The "controversial opinions" thread!

[Cyanide_Anima]

I can't wait until science realizes that everything is everything, that infinity is infinite and that is simply is, which it will.

lulz. Nice and vacuous, with a dash of nebulosity.

 

[GarethSE]

"Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" So they went throughout the city and did as they were told." (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT)

When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB)

Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the people went to meet them outside the camp. But Moses was furious with all the military commanders who had returned from the battle. "Why have you let all the women live?" he demanded. "These are the very ones who followed Balaam's advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the LORD at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the LORD's people. Now kill all the boys and all the women who have slept with a man. Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves. (Numbers 31:7-18 NLT)


Sounds like the kind of god I want to worship. A god that orders murders of women and children, allows slavery and the rape of young girls.

You realize that religious texts are written by people, right? People with opinions, ego's, agendas and goals? (Rather than people who have had powerful egodeath experiences that realize they are essentially amorphous blobs that can be whatever they want or need to be..)

I keep saying this. God as a metaphor or symbol or manifestation of the unity of all things is all well and good. God as a literal concept of a man in the sky that judges everyone is fucking ridiculous.
This is why I tend to not talk about "God" to most people because the majority already think I'm absolutely insane (despite the fact that what I talk about isn't very far removed from what someone like Buddha would've talked about, not that I think I am on the same level he was. I am no-where near it.)
Most people will not understand the usage of the word "God" as metanarrative and instead think you are referring to the Judeo-Christian "God" and thus think you're a headcase. Thus why I refrain from using the word around 99% of people.

 

[Vinny]

I have never understood the whole "Jesus sacrificed his life for our sins" aspect of Christianity. Jesus came to Earth from heaven, knowing not only who he was but where he would ultimately go when all was said and done. Therefore, though he does suffer incredible cruelty and hardship in the story, he knew every step of the way that when he died, he'd go right back to eternal paradise. That just doesn't sound like much of a sacrifice to me. At the most mundane level, we all endure brief periods of hardship (like the workday) because we know what awaits us when it's over (going home to loving family). It just seems to me that if Jesus wanted to make a big showy sacrifice, he would have gone to hell so none of us had to.

I'm not wanting to participate in this argument due to the fact that I believe it is nearly impossible to give an opinion on a topic such as this that clearly displays the author's REAL feeling and perceptions over teh interwebz, BUT according to Christian teaching and the Bible itself, Jesus DID spend time in Hell during the 3 days between his death and his resurrection. Just wanted to point that out...

 

[Vinny]

- I thought we weren't supposed to reply to previous posts? I know I'm a hypocrite for doing so in my own previous post, but still...

 

[timislegend]

You're speaking in circles at this point.

You're saying it's a mistake to base future decisions of past results?

My problem with this is that there being "nothing bigger than you" seems to be a base state, and any claims other than that would require proof.

Self-evidence requires no proof, it's not faith - by definition it's something that's obvious. As in "it's self-evident that Hitler is dead."

everyone on this thread is speaking in circles... the entire history of religion vs science is a cyclical conversation.

people who are atheist ...don't need proof because they believe it is a fact that there is no god.

people who believe in god don't need proof either, they just believe.

whether the definition or the use of one term in this conversation is the basis of your confusion or not. it doesn't matter what you or i say. it's two very conflicting ideas that will always conflict.

i didn't say it is faith, i said it is similar.

you tend to split hairs in most of your comments but this main idea is: nothing is black and white... everything is incredibly gray (or grey).

all ridiculous confusion aside; progress is the result of "above thinking" and anything else is egotistic.

 

[Morgan C]

I can't wait until science realizes that everything is everything, that infinity is infinite and that is simply is, which it will.

Unfortunately, this doesn't allow us to build planes and computers, etc. Unless planes are computers... brb.

 

[JeffTD]

people who are atheist ...don't need proof because they believe it is a fact that there is no god.

This is my main gripe, because you don't have to believe it to be a fact that there is no god to not make assumptions that there are a higher power. That's why I took issue with your statement about it being as "maniacal" as making decisions based off religion or faith, since it's a base state to begin with and requires no proof or assumptions or beliefs in either directions - it just is.

 

[timislegend]

This is my main gripe, because you don't have to believe it to be a fact that there is no god to not make assumptions that there are a higher power. That's why I took issue with your statement about it being as "maniacal" as making decisions based off religion or faith, since it's a base state to begin with and requires no proof or assumptions or beliefs in either directions - it just is.

ah i see what you mean.

this conversation is an uphill battle for me because i am biased. i do however try my best not to discredit the ideas of others. if people feel strong enough about something ...it may as well be the truth to them but to many others it's perceived as foolish because of their similar convictions. religion is personal to me so it's difficult for me to tell other people what is right and what is wrong. god or no god (for the sake of discussion) people are screwed-up... and anyway you slice it (imo) none of us know what the hell we are talking about.

