I believe that humans have not evolved to the point where we can empirically know if there is an ...

Heraclitus comments on May 16, 2018:

That's not a question of evolution. Empiricism is the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience. You cannot know an immaterial being empirically. It's a contradiction.

Belief in God - Religion in America: U.

Heraclitus comments on May 16, 2018:

I question your assumption that we will continually migrate in the direction of non-belief. There was an increasing number of agnostics and atheists in the latter 19th century, but it did not continue, but rather swung back in the opposite direction. At the time of the founding of America the number of Deists were steadily increasing, but we haven't become a nation of mostly Deists. I seriously doubt these numbers will ever invert. There is too much of a deep-seated emotional need of most humans for a god-like figure to direct their lives. Most also have a propensity for spiritual and mystic experiences that begs a divine explanation. As a species we are more emotional than rational. We may indeed be genetically hardwired with a predisposition toward religious experiences via a specific gene called vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2).

I don't mean to start anything, but it seems to me, as an agnostic, that it takes as much faith to ...

Heraclitus comments on May 16, 2018:

I consider myself agnostic, but atheism is often misunderstood. Refusal to buy into a theistic belief system, or anti-theism, is not faith. It is independence and honesty.

Do you have an interest in comparative religion?

Heraclitus comments on May 16, 2018:

Yes, one of the best ways to understand your own religion, if you have one, is to understand other religions. It can be quite liberating.

There is a move towards religious fundamentalism in the world, particularly among the Abrahamic ...

Heraclitus comments on May 16, 2018:

Fear. But, Atheists and Agnostics are now less apologetic about their position on religion than I have ever known them to be. They didn't simply used to be apologetic, they were in denial and for good reasons. You can still, and I would argue should, respect other people without necessarily respecting their beliefs. Think of them as victims of their belief systems...which they are.

On morality

Heraclitus comments on May 16, 2018:

In the words from the move South Pacific ( 1958 ): "You've got to be carefully taught."

Does anyone subscribe to Skeptic magazine? [skeptic.com]

Heraclitus comments on May 15, 2018:

Used to.

Did you ever wonder when mediums channel the spirits of the dead the deceased never tell their ...

Heraclitus comments on May 15, 2018:

Mediums will most likely tell you things you want to come true, and are likely to come true sooner or later. Such as you will take a trip, come into some money, find romance, etc. I went to a group seance once. The medium insisted on not doing it until midnight. In the preceding hours I noticed she was listening in on all the conversations going on in the room and used that info in the seance.

Philosophy ?

Heraclitus comments on May 15, 2018:

A lot. The unexamined mind is not worthing thinking.

We all do or have and will carry with us profound religious statements .

Heraclitus comments on May 15, 2018:

"One nation under God" wasn't added to our Pledge of Allegiance until 1954. It was added primarily as a way of emphasizing our difference from the "godless commies."

Did something bad that happened to you as a child turn you away from religion

Heraclitus comments on May 15, 2018:

If anything, my bad experiences in life led me to turn to God early in life. It was reason that turned me away from God. My father, a lukewarm believer, always said, "God gave us a brain for a reason."

A good friend & I were discussing creating a new religion.

Heraclitus comments on May 15, 2018:

I prefer the Church of Wine and Cheese, but that's me.

I honestly don't care where the universe came from all I know for sure is the concept of God is a ...

Heraclitus comments on May 15, 2018:

The God of the Gaps dies hard.

Bastards

Heraclitus comments on May 15, 2018:

Historically, and unfortunately, when a country begins to nostalgically worship its own past and make itself "great again" it is a symptom of its decline.

US Was Better Before ......

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

When state and religion become bedfellows, both are corrupted.

It's a good point. :D

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

And if he had killed his grandfather he wouldn't have come back at all...or been able to go back in time to kill his grandfather in the first place since he would have never been born.

When is a lie right? When is a lie righteous? When is a lie not a lie?

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

To prevent a greater evil, but that is a subjective judgment.

I watched contact again last night, a movie from a book written by carl Sagan.

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

I enjoyed the movie, but I was somewhat disappointed in the way Jodie Foster was depicted as a not too bright atheist. She simply insisted that she didn't and wouldn't believe in God unless and until it was proven to her. Both atheists and (intelligent) believers know that the existence of God can't be proven one way or the other. If it could, this forum wouldn't exist.

After direct neural links to the internet are possible, the invasion I fear is a combination of ...

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

Not entirely, the BSers always seem to be one step ahead of us. Some even get elected President. ;-)

A friend asked me why I am so much in favor of the space program.

