Controversial Opinions on Life

[Einherjar86]

I am willing to believe that there are people in the world with the "insight into the fundamentals of the universe" scientists claim, and who aren't scientists. The thing is that behind science is a very detailed and cognitively multifaceted process, and there is generally much more information in science to report on than in non-scientific fields, so that may have an effect of giving science more air time on the public stage.

I absolutely agree, and I think that science should be awarded the publicity and reverence that it receives, since it provides us with the best means of substantially understanding the world around us.

It's interesting to note, because in the Middle Ages the same reverence was accorded to not only religion, but also theology; theology was considered the apogee of academic learning, embracing philosophic logic and even criticism on economics and politics. Those outside the academy were not entrusted to conceive of scientific theories or acknowledged widely if they did (until Dante); this is exactly the authority that is given to the scientific community today.

Furthermore, the vast majority of "laymen" today actually don't have access to the information that circles within the academy. Our access to science is through media outlets such as Discovery and National Geographic. This is just another example of science cordoning itself off and isolating its findings to the educated elite, which simply lends support to the ruling ideology (of which science is a component part).

Of course, with the rapid expansion of the internet and new forms of information technology, this information is becoming more readily available to a wider audience. However, you still need to be able to afford the technology and be able to understand the academic lingo in order to get a good seat.

 

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

Edit: BTW, schizophrenia =/= MPD, but I have to assume that was your meaning because "paranoid schizophrenic" is , in actuality, somewhat redundant.

It was a joke, don't get butt hurt.

 

[Dak]

It was a joke, don't get butt hurt.

I love how that term has taken off.

 

[Vimana]

I get annoyed whenever people who follow Abrahamic religions try to deny that many of their stories and beliefs come from older, polytheistic traditions that predate them. It's like they think that their religion coming out of nowhere randomly in time somehow makes it more viable. The more conservative Christians I talk to seem to get annoyed when I explain how the story in Genesis about Adam, Eve, and the Eden was really about an ancient Mesopotamian city (in a region called Edin) that over-farmed its land and turned it into desert. Plus, God calls himself a "we" twice in one verse in Genesis. The most obvious explanation is the Hebrews who descended from a polytheistic tradition just told the story and didn't pay attention to or notice the change from multiple gods to one god.

26 And God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.'

This is directly translated from Hebrew, by the way.

 

[waif]

You sound like an absolute twat. I'm annoyed and you're not even talking to me.

 

[Dak]

I get annoyed whenever people who follow Abrahamic religions try to deny that many of their stories and beliefs come from older, polytheistic traditions that predate them. It's like they think that their religion coming out of nowhere randomly in time somehow makes it more viable. The more conservative Christians I talk to seem to get annoyed when I explain how the story in Genesis about Adam, Eve, and the Eden was really about an ancient Mesopotamian city (in a region called Edin) that over-farmed its land and turned it into desert. Plus, God calls himself a "we" twice in one verse in Genesis. The most obvious explanation is the Hebrews who descended from a polytheistic tradition just told the story and didn't pay attention to or notice the change from multiple gods to one god.



This is directly translated from Hebrew, by the way.

Of course, one of the other options is that the religions and stories in various early civilizations between creation and the appearance to Abraham were distortions of the events chronicled more accurately by Moses....

 

[Vimana]

That kind of assumes that creation, well, happened. And besides, the stories and themes pre-dated Moses and the Hebrews. It's pretty obvious that the Jews come from Mesopotamia, and that a lot of their stories reflect a lot of similar themes (and even names) to Mesopotamian religion.

You sound like an absolute twat. I'm annoyed and you're not even talking to me.

How does having a better understanding of the origins of Abrahamic religion than most involved in the religions make me sound like a twat? I'm not trying to be pretentious or anything, but I get annoyed when people seem to assume that their religion came out of nowhere directly from God and therefore it is more correct than anyone else's.

 

[Tonka Time]

I think every religion came from one source. Some have just collected more dirt than others.

I lean towards hinduism. I do not consider myself a hindu.
I take ideas that I like from every religion.

In my opinion, the source is the human mind and the micro effects the macro and vice versa. So it is the human mind, and it isn't.

My particular belief manifested itself through life experiences and drug use. So now I search for words to explain what I am feeling. I try to always look up definitions of the words I use to better understand what I thought I knew.

 

[Vimana]

I personally think that's a better way to look at religion. I like studying different religions and taking whatever good wisdom I can from them. I consider all of the gods every society has ever believed in to be just as viable as God. It really frustrates me, though, when people don't have perspective and think of other people's religions (who the people believe in just as much as anyone else believes in their religion) and think "myth, Satan's delusion, blah blah."

 

[skeptik]

You sound like an absolute twat. I'm annoyed and you're not even talking to me.

