Religion & Spirituality - 7 September 2007

candidate?
Or are their opinions on other issues more important(if so, please specify)?

Whats your stance on the war? If you're against it, were you always against it?
Would jesus be for or against wars?

2007-09-07 17:06:36 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous

I found this on the internet, and I thought that it was very interesting. What do you think?

10 Misconceptions about Atheism
31082007
1) Atheists believe that life is meaningless.
On the contrary, religious people often worry that life is meaningless and imagine that it can only be redeemed by the promise of eternal happiness beyond the grave. Atheists tend to be quite sure that life is precious. Life is imbued with meaning by being really and fully lived. Our relationships with those we love are meaningful now; they need not last forever to be made so. Atheists tend to find this fear of meaninglessness … well … meaningless.

2) Atheism is responsible for the greatest crimes in human history.

People of faith often claim that the crimes of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot were the inevitable product of unbelief. The problem with fascism and communism, however, is not that they are too critical of religion; the problem is that they are too much like religions. Such regimes are dogmatic to the core and generally give rise to personality cults that are indistinguishable from cults of religious hero worship. Auschwitz, the gulag and the killing fields were not examples of what happens when human beings reject religious dogma; they are examples of political, racial and nationalistic dogma run amok. There is no society in human history that ever suffered because its people became too reasonable.

3) Atheism is dogmatic.

Jews, Christians and Muslims claim that their scriptures are so prescient of humanity’s needs that they could only have been written under the direction of an omniscient deity. An atheist is simply a person who has considered this claim, read the books and found the claim to be ridiculous. One doesn’t have to take anything on faith, or be otherwise dogmatic, to reject unjustified religious beliefs. As the historian Stephen Henry Roberts (1901-71) once said: “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”

4) Atheists think everything in the universe arose by chance.

No one knows why the universe came into being. In fact, it is not entirely clear that we can coherently speak about the “beginning” or “creation” of the universe at all, as these ideas invoke the concept of time, and here we are talking about the origin of space-time itself.

The notion that atheists believe that everything was created by chance is also regularly thrown up as a criticism of Darwinian evolution. As Richard Dawkins explains in his marvelous book, “The God Delusion,” this represents an utter misunderstanding of evolutionary theory. Although we don’t know precisely how the Earth’s early chemistry begat biology, we know that the diversity and complexity we see in the living world is not a product of mere chance. Evolution is a combination of chance mutation and natural selection. Darwin arrived at the phrase “natural selection” by analogy to the “artificial selection” performed by breeders of livestock. In both cases, selection exerts a highly non-random effect on the development of any species.

5) Atheism has no connection to science.

Although it is possible to be a scientist and still believe in God — as some scientists seem to manage it — there is no question that an engagement with scientific thinking tends to erode, rather than support, religious faith. Taking the U.S. population as an example: Most polls show that about 90% of the general public believes in a personal God; yet 93% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences do not. This suggests that there are few modes of thinking less congenial to religious faith than science is.

6) Atheists are arrogant.

When scientists don’t know something — like why the universe came into being or how the first self-replicating molecules formed — they admit it. Pretending to know things one doesn’t know is a profound liability in science. And yet it is the life-blood of faith-based religion. One of the monumental ironies of religious discourse can be found in the frequency with which people of faith praise themselves for their humility, while claiming to know facts about cosmology, chemistry and biology that no scientist knows. When considering questions about the nature of the cosmos and our place within it, atheists tend to draw their opinions from science. This isn’t arrogance; it is intellectual honesty.

7) Atheists are closed to spiritual experience.

There is nothing that prevents an atheist from experiencing love, ecstasy, rapture and awe; atheists can value these experiences and seek them regularly. What atheists don’t tend to do is make unjustified (and unjustifiable) claims about the nature of reality on the basis of such experiences. There is no question that some Christians have transformed their lives for the better by reading the Bible and praying to Jesus. What does this prove? It proves that certain disciplines of attention and codes of conduct can have a profound effect upon the human mind. Do the positive experiences of Christians suggest that Jesus is the sole savior of humanity? Not even remotely — because Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and even atheists regularly have similar experiences.