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

There have been tremendous unforeseen benefits from the space program. The benefits have outweighed the costs many times over. https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2008/tech_benefits.html

Assuming there was a neural net type computer that could completely emulate a particular human mind,...

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

Though it may not be wise, not sure what would make it immoral. Don't believe that is listed in any of the "Thou Shall Not"s.

Hello everyone.

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

This is just a form of attempted mind control. The world is full of religious people who are sick. Those who accuse you know this. They themselves suffer from a sickness of the soul or they wouldn't treat you like this.

Here are 5 representations of God and yes, one of those representations is God as a woman, extra ...

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

I'll have to go with Marianne Faithful in Absolutely Fabulous.

Atheist dialogue in A Raisin in the Sun - YouTube

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

Amazing they even had the courage to leave this in the movie back then.

Do you think agnostics lack confidence in general by not making a decision? :)

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

No, rather it takes self-confidence to admit you don't know things that others pretend to know.

RIP Margot Kidder My favorite Lois Lane.

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

Sadly, she struggled for years with being bipolar.

Listening to "The Way of the World" by Ron Suskind.

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

People will usually trade freedom for security. This is dangerous and regrettable, but understandable. Freedom does you no good if you are dead.

I'm certainly in no way religious, but I ghost hunt, occasionally with some pretty impressive ...

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

Unexplained noises and sightings or reflections are not logically connected to ghosts. You've heard of the God of the Gaps. These are the "ghosts of the gaps." We can't explain something so we attribute it to ghosts.

Solve this Riddle

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

At the risk of redundancy, a school or a prison.

It is amazing to me how all the major religions were based on love and tolerance and are twisted by ...

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

What's amazing is how many religious people get love and hate mixed up. The pied pipers are nothing without the children who follow.

Did the latest I.S. stabbings in Paris make the news in your country?

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

Yes, including BBC America which I like to watch to get better coverage of European news.

Philosophers have fun, too. How many existentialists does it take to change a lightbulb?

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

Two. One to actually change the light bulb, and one to get nausea over having to make the decision to change it.

Listening to "Noam Chomsky at St.

Heraclitus comments on May 14, 2018:

The sad thing about CC is that we have known about it for at least half a century and now it is too late to do anything more than slow it down and delay the coming disaster. The second sad thing is that we are doing so little to prepare for the inevitable. In the NC Outer Banks they are still trying to change the zoning laws that allow public buildings, such as libraries, police and fire stations, museums, etc. to be constructed in the known future flood zones. Worse, the NC legislature passed a law disallowing the use of the new revised data that shows CC happening at a faster rate. It is now illegal for the sea level to rise faster than previously determined by antiquated data :-) This is the modern version of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

I neither believe or disbelieve. Am I in the right place?

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

I don't know. :-)

As an agnostic, I often think of myself as an explorer of ideas rather than a defender of Truths.

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

To me agnosticism is honesty.

Why do we assume that physical laws exist, i.

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

What is a law? We don't assume that physical laws exist, we create them in the sense that physical laws are a human description of the rhythms and patterns of nature that we observe, measure, and test.

I am the only person in my large latino family who does not believe in god.

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

I close my eyes out of politeness and respect, and just relax. Why make any more of it than that? I give family members their superstitions. They will take them anyway.

I am moving through deconstruction and have hit the "I am very angry stage" as I think about all of ...

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

You are not the Lone Ranger. Don't wallow in your past. Celebrate life and your new found freedom.

For as long as I’ve been an decidedly critical thinker, I’ve been outspoken about it.

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

So, what speech do you think should be considered illegal in light of the First Amendment...besides yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater?

To gain better knowledge is to use your critical thinking, not your ego.

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

The ego's prime directive is first survival and then expansion, not knowledge or truth.

Hi everyone

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

Greetings to you and your grapevines (I think).

And this is the case with all religions. How we can prevent this atrocity?

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

In the words of the philosophers Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: "Teach your children well."

Just got back from God country.

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

If God is Nature, you're absolutely right. ;-)

Newt Gingrich: Atheism Is More Dangerous To Christians Than Terrorists Are - The Intellectualist

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

Are you sure its not: Newt Gingrich is more of a terror to Christianity than Atheism? :-)

How common is this argument?

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

If you can't create something out of nothing, then what did God create the universe out of? That means that God must have created the Universe out of pre-existent something. So, where did this pre-existent something come from if it couldn't have come out of nothing and God didn't create it?

