Correlation between Religion and Athletes
- Thread starter ~Derek~
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Saparmurat_Niyazov
Member
Clearly I thought it was relevant to your statement that preceded said explanation or I wouldn't have made it. Now stop being a snarky twat.
jussstin
Member
Thanks for posting those links. Interesting stats indeed. I'm about to finish my Med Science degree this year (in the unlikely event that I don't screw anything up), and if there's one thing I'm appreciative of (apart from it's going to give me a career where I don't have drunk dickheads threatening to bash me every other week), it's the fact that the degree has instilled into me the importance of not forming an understanding of the world based on information deemed to be not from a legitimate source. This has really helped dissolve my belief in God as I don't consider the Bible to be a reliable source, mostly due to the length of time between Jesus' death and the writing of the synoptic gospels. It all smells a bit like an extended game of Chinese Whispers to me, which would be funny if the implications of a large portion of the world believing in God weren't so drastic.
I'm a little bit surprised that there are a third of scientists that do believe in God though, I guess it is hard to shake the ideas we were indoctrinated with as kids, even in the face of an overwhelming lack of evidence. I always find it funny that there has been not one scientifically verified miracle. If God wanted me to believe in him then surely he could provide some decent evidence (like a miracle) that would help prove his existence too me. Is that too much to ask?
And if God is going to send me to Hell for not believing in him when he hasn't provided any decent evidence of his existence, then he can go fuck himself, because I don't want to spend and eternity around a deity who is that logically backwards anyway.
Dak
mentat
How do you verify something scientifically that would assumably happen outside the laws of the universe? I am curious.
Saparmurat_Niyazov
Member
How do the pious have certain knowledge of things that happen outside the known laws of the universe? I don't mean faith, I mean that many religious folks feel that they know for a fact god exists.
Dak
mentat
Saparmurat_Niyazov
Member
jussstin
Member
Good point. I suppose technically you can't verify it. I probably should have said that there have been no 'miracles' that have stood up to scientific scrutiny, giving credence to the saying that science doesn't actually prove anything, but can only disprove.
Even if there was an unexplainable 'miracle' or apparent supernatural phenomena, the default explanation should be, 'We're not sure why this happens, at this point in time, but we will endeavor to find out,' rather than, 'Errrrr, God did it.' Although this does open an interesting and rather large hole in my argument that God should prove his existence via miracles, as even if God did do this I'd probably just put it down to some unexplained natural phenomena. Hmmm, I'll have to rethink that one a bit.
Dak
mentat
One of the first times I have seen someone admit to probably doing this, at least you are honest. Similar situations would include something like a HIGHLY unlikely coincidence occuring, and instead of it being some sort of divinely controlled destiny thing, it's just chalked up to that: a highly unlikely coincidence.
Dak
mentat
damnromulans
Klingons do not faint
RedFox742
Power/Prog Devotee
Y'know, I used to be irritated by the point-to-the-sky thing, but then I changed my mind. An intelligent athlete of faith who does this isn't saying "God made me catch the ball", he's saying, "my faith gives me the strength to accomplish great feats" or "God helped me become a strong enough person to do these things". It's just like saying "thanks Mom"; your mom didn't put the ball in the hoop, but she supported you as you learned how to.
I hate threads about religion, but I did want to throw that out there.
I hate threads about religion, but I did want to throw that out there.
skeptik
Member
- Feb 7, 2003
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/thread
j/k
Seriously though, the evidence does appear to point toward the average person who defines himself as an atheist in the western world being of higher intelligence than the average person who defines himself by some theological belief. My theory for one of the primary contributing factors to explain this is that most people born in the western world are born into a household that it tied to some religious belief, and it takes a great deal of mental stamina to be able to critically analyze the data that you've been fed since birth and say "this is wrong." How many people here, for example, who consider themselves an atheist, grew up in a religious household? I know I did, and I know several others here have talked about their experiences regarding parental religious beliefs, such as Zephyrus.
Regarding the "liberals/progressives/atheists have higher IQs than conservatives/theists", from the studies I've seen relative to the political spectrum, the liberal ideology dominates on both ends of the scale; the majority of both the upper class and the lower class define themselves as (primarily socially) liberal, but obviously for different reasons, which I guess can also apply to Black Death's (that's your new name Sap') example of the disgruntled blue collar worker turning away from god.
With all of this said, as cookiecutter pointed out, nobody should be taking statistics overly seriously by applying it to themselves and thus feeling in some way superior or inferior depending on which side of the spectrum you happen to fall. Lateralus need not worry in doubting his own intelligence merely because he believes in a higher power, and need not be offended by the data. Data does not stop you from being intelligent.
Finally, on the actual thread topic, I probably would've said something similar to cookiecutter's first post. I admit to feeling a sense of disappointment every time an athlete that I follow credits his success to God or Jesus, especially when they say things like "I'm nothing without him" or "he helped me catch that ball". Statements like that go far beyond humility to the point that it's merely belittling not only to oneself, and not only to one's team, but frankly, to everybody. Human beings are capable of performing impressive feats of their own making, and it's unfair to take that away or trivialize it.
Manic Ferocity
Active Member
- Nov 5, 2006
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Yeah, even if you are faithful, shouldn't the fact that you are alive alone be the reason to thank a supreme being? Why do people insist on every personal feat to be faith-related? I'm pretty sure a god wouldn't be all that concerned about whether or not you catch a ball.
Dak
mentat
skeptik
Member
- Feb 7, 2003
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A solid, non-condescending post from Dodens.
/thread!
I stopped being condescending (for the most part) a while ago. It's not good for you, bro. I wish this whole board would learn to be less condescending and more accepting of one another.
P.S. You and Cythraul are the most condescending posters here.
Dak
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Onder
Active Member
- Apr 10, 2006
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Saying thanks to God after catching a ball or something is not that ridiculous logically considering the belief that God is behind everything (i.e. even the fucking ball catch), you're thanking him for making that situation even possible to happen or something. What I consider ridiculous though is praying before and thinking "okay, I'm good with God now".. That's beyond logic.
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