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Tony Blair finally converts to Roman Catholicism
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ED209



Joined: 17 Oct 2006

PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well there is no certainty in anything. But when it come to religion you are dealing with revelation and not research. The virtue of science is that it knows when to say 'we don't know'. Religion has always had great difficulty with admitting its ignorance. I also wouldn't put science or atheism on the opposite side of a coin to religion. Firstly scientists come from many different religions, yet many of these scientists agree with each other. Atheism doesn't necessarily state 'there is no god' just that we don't know and it's highly unlikely since there is no observable evidence or need for a god to explain the universe. As an atheist your disbelief is often based on things beyond observation. There's a lot less speculation in this than saying there might be a god in the darkness or a spaghetti monster under the bed. Add to this that science is testing itself continuously and revises itself far quicker than religion. Although I am often surprised when the COE or Catholic church abandon Limbo or strikes hell of the books.
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Biblethumper



Joined: 15 Dec 2007
Location: Busan, Korea

PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 12:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
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ED209



Joined: 17 Oct 2006

PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 12:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Biblethumper wrote:
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.


Well at least the fool spoke from his heart and not out of his arse.
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nicholas_chiasson



Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Location: Samcheok

PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 5:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

shortskirt_longjacket wrote:

Americans are particularly resistant to scientific reason...I wonder why that is.


-All while inventing the PC, the airplane, the nuclear Bomb, and the transistor. All invented by blind faith in invisible gods.
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RACETRAITOR



Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea

PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nicholas_chiasson wrote:
shortskirt_longjacket wrote:

Americans are particularly resistant to scientific reason...I wonder why that is.


-All while inventing the PC, the airplane, the nuclear Bomb, and the transistor. All invented by blind faith in invisible gods.


Not really worth quibbling about, but the bomb was invented by non-Americans who were brought to America.

Anyway, being religious doesn't say much about your intelligence. It does say a lot about your gullibility though. Critical thinking is only one aspect of human intelligence, and probably one of the harder things to measure.

To all you religious folk, would you vote for a politician who promised to only be good, because he didn't want Santa to bring him coal? Or would you think he was a lunatic believing in fictional characters? And why wouldn't God, Jesus, or Ares be any different?
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ED209



Joined: 17 Oct 2006

PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nicholas_chiasson wrote:
shortskirt_longjacket wrote:

Americans are particularly resistant to scientific reason...I wonder why that is.


-All while inventing the PC, the airplane, the nuclear Bomb, and the transistor. All invented by blind faith in invisible gods.


I'm sure their degrees in engineering had nothing to do with it. Traditionally America is a great country for science. Just that politically it has shown itself to be anti science in the case of stem cell research and evolution in the classroom.

But with less people going into scientific fields of study and creationist trying to sneak into the science classroom the future of American invention could be under threat. I'd rather a president who understand how a bridge stays up rather than one who prays the victims when it crashes down. I also wonder ow many of America's Noble prize scientists thanked God for their work.
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Rae



Joined: 10 Oct 2007

PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ED209 wrote:
I also wonder ow many of America's Noble prize scientists thanked God for their work.


Interesting article:

'Explore as much as we can': Nobel Prize winner Charles Townes on evolution, intelligent design, and the meaning of life
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/06/17_townes.shtml
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ED209



Joined: 17 Oct 2006

PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you for that rae. I find modern scientists like Charles Townes and Ken Miller to be very interesting in the way they reconcile their faith with their work in science. That still for me doesn't negate the fact that you don't need a religious faith to discover what they did or what they know about science. You can repeat any scientific experiment without believing in a god. Also Townes faith is based more on looking for a purpose to life something many non-religious folks have found outside of faith. Still, an interesting article on science and faith.
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nicholas_chiasson



Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Location: Samcheok

PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the last two Popes haven't exactly struck me for their 'stupidity' either.
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shortskirt_longjacket



Joined: 06 Jun 2004
Location: fitz and ernie are my raison d'etre

PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The question isn't whether people of faith have the answer but WHY they choose to have faith.

What void are they filling?

I am not so insecure that I need to believe someone created me and has purpose for me and feeds a nebulous part of my being called my "spirituality". Where does that part, my spirituality, rest, prey tell? Is it in my brain, along with my limbic or prefrontal cortex? Is it in my heart, along with my atria and my ventricles?

What part of me longs for spiritual fulfillment? I can tell my genitals want sex, my stomach wants food, my heart wants cardiovascular exercise, my lungs want unpolluted air, etc...

Where is my spiritual organ located?

If you can point that out to me, I will entertain the idea that there is a spiritual life and then maybe I will entertain that there is a spiritual being or beings, such as god, or multiple gods.

Science is the best we got, sorry kids, it don't support anything like a god-shaped hole in our hearts, however poetic that notion might be.
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ED209



Joined: 17 Oct 2006

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 12:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nicholas_chiasson wrote:
the last two Popes haven't exactly struck me for their 'stupidity' either.


If I wanted to follow a man in a dress I'd hang out in Itaewon.
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regicide



Joined: 01 Sep 2006
Location: United States

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 5:13 am    Post subject: Re: Tony Blair finally converts to Roman Catholicism Reply with quote

Justin Hale wrote:
philipjames wrote:
People who belief in invisible sky gods should not be allowed to hold high office.


philipjames wrote:
The sooner humankind leaves the god-man tradition behind the better for our species.


Yes and yes.

As an atheist with Catholic (Irish) ancestry, I do regard Catholicism as inferior to Protestantism. The latter is more individualistic and was thus instrumental in the development of modernism whereas Catholicism's legacy is the most miserable time in European history - the Middle Ages.

The belief that any person or bit of land can be holier than another is the most insane, irrational and indecent of beliefs.


First of all, any Irishman ought to be ashamed of what you are now. But that is another story. God have mercy on your soul boy, as you are going to need it in your atheist future. You and the vegetarians are an interesting lot. Think you found something don't you. I guess we long standing Catholics were just terribly mislead and shouldn�t have held on to something for our entire life. Yes, I drink, smoke , covet and everything else but God forgives us because we are human. And we don't cite century's old history to classify who a modern Catholic is. My parents are people who never said a foul word to anyone and worked hard their whole life , which by the way is a 50 plus years marriage and still going.

So punk. Take your atheism, vegetarianism, vegan and all your other crap and pull out your nose rings while you are at it.
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igotthisguitar



Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 6:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pledging his highest loyalties to the Pope, eh?

Hmmmm ... interesting.

Won't this conflict with his solemn FREEMASON oaths?
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RACETRAITOR



Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 7:36 am    Post subject: Re: Tony Blair finally converts to Roman Catholicism Reply with quote

regicide wrote:


First of all, any Irishman ought to be ashamed of what you are now. But that is another story. God have mercy on your soul boy, as you are going to need it in your atheist future. You and the vegetarians are an interesting lot. Think you found something don't you. I guess we long standing Catholics were just terribly mislead and shouldn�t have held on to something for our entire life. Yes, I drink, smoke , covet and everything else but God forgives us because we are human. And we don't cite century's old history to classify who a modern Catholic is. My parents are people who never said a foul word to anyone and worked hard their whole life , which by the way is a 50 plus years marriage and still going.

So punk. Take your atheism, vegetarianism, vegan and all your other crap and pull out your nose rings while you are at it.


Wow, you had a bit too much of the Kool-aid, didn't you?

Wasn't Ireland torn apart by religious bickering? And it was even the same religion. What that country needs is a cold dose of reality.
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ED209



Joined: 17 Oct 2006

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 3:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now, now Regi, could be worse he could be a protestant atheist!
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