 

[Cyanide_Anima]

You realize that religious texts are written by people, right? People with opinions, ego's, agendas and goals? (Rather than people who have had powerful egodeath experiences that realize they are essentially amorphous blobs that can be whatever they want or need to be..)

I keep saying this. God as a metaphor or symbol or manifestation of the unity of all things is all well and good. God as a literal concept of a man in the sky that judges everyone is fucking ridiculous.
This is why I tend to not talk about "God" to most people because the majority already think I'm absolutely insane (despite the fact that what I talk about isn't very far removed from what someone like Buddha would've talked about, not that I think I am on the same level he was. I am no-where near it.)
Most people will not understand the usage of the word "God" as metanarrative and instead think you are referring to the Judeo-Christian "God" and thus think you're a headcase. Thus why I refrain from using the word around 99% of people.

Jesus H. Christ. Why do hippies always say this. "God is love, man. Love is everything... n' stuff." It's a nice thought I suppose but is of no practical use at all.

What is the point of saying "Ok, god's not real, but he's a metaphor for everything." We already have terms for ideas like that. Pantheism, basically being what you just described. Adding a layer of superficial nonsense doesn't really do anything.

Sorry, but new age hippies bother me. They claim to be "connected" to the universe at some level unbelievers can't fathom. It's silly and kind of megalomaniacal. "I have some knowledge of the universe unknown to you because you are closed minded, or ask for something like... evidence." All the non-theistic spirituality stuff, as far as I can tell, is nothing more but vague nebulous statements in which the believer appends and gives his own meaning to, and is continually built upon with more nebulous nonspecific claims. It's easy to show these faults in thinking, but one must be careful as hippies are easily offended, and once you get them irritated nothing you say will penetrate their patchouli odor-shields. They become impervious to facts, if they weren't already. At a drum circle last week I asked some friends what the purpose and source of chakras are, and they gave contrasting answers shocked as to what the other had said.

To be honest, most people are credulous as fuck. I do little experiments at work and will make up a bunch of scientific sounding, conspiracy-oriented, or supernatural stories and tell them to my friends and co-workers on occasion along with my usual nerdery and science-oriented ramblings. They usually believe them without asking for any sort of proof, just a 10 second youtube video of blinking lights or some non sequitur answer will suffice most of the time. Show them some edited videos...

"You see how the lights move like that, only a UFO can move that way, it breaks the laws of physics." Just say that with authority and listen to the "ooooh's" and "aaahhh's".

Most people don't know much about physics, or video editing, or even have a basic skeptical toolset to work with, so they don't know how to go about proving it true or false to begin with. Many people also have this annoying archaic ideal that "majority rules" and that it applies to scientific facts. haha.

It drives me mad.

 

[AllanD]

(lol at nobody following the no replying rule)


-Modern metalcore has no correlation to hardcore, stop calling it hardcore.

 

[no.mop]

people

just people, not religions.


they are ideas, like science (which is equally sacred). using religion or an idea to make definitive decisions is as maniacal as believing there is nothing bigger than one's self (atheism).

You can't describe religion and science using the same word. If you insist on calling them "ideas", science is made up of ideas based on reproducible observation and research. There is nothing of the sort occurring in religion; it is simply a belief.

 

[aberration]

Going back and reading the early pages of this thread, the first 10 or so have some really good stuff in them.
You know, before we got all serious and shit.

 

[Cheesebone]

example - "thank god i was wearing a condom!" = reasonable

vs.

example - "that dude god owes me $13!" = stupid

What if someone says "Thank god I'm an athiest!"

 

[Limak]

- The guy who decided its a good idea to start school/work at such early hours deserve to be slapped in the face, twice.

 

[John_C]

if it is a Bible passage, it would be interesting to read it and try to unpack the meaning behind it.

Do you really mean unpack the meaning? Or do you just mean interpret in a way that fits in to your preconceptions as to what the Bible should say?

This is why i gave up religious debates with my friends, the Bible only told them roughly what they wanted to hear, anything they didn't like was just a misunderstanding/mistranslation

 

[GarethSE]

Who cares about practical use when depression rates are soaring?
A technologically advanced, intellectually enlightened society where everyone's miserable and loading themselves up on anti-depressants and you're worried about practical use?

The rest of your comment is pretty much fair game. I'm not gonna disagree with you. I have zero proof for anything I say, but how many people go by what they have felt and experienced rather than what one or more of the many institutions (that includes religion AND science) have told them is the truth?

 

[DeclanWhite]

a lot of bands are stupid and go to the wrong producers/engineers/mixers/mastering engineers for their recordings.

bendeth mixes suck lately.

andrew wade mixes are also a major letdown.

as are tom denney's

 

[Put]

 

[Mattayus]

Holy shit Varg Vikernes' hair is getting long...

 

[GarethSE]

Calling the drum track on an album with heavy sample replacement and editing a "performance" is actually fucking crazy.