There is, in fact, not a Christian on this Earth who can be certain that Jesus even wore a beard, much less that he was born of a virgin or rose from the dead. These are just not the sort of claims that spiritual experience can authenticate.

Atheists believe that there is nothing beyond human life and human understanding.

Atheists are free to admit the limits of human understanding in a way that religious people are not. It is obvious that we do not fully understand the universe; but it is even more obvious that neither the Bible nor the Koran reflects our best understanding of it. We do not know whether there is complex life elsewhere in the cosmos, but there might be. If there is, such beings could have developed an understanding of nature’s laws that vastly exceeds our own. Atheists can freely entertain such possibilities. They also can admit that if brilliant extraterrestrials exist, the contents of the Bible and the Koran will be even less impressive to them than they are to human atheists.

From the atheist point of view, the world’s religions utterly trivialize the real beauty and immensity of the universe. One doesn’t have to accept anything on insufficient evidence to make such an observation.

9) Atheists ignore the fact that religion is extremely beneficial to society.

Those who emphasize the good effects of religion never seem to realize that such effects fail to demonstrate the truth of any religious doctrine. This is why we have terms such as “wishful thinking” and “self-deception.” There is a profound distinction between a consoling delusion and the truth.

In any case, the good effects of religion can surely be disputed. In most cases, it seems that religion gives people bad reasons to behave well, when good reasons are actually available. Ask yourself, which is more moral, helping the poor out of concern for their suffering, or doing so because you think the creator of the universe wants you to do it, will reward you for doing it or will punish you for not doing it?

10) Atheism provides no basis for morality.

If a person doesn’t already understand that cruelty is wrong, he won’t discover this by reading the Bible or the Koran — as these books are bursting with celebrations of cruelty, both human and divine. We do not get our morality from religion. We decide what is good in our good books by recourse to moral intuitions that are (at some level) hard-wired in us and that have been refined by thousands of years of thinking about the causes and possibilities of human happiness.

We have made considerable moral progress over the years, and we didn’t make this progress by reading the Bible or the Koran more closely. Both books condone the practice of slavery — and yet every civilized human being now recognizes that slavery is an abomination. Whatever is good in scripture — like the golden rule — can be valued for its ethical wisdom without our believing that it was handed down to us by the creator of the universe.

2007-09-07 17:04:41 · 12 answers · asked by Je veux changer le monde 4

thanks.

(I say YES they should work...and stop begging. Making sure my teachers kids wear Gucci clothes and have a 5 bedroom house is NOT kingdom work...thats just me)

2007-09-07 17:04:26 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous

Are they true stories or bed time fairy tales stories?

2007-09-07 17:03:13 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous

I can think of absolutely no reason that I'd want anyone to live forever, myself included. That isn't a reward, it is the worst curse imaginable. Humans have a century, give or take, and most get sick of that before they die. I do not look forward to dying, but am more than content to let it end when it does come. How about you?

2007-09-07 17:02:52 · 32 answers · asked by Enigma®Ragnarökin' 7

I've seen much worse questions, but there is a specific Jehovah's Witness troll that keeps reporting my questions. Stop being a coward and show yourself. There is a such thing called freedom of speech and if you don't like it then maybe you shouldn't be here on yahoo answers. Just because someone exposes certain things about your organization that are true, doesn't give you the right to report them.

The truth shall set you free

2007-09-07 17:01:42 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070907.wbinladen0907/BNStory/International/home

2007-09-07 16:59:31 · 12 answers · asked by NY 2

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
What's your understanding of heaven ad hell?
Do you think what you do in life has eternal consquences?

2007-09-07 16:56:44 · 21 answers · asked by LaLa 2

2007-09-07 16:56:18 · 24 answers · asked by modax42 2

2007-09-07 16:54:54 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-09-07 16:52:29 · 18 answers · asked by Madmax 2

2007-09-07 16:50:26 · 34 answers · asked by driving_blindly 4

I believe in many things. Including the power of Mother Nature, the power of love, etc.

