The great and all powerful religion thread!

[skeptik]

God has placed the knowledge of himself into each of us, and that is why this whole thing is still an issue. If he had not done that, most of us would have abandoned faith long ago. But there is something that doesn't quite make it that easy.

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[Rabid Headbanger]

This is philosophical thread. What's it supposed to be? Everbody gets a hug?

Grow a pair an join in.

THERE IS NO GOD.

 

[AchrisK]

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Good point!

 

[skeptik]

The point is that you're making bullshit, indefensible claims as you always have and actually using it as a point of argument, therefore you fail, especially when you attempt to criticize other people's arguments using the same silly rhetoric. On a purely logical level, we have as much reason to believe that "God" exists as we do of any other creature outside of our realm of perception.

 

[Zephyrus]

You can actually be agnostic and still be a member of another religion.

Indeed. I'm an agnostic Catholic, because I'm glad to have been raised on the Church's moral foundations. However, in beliefs largely irrelevant to social issues, I'm agnostic.

 

[AchrisK]

The point is that you're making bullshit, indefensible claims as you always have and actually using it as a point of argument, therefore you fail, especially when you attempt to criticize other people's arguments using the same silly rhetoric. On a purely logical level, we have as much reason to believe that "God" exists as we do of any other creature outside of our realm of perception.

I guess that proves it, eh?

 

[skeptik]

It proves that your arguments are, and have been, inept from the beginning, so you should either come up with something new or stop trying.

And Zephyrus, if you don't believe in the supernatural proselytizings of your faith, then why would you bother to still personally identify with it? It's not like you lose your moral bearings if you don't tie it down to a religious denomination. I don't see the purpose of an agnostic personally declaring a denomination.

 

[cookiecutter]

Cultural/family reasons

EDIT: I am a big fan of the Non-Prophets. They got me through work last summer and honed my reasoning on this subject

 

[skeptik]

I'm talking about reasons that make sense (i.e. reasons that would be exclusive to religion that can't be offered by anything else).

 

[cookiecutter]

Well there aren't any

 

[skeptik]

Which is why I questioned why Zephyrus would personally (read: not publicly) label himself a Catholic even though its foundational beliefs are not beliefs that he outright supports. I believe in many things religion stands for, but that is coincidental. I don't share my moral beliefs because of religious doctrine, but rather because I believe they are what should be done. Of course, I disagree on a lot of things with some religions (like Catholicism and their stances on contraception and abortion) as well...

 

[cookiecutter]

In that case I am also curious

 

[Zephyrus]

I find the religious beliefs of Catholicism to be just as valid as the fundamental belief in God's existence, which cannot be proven. In fact, the New Testament parallels factual history in many instances.

 

[Zephyrus]

In other words, it's just as valid to be agnostic to Christ's divinity as it is to God's.

 

[AchrisK]

It proves that your arguments are, and have been, inept from the beginning, so you should either come up with something new or stop trying.

You can say that, and think that you sound very smart, but it doesn't mean anything. We have all agreed from the start that the existence of God is unprovable by scientific means. So to say that I must present some scientific proof, and fault me for not supplying it is ridiculous.

The fact that faith has been a part of the human experience over the recorded history of time does mean something. It is something that atheists and evolutionists admit and feel they must answer with an evolutionary answer. Well, that is fine. They will come up with something. As I said, faith in God is a choice of the will, as is the choice not to believe. You will be given the freedom to make your choice, as will I.

 

[cookiecutter]

So are you saying that you don't know the truthfulness of Catholicism, but you believe it anyway? Or are you just going along with it while being unsure of its veracity.

EDIT: @Zeph

 

[skeptik]

You can say that, and think that you sound very smart, but it doesn't mean anything.

Whether or not I "sound smart" is irrelevant. Your arguments are flawed in that their premises lie on things that are taken on pure faith and have the same validity as any statement that cannot be proven false.

We have all agreed from the start that the existence of God is unprovable by scientific means. So to say that I must present some scientific proof, and fault me for not supplying it is ridiculous.

I didn't ask you to present some scientific proof. Don't throw strawmen at me.

The fact that faith has been a part of the human experience over the recorded history of time does mean something.

That depends on how loose your definition of 'faith' is whether or not it reaches all across "the recorded history of time." And it simply means that man has had a long history of speculating about a possible creator of the universe. This speculation in no way places any truth value onto the object of speculation.

It is something that atheists and evolutionists admit and feel they must answer with an evolutionary answer. Well, that is fine. They will come up with something. As I said, faith in God is a choice of the will, as is the choice not to believe. You will be given the freedom to make your choice, as will I.

Of course it's a choice, but whether or not your choice is based on any kind of credible evidence or rationality is an entirely different matter. As far as what "atheists and evolutionists admit," that area of the field is still extremely ambiguous. We can't say with any degree of certainty at this point in time that evolutionary lineage has seen fit to encode man with an insight toward a creator of the universe for whatever benefit that might bring. I honestly don't see how this point could even be established concretely and is more a general speculative hypothesis than universally accepted premise. As far as I'm aware, there is much more work to be done.

 

[Zephyrus]

So are you saying that you don't know the truthfulness of Catholicism, but you believe it anyway? Or are you just going along with it while being unsure of its veracity.

I'm simply justifying a superficial affiliation by reason that Christ's divinity and resurrection are just as possible as the downright existence of God. You could call it Pascal's Wager but gambling on the whole Jesus thing as well as God's existence.

 

[Dazed and Brutal]

Is their even any physical proof of jesus still present?

I know dumb question

 

[Zephyrus]

There's historical proof that he existed.