On the concept of "mindfulness.

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

Stoicism only goes back to the early 3rd century BC.

Define God! What is your definition of God, that you disbelieve completely if you are an ...

Heraclitus comments on May 12, 2018:

Your definition is not a bad definition to be agnostic/atheist about. Creation ex Nihilo, however, is a relatively modern concept. By relatively modern, I mean the early Roman Catholic Church (Latin). Creation ex Nihilo essentially originated as a way of saying to the pagans, "Our God is greater than yours. He can create out of nothing." Note also that Creation ex Nihilo is not explicitly found in Genesis. The ancients thought that creation out of nothing was completely illogical. Nothing comes from nothing (ex nihilo nihil fit). (Yes, Shakespeare played on this saying in King Lear.) Consequently, the ancient Greeks believed that there was always some sort of matter or primordial stuff which a creator God organized into creation as we see it (Creation ex Materia).

Are there any Gnostic Atheist out there besides me?

Heraclitus comments on May 11, 2018:

I am not sure that epistemology and philosophy are entirely useless, just indeterminate. In fact, you have just given your epistemological basis for determining the existence of God. Philosophy can help one examine and clarify your own and others assumptions, just as you have apparently done.

I've been considering the implications of current trends in technology.

Heraclitus comments on May 11, 2018:

Back in 1983 I toured a "factory of the future." I only saw a total of four people in a large factory. There were two technicians checking on the machines, and two men at the bottom of a chute stacking product boxes. Today, they wouldn't need the two people stacking boxes. My only surprise is that the Automation Revolution has taken so long. We are now entering a new phase of the Automation Revolution. Recently, a robot was successfully programmed to fold clothes. This may not sound like a big deal, but actually the programming was rather complicated. Most people can't easily fold clothes without leaving some wrinkles in them. From now on, more complicated tasks are going to be replaced by automation. Neural networks are also becoming more sophisticated. IBM's Watson, for example, uses complex neural networks to problem-solve in fields such as medical diagnosis and computer problem analysis. There are times when you might be interfacing with a neural network online and not even know it, which means they pass the Turing Test.

Which is more useful, intelligence or wisdom?

Heraclitus comments on May 11, 2018:

Intelligence without wisdom is dangerous.

So everyone who I know is trying to get me to believe in God and I just want to remain an atheist ...

Heraclitus comments on May 11, 2018:

Tell them you honestly don't believe in God and you can't force yourself in believe in God any more than you can force yourself to believe in Santa Claus. Your only choice is to be honest about your lack of belief or put on an act and pretend to believe. If there is a God, then God will only honor a life of honesty, not a life of pretense. There is no such thing as salvation by hypocrisy.

Age makes you realize you’re never gonna grow up.

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

The two times in life when people usually feel truly free are early childhood and old age.

How best can we comfort our dying atheist friend(s) and family members?

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

Though dying is tough for everyone, most true Atheists don't fear death. Why would you? It simply means that all the pain and suffering of dying is over. To fear the loss of consciousness is to fear going to sleep at night. The only real reason to fear death is if you have some sort of residual fear that you, or your loved one, might go to hell. However, grief is the feeling of loss and is perfectly natural. It is better felt than repressed. All my life I have known religious people who have grieved terribly in spite of their beliefs. The pain of a lost loved one transcends all belief.

My friend is questioning her faith My former secretary was raised in an AME church and now attends ...

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

Google "Bible contradictions".

Ever been startled by someone's vehement religion-inspired opposition to something you regarded as ...

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

If your colleague really believes in the Bible, point out the following verses to him: Deuteronomy 22:11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together. Ecclesiastes 9:8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Deuteronomy 22:12 You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.

Love! needs a religion/god?

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

Either you believe in God or you do not. All you can really do is to pretend to believe in God for "love". Are you really contemplating a love relationship based on hypocrisy? Only two things can happen and both of them bad: 1) A love based on pretense, which isn't really love. No telling what it will turn into. 2) The "love" soon fades. What then would be left of your soul/person now that you have given away your integrity?

It’s possible a higher intelligence could exist beyond on our own.

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

Yes, this is the Bandwagon Fallacy, or proof by numbers.

In Vino Veritas.

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

True enough. Oenophilia forever!

Coincidence I think not..

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

This is a false dichotomy. Given the astronomical expanse of spacetime it is a near certainty that life would develop somewhere.

The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of ...

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

And so, Candide, we tend our garden as best we can.

Glass half full or half empty?

