Gina’s Comments (group member since Jul 09, 2009)

Gina’s comments from the Debate group.

True, Jessi perhaps choice was the wrong word to use

As to adding to society what about love, compassion and understand those who are different from us? I believe those are all things that gay people teach us.

Thanks spurfect for sharing your ideas..I guess we can agree to disagree

Spurfect

I am just wondering why you define an atheist society as all of those bad things? Statistically there is no evidence that atheism leads to suicide, divorce, or any of the things you mentioned before.

Here is a quote for the website the Rational Response Site that did a study of many different societies and how atheism effected the societies. "high levels of organic atheism are strongly correlated with high levels of societal health, such as low homicide rates, low poverty rates, low infant mortality rates, and low illiteracy rates, as well as high levels of educational attainment, per capita income, and gender equality. Most nations characterized by high degrees of individual and societal security have the highest rates of organic atheism, and conversely, nations characterized by low degrees of individual and societal security have the lowest rates of organic atheism. In some societies, particularly Europe, atheism is growing. However, throughout much of the world -- particularly nations with high birth rates -- atheism is barely discernable."
I understand you may feel atheism is a bad thing but it is a choice. I never stated religion we evil, or anything close to that. All I am saying is the majority of atheist are not evil, they do not lack morals. It makes me sad to see people jump to conclusions about someone’s choice not to believe in what they believe.

I am glad religion has provided you with all of those positives you stated above.I am not trying to make you loose your faith. What I am arguing is that atheism is not the cause of an evil society it is just lack in the belief in God. Many Atheists feel their life has more value because there is no after life. You value this life not as a test but as the only one you get. To say that Atheism leads to suicide is just jumping to conclusions with out looking at facts.

Spurfect

Even if religion doesn’t teach anything bad people can still just not believe. I am agnostic so I really have no idea if there is or isn’t. My boy friend is atheist. He hasn’t lost touch with God because to him there is no God at all and he is perfectly at peace with that fact. Even if there is a God and you don’t believe in him; I kind of think if God is everything religious people claim him to be (all knowing, loving, and powerful) he would be able to forgive us for not believing in him.

I don’t think you have to study every religion to not believe in God because the concept is still the same…an unseen being who is all knowing loving and powerful. It is a hard idea to believe of because it doesn’t seem logical.

Honestly I was insulted when you called atheist troubled souls. First of I feel sorry for anyone who is so confused about morals that they need some supreme being telling them what is right and wrong. There is nothing troubled about being atheist, there is nothing missing or lacking, these people are not lacking in morals, nor do they need a God to guide them from Satan.

Atheist have been around as long as religion has been around. It is not just because of the ‘times’. Like George Holyoake (he lived from 1817-1906) who was the last person in England to be imprisoned for being atheist, who is just one example.

Oh yes Avatar where the over all lesson is love and understand of nature and others is super satanic...I mean really they might as well be killing babies in the film...I mean realy, everything he is saying seems laughable to me.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say Christianity makes people stupid. I just think people like the one in the video are just stupid in general I think he would be the same if he was of any other religion.

A philosophy teacher I had said something about intelligent design that really stuck with me…

We assume just because complex things on earth have a creator that is how the whole universe works. This is like a flea on the back of a dog explaining how the whole world works based off of how hair grows. Now we know the world doesn’t work the same way hair grows because we experience more of the world then a flea but in comparison to the universe we are much smaller then that flea.

I am lost how is knowing what might happen God like? I can do that. Anyone with an imagination can do that.

oh sorry about the typo! dyslexica can be a bitch sometimes

DC- I disagree with the logic statement you presented because being all knowing means you know what is going to happen, not what might happen. Anyone can know what might happen. I can look at all the ‘possibilities’ and imagine what might happen if I do A or ~A.

If God is all knowing he knows everything that will happen. He knows it before you are even presented with choices, before you are even born. There is no might, there are just definites.

Oh… and isn’t there a huge discrepancy between science and the bible as to how old the earth is? Doesn’t the bible say the earth is a lot younger than scientific tests have placed it?

Please correct me if I am wrong but I could swear I read that somewhere.

DC
I am confused. I don’t get how explaining the stories of the bible (above where you talked about Jesus and the OT etc…) makes everything in the bible facts. Are you a literalist of the bible or a contextualest because there is a huge difference.

Jayda,

I agree that the word day could be a metaphor for a longer period of time. If you go by what is literally written in the bible that is was 7 days that is the thing I can not wrap my mind around. I have always felt the bible held ‘explanations’ for things people at that time did not understand. Like the creation of the world. I am not saying that we have right answer now but maybe we have a better grasp on how the world came about, do too advancements in science and technology

I don’t think that there is anything wrong with living your life with the principles that are talked about in the bible like the ‘Golden Rule’. Things like the ‘Golden Rule’ are great. I just think it is wrong to use the bible as a scientific book and take everything that was said literally. I think it is always good to question and never just take one opinion as fact.

I am not sure maybe I miss understood the question given by D.C.

I just find it hard to believe the bible as facts when I can not picture the world and everything in it being created in 7 days.

From my understanding a soul doesn’t actually do anything (well at least no until you are dead). I always thought your soul was the part of you that lived on in the afterlife, the part that went to heaven. I thought it was the essence of who you are not your likes/ dislikes or emotions/ personality because as seen in the thread those can change; but something deeper than that.

To answer the question posted at the start of the thread about identical twins, one with a soul one without. I don’t think there would be any noticeable difference. The only difference would be is that one would have the ability to move on to the afterlife and the other would just be dead.

I am agnostic so I have no idea if there is a God/ Heaven/ soul etc…but that was just my understanding of what a soul might be.

Malaz, I am not trying to be rude I am just wondering; if you don't believe in evolution what do you believe happened?

if God already knows what you are going to do than that doesn't seem like free will to me. I mean there is no choice than if God knows it to be true that you do X and than you don't do X God is wrong. So it seems to me if God already knows what you will do you have no choice but to do that.

Jim didn't the Bible also say an eye for an eye?

I really disagree with the people who say abortion is murder. I got this from dictionary.com:
Muder- The killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder), and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder).’

Abortion is not illegal so it by it’s very definition can not be murder. I guess someone can argue that it is ‘killing’ a living thing but when does human life start? Does it start at the moment of conception or later on? I think that is the big question.

I didnt think he was arrogant