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Your Religious Views

Are you...

  • Theist (Religious)

    Votes: 73 43.2%

  • Agnostic (Unsure)

    Votes: 29 17.2%

  • Atheist (Not religious)

    Votes: 67 39.6%
  • Total voters
    169
dr73 said:
The bible tells us how the world was made an science backs that up.(at least the order) Where is this proof of evolution you speak of? religion is a belief an god gives you the choose to believe or not. he left it up to us. plain an simple. :-offtopic it was horrible what we did to the native americans
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The bible itself isn't even internally consistent in presenting the order of creation. You don't have to believe me, read the first two chapters of Genesis yourself. Science backs up neither account, as no evidence has ever been found to support either account. If you really want to learn about evolution and see the massive amount of evidence for it in many scientific disciplines (genetics, archaeology, physiology, etc.), here's a good site to start with:

Talk Origins

There isn't a point you could bring up against evolution that hasn't already been refuted. Weigh the evidence yourself. :)
 
lots of interesting stuff here, and I'm imprested how it's more people sharing their different views and who they are rather than a flame war of who'e right - I know some others fourms where religious topics are banned.

When people ask me, I say "I go to the church of the borken dog". That is, for the last 4 years I've been spending 9:30am to 1:00pm voluneteering at the SPCA. Now, I don't believe in a higher power at all. But if there is one, I think he/she'd would rather have me spending my time spreading the love and improving the world we live in than singing about how awesome they are, or listening to some preist. I know how to be a good person - I fail sometimes but try to do good. I don't need someone reminding me what my morals should be every week.
:)

I guess I'm spiritual, I just don't like or need dogma.
 
Roy Munson said:
I have to disagree with this. Smarter atheists than I am have pointed out that certainty that gods don't exist is not a requirement for atheism to be rationally justifiable. I've seen the "rising sun" example used to point out the difference between certainty and rational justification. I can't be certain that the sun will rise tomorrow, but I am rationally justified in believing that it will. I don't need certainty to hold the belief; I just need good reasons to believe that it's true. I don't see any problem with that logic. If someone claims that there are gods, I have to to find good reasons to subscribe to that belief too. Personally, I haven't found good or compelling reasons, so I've formed the belief that gods do not exist. I'm not certain that none exists, but it's not irrational or illogical for me to believe that none does. :shrugs:
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I completeally agree with this. There is just not enough evidence to me for me to believe in a God and just too many unanswered questions and things that don't make sense.
 
dr73 said:
PJCReptiles said:
The bible tells us how the world was made an science backs that up.(at least the order) Where is this proof of evolution you speak of?
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The proof is all around you, in the books you read down to the animals in the wild. We evolved from monkeys. If you follow the Bible it states that the Earth and all the living things on it were made in 6 days. How can this be? It is so vague in time that it dismisses things that we know are true. If God made man and everything else why were there no people around at the time of the dinosaurs? We know they existed and we also know man hasn't been on the Earth for that long of a period. New worlds are formed everyday and we know how they are formed through the world of science. There have been extinctions as well as new life forms that occur everyday. If left alone for a long enough period of time life will adapt and evolve to live to it's surroundings. Case in point, miles below the surface of the ocean there is life where it shouldn't be. There are thermal towers that produce enough heat to make the sea water boil (it doesn't because of the tremendous pressure) and erupt toxic levels of sulfur and other carcinogens that would kill most life forms if it were subject to it, however, there are tube worms and crabs that thrive in these conditions and would die if those elements were not present. If that is not evolution then I don't know what is. I also feel that it is absurd to think that we could be the only world in this vast universe that holds life. New worlds are created everyday, not by the hand of God, by the means of science and physics that someday may hold life. If that life does occur it wouldn't be by one omnificient being saying that it will be so. Life will be produced the same way it was here on Earth and that is by evolution and natural selection. There will be small one celled animals that with time and right conditions evolve into whatever life that planet and atmosphere can manage. My proof is in the books and nature that is all around me while your proof is in just one book. It is my opinion that the Bible was based on old scrolls that was written in a dead language. I feel the Bible is a collection of stories that was put together by one persons interpretation of what he was trying to decipher in those scrolls. One of my main concerns about religion is the fact that everyone tries to plead the case that theirs is the best. I feel that Catholicism in the past is todays Islam. Does anyone remember learning about the Inquisition? Thousands of Jews and non-believers were subject to horrible tortures in the name of God to get these people to conform. If you didn't you died and for the most part even if you did you died. Islam is a little different in the fact that they are killing each other over what ethnicity you are. Are you Shia or Kurd or Sunni and I don't get it as they are all Muslim. Now I know I am going off on a rant and I must stop. I guess I just don't understand religion and may never truly understand. I could be wrong about the whole thing then again I could be right. I feel one does not need to be a religious person to be spiritual in nature. I do feel it is a good thing for one to have a belief in something. It all comes down to each his/her own. I will be that last person to condemn someone for what they believe in. Religion is a very touchy subject and one I would prefer not to be a part of. These are solely my opinions and I value yours. Thank you for letting me post on this matter. I am however going to drop this discussion as it may get very heated and I prefer not to post such an agenda here on CS.com.
Jay :cool:
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"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!"...sorry couldn't resist...