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

An optimist says the glass is half-full. A pessimist says the glass is half-empty. An engineer says the glass is twice a big as it needs to be. :-)

The truth is out there

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

True to a point, but if you are religious you have to spend your whole life rationalizing your given beliefs to yourself and others. This can create a lot of cognitive dissonance and become mentally exhausting. Many people who become agnostic/atheists do so simply because their religious defense mechanisms get worn down by reason.

Israel has the right to defend itself.

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

Well, remember the military dictum: "The best defense is a good offense." ;-)

Can all facts be proven? What is acceptable proof?

Heraclitus comments on May 10, 2018:

If you really want to get philosophical about this, refer to David Hume's discussion of causation in "A Treatise of Human Nature" and "An Inquiry concerning Human Understanding" in which Hume undermined our assumptions concerning the validity of cause and effect. But, even Hume admitted that we had to accept the validity of cause and effect, or else it would be virtually impossible to go about our daily lives.

Can all facts be proven? What is acceptable proof?

Heraclitus comments on May 9, 2018:

In historiography, a "fact" is by consensus. There are no proven facts, only accepted facts.

For some reason, it is very difficult for me to find people who are both existentialists and ...

Heraclitus comments on May 9, 2018:

I think Sartre explained this when he proclaimed that we are "condemned to be free."

After joining this group today I started to think about a famous quote - "I think therefore I am" - ...

Heraclitus comments on May 9, 2018:

Descartes was French. In French, "Cogito ergo sum" becomes "Je pense, donc je suis." In French, the verb "penser" and has a somewhat more complex meaning than "to think." Sometimes penser is translated "to think" and sometimes it is translated "to doubt." In French philosophy all thinking implies a certain doubt about the subject at hand. It is this doubt about the nature of the subject of analysis that drives thinking. Consequently, some philosophers, especially those taking Descartes in the context of his writings, think that what Descartes really meant was, "I doubt, therefore I am." In other words, Descartes was saying in his introverted analysis that he could doubt absolutely everything except the fact that he was doubting. There is no doubt that there is doubt. Where there is doubt, there is a doubter, or self. No shit.

Atheists who bash Christians.

Heraclitus comments on May 9, 2018:

You're right, and it doesn't work. In fact, it backfires. You can't insult someone out of their religious beliefs. It just makes them not want to be like you.

10 good things Trump has done his first year in office [google.com]

Heraclitus comments on May 9, 2018:

Taught the apathetics that voting is important. Democracy: use it or lose it.

If Jesus Christ was really God, what should he have said?

Heraclitus comments on May 9, 2018:

God or not, if Jesus were alive today he would reject and rebel against Christianity.

Has the republican party become the party of traitors?

Heraclitus comments on May 9, 2018:

I was once a Republican. I think of them more as the party of hypocrisy.

Did Jesus exist?

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Jesus of Nazareth lived as testified to by the Jewish Roman historian Josephus, though some scholars think it was really Jesus the Nazarene (an ascetic Jewish religious sect). (Note that only the Gospel of Luke claims that the hometown of Jesus, Mary and Joseph was Nazareth.) BTW, his name couldn't have been Jesus. That's a Greek name that is the equivalent of Joshua in Aramaic and pronounced more like 'Yoshava'. Being the son of Joseph, he was probably referred to as Joshua ben (son of) Joseph. Isn't it interesting that after 2000 years of deifying him, we still can't get the guy's name right?

How often do you talk to yourself?

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Only when I want someone to listen to me. :-)

What The Fuck Bible Passages So I have decided to find wtf bible passage, write them down and break...

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Here's another WTF bible passage: the talking ass (donkey) of Numbers 22:28.

What The Fuck Bible Passages So I have decided to find wtf bible passage, write them down and break...

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Reminds me of King Lear disinheriting his daughter Cordelia just for refusing to lie to him.

Chortle ....

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Hmm, I guess human ridiculousness is God's will, too. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so much of it.

What's the worst thing done to humanity in the name of religion?

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Turning us into slaves/robots/zombies of tyrannical and destructive human belief systems, and thereby robbing us of our soul in the name of God.

I've been pondering the WHY of religion. That is, why does it exist?

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Mystery. Without mystery there is no religion. There is the mystery of death. There is the mystery of life, and the purpose of life. There is the mystery of the Good, and there is the mystery of Evil. Knowledge is the enemy of mystery. In Genesis, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden were FORBIDDEN to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And once they partook of this knowledge, which destroyed mystery, they were cast out of paradise for their sin of knowing too much.

