You're Joking

[chezlaw]

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minds much greater than mine have beaten this topic to a pulp.

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I agree with this.

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I don't think anyone is expecting to break new ground (maybe DS?). Isn't the idea to understand things better and maybe understand each other.

chez

[RJT]

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... Isn't the idea to understand things better and maybe understand each other.

chez

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Chez,

I think you and I are pretty much alone in this thought. Actually there are a few others. I’ll let them “out” themselves. I won’t name names.


RJT

What makes you think that all these posters necessarily play reasonable poker?

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Be careful with your assumptions.

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Sorry kidluckee, I didn't mean to be redundant. I somehow overlooked that you already mentioned this point.

[mackthefork]

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... Isn't the idea to understand things better and maybe understand each other.

chez

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Chez,

I think you and I are pretty much alone in this thought. Actually there are a few others. I’ll let them “out” themselves. I won’t name names.


RJT

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I don't understand myself yet, so understanding everyone else might be a non-starter.

Mack

The one thing that really annoys me is people praising god for the good things that happen in their lives, but not mentioning god when something less appealing occurs.

They interview hurricane survivors that claim it was a "miracle" and "an act of god" that they survived. You would have to be a borderline narcissist to believe that god "chose" you to survive while allowing your neighbour to perish.

Or baseball players who point to the sky while circling the bases after a homerun. So if it's game 7 of the world series, god "decides" which team will win, or which player will be the hero or the goat? What if there are devout believers on each team? God has to make a choice?

I just can't get my brain around the concept of someone actually "believing" that the myriad of events occurring on earth every day are somehow predetermined. The fact that I'm in a busy airport in London and I walk by someone from Brussels at a particular instant in time was predetermined?

So are we free to behave in any way we want to, or did god decide who was going to perish in a particular plane crash?

I understand that morons like Bush, and politicians in general, have to pander to the Christian right to varying degrees, but when a semi-intelligent person like Bill Clinton talks about god it makes my skin crawl. It would be refreshing to see a politician come out of the closet and say what he/she TRULY thinks.

[txag007]

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The one thing that really annoys me is people praising god for the good things that happen in their lives, but not mentioning god when something less appealing occurs.

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Actually, the opposite tends to be true for many Christians. We forget that we need God during the good times, but we suddenly become very religious when tragedy strikes.

Is your disbelief based on any certain concept? A personal experience maybe? Or is it just your perception of all Christians as stupid?

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The one thing that really annoys me is people praising god for the good things that happen in their lives, but not mentioning god when something less appealing occurs.

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Actually, the opposite tends to be true for many Christians. We forget that we need God during the good times, but we suddenly become very religious when tragedy strikes.

Is your disbelief based on any certain concept? A personal experience maybe? Or is it just your perception of all Christians as stupid?

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I was raised a Catholic, have taught at Catholic high schools, but I just reached a point in my life where I came to the conclusion that I was an atheist.

I think a lot of it has to do with my Math and Science background, and the research that I have done.
I spent most of a summer a couple of years ago reading a lot of literature on evolution, archeology, religions, and other related topics.

I have just come to the conclusion that the big bang theory, evolution, and recent scientific studies do a very good job of explaining everything.

I put religion (belief in a god) in the same category as astrology, reading of palms, mythology, and all of the other beliefs that are very antiquated in the face of what we know about our universe, solar system, etc. Some people HONESTLY believe that horoscopes are accurate and meaningful even though there have been studies to debunk that idea.

As you say, when things go badly people need a crutch or some reason to go on. If your child dies, you need to believe that you will see that child again, or there is a REASON that it happened. If it comforts people, that's great, but that doesn't mean there is any truth in it.

Jesus was charismatic, people followed him, and some myths about him survived and just became more popular than myths about other charismatic leaders.

[RJT]

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... Isn't the idea to understand things better and maybe understand each other.

chez

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Chez,

I think you and I are pretty much alone in this thought. Actually there are a few others. I’ll let them “out” themselves. I won’t name names.


RJT

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I don't understand myself yet, so understanding everyone else might be a non-starter.

Mack

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I wonder why I click so well with you Brits: I don’t understand you either Mack. Just kidding, bud. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[David Sklansky]

"I was raised a Catholic, have taught at Catholic high schools, but I just reached a point in my life where I came to the conclusion that I was an atheist.

"I think a lot of it has to do with my Math and Science background, and the research that I have done.
I spent most of a summer a couple of years ago reading a lot of literature on evolution, archeology, religions, and other related topics.

I have just come to the conclusion that the big bang theory, evolution, and recent scientific studies do a very good job of explaining everything.

I put religion (belief in a god) in the same category as astrology, reading of palms, mythology, and all of the other beliefs that are very antiquated in the face of what we know about our universe, solar system, etc. Some people HONESTLY believe that horoscopes are accurate and meaningful even though there have been studies to debunk that idea.

As you say, when things go badly people need a crutch or some reason to go on. If your child dies, you need to believe that you will see that child again, or there is a REASON that it happened. If it comforts people, that's great, but that doesn't mean there is any truth in it.

Jesus was charismatic, people followed him, and some myths about him survived and just became more popular than myths about other charismatic leaders."

The succinctness of your words, plus the fact that you were once Catholic, compels me to annoint you as my successor, ahead of more experienced posters, as I leave everyone to pursue Mormonism.