What if all religious books and tomes were written as a metaphor to help explain certain "supernatural" phenomena that exist in nature, but were non-comprehendable during the time of the scriptures? So people, very smart people, used metaphors and illusions to explain things that were otherwise inexplicable, and brought a sense of purpose and righteousness to those that listened to them? Would that be such a horrible thing? Why does the Bible, The Koran, or any other scripture or book of verses need to be taken literally and without question, in order for them to be important works of spiritual explanation?

The Bible says the earth was created in 6 days. Thats 144 hours. Just look around you. I know that according to the Bible, God is all powerful and omnipotent...but 144 hours to create everything as we know it...our pasts, our present, our futures. 144 hours to not only create what we know, but also to create the things which we don't know...to create the entire evolutionary existence as evidenced by scientific discovery. Would an omnipotent God take the trouble to disperse the scientific evidence of evolutionary existence, if such a thing didn't actually happen? Why would God create, scatter, and bury the bones of millions of diosaurs and pre-historic creatures...to keep us guessing? Why would there be pre-historic man, his fossilized remains, and the remains of HIS evolutionary developement over the course of millions of years if it didn't really happen? The throw us off? Is God "on the lam" and trying not to "get caught", so he scatters false evidence of other possibilities to try and cool his tracks? Is God some sort of evolutionary prankster?

I'd rather believe that it is a myth...legend, folklore, metaphor...trying to understand that with which we had no experience nor explanation.

Don't get me wrong...I certainly appreciate and respect everyone's opinions, so long as the same respect is shown to me. I am not and WILL not attempt to change your mind...nor will I change mine. I merely wanted to show a different persepctive.

And FWIW...I grew up EXTREMELY religous, in a Protestant household. Of three boys, my mother raised 2 ministers, and me. I have cousins, uncles, and relatives that are as deeply and fervently involved in religion as one could choose to be, and so I have seen the inside and the outside of much of what religion has to offer. I have spent years searching for my own answers, and have tried MANY different religions while searching for the one that is right for me. None of them seemed to fit. They all have good points, and they all get a little over-zealous at one point or another. C'est la Vie. I am happy where I am...
 
tyflier said:
The Bible says the earth was created in 6 days. Thats 144 hours. Just look around you. I know that according to the Bible, God is all powerful and omnipotent...but 144 hours to create everything as we know it...our pasts, our present, our futures.
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If he's omnipotent, he could do this in a micro-second. But I don't know why an omnipotent being would need to rest afterward. ;)
 
Roy Munson said:
If he's omnipotent, he could do this in a micro-second. But I don't know why an omnipotent being would need to rest afterward. ;)
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That is the part that always got me.

I was raised by a Catholic grandmother and a Reformist grandfather. When I was born my grandmother to me the the Catholic church to have me baptised but they won't do it because they said I didn't have a "Christian" name. I am Native American and my full first name is Sewanhaka. It is Shinnacock Indian and means Island of Shells. WHAT does my name have to do with religion?

So I got baptised Luthern. I also gave the pastor grief. Why did God have to rest if he is God? Why does John say Judas hanged himself but Mark says he used the money to buy Potter's Field and buried the poor there? When I turned 13 my grandmother said I was an adult in the eyes of the church and I was my responsibility to find my own way faith-wise. I've been on a 40+ yr journey and it would be over until I die.
 