When religious people demand that I respect their beliefs because it is their god given right to be ...

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Respecting someone's religion and respecting their prejudices against you are not the same thing. Prejudice means to pre-judge (before knowing the facts), and they are pre-judging you to hell. (Gee, I thought only God had the right to judge someone to hell.) Unfortunately, religion is often a cover for practicing prejudice and blaming it on God, as in "I don't really mean to discriminate against you, but God says I must."

Are there others out there who despite Anti-theistic/Atheistic/Agnostic beliefs enjoy religious type...

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Certainly. You don't have to be religious to enjoy a good horror show...but it helps. ;-)

I've been following the story of the teenage boy in Alabama who was pronounced brain dead.

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

We are still learning about the biological state of death. First of all, "brain-dead" just means that no electrical activity was measured and we do have good, but not perfect, instruments to measure this. Secondly, it is not certain that the lack of electrical activity, at least for a time, means the brain is thoroughly dead, but rather is dormant. Subtle chemical processes may still be occurring. Thirdly, many medical scientists now believe that even in brain death, the rest of the spinal cord may still be alive, and it is quite possible for the spinal cord to "reboot" the brain with electrical pulses. Finally, any change in eye color has nothing to do with being "reborn". (Where in the Bible does it say that? Sounds more like a Hollywood movie someone saw.) Eye color is caused by pigment or the lack thereof. People's eye color often changes somewhat as they age. Hardly anyone keeps their "baby blues" their entire life. So are all the billions of people whose eye color changes "reborn", or is it just a natural chemical process?

Does anyone believe that theists are generally honest and sincere in their claims?

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

I knew a number of people in college who seriously questioned their religion, many of whom became agnostic. However, once they got married and began raising a family, most became religious again...at least on the surface. They couldn't bring themselves to raise an agnostic/atheist family in this society. Too dangerous. Too much persecution. They often used the excuse that they would raise their children "Christian", or whatever, and then let them decide for themselves when they became adults. So, their children became thoroughly indoctrinated in a religion that their parents only half-heartedly believed in, at best. I suspect this cycle repeats itself endlessly.

War and religion

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Because every god is a god of power, especially power over death. And if God is for us, who can be against us? Even Nazis had "Gott mit us" engraved on their belts. Nothing is more effective in uniting a country in war than believing they are fighting in the name of God and that the enemy is a bunch of godless infidels that they are obligated to destroy.

Has religion deprived society of being able to cope with death? True or false?

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Religion is a way of coping with death, just an illusory way of coping with death. In fact, if there were no death, there may not be much of a need for religion. Why would you need religion if you lived forever?

I don't understand why a man can't be a cat guy when it comes to pets, and not be given shit about ...

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

It's just adolescent ignorance. Dogs are seen as a more macho because they are attack animals. I have been a dog person for years, but my wife is a cat person. I have come to appreciate and respect the independent intelligence of a cat with whom I have to work out an understanding relationship as opposed to the subservience of a dog.

"Having escaped the Dark Ages in which animals were mere stimulus-response machines, we are free to ...

Heraclitus comments on May 7, 2018:

Yes, I think anthropomorphism and making "man the measure of all things" is the greatest impediment to understanding animal intelligence. I never cease to be amazed, for example, how smart crows and ravens are in spite of their tiny birdbrains. They actually fashion and use tools to figure out fairly complicated food puzzles. This is not even to mention animals like whales who appear to be extremely intelligent. They communicate through complex call patterns over thousands of miles. It has even been speculated that there may be a type of global "whale internet" that is occurring in the oceans. I think it will be a long time before we really have a handle on animal intelligence because we simply don't really know what to make of them outside of comparing them to ourselves. First, we would have to become smart enough to figure out their languages, which we are not yet very good at.

Agnostic is atheist! "Agnostic" (Huxley) may have been coined to separate honourable American ...

Heraclitus comments on May 5, 2018:

Those who refuse to acknowledge differences between agnostics and atheists, let alone the differences among agnostics themselves, are simply lazy thinkers who love to pigeonhole people, and the fewer the pigeonholes to stuff people into, the better. This is not to mention the arrogant self-righteousness of insisting on telling people they don't know what they believe in or don't believe in, but you do. However, such judgmental narrow thinking makes it so much easier to put all infidels into one category and condemn them all to hell, doesn't it?

What would you say to God if when you died you were faced with him?