Yeah.

Of course, one of the other options is that the religions and stories in various early civilizations between creation and the appearance to Abraham were distortions of the events chronicled more accurately by Moses....

Of course, the more likely option is that all of the religions and stories are bullshit. But, you know, whatever.

 

[Dak]

That kind of assumes that creation, well, happened. And besides, the stories and themes pre-dated Moses and the Hebrews. It's pretty obvious that the Jews come from Mesopotamia, and that a lot of their stories reflect a lot of similar themes (and even names) to Mesopotamian religion.



How does having a better understanding of the origins of Abrahamic religion than most involved in the religions make me sound like a twat? I'm not trying to be pretentious or anything, but I get annoyed when people seem to assume that their religion came out of nowhere directly from God and therefore it is more correct than anyone else's.

This is essentially a chicken and egg argument. But I agree with you to some degree.

 

[Vimana]

I guess I can come off as sounding pretentious or elitist, but I also (another controversial opinion, I guess) think quality is a pretty subjective concept, and discussing things like musical quality and stuff are pretty meaningless. So I don't think I'm "better" than anyone else for anything.

 

[The Ozzman]

Affirmative Action is inherently discriminatory and prejudicial to single white heterosexual males and should be abolished as a hiring standard

 

[Vimana]

Agreed. I also hate how African Americans in my area whose parents make as much as mine get an edge for getting into a good school because of their race. It should be income-based.

 

[Dak]

Affirmative Action is inherently discriminatory and prejudicial to single white heterosexual males and should be abolished as a hiring standard

That's what a single white heterosexual male WOULD say.

 

[waif]

How does having a better understanding of the origins of Abrahamic religion than most involved in the religions make me sound like a twat? I'm not trying to be pretentious or anything, but I get annoyed when people seem to assume that their religion came out of nowhere directly from God and therefore it is more correct than anyone else's.

Talking like this makes you sound like a twat. I have no doubt that you apply this confrontational, condescending tone when talking to people about beliefs they hold dear. The only people who give a shit about that stuff are people with a scholastic interest in religion. Those people tend not to be believers.

 

[Vacant_Planets]

Affirmative Action is inherently discriminatory and prejudicial to single white heterosexual males and should be abolished as a hiring standard

This opinion sounds like more discrimination from the exact group mentioned. lol

 

[Vimana]

Talking like this makes you sound like a twat. I have no doubt that you apply this confrontational, condescending tone when talking to people about beliefs they hold dear. The only people who give a shit about that stuff are people with a scholastic interest in religion. Those people tend not to be believers.

While my posts sound condescending, they don't reflect how I act in real life. My family is all Christian, all of their friends are Christians, too. I also used to be a Christian and know what it's like to be annoyed by atheists saying stuff like "Christians are stupid and deluded for believing in God." They get annoyed when I want to tell them something interesting I read, like how manna might have been psilocybin-containing mushrooms, etc. as if it somehow shakes their faith. Besides, I'm not usually the one who brings up religion. My relatives tell me to read Christian rhetoric and will give me lectures about how adhering to their beliefs will improve my life. I keep cool and simply convey that I'm not interested, but, well, my frustration had to be let out somewhere.

I have a huge interest in history, and it is often what I discuss with my father who also is interested in it. The discussions, however end up getting on my nerves when my father will scoff at relations between themes between Biblical stories and other Afro-Asiatic tales and will think of other religious beliefs as nothing but myths. I think it is pretty condescending, to be honest, when someone believes in something else as much as one believes in what another believes (on a matter that is not logically provable or disprovable), and one thinks "oh, that's just a myth. Their gods can't be real."

Looking back, I probably chose the most condescending way to let out my frustration. What really goes on is that Christians in my life seem to think their religion is the end all be all and that other religions, and any relation between their religion and other religions, are simply just bullshit. I am not a Dawkins-type atheist that goes around actively trying to disprove people's beliefs.

Edit: I'm not defending my sounding condescending. I'll keep in mind not posting this way in the future, though.

 

[The Ozzman]

That's what a single white heterosexual male WOULD say.

Well, the whole idea behind AA is that if you have two equal candidates (equal in every aspect) and one is a minority and the other is a white dude, you should hire the minority. Theoretically, it's prejudicial and discriminatory. However, no two candidates are at all equal in any aspect so there's that argument too.

Unless you were joking..

 

[Dak]

Well, the whole idea behind AA is that if you have two equal candidates (equal in every aspect) and one is a minority and the other is a white dude, you should hire the minority. Theoretically, it's prejudicial and discriminatory. However, no two candidates are at all equal in any aspect so there's that argument too.

Unless you were joking..

Of course. It was pretty much IB4 what V_P wound up posting.