<-----Atheist. I went to Catholic school for 12 years and that reasurred me they were full of ****. And I studied other religions and how they are all copy's of one another. Except the new ones, scientology. I am kosher with religions just not my cup of tea. Only thing that makes me upset with it is "Intelligent Design" or I would say creation. I put my faith in science not a 2000 year old book written by 30 guys, rewritten, editted, and voted on by regular men.

http://studentweb.eku.edu/zachary_lynn/museum/index.html
 
Roy Munson said:
I have to disagree with this. Smarter atheists than I am have pointed out that certainty that gods don't exist is not a requirement for atheism to be rationally justifiable. I've seen the "rising sun" example used to point out the difference between certainty and rational justification. I can't be certain that the sun will rise tomorrow, but I am rationally justified in believing that it will. I don't need certainty to hold the belief; I just need good reasons to believe that it's true. I don't see any problem with that logic. If someone claims that there are gods, I have to to find good reasons to subscribe to that belief too. Personally, I haven't found good or compelling reasons, so I've formed the belief that gods do not exist. I'm not certain that none exists, but it's not irrational or illogical for me to believe that none does. :shrugs:
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I completely see your point, Dean, but as you point out, we can believe that there is no God, but we can't know it. Once we make the philosophical choice to believe in science, though, we CAN know that the earth didn't appear in 6 days, roughly 2000 years ago, and that dinos and people didn't exist at the same time.
 
desertanimal said:
we CAN know that the earth didn't appear in 6 days, roughly 2000 years ago, and that dinos and people didn't exist at the same time.
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Ooh, but people and wooley mammoths did! That must have been awesome!!

Nanci
 
desertanimal said:
Once we make the philosophical choice to believe in science, though, we CAN know that the earth didn't appear in 6 days, roughly 2000 years ago, and that dinos and people didn't exist at the same time.
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This is where I wish I could remember more of what was discussed in class...
It was explained that:
The six days weren't literal 24 hour days, as there is another scripture that states that a day to God is (X) amount of years to us.... Not sure where my books are, but I'll do some research and get back to this...


The whole problem with religion, to me, was that most of the bible was written years after the events took place, and by word of mouth. They were stories handed down at a time when reading and writing was almost nonexistant. There was a huge conference to examine all the stories submitted before the deadline, and then they were molded to fit the perception they wanted the masses to have. Look at all the gospels, they are inconsistent, but tell the same story. Granted, it kept the superstitious masses under control, which was the whole point...
 
The thing is religion requires faith. As soon as you prove or quantify the existence of **GOD** you no longer require faith. and faith is what you need to go to heaven. or be a martyr etc. catch22.
mike
 
Dean! you cant be real with the stuff you stated if evolution is real then where is the in between animals in the fossil record? I am sure you are a great person an have great snakes but if we ever meet lets not talk religion! as far as god resting on the 7 th day that was not because he was tired it was so he could look at all he created everything he had created. and where does the bible chance its story at about the order of creation?
 
If I could,I would save Myself.And I wouldn't need HIM like I DO!(Boy do I!)
I'm really counting on his MERCY! PTL! "cause I fall short just about every day.I beleive? You bet!
 
I'm a Christian, but it's not about religion; it's about relationship. I am honored to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I am not perfect; in fact, I'm far from it. But I am forgiven. :cool:

By the way, has it been proven that people and dinosaurs never existed together? Because if dinosaurs went into extinction before people were created, then how do we know what they look like? :sidestep:
 
dr73 said:
Dean! you cant be real with the stuff you stated if evolution is real then where is the in between animals in the fossil record?
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The line that would eventually develop into Homo sapien split off quite early on. It's not like Step One: Monkey, Step Two: Missing Link, Step Three Human.

Nanci
 
Okay, seeing that all us kids can have a civil discussion on religion, lets ponder this: God created earth and let evolution take over. Evolution worked up to Cro-magnum man (I think it's after this stage that there is the "Missing Link"). Meanwhile, back in Eden (which is not on Earth but up where God is, wherever that may be) Adam and Eve are recreating, procreating and just having a good time. They bite the apple, God gets upset and castes them out of Eden onto Earth with all of their children. So here we are, "Modern Man" living with Cro-magnum man. Naturally our tendencies to wipe out what doesn't agree with us or is strange to us (Shoot first/ask questions later mentality) totally extinguishes Cro-magnum man. No missing link because there isn't one.

Why do we share 98% of our genes with apes. Simple, It only took a 2% change to make us Homo sapien. God makes the animals we have today to replace the ones that died out.

:crazy02:
 
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