Heraclitus comments on May 5, 2018:

I like both your answer and Stephen Fry's, but I would probably say that no matter how much you claim to be God, I know that you can't be. No God would ever create a world like this, let alone the Hell that you seem to enjoy sending your creation to for the simple act of not believing in nonsensical mythology. So, stop lying.

My first thoughts about God or no God was when I was 6 or 7.

Heraclitus comments on May 5, 2018:

I think my very first doubts began when I first realized that all the adults I knew had been lying about Santa Claus, which is a god-like figure, BTW. Now, if they all lied about Santa, for our own good and happiness, of course, then what else might they be lying about...for our own good and happiness, of course.

Would you want a Christian God to be real?

Heraclitus comments on May 5, 2018:

A nonsensical question. If there were a heaven it would not, indeed, could not be under Yahweh. Ever read the Old Testament?

The Bible is full of paradoxes, but the biggest one I’ve ever found is “God gave us freewill” ...

Heraclitus comments on May 5, 2018:

Well, I guess the biggest one for me has always been that God is love, and He sends so many of His own created children to everlasting hellfire torment because He loves them with a perfect love and that's what a perfect love does. Kind of makes you want to curse love, doesn't it?

If He existed, would you choose to worship.

Heraclitus comments on May 5, 2018:

I don't see how it is even possible to prove that God exits. How? If a giant being appeared before me claiming to be God, I would think that I was either hallucinating, or an alien being was playing a trick on me. If said alien demanded that I kneel in worship, I would know he wasn't really God, though I might be tempted to kneel anyway just to keep from being crushed to death by such a malevolent being.

Do u think Christianity is bad ? What's your opinion on it

Heraclitus comments on May 5, 2018:

Christianity, as it is called, is really a type of generic tribalism. There are almost as many definitions of Christianity as there are Christians, and I am not sure I have ever met two of them that agreed on everything about their religion. Many aren't even sure of what it is they are "supposed" to believe. Ever been to a library and looked at the selves of bible commentaries? I don't think there have ever been two trained theologians who have completely agreed on what the bible means. In fact, they will often provide several suggestions as to what a biblical passage might mean. The mixture of books, known as collectively as the Bible, when examined together is more of a mystery than a coherent scripture, and so lends itself to a myriad of subjective interpretations. Christianity is a conceptual tribalism without agreement, but sadly, with a lot of judgment. The good "Christians" that I have known never seem to take the Bible too seriously.

The "God Concept.

Heraclitus comments on May 5, 2018:

Reminds me of the theologian Paul Tillich's redefinition of God as one's ultimate concern in life. Whatever is one's ultimate concern in life, or whatever is one's ultimate motivation in life, is one's God. A better God concept than a guy on Mt. Olympus raining down thunderbolts, or a guy on Mt. Sinai raining down fire and brimstone. The ultimate concern of an agnostic/atheist is truth.

Do you ever miss the religious life?

Heraclitus comments on May 5, 2018:

I've got to admit, there are times when I miss the blissful escapism of it all. And if you don't understand that, then you will never understand why so many people get stuck in it.

Hi folks I keep getting interrupted here.

Heraclitus comments on May 5, 2018:

The marrying of church and state, a recipe for enhancing power, corrupts both. Our Founding Fathers, many of whom were deist, were painfully familiar with the evils of marrying church and state as the history of warfare and repression in Europe so tragically demonstrate. Funny how those who worship the wisdom of our Founding Fathers agree with them only when it is self-serving to do so.

Why is Faith considered so dearly and science is not?

Heraclitus comments on Apr 29, 2018:

Because your facts, evidence, and proof are a threat to their emotional declarations of faith. People who feel threatened defensively lash out, including ad hominem attacks against the speaker. If they can dismiss you as one of the eternally damned, then why should they have to listen to you in the first place?

Intelligent design

Heraclitus comments on Apr 25, 2018:

Whoever said that there can't be some inherent survival intelligence in nature that results in design, or at least what we perceive as design? The problem with Intelligent Design theory is the fundamental assumption that even the appearance of intelligence or design can't be explained without postulating some sort of "God" or "gods". Whoever said that the existential basis of the Universe, without postulating some incomprehensible entity called a "god", is pure chaotic idiocy? Nature begs to differ.

What would make you believe in a God?

Heraclitus comments on Apr 16, 2018:

I can't make that distinction. That's why I worship my remote control. :-)

Death from an Agnostic/Atheist perspective

Heraclitus comments on Apr 16, 2018:

One mourns loss. You certainly don't have to believe in an afterlife to mourn the loss of a loved one.