exist as to not exist.
This is where probability comes into it.
I'm technically agnostic about god, but only to the same extent that i am agnostic about fairies, pink unicorns, and spaghetti monsters. Which is about 99.999999999999999% against.
Last edited by spark42; 03-20-2009 at 08:46 AM.
sentient puddle
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Essex, UK
Posts: 180
Originally Posted by Phaleron
Pascal's wager?
Anyone taking up pascal's wager had better hope the god they're feigning belief in isn't omniscient...
Also, it's a wager - a bet - would you bet on god's valuing dishonestly faked belief over honest scepticism?
sentient puddle
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Essex, UK
Posts: 180
Originally Posted by californiapoppy
I think I'd need a really good definition of god too, because i just figure people invented god to answer the questions they couldn't understand. I'm going in circles here, I can't understand how a god could exist, so would I invent a god to answer the question I can't understand. No. Mind-boggling , that's what it is, excuse my rambling, that's another thread isn't it?
Whereas as our knowledge and science and understanding of the universe progressed, gods no longer are an explanation for anything.
Instead gods are something that themselves need an insurmountable amount of explaining.
Why bother i say? We invented them in the first place!
There are gaps in our knowledge but there is no need to fill those gaps with gods. It's enough to say "we don't know, but we are trying to find out, and are sure that the only way to find out truth is through scientific methods".
Never settle.
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Under immense pressure
Posts: 1,505
BAM!!!!!!!!!!!! Good to see you back, sweety. How are you doing?
I've always found it weird when Christians (maybe other groups do it, too, but I've only had this experience with Christians) use science (or more often, "science") to try to prove the Bible is true, or God exists. If they really have *faith* why try to prove it? The very idea of "proving" something that requires faith makes me wonder if they actually believe it. *Sigh*
I've always found it weird when Christians (maybe other groups do it, too, but I've only had this experience with Christians) use science (or more often, "science") to try to prove the Bible is true, or God exists. If they really have *faith* why try to prove it? The very idea of "proving" something that requires faith makes me wonder if they actually believe it. *Sigh*
sentient puddle
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Essex, UK
Posts: 180
To quote douglas adams - "i refuse to prove that i exist" says god, "because proof denies faith, and without faith i am nothing"...
He also said something along the lines of proof being found of god's existence would cause god to cease to exist "in a puff of logic"...
He also said something along the lines of proof being found of god's existence would cause god to cease to exist "in a puff of logic"...
Resident
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 4,150
You guys think and read too much. It will drive you crazy.
I say what it is is what it is and there is no advantage to figuring it out but then again it leaves little to discuss.
I guess that is why I am such a loner.
I say what it is is what it is and there is no advantage to figuring it out but then again it leaves little to discuss.
I guess that is why I am such a loner.
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: France
Posts: 783
Oh Fubar, it just got simple! And that leaves us with nothing to discuss...but I'm curious, how do you go without sweets? Are fruits obvious sweets? If not, is raisin bread acceptable, or dried apricots? Excuse me, I'm in awe is all...
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