Re: The Bible on David Sklansky
 

My guess would be 100% of them

Re: Can God....
 

Moderator, please feel free to delete this post and banish it from Eden. I apologize for resurrecting the thread. But, I have no life. (I am married.) Or turn me into a pillar of salt for looking back in the forum.


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But let me rephrase. I believe:

The probability that Jesus was resurrected is one in a quintillion. The probability that Jesus is the messiah or the son of God is one in a septillion. The probability that God listens to prayers and grants wishes from Christians but not dolphins, aliens, or Muslims is one in a novemdecillion.

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A quintillion what? A septillion what? A novemdecillion what? People, ants, dogs, planets, phases of the moon? Trying to quantify the chances that Jesus is the messiah or not in and of itself makes no sense (at least not to me). He either was or wasn’t. What good does it do to give probability to it. Give it a quantifiable probability and we are back to were we started. Might be, might not be. When one is talking God, does one in a quintillion mean extremely unlikely or most likely? I don’t see how the probability can ever be 1) specifically determined 2)if determined within ranges, then of any relevance 3)anything other than 100% or zero.

Quantify the “evidence” of it sure. Quantify the probability given a “definite god and a definite child” that he is the one, sure. Although, I can’t imagine quantifying either of these with premises that would be agreed upon by scholars, geniuses, believers, (or whatever group). So, what would be the point of even that.


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I'm just tying to dispense first with the nonsensical Christians and other religious people who even you know, are ridiculous but who would muddy the waters (if they weren't dealt with first) before I eventually use my big guns. In other words I don't want to waste a lot of energy refuting ideas that you or others like Kopefire will claim thinking Christians or other religious people don't believe anyway.

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Finally, something about Christians that is close to the reality of the religion.


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Religious Muslims and Jews are only a tad less moronic than Christians. And that is only because, to my limited knowledge, they believe fewer specific things.

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Place atheists on the list and you might be on to something

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Finally proof that it isn't just Christians and atheists that can't think straight.

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Now we are getting somewhere.


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"At the same time, I don’t agree with people openly attacking organized religion. It serves its purpose, making life easier and more bearable for the working joe. The masses still need to be controlled by the way, the average person isn't smart enough to decide what to do, the intellectual elite can manufacture consent more easily from people who are used to being indoctrinated than those who aren't."

I wonder what percentage of religious leaders (and politicians who claim to be very religious) actually secretly believe the above, at least to some extent.

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Didn’t Goucho Marx say something like this back in the 19th century? Or was it Chico? No must have been Groucho. He had all the good lines. And Chico was the man. Dang, Chico and the man. Must have been Jeremia, no he was the bullfrog. Somebody said it.

Re: Pascal\'s failure
 

You would win that bet. See "The bell curve intelligence and class structure in american life." by Richard Herrnstein & Charles Murray

Re: Can God....
 

Sorry if my post was convoluted.

One person is confused about a definition. Yeah, it's too bad, and he won't make a good engineer. But that guy understands how the world works.

The other guy understands the definition of a triangle, but has no clue about how the world works. As such, I'd be suspicious of his views of the world.

Guys, the world ain't about triangles. The world isn't about pot odds. The world isn't about mathematical definitions, differential equations, quantum mechanics, wave-particle duality, or anything else you may learn in a physics 101 class.

The world is about love, compassion, sacrifice, and emotion. As cliche as it is, the world wants to know how much you care before they care how much you know.

The first guy understands this.

He's a lot smarter.

Josh

Re: Can God....
 

Interesting discussion. While I don't exactly subscribe to Christianity (or any other religion), I have absolutely no doubt as to the existance of God. Look up "intelligent design".

Whether or not God could or couldn't make X^3+Y^3 equal to some Z^3 is inconsequential to me, but is still an interesting philosophical puzzle. In a different universe with different laws, sure. Probably not here.

I don't see a problem with Christianity. My daughter goes to a Christian church, and my wife volunteers at Church. I do myself from time to time. By and large, Christians aren't bad people.

Not everybody can be as enlightened (for lack of a better word) as Mr. Sklansky or myself. Regardless of his beliefs, I respect him as someone who does his own thinking, and that is most important. The vast majority of people in the world do not have enough faith to not have the crutch of religion and still have a belief in God. Even believers in God that don't go to Church will say that they believe in one religion or another.