2007-09-07 16:49:28 · 21 answers · asked by Enchanted Gypsy 6

after my latest question was removed, and "no one" is answering the other two questions I asked today? :)

Thank you for your answer! :)

Have a wonderful weekend! :)

2007-09-07 16:46:28 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-09-07 16:44:19 · 30 answers · asked by Giggle Bear 3

Do you still consider yourself to be a christian, or are you considered an Atheist? Which and why?

2007-09-07 16:43:35 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous

Paul argues it is not the "works of the law" (ie religious observance) that makes one righteous.

"Works of the law" has erroneously been interpreted to mean "works of the Torah", this is very misleading, one could then assume then that "works of Torah" are not required in Messiah. This would mean that it would be ok to steal, lie, commit adultery, and violate the Torah because no one in Messiah is under the "works of Torah".

But Paul is referring to the "Works of Tradition" and referring to those who trust in the "works of Tradition" to establish their righteousness, outside of Messiah.

Paul clearly took a beating from the Romans and the Jews for presenting Mashiyach to the world, but the beating he took back then, is nothing compared to the gang warfare against him today from false religion and Hellenized Christianity. Paul is a righteous Jew who worked with his own hands to support the Good News he brought to the world. Precious few Pastors, Professors, Rabbis or Clerics work with their own hands to financially support others while working to advance the Kingdom.

2007-09-07 16:43:31 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous

Do you beleive in Aliens? Just wondering if it said anywhere in the Bible.

2007-09-07 16:42:26 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous

Here's some Old English:

"Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum
þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon."

Complaining about masses in Latin is one thing, but isn't it just a wilful celebration of ignorance to claim you can't understand the KJV?

2007-09-07 16:42:17 · 7 answers · asked by Voyager 4

What do other Muslims think of him?

Is he still alive?

2007-09-07 16:41:39 · 11 answers · asked by Nina, BaC 7

Osama has released (according to Yahoo news) a video telling Americans the only way to end the war in Iraq is to convert to Islam. Does this ring any bells to anyone......?

2007-09-07 16:41:28 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous

I sometimes use the following example to explain the triune God. Think of a rope made of three braids. It is one rope, but three braids within. Each braid is identical in every way to the other two, but it is one rope.

can you think of others

Quella Bella, I obviously can't beat you to this one, but can you beat Dr. G.

2007-09-07 16:40:57 · 19 answers · asked by magnetic_azimuth 6

Fellow atheists: what event marked the turning point for you in which you decided that you did NOT believe in a "God"? Was it a gradual process or did you have a major life-changing experience that caused you to suddenly "wake up"? What were the circumstances? Thanks!

2007-09-07 16:40:20 · 52 answers · asked by 222 Sexy 5

2007-09-07 16:37:09 · 38 answers · asked by ™ ♥♥♥ 3

2007-09-07 16:36:56 · 8 answers · asked by munhasen5 2

Osama Bin Laden claims to be championing for Islam. Rather than present himself as a Muslim he has ordered whole sale slaughter to be carried out by his followers. I'm beginning to seriously doubt he even considers himself a Muslim. His murderous anti-establishment philosophy was stolen from some Egyptian guy. Bin Laden has also demonstrated more hatred towards the westernized and modernized world than the non-Muslim world (this coincides with his hatred towards his western aligned father).

Anyone else get the impression that Bin Laden doesn't consider himself a Muslim?

2007-09-07 16:36:30 · 11 answers · asked by Yahoo Sucks 5

Or would he get a little annoyed?

2007-09-07 16:36:29 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-09-07 16:35:36 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous

In the news, a new Osama bin Laden videotape says there will be no war in Iraq if Americans simply convert to Islam! He says this will show the U.S. leaders that the people have no faith in democracy any more, and choose Islam instead. There is a belief in the Middle East that Islam is a "third way" better than democracy or Communism or any of the big political systems you care to name. Of course, the liberals who are most against the occupation of Iraq would have to give up their WEED, their FREE LOVE and much else if they convert to Islam, so I don't know if the American intelligentsia will go for that!

2007-09-07 16:30:54 · 11 answers · asked by PIERRE S 4

2007-09-07 16:30:36 · 4 answers · asked by NeedToKnow 1